DWI INFORMATION
BAITY LAW
DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED ATTORNEY
FREE CONSULTATION ON ALL DWI AND ALCOHOL RELATED CASES
PAYMENT PLANS AVAILABLE
Driving While Impaired is the most serious misdemeanor crime in North Carolina in terms of exposure to incarceration. In addition to possible incarceration, the financial consequences of losing your license and the ultimate insurance increase can be devastating.
At Baity Law, our attorney has had a lot of success in defending driving while impaired cases. Mr. Baity has handled literally hundreds of Driving While Impaired cases over the past 26 years. Clients come from all walks of life including doctors, teachers, engineers, college students, truck drivers, and everyone in between. It can happen innocently enough. Being at the wrong place at the wrong time and having a few too many drinks, or the prescription medication you were taking might have had unexpected effects. Let Mr. Baity aggressively defend your interest and help you find the most promising approach toward resolving your DWI, Boating While Impaired, or Driving After Consuming under 21 charge. Your trust will be well-placed.
There are many people who have a legitimate defense in their case. However, they simply choose to plead guilty because they do not realize that they have sufficient defenses for an acquittal even with an alcohol level of .08 or higher. Mr. Baity will review your case personally and will put his 26 years of experience to work for you. In North Carolina, there are 4 elements to Driving While Impaired with 3 alternative elements used to prove the 4th element. The first three elements are that the person drove a vehicle as currently defined by statute, on a public street, highway, or public vehicular area and that the state can prove either appreciable impairment in lieu of chemical breath test or blood sample, alcohol level of .08 or higher, or finally, any amount of a Schedule I controlled substance or its metabolites in the urine or blood. There is a step by step process with different hurdles and evidentiary standards that the police and prosecutors have to be able to achieve in order to obtain a conviction. If they fail to overcome any of the hurdles or evidentiary standards along the way, then you will win your case. Issues such as reasonable suspicion for the stop, probable cause for the arrest, proper testing methodology, and many other areas of defense are thoroughly challenged.
In North Carolina there are six misdemeanor levels of DWI. Level 5 has the least serious consequences graduating up to an Aggravated Level 1 offense which is the most serious misdemeanor which includes mandatory jail time of up to 3 years incarceration. Habitual Driving While Impaired is a felony. To be eligible for this charge, in addition to your current charge of Driving While Impaired, you must have already been convicted of three or more offenses involving impaired driving as defined by statute within ten years of the date of this offense. You will be advised as to the level that you are facing if convicted during your consultation.
PROCEDURE AND CONSEQUENCES
During your initial FREE consultation, we will spend approximately 45 minutes going over detailed facts related to your case, and then you will receive information on what to expect as we move forward with your case. After the first consultation, as part of the discovery process, we will obtain a copy of all evidence that the State intends to use against you. Additionally, subpoenas will be issued for police video, jail video, or for any necessary evidence not received. A copy of the discovery will be provided for your review. Your input is just as important as what the police officer states in his notes. Mr. Baity will thoroughly investigate and review the evidence to determine the most advantageous approach for your case.
After thirty days from your charge date, you will be eligible in most circumstances to get your license back while awaiting the outcome of your case. You will be required to pay a one hundred dollar reinstatement fee to the Clerk of Court. If you choose, you may be eligible to receive a limited driving privilege during the initial 30 day suspension of your license. You will be required to provide a DL 123 form from your insurance company, complete your alcohol assessment earlier than normally requested, and wait the initial 10 days. Mr. Baity will get the appropriate documentation approved by the District Attorney's office and have the Judge issue your 20 day privilege. You would be required to pay the Clerk of Court a one hundred dollar fee for the preliminary limited driving privilege. You will still be required to comply with the reinstatement fee of one hundred dollars after 30 days. If blood was taken in your case you will only loose your license pre-trial for some future 30 day time frame if the results come back at an impairing level and you are then notified by the NC DMV to surrender your license for 30 days. Mr. Baity will advise you about having an alcohol assessment and the appropriate timing of completing the assessment. Once you have paid your reinstatement fee to the Clerk's office after 30 days from the charge date, obtained an alcohol assessment as advised, and reviewed your discovery as requested, you have completed all that we expect of you and you can then expect that Mr. Baity will put his years of experience to work for you in court.
If convicted, the judge will sentence you according to statutory guidelines. If you are sentenced as a level three, four, or five, you are eligible for unsupervised probation provided you have your court cost and fines available to pay the day of court. You will lose your license for one year. However, if age 21 or over at the time of the charge, you will also be eligible for a driving privilege if you have already completed your assessment and have a letter from your employer if necessary for non-standard driving hours. You must also have a DL 123 form from your insurance company which is current within 30 days of your final court date. You will be required to complete the recommendations of your alcohol assessment, complete community service during the time specified with no extensions of time for completion, pay your required court cost and fine and remain of good behavior during the term of your unsupervised probation.
If sentenced as a level two, level one, or as the highest misdemeanor level of aggravated level one, then you face mandatory jail time. To receive a level two sentence, the judge must find one grossly aggravating factor in your case. To receive a level one sentence, the judge must find two grossly aggravating factors in your case. To receive an Aggravated level one sentence, the judge must find at least three aggravating factors in your case. For a level two sentence, the mandatory minimum is 7 days incarceration up to a period of 1 year incarceration. A level one sentence is 30 days mandatory minimum incarceration up to a total period of 2 years incarceration. An Aggravated level one sentence is 120 days mandatory minimum with up to 3 years incarceration and ultimately subject to a continuous alcohol monitoring system for at least four months. Supervised probation is required for the balance of the sentence. Inpatient treatment is a possible alternative that Mr. Baity will discuss with you as a method of avoiding mandatory active incarceration.
Maximum Court Cost and Fines for each Level are as follows:
For offenses on/after January 1st, 2012, Court Cost will be $290
Level Five: Court Cost of $190 Fine up to $ 200.00
Level Four: Court Cost of $190 Fine up to $ 500.00
Level Three: Court Cost of $190 Fine up to $ 1,000.00
Level Two: Court Cost of $190 Fine up to $ 2,000.00
Level One: Court Cost of $190 Fine up to $ 4,000.00
Aggravated Level One: Court Cost of $190 Fine up to $10,000
If blood was taken as part of your driving while impaired charge then there is also a fee of $600 applied to your case.
*Community Service fee is $250 in addition to Court Cost and Fines.
**Limited Driving Privilege fee is $100 in addition to Court Cost.
*Levels Five, Four, and Three
**If Limited Driving Privilege requested for In-State Driving
