If you were arrested for DUI in the state of North Carolina, it is likely you experienced a wide range of emotions. If you had never been in trouble with the law before, you might have felt frightened, embarrassed and anxious about what you would face after your arrest. Perhaps you felt angry because you were not the least bit impaired, and felt you were unfairly targeted. You may have ultimately felt extremely stressed about your future, and concerned about how a DUI conviction would affect your job, your family and your finances. All of these emotions are perfectly natural, however now is not the time to allow yourself to be paralyzed by indecision.
If you want to come out of your DUI charges with the best possible outcome, you must take swift action. Hiring a highly experienced Asheville DUI attorney is the single most important action you can take during this difficult time, as there are deadlines you simply cannot afford to miss. Remember this—the decisions you make right now will have a huge impact on your freedom, your reputation and your bank account. You may not think a DUI conviction would be that big a deal, but before you reach that (erroneous) conclusion, read on about North Carolina punishment and penalties for a DUI conviction. If you are older, you may be more familiar with the term DWI—driving while intoxicated. At one time, this was the accepted term across the United States. Then people started driving while under the influence of drugs as well as alcohol, and most states changed to the term DUI, or driving under the influence. “Influence” being either drugs (legal or illegal) or alcohol. Some states use the terms OWI (operating while intoxicated) or OUI (operating under the influence), but regardless of the acronym, the meaning is the same—your ability to control your motor vehicle was impaired. Like most people, you may be shocked to find out that you don’t actually have to be driving in order to be charged with DUI. North Carolina, like many other states, makes it a crime not only to drive under the influence, but to be in actual physical control of a vehicle and be under the influence. This means if you are in your car sleeping it off, but the keys to the vehicle are readily accessible to you, you could be deemed to be “in control” of the vehicle and could be charged with a DUI. Therefore, driving or operating—or sometimes just sitting or sleeping behind the wheel of a motor vehicle—or a motorcycle, tractor or golf cart—can result in your being placed in the back of a police cruiser and charged with DUI. DUI penalties in the state of North Carolina can be harsh. North Carolina uses a unique sentencing structure for DUI convictions. Penalties are based on the “level” of the offense. Levels are ranked in descending seriousness. The lower the level of the offense, the higher the punishment will be. Judges take into consideration aggravating and mitigating factors to determine the level of penalties.
The levels of penalties for a DUI/DWI in North Carolina are as follows:
Level 5
- Immediate license suspension for 30 days, with the possibility of limited driving privileges after 10 days.
- Up to a $200 fine.
- Between 24 hours and 60 days in jail. (Your judge might suspend your sentence to 24 hours of imprisonment or 24 hours of community service as part of probation.)
- Substance abuse assessment, if you’re placed on probation.
Level 4
- Immediate license suspension for 30 days, with the possibility of limited driving privileges after 10 days.
- Up to a $500 fine.
- Between 48 hours and 120 days in jail. (Your judge might suspend your sentence to 48 hours of imprisonment or 48 hours of community service as part of probation.)
- Substance abuse assessment, if you’re placed on probation.
Level 3
- Immediate license suspension for 30 days, with the possibility of limited driving privileges after 10 days.
- Up to a $1,000 fine.
- Between 72 hours and 6 months in jail. (Your judge might suspend your sentence to 72 hours of imprisonment or 72 hours of community service as part of probation.)
- Substance abuse assessment, if you’re placed on probation.
Level 2
- Immediate license suspension for 30 days, with the possibility of limited driving privileges after 10 days.
- Up to a $2,000 fine.
- Between 7 days and 12 months in jail. (Your judge might suspend your sentence to 90 days of abstaining from alcohol, which the court will monitor.)
- Substance abuse assessment, if you’re placed on probation.
Level 1
- Immediate license suspension for 30 days, with the possibility of limited driving privileges after 10 days.
- Up to a $4,000 fine.
- Between 30 days and 24 months in jail. (Your judge might give you 10 days under probation cases involving alcohol monitoring for 120 days.)
- Substance abuse assessment, if you’re placed on probation.
Aggravated Level 1
- Immediate license suspension for 30 days, with the possibility of limited driving privileges after 10 days.
- Up to a $10,000 fine.
- Between 12 months and 36 months in jail. (Your judge might give you 120 days under probation cases involving alcohol monitoring for a minimum of 120 days.)
- Monitored abstaining from alcohol for 4 months after prison release.
