Third Offense DUI Penalties in DC

Prosecutors who handle driving under the influence charges in Washington, DC consider every DUI to be a serious offense. The Attorney General’s Office is a prosecutorial office in Washington, DC that handles a limited number of DC criminal offenses as permitted under DC law. Those cases include driving under the influence, indecent exposure, possession of unregistered firearms, and other criminal offenses.

One of the most common cases the Attorney General’s Office prosecutes is a driving under the influence case. Even a first offense is considered serious. However, as a person is arrested for second or subsequent offenses, those cases are prosecuted even more vigorously by the Attorney General’s Office. A person who has a second, third, or another DUI offense is most likely in a situation where prosecutors give them significant jail time if they are convicted.

The person faces mandatory jail time as required under DC law and may find themselves in a position where prosecutors ask for jail time significantly higher from the minimum required under the law on a third offense case. A person facing such a charge could be prosecuted and put in jail for several weeks, or possibly several months. Due to the severity of these charges, it is very important that a person consults a highly skilled DUI lawyer to represent them in court.

Court Treatment

Courts treat third offense DUI charges extremely seriously. Compared to first and second offense DUIs, people facing third DUI charges may not be looking at mandatory minimum levels of jail time. As an example, people facing their first DUI charge may be able to resolve their case in a way that allows them to avoid a criminal conviction on their record. That depends on the circumstances, but it is a possibility in some situations.

For those with second offense DUIs, even though they could receive mandatory jail time, prosecutors and judges have the discretion to ask for and impose up to one year in jail. In many situations, they are willing to stick with the mandatory minimum levels of jail time if the person facing a second offense DUI was never exposed to jail time in the past and any level of jail time is a fairly serious penalty. Consequently, the mandatory minimum 10 days on a second offense DUI may be a sufficient penalty in the minds of prosecutors and judges to ensure that the person does not repeat those actions.

On a third offense DUI, even though the mandatory minimum is 15 days of jail, a person found guilty of a third offense DUI may be in a position where a judge thinks the mandatory minimum is not enough. There are many judges who feel that penalties on third offense DUIs should go into weeks or sometimes even months of jail time, much higher than the minimum amount required under the law. Judges treat these cases seriously; so it is important to have a defense attorney who understands the consequences, knows how the judges perceive these cases, and approaches the client’s defense with the appropriate level of seriousness.

Building Defenses

Even though the penalties for third offense DUIs can be significantly higher than second and first offense DUIs, the charge itself does not change. To convict a person of a third offense DUI, the defenses are exactly the same as a first offense DUI. The prosecutor is required to prove that the person was in operation and control of the vehicle and was more than impaired to an appreciable degree by alcohol.

Strategies

The same strategies an attorney uses to challenge the first offense can be applied to challenging third offense DUIs. That includes questioning the reason for the initial traffic stop; challenging the manner in which the police asked the person to perform field sobriety tests; examining the observation or lack of observations of the police officer witnesses; and reviewing the reliability of any breath, urine or blood tests the police and prosecutors obtained as a result of the arrest.

Differences: First vs Third Offense

One main difference in a third offense DUI compared to a first offense DUI is that the prosecutors also need to prove that the person has two prior DUI offenses. This is not a question that is put before a jury. It is a question that is put before a judge. DUI defense lawyers must have a full understanding of their client’s DUI history because different states have different DUI laws.

There are some situations in which a statute in another state is different enough from the DC statute that it does not qualify as a prior offense. As an example, records from other states may not be complete enough to have a DC prosecutor fully understand a 2007 case out of Idaho. When the records are not complete enough to show exactly what the Idaho case was and exactly what the conviction was, a DUI defense lawyer can make the argument that the prosecutor did not provide the evidence to show that the alleged prior offense satisfies the DC requirements for a prior DUI conviction. Having a defense attorney research and challenge the government’s allegation for prior offenses can sometimes be just as important as challenging their evidence of operation and impairment.

Contacting an Attorney

The consequences of a DUI can be very harsh, especially if it is your third-time offense. This puts, even more, stress on the importance of hiring a highly skilled and experienced DUI lawyer as soon as the charge is given, so they can start crafting a strong defense case and gathering conductive evidence.