DO I NEED A LAWYER FOR MY FIRST OFFENSE DWI IN FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA
The unfortunate truth about DWI cases, is that they can be very hard to win or get reduced. There are a lot of times when it is possible, it certainly isn’t rare. But it will have nothing to do with who you are as a person, or whether you volunteer on the weekends or anything similar. There are times where a prosecutor will offer to reduce a DWI to a wet reckless if the facts of your case aren’t particularly egregious. But as political pressure continues to mount of Commonwealth Attorneys to be hard on crime, it is become less and less common to see an “equity” reduction. That is a reduction that is done solely because the driver is a good person.
Rather, cases are largely won or lost on legal issues. Did the officer do something wrong or violate the driver’s rights in some way? Was the machine not working properly? Was the officer have sufficient probable cause to stop the vehicle? Did he have sufficient probable cause to make the arrest?
These legal issues are the way that matters get reduced or dismissed. The flip side to that is that if there are no legal issues in your case, if the officer did everything properly and if the breathalyzer machine was working well, it is going to be very hard to get the case reduced or dismissed.
This all assumes that you took the breath test and the result was .09 or above. As you are probably aware, the legal limit in Virginia is .08. There are a lot of legal defenses to cases where the BAC is right on the line at a .08. Those may receive favorable plea offers. They can also be won if the field sobriety tests were done relatively well and you are lucky enough to proceed in front of a good judge.
SO SHOULD YOU HIRE A LAWYER
The answer is a resounding yes and even with the understanding that even if you hire the most brilliant lawyer and they do excellent legal work you may still end up convicted of a DWI. This is particularly true if you have a BAC above the legal limit and the officer did his job properly.
If you have a very high BAC (over .15) or if this is your second or subsequent DWI arrest, there is no question about hiring a lawyer. You are looking at mandatory jail time and a lot can be done by your lawyer to reduce your punishment. This article is only talking about First Offense DWIs with BACs between .09 and .14.
A decent DWI lawyer is going to cost you a few thousand dollars. That is no small amount to be certain, but even the starting punishments for a DWI are unpleasant and the conviction stays on your record for life. So, regardless of what you end up paying the lawyer and what the end result ends up being, you want to make sure that you only accept that punishment and the record if ever avenue to fight the case has been close off.
So yes, before accepting the rather harsh punishment of a DWI you should hire a lawyer.
