Guest post by Attorney Andrew Flusche.
If you’re charged with DWI in Spotsylvania, you really need to be thinking about whether or not to hire a lawyer. That applies to any DWI in Virginia, whether you’re charged in the Virginia Beach area, where my friend Peter practices, or in the Fredericksburg / Stafford / Spotsylvania area, where I practice.
Everyone knows that a DWI charge in Virginia is a serious offense. It’s a class 1 misdemeanor and it carries the possibility of up to a year in jail with up to a $2,500 fine and one-year mandatory loss of your license if you are found guilty. The year in jail does not usually happen in most cases. Typically, you may be looking at only a few days in jail and in some cases no jail at all. But the license suspension is mandatory if you’re found guilty of a first offense DWI. In first offense cases, you’re normally eligible for a restricted license in my area but that does differ depending on the facts of the case.
What can a Spotsylvania DWI lawyer do for you? My job is to look through all of the Commonwealth’s evidence and determine what issues there may be. The officer has to have reasonable articulable suspicion to pull you over. He has to have probable cause to arrest you. And then normally they’re going to have a breath or a blood test to prove your blood alcohol content.
A couple of techniques that I use is first to get any video from the cruiser so we can see if the officer actually had reasonable suspicion to stop you and make an arrest. There isn’t always video from the cruisers in Spotsylvania, but when it’s available, it’s a fruitful avenue to investigate. For the breath machine, we get records from the Department of Forensic Science to see if there are any issues with the breath machine itself.
Even if there isn’t a defense to your DWI charge, depending on the facts and circumstances of your case and your prior record, we might be able to get your Spotsylvania DWI reduced to a lesser offense like reckless driving. This is somewhat rare; however, if you blew really close to the .08 line, the prosecutor might be willing to consider a reckless driving reduction.
At the end of the day, having a Spotsylvania DWI lawyer on your side helps you because you have someone who knows the system, who knows the local prosecutor and the judge, and can help guide you through the process. Even if at the end of the day you’re found guilty of DWI, having someone beside you who is advocating for you can be a huge comfort and aide as you navigate a stressful situation.
Author Bio: Andrew Flusche is a Virginia DUI lawyer who handles cases ranging from speeding to DUI to reckless driving in Spotsylvania County and the greater Fredericksburg area. Please visit Andrew’s site for more information about traffic defense in his area. He can be reached at (540) 318-5824.
If you are looking for traffic defense in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, or the greater Hampton Roads area, please give me (Peter Louie) a call at (757) 932-0464.