DUI Lawyer Seattle

If you have been arrested for DUI, the stiff penalties in Washington state loom large and may dramatically affect your life. Key aspects of Washington's tough DUI laws include:

A few years back, Washington state lowered the legal limit to .08% in order to make it easier for prosecutors to win DUI convictions. This change has swept into the dragnet numerous productive citizens, with no prior criminal history, who now must either defend the DUI charge or accept potentially career-ending consequences imposed by the mandatory provisions of the DUI laws. The average citizen has little or no warning as to when one is "legal" at .07% or violating the law at .08%. The system and the potential consequences are frightening. If you are viewing this page because you were recently been arrested for DUI, read on for a summary of the penalties that you may suffer. This information provided here may seem overwhelming but remember, an experienced DUI defense attorney will give you the advice that fits your precise situation.

License Suspension Even If You Are Not Convicted

If the officer punched a hole in your license, you are on notice that the Department of Licensing (DOL) intends to suspend your license just for being arrested on suspicion of DUI. It doesn't matter the DOL that you might eventually be proven "not guilty" in a court of law. The legal term for this process is "administrative action" but the driver who is targeted probably calls it punishment without a conviction. If your breath test result is .08 or higher or if you refused to take test, the arresting officer will report you to the Department of Licensing (DOL). The DOL will then suspend your license for at least 90 days if you took the test or revoke it for at least one year if you refused the test.

Then you will be required to file proof of financial responsibility (high risk insurance) for three years thereafter, the same as if you had been convicted of the DUI charge. After that, you will be on "probation" with the Department of Licensing for an additional five years after the suspension has ended. All this can happen without even being charged with DUI, and even if you are charged with DUI but you win the case at trial. Suspension or revocation periods are longer if you have had a previous "administrative action" at the hands of the DOL within seven years of the date of the current arrest.

You can fight the suspension or revocation of your license. The officer who punched your license should have given you a notice and DOL form entitled Driver's Hearing Requestif you took a breath test and the result was .08 or higher, or if you refused the test. (If you took a blood test, usually the Department of Licensing will send the notice and form to you.) Your only chance to fight the automatic suspension of your license is to mail the Hearing Request to the DOL within thirty days of the date you received the notice (for arrests occurring prior to 1/1/09; twenty days for arrests occurring on 1/1/09 and thereafter) along with a check for $200 (waivable if you are indigent.) You may also request a hearing online here.

If you take no action or miss the deadline the DOL will suspend or revoke your license. This is true even if you have valid legal defenses to the DOL action and even if you are found innocent of the DUI charge.

As of January 1, 2009, there is a twist to the above scenario: Under this new law, an individual may apply for an "ignition interlock license" even before any suspension occurs. There are a couple of catches, however: the ignition interlock license, as its name implies, requires an ignition interlock device on any personal vehicle driven. The ignition interlock is a breath test device that is attached to the ignition wiring of the car and must be blown into before the vehicle will start, and periodically while driving. The second "catch" is that the Department of licensing requires the filing of financial responsibility (SR22 insurance) as a condition of granting an ignition interlock license. An individual who is granted an ignition interlock license is not restricted as to time or place of driving for personal vehicles. In addition, (and this might save the jobs of some drivers,) there is an exception for employer - owned vehicles driven by an employee on legitimate company business during company hours. To use this exception, however, the employee must obtain the employers signature on a Department of licensing ignition interlock form certifying that it is necessary that the employee drive for the company. This presents a problem to any employee who wishes to maintain his/her privacy about being charged with DUI.

For most people, the opportunity to fight to save the driver's license is critical, so make sure you don't miss the deadline to request a hearing. An experienced DUI defense attorney who knows the DOL procedures and laws can give you a fighting chance to save your license. The new laws provide a complex matrix of choices that can only effectively be made if the proper considerations are weighed at an early stage.

By

JON SCOTT FOX