Imagine this: you go out to a bar to celebrate your friend’s birthday. It’s just you and a few friends, but you each have a few drinks over the course of a couple of hours. When the night comes to an end, you all walk outside and try to flag down a taxi. But this is to no avail. Eventually you tell your friends “it’s okay, I can drive.” You get behind the wheel of your vehicle and drive off, thinking that you aren’t over the blood alcohol limit.
However, after traveling a few blocks, a police officer spots you swerving a little and pulls you over. The officer ask you to submit to a breath test, and you do. The results aren’t flattering: you have a blood alcohol level higher than 0.08.
Drunk driving is a very serious offense, and the person who is accused of it — no matter how clean his or her record is before the charge — will be in for a drastic shift in their lives as a result of the charge. There are many severe penalties associated with a drunk driving offense. There are the financial penalties and fines as well as possible jail time; the loss of your driver’s license; alcohol monitoring (via electronic bracelet); vehicle forfeiture and increased insurance premiums; and many other consequences for a DWI conviction.
Given the high stakes of a DWI case, it is imperative that the accused individual consult with an experienced criminal defense attorney — and Michael V. Cibella has more than 15 years of experience helping people address the criminal charges against them.