Anne Arundel Third Offense DUI Penalties

If the state filled a subsequent offender penalty for two prior convictions, the maximum penalty for a third offense is 3 years of incarceration for a DUI and a maximum penalty of 2 years of incarceration for a DWI.

The time between DUIs matters less than it would for a second. When it’s a third offense the court will consider priors that are very old, although they’ll weigh them less heavily. If an individual had 1 prior offense from 20 years ago, a second offense may very well be treated like a first offense. If an individual has two prior convictions, it’s very unlikely that the court will be lenient on a third offense even if both convictions are 20 years old. For these reasons, if you are facing a third offense it is important you get in contact with an Anne Arundel third DUI lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your case.

Administrative Penalties for a Third DUI

If there’s a conviction, then again there’s going to be that mandated suspension of your driver’s license that we discussed in previous two questions. An individual may or may not want to request a hearing to challenge that suspension. They may also want to participate in ignition interlock rather than having their license suspended. That’s a possibility depending on what the timing between the different offenses.

There there’s no difference between the first, second, or third offenses on how the suspension challenge process works. The administrative hearing is independent of the court case. The only difference between the first, second and the third offenses comes down to penalties, length of the suspension and whether or not the suspension is able to be modified.

Typically, you can request a restricted license, but the MVA will usually require participation in the ignition interlock program.

The administrative penalty is independent of the court case so even if a case is dismissed in court and the individual is suffering an administrative suspension, then that suspension will not be lifted even if the defendant gets the case dismissed.

Enhanced Penalties and Aggravating Factors

The fact that it is a third offense is an aggravating factor. It makes it more likely that the prosecution will seek enhanced penalties. It also makes it more likely that the court will incarcerate. Now additionally, there can be enhanced penalties if minors are present in the vehicle. That triggers a separate set of enhanced penalties usually adding a year of incarceration to the maximum (but not the realistic) penalty.

Breath alcohol content, BAC, can also enhance the penalty, but not beyond the statutory maximum. It doesn’t add time like having a minor in the car or having priors does, but it may cause a judge to sentence more towards the high end of the allowable sentence rather than the lower end. So judges will treat somebody who blows a 0.08 much differently than they’ll treat somebody who blows a 0.28.