Maryland DUI Attorney Blog

Many defendants charged with DUI in Maryland are dismayed to find out that not only do they have to go to court and face criminal charges, but they must also fight the MVA in a separate proceeding. Even if the criminal defendant is found "not guilty" of all charges in criminal court, the MVA may still suspend the defendant's driver's license on separate grounds.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled in Johnson v. State (1991) that this DOES NOT amount to double jeopardy. The bases of the MVA administrative hearing is to determine if the driver "broke his agreement" with the state when he was issued his license and agreed not to "drink and drive."

Continue reading "Maryland Administrative Hearings Also Follow a DUI Arrest" »

A number of bills intended to curb drunk driving are being proposed today to a Maryland Senate Committee. Backed by Governor O'Malley, police, prosecutors and highway safety advocates, a number of these bills-if passed-will change the landscape of drunk driving prosecutions in Maryland.

The most significant bill is one that imposes criminal penalties on adults who provide alcohol to minors. If passed, the teen drinking bill would elevate the penalty for supplying alcohol to minors from a civil offense to a criminal offense. Parents, siblings and religious exemptions will apply.

Additional laws being proposed include probation before judgement eligibility. Currently, a convicted drunk driver is not eligible for a PBJ for a second offense if the first DUI conviction occurred within 5 years. The new proposed law would raise the PBJ eligibility requirements to ten years.

Drunk driving defense attorneys may also have to tangle with a proposal that will impose a mandatory one-year driver's license suspense if any part of the drunk driving article is violated for a second time. Currently, lessor included offenses such as driving while impaired (DWI), when grouped with a DUI conviction, do not trigger the one year suspension.

Other related bills, as reported by a Baltimore Sun article, do not appear to be of relative significance to DUI lawyers or the public.

Maryland DUI Attorney - Maryland DWI Attorney - Baltimore DUI Lawyer - Baltimore DWI Lawyer
As a former Assistant State's Attorney for Baltimore County I prosecuted hundreds of repeat offenders for driving under the influence or driving while impaired. Although the maximum penalty for driving under the influence is one year in prison, prosecutors can and very often do seek enhanced penalties for repeat offenders. Second offenders for DUI face up to two years in prison and third offenders face up to three years in prison. As a prosecutor I routinely filed enhanced penalties against repeat offenders and often convinced a court to impose sentences longer than the one year.

Continue reading "Representing repeat offenders as a Maryland DUI Attorney/Maryland DWI Lawyer" »