Rochester DWI Lawyers
- Thomas Chorletta:
The defense of Driving While Intoxicated cases is a distinct, technical area in criminal law. DWI cases have special procedural and evidentiary rules, and are prosecuted differently--as opposed to so-called "regular crimes," by local District Attorney's Offices sensitive to public awareness of the problems of drinking/driving.
The defense of drinking/driving cases is evolving, requiring the practitioner to stay current with evolving police techniques in field sobriety and breath testing. This also involves knowledge by the practitioner of the scientific principles underlying breath and field sobriety testing, so as to effectively challenge the results of those tests.
While the layman may believe the typical DWI case is "open and shut," there are many avenues of attack, both from a procedural standpoint, and from the standpoint of challenging the admissibility and quality of the evidence presented.
- Thomas Anelli:
After you have been charged with a violation
related to alcohol or other drugs, it is
important for you to retain representation.
You may represent yourself in court, but
it is not recommended as this kind of violation
is complicated. You could find yourself
in jail very quickly if you are unsure of
what you are doing. The following are the
drug and alcohol related violations in New
York State:
- DWI: Driving While Intoxicated;
.08 BAC or higher or other evidence of
intoxication
- DWAI: Driving While Ability Impaired
(by alcohol); .05 BAC to .07 BAC, or other
evidence of impairment.
- DWAI / Drugs: Driving While Ability
Impaired (by a drug that is not alcohol).
.
- Zero Tolerance Law: A driver who is
less than 21 years of age and who drives
with a .02 BAC to .07 BAC violates the
Zero Tolerance Law.
- Chemical Test Refusal: A driver
who refuses to take a chemical test (normally
a test of breath, blood or urine) can
receive a driver license revocation and
must pay a $300 civil penalty ($350 for
a driver of commercial vehicles) to apply
for a new driver license. A driver who
refuses a chemical test during the five
years after a DWI-related charge will
have their driver license revoked for
one year and must pay a $750 civil penalty
to apply for a new driver license
To explain, alcohol concentration is defined
as the number of grams of alcohol per 100
milliliters of blood, the number of grams
of alcohol per 210 liters of breath, or
the number of grams of alcohol per 67 milliliters
of urine. It should be noted that each of
these three tests is different and conflicting
results can occur. This means that potentially,
your urine test could find you innocent
while your breath test could find you intoxicated.
It is important to note that the legal
limit of .08 is determined at the time the
test was administered, and usually this
is not at the time of driving. It can be
anywhere from 30 to 75 minutes later. Therefore,
a test reading can be off, in relation to
whether the driver was intoxicated while
driving, which is the crime. In other words,
if you had two drinks in 30 minutes, then
left right away, chances are your BAC would
not register the two drinks if you were
pulled over. It would probably only register
one. However, you would not be given the
breath test right there, but instead, at
a later time when your BAC could be higher
since your body has had time to process
the alcohol. As a result, you would be charged
with a DWI even though when you were actually
driving, your body had not registered the
alcohol yet and you were not influenced
by it.
- Thomas Corletta:
The defense of Driving While Intoxicated cases is a distinct and technical area in criminal law. DWI cases have special procedural and evidentiary rules, and are prosecuted differently--as opposed to so-called "regular crimes," by local District Attorney's Offices sensitive to public awareness of the problems of drinking/driving.
The defense of drinking/driving cases is an evolving one, requiring the practitioner to staycurrentwith evolving police techniques in field sobriety and breath testing. This also involves knowledge by the practitioner of the scientific principles underlying breath and field sobriety testing, so as to effectively challenge the results of those tests.
While the layman may believe that the typical DWI case is "open and shut," there are many avenues of attack, both from a procedural standpoint, and from the standpoint of challenging the admissibility and quality of the evidence presented.
- Brian Buettner:
The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the federal authority for regulating the manufacture and distribution of drugs and other controlled substances. In an effort to uniformly prevent and punish the abuse of drugs, CSA places regulated substances into one of five schedules, ranging from the most dangerous drugs in Schedule I to the least dangerous drugs in Schedule V.
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- Michelle Nobile:
DWI:
1. Have your traffic tickets handy. 2. Try to remember exactly
what happened, why you were pulled over, what the officer asked you
and what you said or did. If you took the breath test, try to
remember what your BAC reading was. 3. List all prior
convictions, except minor traffic offenses. This includes all other
criminal charges. 4. List any outstanding charges, including
traffic tickets, parking, etc. 5. Know your current status: are
you on parole, out on bail, if so, how much? 6. List each time you
were in court on this charge, what happened and if anyone gave your
any papers or if they were mailed to you. Keep the envelope or
make a note of when you received what and bring everything with
you. 7. When is your next court date, in which court are you to
appear and who is the Judge?
- Napier &
Napier:
If you are arrested for a DWI, it is important that you contact
us immediately. A Felony DWI Diversion program may allow you to
have charges reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.
- Fiandach's NY DWI.com:
Choosing a lawyer requires you to
recognize a stark fact. If you have been
charged with "DWI", you have been charged
with a crime. If you are convicted, not
only may you go to jail, but at a minimum
you will carry a criminal record for the
rest of your life. Even if it is only your
first time. This means that if you ever
change jobs, you will have to answer "yes"
to the question, "have you ever been
convicted of a crime." Further, you may
have to supply details. It is a well
recognized fact that given the choice of
two otherwise equal applicants, employers
will not choose the one who has "an
alcohol history."
- Todd Wisner:
A defendant convicted of any violation of New York's
Vehicle and Traffic Law §1192 will face adverse
consequences to his drivers license, a fine, increased
insurance rates for several years, and a record with the
Department of Criminal Justice Services for life. In
addition, the defendant faces the possibility of
incarceration, the length of which depends on the charge.
While incarceration is more probable in misdemeanor and
felony convictions than with a criminal violation of
§1192(1) (more colloquially referred to as Driving While
Ability Impaired) even though even that charge carries with
it up to 15 to 30 days incarceration. New York laws in this
area are subject to frequent change and we ask that you
call for an appointment to discuss what penalties you might
presently face.
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