What If I Have More Than One DUI Offense?
What if I have more than one DUI offense?
Joey: They will stack up against you and the penalties become more and more severe with each offense. You have your standard DUI first offense, which carries a minimum 48 hours in jail and up to a $1,000 fine. For the DUI second offense, the fine increases and the jail time increases up to a week, but you’re still in the misdemeanor category.
Once you get to a DUI third offense and beyond, you’re in the felony category. It’s an extremely serious situation and I’d hope you have the same DUI Attorney Pearl MS on all three, or however many you have, so they can address and work on them. Sometimes we have little tricks in our bags that we can pull out and get around some of the issues with stacking DUIs. It’s a case-by-case basis and sometimes it’s pure luck when we pull it off. Other times the client got us involved early, we’ve discussed everything with them, and we have a great strategy and can work it out to their tremendous advantage.
Worse-case scenario; if you’re charged with a DUI third or subsequent offense, then you could potentially be looking at a jury trial and looking at years in prison. It’s imperative you get a defense attorney, criminal defense attorney, specifically a DUI Attorney Richland MS involved.
Can you help me keep my license and how do you do that?
Joey: Actually we try helping clients keep their license from day one. When you’re arrested, the state will give you a piece of paper that’s a temporary license, good for 30 days, and take your permanent license. I always tell clients, “You need to get an attorney involved immediately,” because the sooner I get involved the sooner I can enter an appearance on the file and ask the court to set the matter for trial within 30 days, Alternatively, I can extend my client’s license privileges until a time the court can hear it. If you do not request that, then there’s a chance they could send it to the Department of Public Safety and you could lose your license. From day one, we’re fighting to keep our client’s license.
Second, there’s always the option of the interlock restricted license if someone decides to go the non-adjudication route. They install a small portable breathalyzer in your automobile and it becomes hard wired to it. You pay a monthly fee, and every time you want to crank that vehicle, you’d have to blow into the device and blow a 0.00 blood alcohol content. After a period of time, you show the court that you did not try cranking an automobile with alcohol on your breath and the court will non-adjudicate everything. They enter the final order and it’s like it almost never happened. However, you have to plead guilty to the DUI to go the non-adjudication route.
That’s one of the more common ways we manage to keep our client’s licenses for the long duration. (The other is we fight the DUI charge.) Even if an individual is found guilty at their initial trial, in Mississippi you have the right to appeal up to the county court level, or the circuit court in the counties where there is no county court, and you get a whole new trial. While you’re doing your appeals, all penalties are stayed against you, which means it’s not reported to the Department of Public Safety and you can keep your license throughout the appeal.
I’ve been picked up for a DUI. Am I going to sit in jail for a long time?
Joey: Unfortunately you’re likely going to spend a few hours in jail at minimum. You never spend more than 48 hours in jail as that’s the absolute maximum if you are found guilty of a DUI first offense. Subsequent offenses, you’re looking at more jail time potential. Generally speaking, from the time you’re picked up to the time you bond out (or released on your own recognizance), you’re going to probably spend a minimum of three hours in jail, between booking and bonding. Some people can squeak it out in two hours. Most people don’t spend more than eight hours in jail, if that. However, the average is four to five hours.
Call Attorney Joey Franks for an initial consultation at (601) 283-2343
Best DUI Lawyer in Mississippi, DUI Attorney Rankin County MS