DWI

In New York State, alcohol related driving offenses can be a violation, a misdemeanor or a felony.

Suffolk County takes a tough position on Driving While Intoxicated. When I first became a Criminal Attorney 30 Years ago, if you were in the general arraignment court, today known as court room D11, you would see that approximately one third of all new arrest were for driving while intoxicated. Today driving while intoxicated and other alcohol related driving offenses account for a very small percentage of the total arrest in Suffolk County, on any given day. This is due not only in part because of an increased awareness of the dangers of with driving while intoxicated, but also because there has been a steady tightening of the plea guidelines that the Suffolk prosecutors can offer, as well as an increase in the penalties under the New York Penal Code, as well as stricter DMV consequences for alcohol related driving convictions.

Driving While Intoxicated

Driving While Intoxicated ( DWI) involves operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher. Driving while intoxicated is a usually a misdemeanor charge. If there is a prior conviction for driving while intoxicated within 10 years of the new charge, a motorist can be charged with Felony DWI.

A motorist can also be charged with driving while intoxicated even when there is no blood alcohol level reading such as from an intoxilizer or blood test. This situation is usually referred to as a refusal, and here the officer may base the charge of driving while intoxicated on other factors that establish intoxication such as slurred speech, glassy eyes, and the smell of an alcoholic beverage on the motorist breath.

For situations where the blood alcohol level is .05 or greater, but less then .08, the charge will be Driving While Ability Impaired by the consumption of Alcohol ( DWAI). This charge is a violation, not a misdemeanor or criminal charge, unless there is a prior conviction for driving while impaired or driving while intoxicated within 5 years of this new charge. If there is a prior within 5 years, the new charge can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor.

Driving While Intoxicated and Your license

In Suffolk County, almost everyone that has been charged with driving while intoxicated will lose their license for at least some amount of time. If a motorist chooses not to take a breath test, or is accused of refusing to take the breath test by the officer, that motorist license will be suspended at arraignment, by the judge, pending a refusal hearing. If the motorist fails to appear for the DWI refusal hearing or shows up but loses the hearing, his or her license will be revoked for a minimum 1 year. An additional civil penalty of at least $500.00 will be imposed by New York State DMV.

For those charged with Driving while intoxicated as a misdemeanor and who took the breath test, the court will nevertheless suspend your privileges to drive for 30 days from the date of the arrest. for those with a valid New York State driver’s license at the time of the arrest, the court may conduct what is known as a Hardship Hearing and under certain circumstances issue a Hardship Privilege permitting the defendant to drive to and from their place of employment, to and from school, and / or to and from medical appointments, during very specific times of the day during the 30 day hardship license period. After 30 days, the defendant should receive a letter from DMV advising that they can go to DMV and apply for a new license.

Upon conviction of an alcohol related offense, NYS DMV will impose additional suspensions and/ or revocations on the license based on the offense convicted of, prior convictions, type of license held by the defendant and the age of the defendant.

A motorist can often shorten the amount of time of the license suspension, post- conviction, by entering and completing a New York State Drunk Driving Program (DDP) administered by NYS DMV. Often a motorist will receive a conditional license once he or she signs up for the DDP program at department of motor vehicles.