OWI Defense Q & A

Hire the lawyer or DUI attorney with a law firm that specifically handles those type cases that may find defenses you don’t know exist. After a DUI arrest, find the best DUI attorneys, knowledgeable DUI defense attorney or criminal defense lawyer near you and discuss your DUI defense regarding your DUI charge including fighting the legal limit BAC tests and your arrest.  Only go with DUI lawyers or a DUI defense attorney who offers a free initial consultation, appears in court every day, offers free consultation, knows the criminal penalties and can rectify a driver’s license suspension after a DUI charge.

A DUI lawyer or DUI defense attorney is a criminal defense attorney or lawyer (typically a private attorney and not a public defender) handling mainly DUI cases who has the legal knowledge of the Department of Motor Vehicle and license suspension rules, knows the prosecution’s case, goes to criminal court typically daily and is well-versed in trying a DUI case to a jury. A good DUI lawyer can and would be able to assess your case, tell you relevant defenses during your free consultation and list the strengths and weakness at every step of your case before your court dates. A good DUI lawyer will inform you of relevant DUI law surrounding driver’s license suspension, DUI penalties and knows what to do with a relatively high breath test or urine test. They should know this during your free consultation or soon after.

Everything you need to know about how to find a good DUI lawyer that is affordable when facing DUI charges starts by asking the question, “How many DUI cases do you handle a week?” Ask this during the free consultation and don’t be shy. Ask this question to a public defender. Review how and why to hire a DUI lawyer for the best DUI charge case outcome, and what to expect a skilled DUI lawyer can do for a DUI criminal case. A good local DUI attorney gives legal advice and is available online. A good DUI lawyer knows the Department of Transportation code to ensure a defendant drives legally. Compare what a public defender versus a private DUI lawyer can provide. Good criminal defense lawyers know how to legally get you back on the road as soon as possible or get your license automatically. Ask if a public defender knows how to do this.

A DUI lawyer (not just any public defender) will be able to review the evidence during the free consultation or soon after a review of the police reports and how it was obtained. An ideal attorney will be able to find out exactly what DUI test or other evidence there is against you. A savvy lawyer will help you to keep your driver’s license from a suspension, a court conviction, jail time, permanent criminal record, suspended license along with an Ignition Interlock, and thousands of dollars in additional costs of fines and fees as well. and avoid an Ignition Interlock device requirement. Understanding a DUI conviction that come with DUI cases is crucial. It only comes with sound legal representation from most DUI lawyers with legal knowledge working with DUI defendants and related DUI criminal court case.

When a driver chooses to have an experienced and top local affordable DUI attorney on their side from the beginning, it can not only save a person from a court DUI conviction, but avoid jail time, a permanent criminal record, a suspended license along with an Ignition Interlock, and thousands of dollars in additional costs of fines and fees as well. A DUI lawyer can help you fight your charges in local courts & plea bargaining. Having the right lawyer with the legal DUI criminal experience is essential. We are familiar with the criminal justice system and have successfully won a number of DUI defense issues that self-represented defendants and most people don’t know about. They may be able to get the charges dropped or reduced, which will save you time and money in the long run. The best way to find out if you should hire a lawyer is by contacting us for a free consultation. If they don’t offer a free consultation, keep calling around.

When you are charged with a DUI, it is wise to consult an experienced lawyer with legal knowledge, trial skills chemical test knowledge, police reports expertise and extensive experience about DUI cases. A defense attorney who has successfully defended DUI cases can help guide the driver through this legal process and protect their rights during any interactions with law enforcement, the arresting officer or the court. You get a sense of an attorney’s knowledge level during the free consultation. Again, if they don’t offer a free consultation, keep shopping.

The defense attorney can also help you understand what the DUI penalties are, DUI legal knowledge and DUI conviction are possible for your offense no matter your blood or breath test result.

When you are charged with a DUI, it is wise to consult an experienced lawyer with legal knowledge, trial skills chemical test knowledge, police reports expertise and extensive experience about DUI cases. A defense attorney who has successfully defended DUI cases can help guide the driver through this legal process and protect their rights during any interactions with law enforcement, the arresting officer or the court. You get a sense of an attorney’s knowledge level during the free consultation. Again, if they don’t offer a free consultation, keep shopping.

The defense attorney can also help you understand what the DUI penalties are, DUI legal knowledge and DUI conviction are possible for your offense no matter your blood or breath test result.

Simple explanations do not exist. Essentially, they are the same thing but with small nuances of definitions like “What is Operating” or “What is Intoxicated” being interpreted differently from state to state. In some states impairments can be defined differently and that explains why many slang names are commonly used. Driving while intoxicated is commonly called “OWI”. Alcohol intoxication is easy: having a blood alcohol concentration above .08 or otherwise known as a “prohibited blood alcohol content” while operating a motor vehicle. drugs, whether they are illegal narcotics or doctor prescribed medications, are a totally separate factor.

Although it is not necessary to have an attorney for an OWI, but it’s a good idea to consult with a knowledgeable OWI lawyer. Set up a free consultation. Free legal advice can never hurt and at least can help navigate an administrative license suspension if nothing else.

