Practice Area

DWI/DUI

If you are arrested for drunk driving and charged with a DWI, the penalties can be life changing. If convicted for DWI in New York, you will be required to pay significant fines and surcharges, face license revocation, higher insurance premiums and possible incarceration.

We will investigate whether there was reasonable suspicion to justify the initial traffic stop:

  • Did the officer properly administer the field sobriety test? (i.e., Breathalyzer)

  • If a blood test was conducted, were there any issues with chain of custody of the evidence?

  • Was there probable cause for an arrest? Were there any traffic infractions?

  • Did the officer read you your Miranda rights prior to any questioning?

  • Were any items taken from your vehicle and if so, were proper procedures followed?

DWI Penalties in New York for First Offender

Driving while intoxicated (DWI). This is a misdemeanor which carries $500 to $1,000 in fines and/or up to a year in jail. Your license will also be revoked for six months, you will be charged additional surcharges and assessments, and an ignition interlock device will be placed on your vehicle and importantly all other vehicles in your household.

Aggravated DWI

If you are arrested with more than .18 blood alcohol content (BAC), you could be charged with aggravated DWI. This offense is a misdemeanor and carries $1,000 to $2,500 in fines and/or up to a year in jail. Your license will also be revoked for one year, you will be charged additional surcharges and assessments, and an ignition interlock device will be placed on your vehicles.

Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI)

DWAI is a traffic infraction, and you could face up to $500 in fines and/or up to 15 days in jail. Your license will be suspended for 90 days, and you will be required to pay additional surcharges and assessments.

DWAI Drugs

Driving under the influence of drugs is a misdemeanor crime carries a fine of $500 to $1,000 and/or up to a year in jail. You will lose your license for six months. You will also face additional surcharges and assessments.

Leandra’s Law

In 2009, the legislature passed Leandra’s Law which makes the act of driving while intoxicated with a person age 15 or younger in the vehicle a felony. If convicted under this new law, individuals face a prison sentence up to four years and a mandatory fine of $1,000-$5,000 a nd your name will be reported to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment.

Refusal Hearings

If you failed a breath, blood or urine test during an arrest for drunk driving your license will be suspended at your first Court appearance. Further if at your arrest you refused to submit to a test for Blood/Alcohol Content (BAC) or drugs, the State of New York will initiate a proceeding to suspend your license through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

You are entitled to a Refusal Hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles. A refusal hearing must be scheduled within fifteen (15) days of your arraignment. If you do not appear at the hearing or the Court finds that you refused to submit to the BAC test your license will automatically be revoked for one year, and you will not be eligible for receipt of a conditional license.

Hardship License

At your first appearance in Court the judge can order a Hardship Hearing. A hardship license, if granted by the Court, permits you, during the first 30 days after arraignment, to drive to and from work and school if you can show that there is an undue hardship and you have no other reasonable method to travel.

In the state of New York, a person found driving with a BAC (blood alcohol content) of 0.08% or higher may be arrested for suspected driving under the influence. In order to obtain evidence that someone is in fact under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, and to bolster their case, law enforcement may administer several tests that may include: field sobriety tests, breath tests (breathalyzer machine), blood tests and urine tests. The DWI/DUI defense lawyers at Guttmann & Kellner fully understand these tests and the many legal issues and defenses that are associated with these tests. We possess the skill to win your case.

Breathzalyzer Testing in New York

Upon being stopped by a police officer because he or she suspects that you are driving while intoxicated , there are certain steps that the police officer must follow. First and foremost, the police officer needs to have reasonable cause to believe that you are driving while intoxicated, impaired or under the influence of drugs As this conclusion is based upon the officer’s own opinion, this point is usually vulnerable to challenge at a driving while intoxicated (DWI, DUI, drunk driving) trial.

If you are arrested, the officer will take to you the police precinct where you will be asked to take a Blood/Alcohol Test such as a Breathalyzer or Intoxometer.

Field Testing

Every person operating a motor vehicle which has been involved in an accident or which is operated in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall, at the request of a police officer, submit to a breath test to be administered by the police officer. If such test indicates that such operator has consumed alcohol, the police officer may request such operator to submit to a chemical test in the manner set forth in subdivision two of this section.

You have the right to refuse to take the Breathalyzer. New York has strict consequences for refusing a Breathalyzer test, one of which is that you automatically will lose your driver’s license for a year. If you refuse to blow into the Breathalyzer, know that you will lose your driving privileges for a year. If you or your loved one has been stopped, arrested, in custody or charged withdriving while intoxicated (DWI, DUI, drunk driving) it is extremely important that you have aggressive and effective DWI defense representation.

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