Michael V. Cibella, founding member at the Law Offices of Michael V. Cibella, LLC, has been named one of the top Criminal Defense Attorneys of 2016 in the New York Metro Area by Super Lawyers. Each year, Super Lawyers recognizes the top attorneys in different regions via a multi-phase selection process that involves peer nomination, independent research and peer evaluation. This is the third time Mr. Cibella has been named one of the New York Metro Area top Criminal Defense Attorneys by Super Lawyers as published in the Magazine Section of the New York Times.  Mr. Cibella was also recognized by Super Lawyers in 2014 and 2015.

Have you been charged with a DWI? You might know others who have been arrested for drunk driving and are okay. Maybe you are worried, but aren’t too afraid of what a possible conviction would mean for you long-term. Do not underestimate the seriousness of this legal situation.

New York takes DWI cases seriously, and the state’s court of appeals just confirmed how seriously. The recent ruling allows for the permanent suspension of driving privileges among those considered to be “chronic DWI offenders.” For anyone classified as such, it takes the one, first DWI to get a criminal record of DWIs started. Defending against the first, therefore, is important.

On top of the criminal penalties, those charged with drunk driving face the embarrassment of their arrest becoming public fodder. The discovery by friends and family adds embarrassment to any possible fines, jail time and license suspension.

Following his DWI arrest on December 29 in Palmyra in update New York, Joseph Talbot did his best to prevent anyone from finding out. He fought fingerprinting and refused to be photographed for fear of his mugshot showing up in the local newspaper. His antics only added obstructing justice to the DUI charges against him.

Are you a teacher? How about a coach? What about somebody else who works in the education field?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you know you are looked up to by many people, including your students. For this reason, being charged with a crime, such as driving under the influence, can have a negative impact on your future.

As one of our New York readers, it goes without saying that you’re familiar with the way police are cracking down on people who are driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. For this reason, taking any risk would not be in your best interest.

As a resident of New York, you know that police are cracking down on driving under the influence. If you’re charged with this crime, it’s important to understand how it could impact your future. Not only will it have personal implications, but a conviction can also stop you from reaching your professional goals.

For example, a teacher or police officer has a lot to lose if they are found guilty of driving under the influence.

With all this in mind, you need to do one thing: Implement a DUI defense strategy that helps you avoid a conviction and the most serious punishment.

Drunk driving charges can lead to a wide range of penalties for the accused person. We wrote a post a few months ago about the financial factors involved in DUI cases, and that post gets at many of the myriad consequences that are involved when someone is accused of driving under the influence. And yet, it is still impossible to talk about these things without speaking in vague terms. Why is that?

Well, there are two reasons. The first is that there are so many different penalties that can be applied to someone who is convicted of a DUI that it can be difficult to say with certainty what an individual will face. This leads into the second reason, which is that all DUI cases are unique. There are so many different details and sets of circumstances that can be involved in any DUI case that it is nearly impossible to predict how (and which) consequences will affect you without doing a deep dive into the semantics of any given case.

There was a time when drunk driving offenses were relatively minor crimes, or at least thought of that way, but that time is long gone.  Nowadays, DUIs are very serious criminal offenses that can costs you thousands of dollars and can affect your life forever.

People who are convicted of a DUI suffer a number of consequences, both seen and unseen. They lose their driver’s license, and without their license, their ability to travel and get around is severely hampered. They carry a criminal record, which can be used against them when they apply for housing or try to get a new job. They also have severe financial penalties to consider, such as penalties and fees relating to the sentence, treatment and driving programs and increased insurance premiums, just to name a few.

Many people would have you believe that if you are accused of drunk driving and you are found to have a blood alcohol level that exceeds the legal limit of 0.08, then there is no hope for you. Best case scenario, as this line of thinking goes, is that you could serve some time in jail and have a permanent criminal record.  In addition, you will pay a lot of money for insurance and other factors related to your DUI, robbing you of some of your freedoms and ability to live life the way you want.

To be fair, the risks described above are very real if you are accused of a drunk driving offense. However, just because you are accused of drunk driving doesn’t mean you are lacking in defense options. In fact, there are many viable defense strategies that can be utilized to help you mitigate the damage of the charge or even beat the case outright.

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.

Driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs that cause impairment is a crime in all 50 states.  In New York, a DUI charge is taken very seriously and punished accordingly, though only when a conviction is actually obtained by government prosecutors. When New Yorkers are accused of drunk driving charges, they typically rely upon the advice and support of a criminal defense attorney.

A motorist was recently accused of drunk driving and is now facing several charges in relation to the incident. The 54-year-old Point Pleasant man was allegedly driving drunk in the Holland Tunnel. Officials said that he injured a Port Authority police officer as he attempted to escape.