Hiring an Attorney for a Maryland DUI Case
It always makes sense to consult with an attorney. The same way you don’t self-diagnose your medical issues and you don’t perform surgery on yourself, there’s a lot of experience involved in DUI defense. Understanding the DUI laws and understanding the nuances of the individual case is something that you’re not qualified to do unless you’ve done it hundreds or thousands of times. Even if you were drinking and driving, there are a lot of defenses. There are procedural hurdles that the police and the State’s Attorneys need to go through to prove it to the court. The question that a good lawyer asks is never, “Did this happen?” The question a valuable lawyer asks is, “Can the state prove that this happened?” Sometimes there is a world of difference between those two things.
What To Look For in a Maryland DUI Lawyer
You should look for somebody whose practice is mostly a DUI practice. DUI law is complicated. There are lots of moving parts and there are lots of different variables. You need to have somebody who knows what they’re doing with DUIs. A general practice criminal defense attorney may be able to handle the run of the mill case, but they may miss something in your case that makes it unique. It’s very important to find somebody whose primary focus is DUI or DWI.
Value of an Attorney in Choosing Alcohol Treatment Programs
An attorney will be able to guide you in the selection of the program. Attorneys will also be able to present the mitigation more effectively than an individual would be able to themselves. An attorney will not only know which judge is okay, but also what that judge wants to hear, what that judge is concerned about in terms of treatment, and what that judge values in a program. They can guide the presentation of mitigation in a way that is truly advantageous to the client.
Our Approach to Maryland DUI Cases
Every case is different. Every case has its own unique challenges and difficulties. One major challenge is navigating the driver’s license consequences, particularly for individuals who have a commercial driver’s license and who drive for a living. Another big difficulty can be trying the case. Sometimes, the biggest difficulty can be communicating effectively with the individual. All of the human elements tend to be the most complicated.
Choosing an Attorney for MVA Hearings
Experience is very valuable at MVA (Motor Vehicle Administration) hearings. An attorney with experience know how the administrative law judges watch a case presented. They will know what kind of presentation they want to give in support of their client, whether that means presenting a factual defense or a legal defense, presenting mitigation, or asking for a modified license.
Developing a Defense for MVA Hearings
The arguments are formed on a case-by-case basis. Because there are several types of MVA hearings, there is a plethora of different defenses. MVA hearings can result from an individual submitting to a test or an individual refusing a test. One of my favorite defenses is for an insufficient breath refusal case. Insufficient breath refusal is when an individual agrees to a breath test, tries to do a breath test, but then are not able to get enough air into the machine to get a valid reading.
The officer at that point decides that the individual is not cooperating and they write them as a refusal. Those types of refusal cases are typically very winnable, especially if an individual can present a credible reason why they weren’t able to blow into the breathalyzer, such as asthma, bronchitis, or extreme anxiety. Things like that can all be potential defenses in an insufficient breath refusal case.