Charges

White Plains Lawyers for DWI Charges

Alcohol-related criminal charges must be taken seriously. In criminal proceedings, your freedom and reputation may be at stake, particularly if you have a prior DWI or DWAI conviction. The court can look back at the entirety of your driving record to assess penalties, and it may include jail time or substantial fines in its sentence. If you are facing DWI charges, you should call a seasoned White Plains DWI defense attorney. Mark A. Siesel is a tough, knowledgeable advocate who has more than thirty years of experience defending his clients’ rights in charges involving DWI, aggravated DWI, Child Passenger Protection Act charges, DWAI, and multiple felony DWI.

DWI

You can be charged with a DWI if you operate a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated condition. For example, if you have two beers at a bar and are pulled over while driving home and are unable to pass field sobriety tests, you could face a DWI charge. You can be charged with a per se DWI if you have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or more, as shown by chemical analysis of your blood, breath, urine, or saliva. A DWI conviction carries significant penalties. For a misdemeanor DWI, you could face up to 1 year in jail, fines, and license suspension or revocation, along with an alcohol treatment rehabilitation program or community service. A knowledgeable White Plains attorney will unearth all the facts surrounding your DWI charges to determine whether your rights were violated in connection with the investigation and arrest. In some cases, it is appropriate to negotiate a plea bargain.

DWAI

Under Vehicle & Traffic Law 1192(1), you could be charged with driving while ability impaired (DWAI) if you operated your vehicle while your ability was impaired by your alcohol consumption. Your ability will be regarded as impaired under the statute if your physical and mental abilities were adversely affected by alcohol consumption; however, no specific chemical or physical test is used to establish impairment. Rather the court will look at all the surrounding facts and circumstances including your physical condition, balance, and speech, as well as other factors such as the odor of alcohol, when you were pulled over.

Aggravated DWI

While a per se DWI may be charged against those caught operating their vehicles with a BAC of .08, you can be charged with aggravated DWI if your BAC was .18 or greater. For an aggravated DWI conviction, you could face 1 year in jail, a mandatory fine of $1000 – $2500, and revocation of your license for one year. It is crucial to call an experienced DWI attorney serving White Plains and Upstate New York to develop a strategy to defend you against this charge.

Child Passenger Protection Act

The Child Passenger Protection Act, also known as Leandra’s Law, was enacted in 2009 in response to the death of an 11-year old who was killed when your friend’s mother was driving while intoxicated while taking several girls to a birthday party. Under this law, even drivers arrested for a first DWI are automatically charged with a class E felony if they are caught with a child under the age of 16 in the car while driving under the influence. A conviction can result in a sentence of 1-4 years of imprisonment. You can be charged with a Class B felony and face up to 25 years if you driving while intoxicated or while your ability is impaired by drugs if a child under the age of 16 was riding in your car and died due to the DWI. Likewise, you can be charged with a Class C felony if you drive while intoxicated and there are injuries to a child under age 16.

Multiple / Felony DWI

Most DWI charges are misdemeanors. However, certain alcohol-related offenses are classified as felonies, including when there is more than one DWI conviction on your record or if you are charged with a DWI while a child is in your vehicle. Under New York law, your DWI case may be affected by your rap sheet, or any DWI or alcohol-related convictions you received from the time you started driving. Multiple DWIs can result in significant jail time and hefty fines. For example, a second conviction for a DWI, aggravated DWI, or DWAI within a period of 10 years is a class E felony, for which you could face four years in jail, a $1000-5000 fine and a one-year driver’s license suspension.

Consult a Seasoned DWI Defense Lawyer

If you or a loved one was charged with a DWI or other alcohol-related crime you should call seasoned, knowledgeable, and diligent White Plains DWI attorney Mark A. Siesel. Mr. Siesel has more than three decades of experience representing clients in in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens, along with Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Sullivan, Rockland, Orange, and Ulster Counties. Please contact us at (914) 428-7386 or complete our online form for dedicated legal representation.