My son is still in high school and is 18 and got a DWI?
Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at
2:06 am
Roxana P asked:
Need to clarify, My son is a good kid. He made a terrible, stupid mistake. He really is a good kid. He is still in High School (because buy drugs online I held him back a year) and he runs cross country track and colleges are interested in him coming to their schools and he has never taken drugs and goes to Church without being told. But yes, he got a DWI on New Years and what I really want to know, is having a Lawyer going to make fines or jail time better than having a public defender?
Need to clarify, My son is a good kid. He made a terrible, stupid mistake. He really is a good kid. He is still in High School (because buy drugs online I held him back a year) and he runs cross country track and colleges are interested in him coming to their schools and he has never taken drugs and goes to Church without being told. But yes, he got a DWI on New Years and what I really want to know, is having a Lawyer going to make fines or jail time better than having a public defender?
Yes absolutely. It is going to cost but he will have a much better chance of reduced penalties and possibly the charge thrown out if you hire a lawyer.
id get a lawyer.public defenders dont do much for you and have alot more cases.fine will always be the same but the jail time should be less.might just get weekends in jail or community service with a lawyer.i imagine he has a minor consuming charge as well.dui lawyers are pretty cheap.i have 2 duis
Almost everywhere has mandatory jail time for DWI. With a lawyer, there is the possibility of getting the charges reduced.
I would go for the hired attorney. They can’t do anything about mandatory jail (here it is 3 days for a first offense, unless the blood alcohol level is high, then it’s 6 days), but if they get the charge reduced to reckless operation, the jail time goes away. Fines may be reduced, or not.
No. The punishment for a DUI is pretty much set in stone. Unless he plans on fighting the charges a Public Defender will do just fine.
Let him learn his lesson, it will save some money during the hard times.
If he has to do time they will set it up on weekends so he does not miss any school. Just talk to the judge, You can prob still go there and be with him since hes still in high school and staying with you.
YES, hire an attorney asap. Your son’s future is at stake here! Your son needs someone to talk to the judge, reduce the charges, some scholarships and some schools will look at a dui as a bad sign and he won’t get a fair chance!
A public defender is paid by the state and because of their case load which at times can become overwhelming and they really don’t care if you win or lose they are still going to get paid by the state. The more cases they do the more they receive in state pay. They can not perform there best and give you the best defense possible. Have you ever heard of a good public defender? My suggestion to you is to hire a lawyer.
First, I wouldn’t even consider going to court without an attorney that is an expert in handling DUI charges. It is definitely in your best interest to get a good DUI attorney.
Depending on the State you live in, since it is his first offense he probably will get unsupervised probation, no jail time, and only lose his license for 30 days (as long as you hire an attorney).
I have been through this process and you want to go to court with all the possible advantages in your corner.
Good luck and tell you son not to stress out about it too much. He’ll be fine (just don’t let it happen again).
You don’t say what state … so a totally accurate answer is not possible.
In NY and several other states there is a law that makes it impossible to plea bargain a DWI charge if the accused is under 21. NY calls this the zero tolerance law. If your son is in a zero tolerance state … a public defender should be fine, there isn’t much room to negotiate!
Jail time is possible, but highly unlikely! More than likely, even in a very strict no tolerance state, your son is looking at probation with mandatory counseling (there will be a charge for this), a serious fine, and driving privileges suspended for a period of time (the lowest I have read about was three months, the longest I have read was 1 year or until the person turned 21 … whichever is longer!)
He is already pretty well hooked and netted at this point … it wouldn’t matter if he was out of school, the law in most states is 21 years old to possess, transport or consume alcohol. a BAC of .02 would be enough to bust him!
Roxana P, Seek advice from a professional, they should know the ins and out of Utah law by heart.