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Raleigh DWI Lawyers

  • Batch Williams: Have you been investigated for or charged with a serious criminal offense like homicide, armed robbery, assault or embezzlement? Has your urgent need for capable DUI defense interrupted your life and jeopardized your freedom of movement? Is a nagging accumulation of traffic violations proving more trouble than it's worth?
  • Vanderweert, Timothy: If you have been charged with drunk driving, there ARE ways to raise a strong defense.
  • Curtis High: SUPERIOR COURT:ÊAs the name implies, this is serious business.Ê Make sure you are well represented in this forum by an expierenced, reliable attorney.
  • Paul Suhr: You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.
  • Sandman Finn: On December 1, 2006, the DWI laws in North Carolina underwent their most extensive overhaul in 20 years. New crimes were established and the evidentiary rules and punishments have been modified. Being charged with DWI is a confusing and frustrating experience. Your driverÕs license has been revoked for 30 days and if you are convicted you are facing additional revocations ranging from one year to a permanent revocation. Court imposed punishments can range to a fine and unsupervised probation to 2 years in prison. Depending on the results of your alcohol reading you may be required to have an ignition interlock installed in your car. With each DWI arrest a number of important legal issues must be examined from reasonable suspicion to stop your car to probable cause to arrest to the admissibility of your alcohol results. Additional legal issues arise depending on each case if, for example, you case involves a road block, a blood draw, a refusal to submit to an alcohol test or a collision.
  • Karl Knudsen: The laws regarding Driving While Impaired (DWI) have become increasingly harsh over the last several years. A charge of DWI now triggers an automatic revocation of that personâs driving privilege for at least 30 days without a trial. In many case, an experienced attorney can help secure a limited driving privilege after 10 days of this period, if appropriate action is taken quickly.
  • Rudolf E. Renfer:

    The penalties for a DWI conviction in North Carolina include jail time, fines, and loss of driver's license. If you are convicted of a 2nd or 3rd offense, the potential for jail time and the length of driver's license revocation increases. The personal costs of a DWI conviction, such as its effect on your employment and paying high-risk car insurance, can be even higher. For these reasons, you should always get a lawyer's advice if you have been arrested for DWI/DUI.

    In each case, the State must prove that, while you were operating a motor vehicle, you were under the influence of an impairing substance. There are a variety of defenses to a DWI charge and the police must observe your rights or the charge can be dismissed. For instance, if you are asked to submit a breathalyzer sample, you have a right to have a witness observe the procedure if the witness can get to the scene within 30 minutes. If a witness arrives within 30 minutes but is not allowed to view the procedure, then the DWI can be dismissed. The charge may also be dismissed if the police can't prove that you were driving the car. The legal limit for DWI in North Carolina is .08. However, having a blood alcohol level of between .08 or .09 does not necessarily mean you will be convicted if other circumstances do not corroborate the breathalyzer reading.

  • Edward Williams: handles legal matters in the following practice areas: Traffic Violations, Criminal Law, Driving While Intoxicated, Domestic Violence.
  • Katy Chavez: Many times it is possible to fight the charge on legal grounds. For example, perhaps the police officer did not have sufficient cause to stop you in the first place, or he did not gather enough evidence before arresting you.
  • Manning & Crouch: The firm's practice is exclusively criminal defense, handling criminal cases and other criminal matters ranging from complex federal grand jury and trial matters in white-collar and controlled substances cases, to homicide and other violent felonies, domestic and sexual assaults, fraud and controlled substances cases, and traffic offenses such as Driving While Impaired, Revoked License and other serious misdemeanors. There are various methods in which an eyewitness may identify a defendant. Both in-court and out-of-court identifications may be permitted during a criminal trial. Types of identification methods include:

    • lineups
    • show-ups
    • photo arrays
    • in-court identification

    However, one of the biggest issues that arises with respect to an eyewitness identification is the reliability of the identification. When an eyewitness testifies during the defendant's criminal trial, the prosecutor must establish that the eyewitness's testimony is reliable. The totality-of-the-circumstances test is used. Numerous factors are considered when determining whether identification testimony is reliable. Such factors include:

    • the opportunity and angle from which the eyewitness was able to view the defendant at the time the offense was committed
    • the degree of attention paid to the defendant when the offense was committed
    • comparison to the eyewitness's prior identification of the defendant
    • the degree of the eyewitness's certainty that defendant perpetrated the crime.
    • the amount of time that occurred between the commission of the crime and the eyewitness's identification of the defendant.
  • Hopper Law Firm:

    The ramifications of a drunk driving conviction in North Carolina include mandatory alcohol assessment and treatment, community service and probation, fines, court costs, increased insurance rates, mandatory jail time, suspension, revocation or loss of a driver's license, and vehicle immobilization or vehicle forfeiture.  A charge of driving while impaired (DWI) is a serious offense and in North Carolina mandates:

    • Immediate revocation of driver's license for 30 days
    • Driver's license revocation for one year if convicted
    • Fines up to $4,000.00
    • Up to 2 years in jail

    While your license is automatically suspended for 30 days you are able to get your license back after 10 days if you:

    • Get a certified 7 year driving history
    • Get an alcohol assessment and petition for a limited driving privilege
    • Set a hearing by filing the petition for limited driving privilege
    • Present the requisite information to the judge and file a copy of the executed limited driving privilege

    If you are convicted on a first offense, there is a possibility that you can get a temporary driving privilege for a period of one year until your suspension period ends.

