Not every case is won, no matter who you hire to represent you. Sometimes the facts or circumstances go against you especially in DWI cases where the law in North Carolina is very difficult to beat. I’ve won my share, but I’ve also lost. I hate losing, but it happens. It’s the nature of being…
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Tag Archive: driving while impaired
Truncation of the Breath Ticket in a Driving While Impaired Case
Many DWIs in North Carolina culminate in a chemical analysis, most of the time conducted on an Intox EC/IR II machine. In some cases, the officer will request a blood draw, and a medical professional will draw a person’s blood and send it off to a crime lab for analysis. The Intox EC/IR II machine…
Changes in Wake County DWI Courtrooms
Wake County continues to have the largest number of DWI arrests of any county in the State. In short, DWI enforcement in Raleigh is up. And, apparently, general traffic citations are somewhat down in Raleigh and the surrounding areas. In order to address the backlog of DWI cases, the court system has recently made changes…
Are you required to perform Field Sobriety Tests?
Many DWIs are won or lost long before they reach a Raleigh DWI lawyer. That’s because, too often, drivers feel as though they have no option but to answer questions, provide a breath sample on a portable breath test (PBT), or perform various silly tests such as walking a line, standing on one leg, and…
Setting Expectations: The Raleigh DWI Lawyer’s Dilemma
Private lawyers have a particular dilemma which, while not unique to criminal defense law, is certainly a problematic feature of it. An ethical lawyer may never promise a particular outcome at the outset or during representation. Rule 7.1 of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct says that “A lawyer shall not make a false…
How can I avoid a DWI arrest?
I’ve written elsewhere about the top 5 ways to beat a DWI charge and about how North Carolina DWI laws have gotten harsher and harsher over time. Let me reiterate a few key points. First, while it is not illegal to drink and drive – so long as you are not impaired, if there is…
Stopping a Car – Are you Nervous?
Many Driving While Impaired offenses turn on the question of whether the police had the constitutional power to stop the car. That’s because once the car is stopped, most people make all kinds of admissions and display all kinds of clues that indicate that they may be impaired. Once those field sobriety tests are conducted,…
HGN Expert Testimony in North Carolina DWI Trials
Expert testimony, as I described in my previous post on this issue, is admissible under a hybrid rule in North Carolina articulated in Goode, Howerton, and related cases such as Ward. That three-part test is used for most expert testimony and, until 2006, for the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test (HGN) used in many DWI prosecutions….
North Carolina Checkpoint Law
As the holiday season approaches, drivers should plan to expect checkpoints. Checkpoints are increasingly common features of law enforcement strategy and are governed by particular rules. Federal money subsidizes the use of checkpoints through state programs such as the Governor’s Highway Safety Program The general rule is that checkpoints may not be established for general…
DUIs and Public Vehicular Areas
Most Raleigh DWIs involve driving on a street or highway. North Carolina, like most states, criminalizes impaired driving that occurs on any street or highway, including streets or highways that may be “private” but be used by the public in general. But what if drunk driving is alleged to have occurred in a driveway, parking…
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