- Substance abuse assessment.
You could be sentenced to enhanced penalties if you are convicted of aggravated DUI for injuring another person while driving under the influence or if your BAC levels were 0.20 percent or higher. If you are under the age of 21, your driver’s license could be suspended or revoked for one year following your first DUI conviction, plus you are subject to many of the same penalties as those over the age of 21. Commercial vehicle drivers will be barred from driving a commercial vehicle for a year for a BAC which is 0.04 percent or higher, plus, if you have any amount of detectable alcohol in your blood, you will be issued an “out-of-service” order for 24 hours. If you are convicted of a second DUI, you will be barred from driving a commercial vehicle for life, plus you will face the “normal” penalties for DUI convictions in the state of Idaho. You could lose many other personal freedoms if you are convicted of a DUI in the state of North Carolina. You might be unable to purchase a firearm, obtain a passport, work with children, obtain employment, obtain a government student loan, and you might not even be able to obtain a professional license you have worked hard for. It is also likely that your auto insurance premiums will go so high as to be unaffordable in some cases. Your insurance company might also drop you completely, making it extremely difficult to find another insurance company who will insure you. Of course, the specific defense your DUI attorney will use on your behalf will depend on the circumstances of your DUI arrest, however some of the more commonly-used defenses to DUI charges include:
- Perhaps you weren’t actually driving, and the officer cannot prove you were “in control” of your vehicle—in other words, the issue might be debatable, based on the circumstances.
- The police officer may not have had legal justification to stop you in the first place.
- The police officer may not have followed proper legal procedures during your arrest. If this is the case, any evidence he or she garnered from the stop or arrest may be deemed inadmissible.
- The police officer had no probable cause to stop, detain or arrest you. Perhaps you believe you were stopped only because of your race or ethnicity, rather than because you were driving erratically or appeared to be intoxicated.
- The police officer who arrested you may not have properly Mirandized you after your arrest—that is, the officer may not have told you that you had the right to remain silent, and that anything you said would be used against you. If no Miranda warning was given, certain evidence may be excluded at trial.
- If the officer claims you had bloodshot eyes or slurred speech, you may be able to show those symptoms are from prescription medication you are taking, or from a medical condition.
- If the officer claims you did not do well on the field sobriety tests, you may be able to show you had a legitimate reason for that, such as an illness, your age, a medical condition, your footwear, your nervousness, confusing instructions from the officer, or a prescription drug or over the counter drug you are taking.
- The Breathalyzer machine used was not properly calibrated, or the officer who administered the test was not properly trained in using the machine.
If you are arrested for DUI in the state of North Carolina, you have only seven days from the date of your arrest to request a license hearing. If you fail to request the hearing within that seven-day period, you could be subject to an automatic suspension of your license. Your ALS hearing is completely separate from your actual DUI criminal case, and only deals with your driver’s license. Even if you win your ALS hearing and get your driver’s license reinstated, it could only be temporary. A license suspension can still be ordered during your criminal case. Beyond obtaining a hardship license to drive to and from work or other necessary places, once your revocation period is over, you will want to have your driver’s license reinstated. To complete reinstatement requirements, you must pay a $130 reinstatement fee and provide proof of financial responsibility for three years from the day of your revocation. If you are dealing with a second DUI conviction, you will be required to have an ignition interlock device placed on any vehicle you regularly drive before reinstatement.
Even if—or perhaps especially if—you have decided to plead guilty to your DUI, it could potentially change the way you are thinking to first speak to a knowledgeable DUI attorney. If nothing can change your mind about pleading guilty, then perhaps you don’t need an attorney, however if you want to vastly increase your chances of a more positive outcome to your DUI charges, you absolutely need an attorney. An experienced Idaho DUI attorney can plea bargain on your behalf, possibly to a reckless driving charge or a “wet reckless.”
Since the penalties and consequences are much more lenient than for a DUI, this could be a good option for you, potentially even allowing you to save your driving privileges, while avoiding jail and very high fines. In addition to plea bargaining on your behalf, your attorney can also “sentence bargain.” This means you could plead guilty, but only if the prosecutor offers a lesser sentence. All in all, having an experienced North Carolina DUI defense attorney by your side from start to finish can make the process much less frightening. Your attorney will fight zealously on your behalf, ensuring your rights are fully protected throughout the process. Call North Carolina DUI defense lawyer, at 828-759-5556 today or fill out the confidential contact form for more information.