    Because the stakes in a DUI-DWI case in North Carolina are high, a lawyer defending a client accused of drunk driving or driving while impaired needs to be proactive in discovery and able to identify whether the police violated either constitutional or North Carolina law.  Common issues that we raise when defending a client accused of drunk driving include:

    • Whether there was reasonable suspicion to stop the driver for drunk driving
    • Whether there was probable cause to arrest the driver for drunk driving
    • Whether Miranda warnings were provided
    • Whether law enforcement provided proper North Carolina implied consent warnings
    • Whether the driver refused to submit to a blood or breath test
    • Whether the driver failed a breath or blood test

    Suppression based on an unlawful stop, illegal detention, or unlawful arrest normally means that the following must be excluded from evidence: breath, urine, or blood test results; statements made after arrest, physical evidence taken from the individual or vehicle, and observation made of the driver by the police, including indicators of alcohol consumption and performance on field sobriety tests like the walk and turn test and one leg stand.

  • Laura Page: Do I lose my license if charged with a DWI? Yes, in the state of North Carolina your license is automatically suspended for a period of 30 days. Depending on your circumstances and driving record, you may be eligible for a limited driving privilege. Do I lose my license if convicted of a DWI? Yes, depending on your driving record you will lose your license for at least one year. However, you may be eligible for a limited driving privilege under certain circumstances.
  • Karl Knudsen: The 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits punishments that are cruel and unusual. The 8th Amendment is often invoked in death penalty cases, but it also addresses excessive fines. It applies to both federal and state governments, but most states actually have stricter cruel and unusual punishment laws.
  • Evia Jordan: Your rights to counsel and to present a defense in a criminal case are guaranteed by the 6th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as well as by state constitutions. The 6th Amendment applies to both the federal government and, by virtue of the 14th Amendment, to the individual states. No one may be imprisoned for any offense (misdemeanor, felony, or petty) without a waiver of their 6th Amendment rights, unless he or she was represented by an attorney at trial.
  • Andrew Sandman: The Fourth Amendment's exclusionary rule allows courts to prohibit the government from using, in jury trials, evidence recovered from illegal searches or seizures. The exclusionary rule is not automatically applied in every Fourth Amendment violation. Rather, the Supreme Court has stated that the rule should only take effect where "the remedial objectives of the rule are thought most efficaciously served." More specifically, the rule is usually applicable when its application results in a "deterrent effect" against unlawful searches and seizures.
  • Michelle Sparrow: In North Carolina there are two types of DWI's that are felonies. Felony death by motor vehicle, which a person is charged with if someone dies in an accident that was caused by a drunk driver. Felony death by motor vehicle can also be charged as second-degree murder. The other felony is habitual DWI, which a person is charged with if it is their fourth DWI conviction within seven years. A plea or verdict of guilty of habitual DWI requires a judge to sentence you to no less than one year in the Department of Corrections. That sentence cannot be suspended and is the absolute minimum sentence. Most judges give a much longer sentence than the minimum for habitual DWI. All other DWI's are misdemeanors.
  • Randolph Hill: ...raffic violations can have serious criminal consequences, particularly when a driver is accused of driving under the influence. A conviction on DUI/DWI charges will result in fines, driver's license suspension or revocation, and possibly land you in jail. In addition, your insurance company may increase your rates to an unmanageable level. In defending against an impaired driving charge, you have many rights as a criminal defendant, including the right to cross-examine the witnesses against you, even if they are police officers.
  • A.L. Carson: North Carolina has some of the toughest drinking-and-driving laws in the United States. To be found guilty of the offense of DWI you only need to drive on the streets or highways after "consuming a sufficient quantity of some impairing substance (like alcohol) so as to appreciably impair your mental and/or physical faculties" - or have a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher at "any relevant time after driving."
  • Dimmock & Dodd: A guilty plea to or conviction of driving while impaired will give you 12 automobile insurance points and will increase your insurance more than 400% for 3 consecutive years. The new 1997 and 1998 Motor Vehicle Forfeiture Laws now allow the forfeiture of motor vehicles in certain instances where the vehicle was driven by a person charged with one of the impaired driving offenses listed in the forfeiture law and the person charged had a revoked drivers license based on one of a number of acts involving impaired driving. We explain your rights in everyday language and explain to you all the procedural steps necessary to avoid forfeiture and provide for the return of the seized vehicle.
  • Grafstein & Walczyk: Before asking you to submit to a breathalyzer, police officers should advise you of your rights with regard to breathalyzer tests. If you refuse to submit to a breathalyzer, a wilful refusal will result in an immediate thirty day suspension and at least an additional one year suspension of your drivers license. This is true regardless of whether you are convicted for driving while impaired. You can get a limited driving privilege in cases of wilful refusal, but you must wait at lease 6 months before you are eligible.
  • Kurtz & Blum: Getting arrested for drunk driving can have serious repercussions including a potential jail sentence of up to two years and fines of up to $4,000. In addition, contrary to popular belief, issuance of a limited driving privilege is not automatic.
  • Marshall Law Firm: Being charged with a criminal matter, a traffic offense or a DWI can be a stressful experience.
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