Work With a DUI Attorney to Protect Your Rights

If you have been charged with a DUI or DWI, you need to take steps to protect yourself and your rights. Working with an attorney can help you better understand the laws surrounding DUI and DWI charges, and how you can fight your case to secure the best possible outcome. At Flakne Law, we work with clients in and around Minneapolis who are facing DUI and DWI charges that can impact both their personal and professional lives.

What’s the Difference Between DUI & DWI?

Generally known as driving under the influence, DUI can include both drugs and alcohol. This may or may not include a specific level of substance and, because of this, all a prosecutor needs to prove is that your ability to drive was impaired as a result of the drugs or alcohol.

DWI stands for driving while intoxicated. Intoxication usually elevates your blood alcohol concentration, or BAC. In Minnesota, the legal BAC limit is 0.08 percent. Depending on the circumstances, however, you can be arrested for a BAC of less than 0.08 percent, especially if you are underage or if you were driving a commercial vehicle at the time of the incident.

Minnesota also enforces a “no tolerance” policy for underage drivers, meaning any level of alcohol found in the blood of a minor will result in an arrest.

What Are the Penalties for DUI or DWI?

Just because you have been arrested for a DUI or DWI doesn’t automatically mean you are going to have to serve jail time. Conviction of a DUI or DWI and, subsequently, jail time, is always a possibility, but it isn’t necessarily a probability. That’s why it is so important to know what the laws are, what options you have and what you need to do to protect yourself throughout the legal process.

That being said, impaired driving is a serious offense. In Minnesota, if convicted, you could face both criminal and administrative penalties, such as jail time and monetary fines. Punishment can differ based on many variables, such as age and whether or not you have been convicted in the past.

Generally speaking, most criminal penalties are misdemeanors for first, second and third offenses, and include fines and suspension of driving privileges. If this is your fourth criminal offense, however, the DWI becomes a felony and may result in seven years of imprisonment, impounded license plates and vehicle forfeiture. Courts may also charge a felony for intoxicated driving if vehicular injury or homicide was involved.

Just because it happened in your car doesn’t mean a DUI or DWI is a traffic offense. These crimes are considered criminal offenses and the government won’t hesitate to enact necessary punishments. Conviction of a DUI or DWI is a serious matter.

You Don’t Have to Face This Alone

Getting arrested and charged with a DUI or DWI can be devastating, but you don’t have to face this process alone. At Flakne Law, we bring years of experience to help you get your life back on track after a DUI or DWI charge. If you have been arrested or charged with a DUI or DWI, don’t panic—call Flakne Law at (952) 888-9304 or use our contact form to reach us to discuss your case today.