Minnesota DWI Law & Comment
Kelly
Law Office
1013 Ford Road
Minnetonka, MN 55305
Phone: (952) 544-6356
Fax: (952) 546-3690
Mobile: (612) 735-3797
Email: dave@kelly-law.com
AT A GLANCE
- The First
Offense
About 60% of those arrested in 2006 had never been arrested before. - The Second
Offense
In MN about 16,000 arrestees in 2006 had at least one prior. - The Third
Offense
The car involved is seized, no matter who it belongs to. - The Fourth
Offense
A felony if it's within ten years of the first three. -
Watch my YouTube
Video - Implied Consent Part I
The civil process you get along with the criminal charges.
THE FIRST OFFENSE
It's 2008 at the time of my most recent update to this page, but it seems that the 2006 statistics for Minnesota DWIs have just been released. There were 41,951 motorists arrested for DWI in Minnesota during 2006. That's about an average of 115 arrests per day. About 60% of these were first time offenders. About half of those arrested were between ages 20 and 29. About half of the arrests took place on a Saturday or Sunday. In Minnesota there were 4,688 alcohol related crashes, resulting in about 3,500 injuries and 166 deaths in 2006. The death toll in 2005 was 197. One in ten of those arrested was under 21 years of age. About one in every eight Minnesota drivers has a DWI on his or her record. Males made up 76% of those arrested for DWI in 2006.
So if you have been arrested
for your first DWI, you can at least know that you are definitely
not alone. Another comforting thought is that about 85% of
first time offenders are never arrested for DWI again. Even so, this
is a bad spot to be. Your license to drive is gone or at least
limited. The court has the authority to order you into an alcohol
treatment program. You will at least have to attend a seminar or
class on how alcohol affects your body and your driving. The first
drunk driving offense, if your blood alcohol reading was less than
.20%, is usually a misdemeanor, some say "only" a misdemeanor.
Usually, however, an offender is charged with a whole list of
misdemeanors, and each of which is punishable by a maximum fine of
$1,000 and jail time of a maximum of ninety days or both. The list
often includes the following: Fourth Degree Driving While Impaired,
careless driving, speed hazardous, refusing the test, and driving
while intoxicated. "Driving While Impaired" usually means that
you were driving with blood alcohol content of over .08 percent, or
that you had over .08 percent blood alcohol within two hours of
driving.
The first offense may become a gross misdemeanor (punishable by a
maximum fine of $3,000 and a maximum jail time of a year, or both)
under certain circumstances, which include having a child in the car
and having a blood alcohol content of over .20 percent.
THE SECOND OFFENSE
38% of those arrested for DWI in 2006 had at lease one prior offense on their record. If the second offense is within ten years of the conviction for the first offense, the criminal charge is "enhanced" to a gross misdemeanor and the penalties for your driver's license are "enhanced" too. I seem to get lots of calls and lots of business from people who made it down to the last few days of the ten years, but then got another ticket.
I have come to be almost superstitious about those last few weeks before the ten years expires. It seems to me that there is some sort of cosmic vortex or mysterious force that sucks people into getting arrested again right before the time expires. Many seem to think that once the ten year anniversary of the offense has passed, that they are in the clear. But it's not the date of the offense, but the date of the conviction, which starts the ten years running. The date of the conviction is usually weeks if not months later than the date of the offense - and it's in that gap between those two dates that there seems to me to be the greatest danger of arrest .
This is a really bad spot to be. The police have taken your plates and perhaps even your car. If you have reached this point, you should immediately get an evaluation from a qualified counselor or psychologist as to whether you are chemically dependent. If you don't have your own evaluation done privately, the court will order you to submit to an evaluation by a probation officer. A private evaluation by someone who is not a law enforcement officer is better. It's a very good idea for a first time offender too.
Unless you are reading this web page in jail, you are probably already being monitored electronically to make sure you consume no alcohol and being charged for the cost of the monitoring. The monitoring starts before you even go to court, and will probably continue for months afterward, except when you're in jail. The second offense in ten years is a gross misdemeanor (max penalty of $3,000 and a year or both), and now there are mandatory minimum punishments to worry about. The mandatory minimum is usually 30 days imprisonment or eight hours community work service for each day less than 30 days that you are ordered to serve in jail. At least 48 hours of the jail time has to be served consecutively in a local correctional facility.
THE THIRD OFFENSE
The police have taken your car - you may never see it again. On the seizure issue alone, you need a lawyer's help right away. If you were not the owner or are not the only owner of vehicle, there may be some hope of getting the car back; but it's complicated and you need a professional. It's possible too, that if the vehicle is not paid for, you could at least arrange for the finance company to take possession.
Minnesota statutes provide that if you have been driving while impaired within ten years of two prior offenses, the "court shall sentence" you to either: 1) a minimum of 90 days of incarceration, at least 30 days of which must be served consecutively in a local correctional facility or 2) a program of intensive supervision - intensive probation - which is to include serving at least six days consecutively in a local jail. Everything we said about needing a chemical dependency evaluation after a second offense applies even more so here. It seems these penalties get more severe every time the legislature meets.
THE FOURTH OFFENSE
Thankfully, most of my clients never get to this point. Please don't ever let it happen to you. Legislation passed in 2002 provides that if you have been driving while impaired within ten years of three prior offenses, you are guilty of a felony. First the statute says that you are to be sentenced to prison for at least three years and given a fine of not less than $14,000.00. If the judge decides to stay some of the three years of time, there is still (if I'm reading this new statute correctly) a mandatory minimum sentence of "a minimum or 180 days of incarceration, at least 30 which must be served consecutively..." or a program of intensive supervision (a pilot program of intensive probation for repeat DWI offenders) that requires the person to consecutively serve at least six days in jail; and it appears also that the judge is required to include an order for long term electronic monitoring - which of course the Defendant will be required to pay for.
Implied Consent Part I - On YouTube
I'm working on a series of videos about Minnesota DWI basics and posting them on YouTube. Here's the first of two videos in which I talk about implied consent. "Implied consent" refers to the process involving your driver's license. It is a process separate from and in addition to the criminal charges.
I find that a lot of the people I talk with don't realize it's happening, which is not so good when it's a process that's happening to them. By the time they learn what really happened, it may be way too late to do anything about it. Those who complain the loudest afterwards tend to be the ones who thought at the time that it wasn't worth hiring a lawyer. Often, based on what I believe to be my client's best interest, I don't do much or don't do anything with the implied consent part of the case. Even if on your lawyer's advice you are choosing not to exercise all of your legal rights, your lawyer can at least help you understand what your choices are and what it is that you may be giving up.
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Kelly Law Office represents dwi dui oui drunk driving clients throughout the Twin Cities - Minneapolis area including Bloomington, Edina, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, St. Louis Park, Wayzata, Plymouth, Maple Grove, Brooklyn Park, St. Paul, Anoka, Shakopee, Hastings, Eagan, Burnsville, Buffalo, Hennepin County, Anoka County, Carver County, Scott County, Ramsey County, Dakota County, and Wright County.
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