Litigation News April 2018

This month in litigation news, a client was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and was charged with a litany of other traffic related offenses. Once our experienced attorneys got involved, we were able to obtain records from the police including a video, which was intended to capture the entire police altercation. After reviewing that video, our attorneys were able to find several critical mistakes made by the police officer in his arrest of our client. First, the video showed the officer waiting over 1 mile to pull the client over for the initial traffic offense. Second, once our client was pulled over, the officer asked our client to do a field sobriety test, but conveniently did the test outside the shot of the video. Third, in the video, you could hear the officer’s laid back attitude, jokes, and other comments regarding our client’s performance during the field sobriety test that was in clear contradiction to what was on the officer’s final report. Because of the officer’s mistakes, our attorneys were able to convince the Assistant State’s Attorney to dismiss the DUI in exchange for payment of the fine for the initial traffic violation. Portner & Shure attorneys will go to great lengths to investigate your case and prove your innocence.

Be Proactive on your Virginia License Points

As the weather gets warmer, more and more people will be up and about and driving. That means police will me more vigilant for traffic offenses. If you end up with a minor traffic ticket, that could mean points for your Virginia driver’s license. But did you know you could offset those points by taking a Virginia driver’s improvement clinic? When you successfully complete a driver’s improvement clinic, you’ll be awarded 5 driver safety points. Look up your nearest driver’s improvement clinic at https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/drivers/#clinics.asp . However, for more serious traffic offenses, it may not be in your best interest to admit guilt, as more serious traffic offenses are considered criminal misdemeanor offenses with potential jail time. Regardless of what traffic citation you’ve been charged, consult one of our experienced traffic attorneys to determine what the best plan for you may be.

Why it's Important to Hire a Criminal Defense Attorney for your Virginia DWI Case

In Virginia, traffic offenses, including DWIs, are taken very seriously. Virginia is known to have some of the strictest penalties for traffic offenses, especially for DWIs. The most important thing to know is that for a BAC of 0.15 or greater, there is mandatory jail time. A Virginia Judge must sentence someone convicted of a DWI to at least 5 days in jail if the BAC is 0.15-0.20 and 10 days if the BAC is greater than 0.20. It is important to hire an experienced DWI attorney in Virginia to make sure you get the minimum number of days in jail. If you do not take this seriously, you risk being sentenced to the full 30 days in jail for BAC of 0.15-0.20, or 40 days for a BAC over 0.20.

Other penalties for DWIs in Virginia include, a mandatory license suspension for one year or have an ignition interlock device installed in your vehicle for one year. In addition, you will be required to complete alcohol education classes through VASAP.

Another important thing to remember in Virginia is that if you refuse the breath test or blood test so that the police can obtain a reading of your BAC, that is a misdemeanor offense in itself and you can face a license suspension of 3 years.

If you have been charged with a DWI in Virginia, call us today for a free consultation (703) 916-1227.