Charles Jerome Ware, Attorneys & Counselors, LLC, is a premier Maryland-based national DUI and DWI drunk-driving defense law firm. Attorney Charles Ware himself is ranked "one of the BEST 10 DUI/DWI Defense Attorneys in the State of Maryland" by the American Institute for DUI/DWI Attorneys [AIDUIA]. For an initial courtesy consultation, contact the firm at charlesjeromeware@msn.com, (410) 730-5016 or (410) 720-6129.
Drunk-driving laws in Maryland can be complicated and complex, and drunk driving charges in Maryland are treated very seriously. If you are charged with drinking and driving in Maryland, do not delay in hiring a competent DUI and DWI Attorney.
Driving under the influence of alcohol, or "DUI" as it is usually called, is the most commonly committed crime in the United States. Yet it is almost always committed by a noncriminal - that is, by an otherwise respectable citizen who has never been in trouble with the law. Consequently, representation of the defendant often is attempted by attorneys not versed in criminal law.
Typically, the defendant's business or family lawyer will undertake to represent him "as a favor." Drunk driving, the lawyer tells himself, is merely a glorified traffic offense. Certainly it is not as serious or complex as a "real" crime, and therefore cannot call for any particular expertise.
This is invariably a tragic mistake for the client.
Drunk-driving defense is an extremely technical field of law, requiring knowledge of constitutional and statutory laws in your state, police procedures as well as the complex scientific and medical evidence that prosecutors will seek to use against you in court. If you go to a attorney who lacks the training an knowledge of what to do and when to do it, potential defenses that may be available to you in your case will never be properly raised and properly asserted. Any good criminal defense lawyer will admit that a DUI defense attorney has to know as much or more to handle a DUI case as a murder case.
Some of the most common DUI defenses involve the legality of the initial traffic stop, the voluntariness of field sobriety testing, issues surrounding the unreliability of the roadside evaluations (particularly when done incorrectly) and the issue of whether your arrest was legal. Police officers cannot pull someone over for no reason. Evidence that a crime has occurred or is being committed must be established at court. Many times, police videos help us have cases dismissed. If an attorney can prove that there was no probable cause for your traffic stop, or that the officer failed to gather sufficient proof of "impairment" by alcohol or by drugs to make a custodial arrest (i.e., to cuff you, versus letting you go after signing your traffic ticket) your whole driving under the influence case can be thrown out.
Breath testing equipment for DUI prosecutions and blood test laboratory DUI forensic evidence often are items of essential evidence to be used by the prosecution to prove that your breath alcohol level (BAL) or blood alcohol content (BAC) was over the applicable legal limit. These cases are often called "pre se" DUI cases. For all drivers age 21 and over who are not behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle, that level is 0.080 or more. Drivers under age 21 are held to a ZERO standard, but the breath test limit can be 0.00, 0.01 or 0.02 under state DUI laws.
After a DUI arrest, you have only 10 days from the date of the arrest to request a Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) hearing with the office of administrative hearings and pay $150 to the Maryland State Treasurer. If a person is arrested for drunk driving or DUI and fails to request the hearing on time, their license will be suspended automatically.
In Maryland the blood alcohol concentration level (BAC) for a DUI (driving under the influence)arrest is .08 or higher. A blood alcohol concentration level of .07 will result in a DWI (driving while impaired) arrest.
Maryland DUI
- Minimum drivers license suspension of 45 days.
- Punishment of up to $1000 and 1 year in jail for a first offense DUI.
- Punishment of up to $2000 and 2 year in jail for a second offense DUI.
- A DUI conviction will result in 12 points on your Maryland drivers license record.
- Drivers license suspension of up to 60 days.
- Punishment of up to $500 and 2 months in jail for a first offense DWI.
- Punishment of up to $500 and 1 year in jail for a second offense DWI.
- A DWI conviction will result in 8 points on your Maryland drivers license record.
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