"The Constitution of the United States is not a mere lawyers' document; it is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of the age."
- Nadia Boulanger
DWI: Driving While Impaired Laws in North Carolina
On December 1, 2006, the Driving While Impaired laws in North Carolina underwent their most extensive overhaul in 20 years. New crimes were established and the evidentiary rules and punishments have been modified.
Being charged with DWI is a confusing and frustrating experience. Your driver's license has been revoked for 30 days and if you are convicted you are facing additional revocations ranging from one year to a permanent revocation. Court imposed punishments can range to a fine and unsupervised probation to 2 years in prison. Depending on the results of your alcohol reading you may be required to have an ignition interlock device installed in your car.
With each DWI arrest a number of important legal issues must be examined from reasonable suspicion to stop your car to probable cause to arrest to the admissibility of your alcohol results. Additional legal issues arise depending on each case if, for example, you case involves a road block, a blood draw, a refusal to submit to an alcohol test or a collision.
At Sandman, Finn and Fitzhugh, P.L.L.C. we have a combined twenty years of experience handling DWIs in the Wake County Court House. As former prosecutors were are in a unique position to use our vast experience to zealously represent each one of our clients.
We have extensive courtroom experience and have completed the same Field Sobriety Training and Certification as the police officers. We have participated in training in the Intoxilyzer 5000, which is the same breathalyzer used in Wake Co. and have attended many seminars on DWI defense around the County.
While working as an A.D.A. Bill Finn was hand-selected to help write and edit the North Carolina Prosecutors Guide to DWIs. That manual was distributed to each district attorney in the state and is used by the government every day in courtrooms across the state of North Carolina. Let us use our knowledge and experience to give you the best possible defense to your DWI charge.