Have you received a dozen mailers warning you that YOU MAY BE JOING TO JAIL !?   – Are lawyers trying to scare you about your DUI with tales of jail and worse? Ignore these. There’s an adage about lawyers and doctors: “The successful one’s don’t need to advertise.” These lawyers seek to take advantage of your fear, which however real and palpable should not dictate your actions. While it’s not O.K. to scare people it’s fine to tell you what the worst and the best outcomes are, and here I’ll do just that:

For first time DUI’s where the BAC is under 0.159 the:

The Worst Outcome Is: 48 h. Jail (Rare), 16 h. Prime For Life Alcohol Education Class, 2 h. MADD Victim Impact Panel Class, $1,420.00 Fine, 12 Months Supervised Probation (w/ Random U/A Testing For Drugs and Alcohol), A 2 h. Drug And Alcohol Assessment and An Ignition Interlock Device Installation (on any car you own or operate – doesn’t matter if you can’t legally drive)

The Best Outcome Is: 48 (or rarely less) Hours Community Service, $1,420.00 Fine (Rarely Less), 2 h. Drug and Alcohol Assessment, 16 h. Prime For Life Alcohol Education Class, 2 h. MADD Victim Impact Panel Class, $1,420.00 Fine, 12 Months UN-Supervised Probation (Don’t Get In Trouble During This Time), 2 h. Drug And Alcohol Assessment, No Ignition Interlock (IID).

No lawyer should ever be “promising” anything without seeing a police report and taking a full inventory regarding the case. No lawyer can tell you about your case without first seeing the police report and the video – if they do it’s false promises and scare tactics. These mailers are sent out by criminal defense lawyers who seem to want to take advantage of your naivety and fear to sign you up. Listen: the only thing you should be in a rush for is to file your DLD hearing request which we let you do for free using this site. (see below) Court is a long way off – even that first date they gave you is ONLY used for pleading not guilty which is what you should ALWAYS do with one exception (you have multiple DUI’s in other states and the court and the prosecutor hasn’t found them). Take your time picking a DUI defense lawyer. Literally – how many cases have they handled? What is the worst you are facing? What is the best? Based on what you have told them did they ask questions on how the cop behaved, whether he checked your mouth, whether the stop was based on probable cause, what court is it in? Did they instantly know who the prosecutor and judge were in that court? (If not walk away because they can tell you nothing about the court).

Here are five (5) questions you should ask that separate the experienced DUI lawyers from the pretenders:

1. What is the partition ratio conversion factor used by the Intoxilyzer 8000 and how does it work? (2100:1)
2. How is the Intoxilyzer 8000 different from the 5000 and what wavelength does it measure? (7.93 – 10 microns)
3. How does the “slope detector” supposedly work on the Intoxilyzer 8000? (compares slope of test against known parameters)
4. At what interval does the Intoxilyzer 8000 measure the sample for slope detection? (250 millseconds.)
5. What is the “Baker” rule ? (15 m. pre -breath test deprivation period and oral cavity visual check)