Being charged with either a DUI or a DWI (DUI/DWI) may cause you being imprisoned, being placed on probation, loosing you job, preventing you from getting a job, pay enormous fines, etc. In cases of foreign nationals it way also result in deportation or preventing from becoming a U.S. Citizen.A common mistake people make is to plea guilty to a DUI/DWI charge because they think there is no other option. Our MD DWI attorneys are very familiar with Maryland DWI laws and also represent people charged with traffic violations like driving without license or on suspended license, speeding, reckless driving, etc.
An Attorney Who Understands Maryland DWI Laws On Your Side
You need an aggressive attorney on your side who is capable of challenging the admission of the evidence the prosecutor may have against you like breath or blood test results aimed to determine blood concentration of alcohol or controlled substances.
The judge will not suppress any evidence against you unless you have an aggressive attorney on your side that challenges its admission.
- I will make sure the police has followed the statutory procedures to determine that you were driving while intoxicated or under the influence.
- I will carefully review all the evidence against you and how it was obtained. I will even evaluate if you were legally stopped in the first place. The police cannot arbitrarily stop you.
- I will make sure your legal and constitutional rights were not violated in any moment. If any of those rights were violated the charge against you will be dismissed.
Before negotiating a favorable plea deal I will ensure there is no reasonable legal options to challenge a charge for DUI/DWI.
A favorable plea deal may include an outcome to avoid a conviction, plea guilty to a lesser offense and minimizing the penalties. If you are a foreign national I will ensure the plea deal will not affect your immigration status or your stay in the country.
What do you do if the police pulled you over?
If while driving the police stop you first thing you need to do is be courteous. In Maryland there is no requirement to submit to a breath or blood test unless the driver was involved in an accident that resulted in a life-threatening injury to another person or in the death of another person. Nevertheless if convicted, the driver who has refused to submit to a test may face a lengthy license suspension or ignition interlock restriction, as well as eligibility for enhanced criminal penalties.
If you are pulled over in Maryland you may request immediately to speak to an attorney before consenting to a test for alcohol or controlled substance concentration so long as the consultation does not interfere with the police’s effort to timely and efficiently obtain the test result.
If the driver elects to submit to the test, by law, the breath test technician must administer the test within two hours after the driver is apprehended. If the test is administered after the two hours period, the test result may be challenged in court.
On the other hand in Virginia refusing to submit to the test is a separate crime and carries with it the possibility of a six-month jail sentence.
Do not make any admission to the police to drinking or drug abuse. Do not even say you had “just a beer”.
If you are an undocumented foreign national do not disclose that you have “no papers”, that you are a foreign national or that you were not born in the United States. Simply do not answers those kind of questions until you consult an attorney.
