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Fredericksburg DUI Lawyer

DUIs are very serious in Virginia and they are treated as such, especially in Fredericksburg. Driving under the influence can have serious consequences and penalties. Therefore, the help of a Fredericksburg DUI attorney is going to essential for a person defending themselves from a DUI charge.

The benefit of having an experienced defense attorney by your side is that an attorney will be able to help you mitigate some of this damage in order to fight your offense. There are a number of possible defenses an attorney may be able to employ depending on the specific facts and circumstances of the case.

DUI Charges

A DUI in Fredericksburg is made up of multiple aspects. A DUI stands for driving under the influence, which usually means drinking while driving, but could also mean being under influence of drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol.

The elements of the DUI would be that an individual was operating a motor vehicle on a highway in the Commonwealth of Virginia and that their BAC was 0.08 or above or their BAC was less than 0.08, but they were exhibiting obvious kinds of impairment and were under the influence of a drug. An experienced Fredericksburg DUI attorney can help to defend against these factors.

DUI Stops

DUI stops and checkpoints are not particularly common in Fredericksburg, however, they do happen. A DUI stop in Fredericksburg can take place along many of the main thoroughfares. DUI stops will consist of an officer pulling over a person’s vehicle, asking questions and asking for an individual to perform field sobriety tests on the side of the road.

Penalties

DUI charges are extremely intimidating because of the seriousness in which a DUI charge is taken, not only in Fredericksburg but everywhere in Virginia. DUIs involve people who are therefore considered a risk to the community.

Somebody who is charged with a DUI is going to be prosecuted as though they are creating a risk to the community where the prosecutor, judge, and jury are residents. They are going to be treated like a risk and their case is going to be treated as though they need to be taken off of the streets and severely punished so that it does not happen again. Due to this attitude, it is imperative those accused seek the counsel of a DUI attorney in Fredericksburg to assist in building a defense and determining whether any alternative sentencing such as probation or ignition interlock can be used to a client’s advantage.

Role of an Attorney

Listening to the clients present the evidence they have and listening to the incident from the client’s point of view is an important step for an attorney. This is really important because often, talking to the client and listening to how the officer presented any of the elements of a DUI stop can really help create a robust defense and really help a defense attorney pick out important facts that can be used in their defense or to pick a prosecution’s case.

A Fredericksburg DUI lawyer can benefit a client by looking into the “nitty-gritty” of the evidence. This means ensuring that everything was done correctly. For example, if a breathalyzer was performed, was it performed correctly?   Was the machine calibrated? When was it calibrated? What were the operating requirements for that particular machine? Was the individual who operated the machine licensed? There are so many intricate details that a really good DUI attorney will be aware of and will know to check for these details. This will help expose potential flaws in the case.

After collecting all of the evidence, a DUI attorney will be able to get a clear picture of where things stand with their client’s case and can help them understand what to expect. Defense attorneys will look at all of the evidence and then ask the clients for their thoughts on the case. Sometimes, it may make more sense to take a plea deal or work out a scenario which carries the lesser impact for the client. This will take an experienced defense attorney who is knowledgeable with DUI cases in order to anticipate pitfalls and recommend the best possible outcome to the client.

Contacting an Attorney

The seriousness of the prosecution for DUI charges can make these cases extremely intimidating. That, coupled with the potential consequences for a first offense, up to a year in jail, a mandatory minimum fine, potential mandatory minimum jail time and up to a third offense which is treated as a felony, the consequence is extremely serious and the possibility of jail time is very real, even more so for a second offense. For these reasons the help of a DUI attorney in Fredericksburg is essential.

An experienced lawyer can analyze the different aspects of enhanced DUIs such as, an injury as a result of DUI, or some type of criminal offense in your past, that could potentially enhance the penalties for your DUI. An attorney will ensure these enhancements are charged correctly and attack them and the circumstances under which they are charged should the opportunity arise.

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