Why Do You Need a Lawyer for a Drunk Driving Charge?

Wisconsin drunk driving laws have serious penalties for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. While many states call this a DWI and Wisconsin uses this term as well, Wisconsin also uses OWI, which stands for operating while intoxicated.

Certainly, nobody should ever operate a vehicle while intoxicated-but police and the state also have an obligation to do their jobs, without violating your legal or constitutional rights, and without overstepping their legal boundaries. And yes, sometimes, they get it wrong, and incorrectly prosecute or convict people who are innocent.

Why Get an Attorney?

If you are charged with a DWI or OWI, you may need an experienced attorney to help you with your case. But how does an attorney help someone charged with DUI or DWI? The Wisconsin DWI attorney at the Law Office of Michael Hayes LLC can explain.

Lowering Possible Penalties

It goes without saying that the State won’t voluntarily tell you that you can reduce your charges or your penalties. It’s up to you to identify the circumstances that can reduce your penalties or sentence, and that’s something an experienced DUI lawyer can do for you.

There are things in every DUI or DWI case, that can make your penalties worse-or which can reduce the severity of the penalties that you face.

For example, errors made by the police at the time you took a sobriety test, your prior DUI/DWI history, the level and extent of any blood alcohol results, and the way any field tests were conducted by police, can be questioned, and potentially used to lower the penalties that you face.

An experienced DWI attorney will help you plead innocent, and use the facts of your particular case, to leverage a more favorable settlement-or fight the charges completely if that’s what you opt to do.

Looking at Officer Behavior

The U.S. Constitution and the Wisconsin Constitution provide that you can only be stopped in certain situations, and once you are stopped, you have rights as far as when the police can search, and where. Often, overzealous officers may go beyond what they are allowed to search.

A good OWI lawyer can look at the officer’s actions and behaviors, and see if the officer acted constitutionally. If he or she did not, it is possible that vital evidence-or the entire case against you-could be thrown out.

Protecting Your License

When you are arrested, you may subsequently receive a notice that the State intends to suspend your license-even if it is your first offense. A good lawyer can contest the notice, and appear at your hearing for you, in an effort to save your privilege to drive a vehicle.

Be careful. If you miss the deadline to challenge the notice, you will have no ability to object and could lose the legal right to drive.

Challenging BAC readings

In what is known as a “curve defense,” it is possible that your BAC, also known as BAL, was higher when the police took your BAC than it actually was when you were driving. A good attorney knows the factors and the science behind this curve defense and can use it to argue that your BAC was actually lower when you were behind the wheel than the state or the police say it was.

Contact Our Wisconsin Drunk Driving Lawyer 

Don’t face a Drunk Driving or OWI charge in Wisconsin alone. Get legal help to stand up for you and protect your rights. Call the Milwaukee DWI lawyer at the Law Office of Michael Hayes LLC at 414-405-5678 for help.