DUI DEFENSE



If you are charged with a DUI, or expect DUI charges to be filed against you, Dan can help. DUI is a serious offense that carries both administrative and criminal penalties. In order to understand these penalties, and the criminal process, you should consult an attorney. All of Dan’s DUI consultations are free. Through a consultation, Dan can discuss with you your situation and your options in defending against the DUI charges. The information discussed in a DUI consultation is confidential even if you choose not to retain Dan’s services.

A DUI case has several important phases. The DUI case begins on the night of the arrest and may conclude with a jury trial, a plea bargain to a lesser charge, an outright dismissal, a deferred prosecution, or a conviction. Whatever the final outcome, a person charged with DUI needs to understand the implications a DUI will have on their driving record, their job, their family, and their criminal history. In order to protect your rights, and to maximize your likeliness of an optimal outcome, you should contact an attorney immediately after you have been arrested for DUI.

UPDATE: If you have been convicted of DUI, or plead guilty to DUI or a crime that was originally charged as a DUI over the last seven years, you may be able to have your conviction overturned! The former Washington State Patrol crime lab manager resigned on July 20, 2007, amidst allegations that she falsely certified lab tests that relate directly to the validity of breath test results.

If you have a DUI conviction on your record, schedule a free consultation with Dan. You may have a legal basis to attack your judgment.

DOL Hearing


It is important to understand that a DUI offense carries administrative penalties in addition to criminal penalties. The night of a DUI arrest, the arresting officer will punch a hole in your driver’s license if you refuse a breath or blood test or your BAC result is greater than .08. The officer should also provide you with a hearing request form so that you can challenge the suspension. Your license is still valid after it is punched until the suspension takes place by order of the DOL.

You can, and should, request a hearing to contest the administrative suspension. You may do so by filling out the Hearing Request Form that should have been provided to you by the arresting officer and mailing it to the Department of Licensing within thirty days of the date of the arrest. Unless you are indigent, you must include a check or money order for $200 made out to the Department of Licensing. Download a Hearing Request Form.

If you request a hearing, the Department of Licensing must give you one within sixty days of the date of the arrest. The hearing will be presided over by a Department of Licensing examiner. Unless you request otherwise, the hearing will take place by telephone.

At the hearing, the DOL officer will offer the arresting officer's police report as evidence against you and will then consider any testimony and/or argument that you wish to make. Defenses exist in DOL administrative suspension hearings that are not obvious to the uninitiated and an experienced DUI defense attorney will carefully explore the facts of your case to reveal all potential defenses.

If the DOL officer finds that the evidence establishes that the arresting officer had reasonable grounds to arrest you and that he complied with all of the necessary requirements in administering the breath test or that you made a knowing and intelligent decision to refuse the breath test, the suspension or revocation will be upheld. If, however, the DOL examiner finds that the evidence does not establish these elements, the suspension or revocation will be dismissed.

Also, if you lose the administrative hearing, you must obtain SR22 "high risk" insurance prior to reinstatement of your driving privileges and you must maintain that insurance for three years following reinstatement. You may also be required to re-take the written and/or driving exam.