If your OWI case involves legal, technical or police mistakes, the prosecutor may dismiss it immediately if your case goes unresolved. Any trustworthy DUI lawyer who’s had a law practice for a while that just doesn’t want to take your money will tell you during the free consultation whether or not you need a DUI attorney. Also, a reputable DUI lawyer will tell you what you need to do to retain your driving privileges with a temporary license during a free consultation.

An OWI will remain in Wisconsin’s archives forever. After some time, there is no longer a “falloff”. The amount you drink in life can increase and impact a person’ s sentence. The traffic violations and court costs can fall of your criminal record or through a DMV hearing but much like criminal cases they are there for the duration.

All our initial free case evaluation meetings are free, and we don’t believe in paralegals so you WILL be always speaking to a criminal defense lawyer or DUI defense lawyer. Whether we talk about criminal cases or criminal charge, DUI cases or a combination of any and all legal matters an initial meeting is free.

Unfortunately, in the State of Wisconsin a plea bargain on an OWI is highly unlikely unless there is something legally flawed with the OWI itself. In that situation your DUI attorney will just get the case dismissed anyway. However, keeping your driver’s license from being suspended or keeping your driving privileges valid in some form after a DMV hearing is a better gamble.

Every DUI case is different therefore there is no “set” flat fee for every kind of DUI case. Sitting down with one of our DUI attorneys and he or she will help clarify the price of your DUI case.

We offer and encourage payment plans so if you can’t pay for the entire legal flat fee immediately, we understand. In addition, we also work with a bank that offers financing for those with “questionable” credit scores to be paid back at the defendant’s schedule (no matter how long that take).

Check out our Contact Information under each attorney’s bio on our homepage. Call our cell phones, send your lawyer a text message or email or call our1-888-375-3056 number for general information.

Check out our website under “Information ->The Process” A DUI attorney is the most important person in your DUI case. Your lawyer will guide you through this process, teach you relevant DUI law, walk you through a DMV hearing and make sure that you are represented to the best of their ability.

The minimum penalties for a DUI first offense are as follows:

  • Fine of $500 – $1,000. License suspension between 8 months and 1 year
  • Ignition interlock device of up to a 9 month period on your vehicle
  • Mandatory installation of an interlock device on all vehicles (we can decrease the vehicle number to 1) with a bac of .149 or more

The minimum penalties for a DUI second offense are as follows:

  • License suspension: At a minimum, you will lose your license for one full year and face restricted driving for two more years.The cost: $1800 in fines and costs
  • Jail time: Up to 9 months
  • Ignition interlock device: 1 year period on your vehicle
  • You cannot reduce the suspension time without doing alcohol treatment.
  • Mandatory installation of an interlock device on all vehicles.
  • Jail time: up to 9 months
  • License revocation: 270 days to one year

  • Check our OWI Guideline tab for the county you get the ticket in to find out the normal penalties.

  • Prison for at least 3 years. Incarceration for some of the term and extended supervision (now called Parole) for the remainder.

Defendants usually have similar question when facing the criminal justice system. The follow list is a few of the basics: Go to the FAQ under the Information tab to read in-depth questions about the criminal justice system.

  • “Not Operating the Vehicle” – If we can show a jury someone else was operating the vehicle when you intoxicated, this type of defense has been very successful in our record of high not guilty jury results.
  • “Not Under The Influence” – If we can show a jury that you may have had some alcohol but did not consume enough to be operating under the influence, again this type of defense has been very successful in our record of high not guilty jury results.

  • Collateral Attacks – If one or more of your previous convictions was entered without appreciating all you rirights (call us to see if they were) we can get the conviction thrown out for counting purposes, taking an OWI 3rd+ to an OWI 1st.
  • Failure to Stop – Law enforcement has to have “an articulable suspicion that crime is afoot” or a known tipster who called in the activity and then observe erratic driving.  Unless they can show it, the entire stop may be deemed unconstitutional.

The DOT hearing is completely separate from your drunk driving case. The DOT decides the validity of your driver’s license. The DOT does listen to the state court system (judge’s order) as to how long your license is going to be suspended but determines your driver’s license rule beyond that.

If you are a CDL driver or have one in the family, it is crucial to know that there are different rules when it comes to DUI’s. A DUI conviction will stay on your record for life.

In Wisconsin if there is 10 years or more between your 1st DUI conviction and your 2nd DUI conviction, the State just gives you another OWI 1st, but as soon as you get your 3rd the State counts all your OWIs your entire life.

Many drivers accused of such cases for the first time are confused when they are handed two tickets for what they thought was one event. In fact, Wisconsin breaks intoxicated driving into two offenses: operating under the influence and operating with a Prohibited Alcohol Concentration (PAC). A good DUI defense attorney should know this. The PAC or Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) ticket accuses you of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration or blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher breath or blood test.

The police will accuse you of driving under the influence of an intoxicating substance whether that be alcohol, narcotic drugs or medication. Even if you are convicted of both, you can only be penalized once. The two tickets have the same penalties. But prosecutors like the redundant tickets as it allows them to move forward with one even if we can disprove the other conviction.