Experienced DWI Defense
Ruth Beerup is an experienced DWI attorney who has been protecting her clients' rights in St. Charles, St. Louis, Lincoln, and Warren Counties for over 25 years. She has had success at every step of the process, from the petition for review and administrative alcohol suspension hearing right through the criminal case. DWI defense is complicated. There are a lot of technical issues to master and an overly elaborate body of statutory law. Hiring a lawyer like Ruth, who dedicates her entire practice to criminal and traffic law, is essential.
What Should You Do First?
A DWI arrest puts you on a deadline: you have 15 days to get something done. The arresting officer should have given you either a Form 2385 or a Form 4323. This piece of paper will serve as your temporary driving permit for the next 15 days. Both sheets detail the actions you need to take to continue driving legally, either by requesting an Administrative Hearing or by filing a Petition for Review. It is probably best to let a lawyer handle this, but if you are unable to hire one within 15 days, you can complete and mail the bottom portion of Form 2385 to request an Administrative Hearing on your own. A lawyer can conduct the hearing if you hire one before the date.
Once you have forestalled the immediate danger of losing driving privileges, there are a couple of things you can do to lessen the impact, such as arranging insurance and monitoring court dates. These steps are helpful, certainly, but don't have the urgency or impact of addressing the imminent license issues.
Can You Keep Your License?
When you have been accused of driving while intoxicated in Missouri, you will need to be concerned with two different state actions. There will be a criminal case, and separately, the Department of Revenue will try to suspend or revoke your license. The more immediate issue is with the DOR because there are strict deadlines. The DOR will try to suspend or revoke your license if you refuse to take the blood alcohol test or if you fail a test for blood alcohol content.
If you refused the breath test:
The penalty for refusing a breath test is a 1-year revocation of driving privileges. Your attorney can fight this revocation by filing a petition for review. It must be filed within 30 days of the notice of revocation (usually issued at the arrest) in the county where the arrest occurred. Your attorney can usually get a stay order that will allow you to keep driving until the petition is heard.
At this hearing, the DOR officer or prosecutor will try to prove three things. 1. That you were arrested. 2. That the officer had reasonable grounds to believe that you were driving a vehicle in an intoxicated or drugged state. 3. That you refused to submit to a chemical test. All of those facts may seem pretty obvious and difficult to challenge, but there are plenty of arguments that an experienced DWI attorney can make on your behalf. For a more in-depth discussion of DWI refusal cases, click here.
If you blew over .08:
If you have no alcohol-related law enforcement contacts over the preceding five years, you will face a 30-day license suspension followed by 60 days of restricted driving privileges if you fail a chemical test for excessive blood alcohol. If you have a prior offense in the preceding 5 years, you will face a 1-year revocation.
Your attorney will have 15 days from the date of arrest to file a request for an administrative hearing to contest this suspension or revocation. You will be given a new temporary driving permit until the hearing. Administrative hearings often focus on technical issues related to the testing procedures. It is vital to have an attorney with the appropriate experience and training to handle these complex issues. For more on DWI cases with failed breath tests, click here.
The DWI Criminal Case
A DWI conviction will result in points on your license, which can lead to suspension or revocation. A first-time DWI can often be disposed of in a way that keeps this from happening; a DWI with priors less often. It is vital to hire an experienced DWI lawyer who knows how to work a DWI criminal case. There is excessive complexity in DWI law. Amongst the host of provisions, exceptions, amendments, and procedures are opportunities for good defense lawyers to obtain favorable outcomes for their clients.
How Much Will DWI Defense Cost?
Every DWI case is unique and should be treated as such. That means that, without a detailed intake interview to assess the situation, it is difficult and unwise to give a price for DWI defense. An honest appraisal of the evidence will give an attorney an idea of how much time and effort will be required to achieve a favorable outcome. Ideally, you should be paying for an experienced, knowledgeable, and effective lawyer to examine the entire incident, identify weaknesses in the state's case, and attack them.
That said, it is possible to provide very rough estimates of DWI attorney fees. For a simple first-time offense, you can expect to pay between $2,000 and $5,000. Anything that complicates the case, such as injury or death (particularly to law enforcement or emergency personnel), a blood alcohol content greater than .18, or prior DWI offenses, will raise the cost. Every DWI attorney offers free consultations. Don't hesitate to contact one to discuss your case and get a price.
What Does a DWI Lawyer Look For?
A DWI defense lawyer does not just look at the breath-test number or the police report summary. A good DWI lawyer will have procedures in place to collect and review all evidence available in your case, including video recordings, to identify mistakes by law enforcement. Important issues may include why the officer stopped the vehicle, whether the officer had reasonable grounds to believe you were intoxicated, how field sobriety tests were conducted, whether the chemical test was handled correctly, and whether the implied-consent warnings were properly given.
Sometimes those issues affect the license case. Sometimes they affect the criminal case. Sometimes they affect both. If the issues are significant, an experienced DWI lawyer may be able to leverage them into a dismissal of charges and full reinstatement of driving privileges. More often, the issues are not fatal to the prosecution's case but are enough to allow a DWI lawyer to negotiate a reduction of charges to something in the order of a "regular" traffic ticket.
Why Hire Beerup Law?
As mentioned above, every DWI case is unique. Not only that, but each client has their own ideas about how they want their case handled, what resolution they are looking for, how much risk they can tolerate, and how much they are willing to spend to make it all happen. Every DWI lawyer has their own strengths, weaknesses, and procedures for dealing with DWI cases. What this all means is that not every DWI lawyer is perfect for every case and every client.
The only way to figure out whether a DWI attorney is the right fit for you is to call them and discuss your case in detail. It would be helpful to read some websites beforehand to understand better what the attorney is telling you. Keep in mind that it is very easy to spend $10,000 on a no-stone-unturned "aggressive" defense of a first-time DWI that gets you the same outcome as a $3,500 plea-negotiated SIS with no conviction or points on your record. On the other hand, you can find someone to handle your 3rd DWI for a "bargain" price with an outcome that leaves you wishing you had not saved the money. You can also review Beerup Law's DWI case results and client reviews to see examples of the kinds of cases the firm has handled and how clients describe working with Ruth. Prior results do not guarantee future outcomes, but they can help you understand the firm's experience and approach.
Finding the right lawyer to handle your DWI is not easy. The stakes are high. Nothing written on this or any other website should convince you which lawyer is right for you. Attorney Ruth Beerup is known for understanding clients' needs and how those needs intersect with the court system. Beerup Law is a good fit for clients seeking a practical, experienced DWI lawyer who will explain the risks clearly, identify weaknesses in the state's case, and avoid unnecessary legal expense when a more focused approach can accomplish the client's goal. She might be the right lawyer for your case. Or she might not. Either way, you owe it to yourself and your future to call her at 636-940-1111 to discuss your options.