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Newport News DUI Lawyer

In Newport News, you must agree to have your blood alcohol content tested if there is reason to believe you are driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol. If your BAC is above the legal limit or you refuse testing, your license can be suspended and you can be charged with a crime. A Newport News DUI lawyer can defend you when your license is at risk and when you are facing criminal charges.

How a Newport News DUI Lawyer Can Help

After a DUI arrest or a refusal to take a BAC test, your license will be automatically and administratively suspended if you do not act. A Newport News DUI lawyer can help you fight the administrative suspension of your license to drive.

Your attorney can also try to get the criminal charges pending against you dropped. A prosecutor has the burden of proving you drove drunk, and usually will use the results of your BAC test as evidence. If you can keep the chemical test from being used in court because your Fourth Amendment rights were violated, the prosecutor might have to drop the charge.

A Fourth Amendment violation could occur if you were stopped without justification or asked to submit to a chemical test without probable cause.

If a prosecutor will not dismiss the charges and your case is not dismissed, your Newport News DUI lawyer will stand beside you in court and help you raise defenses. You can make the jury doubt whether the test was accurate or whether the evidence was correctly handled, or you can introduce other defenses like alleging your BAC was higher when tested than when you were behind the wheel.

DUI charges are serious and you need to make informed choices and respond to accusations strategically. A lawyer in Newport News with experience on DUI cases is going to bring a strong legal background and knowledge of DUI laws to the table to help you as you navigate the criminal justice system.

DUI Laws in Newport News

Virginia Code Section 18.2-266 establishes the definition of DUI in the state. A defendant can be charged with this offense for having a BAC of 0.08 or higher. A BAC at this level creates the presumption of impairment.

However, a defendant can be charged with a lower BAC, or with drugs in his system instead of alcohol. The prosecutor simply has to improve that a defendant was under the influence of any legal or illegal substances and that the ability to drive was affected.

DUI penalties in Newport News vary based on whether a defendant’s BAC was 0.15 or more, as well as whether the defendant had ever been convicted of driving drunk in the past. For a first offense with a BAC under 0.15, a defendant could be fined $250 and have his license to drive suspended for a year.

If it is proven that a defendant’s BAC is 0.15 or more, he will be sentenced to at least five days in jail if convicted of a first offense (or at least 10 days for a BAC of 0.20 or above). If a defendant has repeat convictions, the fine gets larger, the license suspension gets longer, and the defendant may be sentenced to more time in jail.

Contact a Newport News DUI Lawyer

You need to fight for your license and for your freedom so you do not end up in jail. Every case is different and you need to make informed choices when responding to DUI charges. Contact a Newport News DUI lawyer for help with your criminal case and for assistance fighting the suspension of your license to drive.

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