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Chesterfield DWI Lawyers

• Kevin Roach: An arrest for DWI in Missouri can have serious criminal consequences. A conviction for DWI may result in fines, license revocation, or suspension, and possible jail time. In addition, your insurance company may cancel your coverage or 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. When a person is cited for a DWI there are essentially two lawsuits initiated: one is a criminal charge brought by the city or state in which you are stopped; the other is a civil lawsuit brought against your driver's license by the Director of the Missouri Department of Revenue. These proceedings occur simultaneously and both have a severe impact on your driving record and quality of life. DWI cases rise or fall on the facts of each case. The quality of your defense in a DWI case depends on the details and facts available for your attorney to work with. There are two primary sources of this information: You and the arresting officer's police reports. Thus, it is very important that you share with your attorney ALL of the details and facts about your case.
• McMichael, Logan and Engelmeyer: If you blew over a .08% and this is a first time DWI, you probably have two separate proceedings initiated against you. First, you have the underlying DWI charge. This is the actual charge for driving while intoxicated and it is pending in the municipality or county in which you were pulled over. This is the criminal prosecution against you. Additionally, after being arrested and booked, you were given some paperwork and a fifteen (15) day driving permit. The State of Missouri has enacted a statute that allows the Department of Revenue to issue an automatic Administrative Suspension without a hearing. This statute allows the State to suspend your driving privileges for a period of thirty (30) days, followed by sixty (60) days of restricted driving privileges. This is a statutory suspension and is a separate and distinct proceeding from the underlying criminal/traffic charge pending in the municipality or county. This statute has been challenged on Constitutional grounds and the Missouri Supreme Court has upheld its validity. It is important to note that this suspension will automatically be imposed on day sixteen (16) unless you file a "Request for Administrative Hearing." There is a form for this request that is included with your fifteen (15) day driving permit. The decision on whether or not to file the "Request for Administrative Hearing" should be discussed with your attorney. A great majority of the administrative suspensions are sustained. It may be a waste of time and money to challenge this decision because there is only one issue to be decided by the Administrative Hearing Officer-whether or not Petitioner was arrested upon probable cause to believe Petitioner was driving a motor vehicle while the alcohol concentration in the blood was .08% or more by weight. In most cases, this is very easy for the State to prove. For practical purposes, the filing of the request for administrative hearing may be a mechanism for delaying the inevitable suspension, but the likelihood of overturning the suspension is minimal.