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1. Not taking the matter seriously. This is a charge that will follow you for the rest of your life, if you are convicted. The Department of Public Safety will keep track of it until you are dead. It has to make sure to take your license away from you for two years, if you have two or three lifetime convictions. There are circumstances under which a shorter suspension may be possible on a second time conviction if your attorney knows the loopholes.
The additional insurance charges alone could cost you thousands of dollars. If you’re your license is taken away, you have to prepay for an SR-22 endorsement to your policy. Your insurance company must notify the Department of Public Safety in advance, if you do not maintain your insurance. It will also raise your rates based on your conviction. Your insurance will basically double in cost for 10 years even on a first time conviction.
2. Not hiring an attorney. The law is complex and you need competent representation. You must raise the right defenses at the right time or you will lose them. Facts will disappear, memories fade and witnesses vanish. A winnable case can quickly become a loser. What should you do? You need legal advice and fast. You want an attorney who knows how to handle your case.
3. Hiring an attorney based on the amount of the fee alone. The State has almost unlimited resources when it comes to your case. You need to hire an attorney and pay a fee which will allow him to put time and effort into your case to counter the prosecution.
Attorneys must earn enough in the time they spend on your case in order to keep their doors open and make a living wage. If you go too low, your attorney will not be able to put in the time necessary to protect you. Look for a reasonable, predictable fee, not the lowest.
4. Not requesting a hearing from the Department of Public Safety within 15 days, if your license was taken when you failed or refused to take an alcohol test. There is also a rule that the hearing cannot be requested within 5 days of your arrest. Unless you have an experienced attorney it is easy to miss the correct and technical window during which the hearing can be requested and forever lose your right to the hearing. If you do not request a hearing, your license will be automatically suspended for a period of 90 days or 180 days, effective 40 days after the date of your arrest. With prior alcohol contacts or DWI arrests or convictions, the suspension could be longer, even up to two years. Driving during this time is a serious traffic offense, regardless of whether you need to drive for work or personal reasons, and could result in your arrest, being charged with a class B misdemeanor offense of Driving While License Suspended, jail time up to 180 days, and an additional license suspension of up to one year on top of any other suspension you already have.
5. Driving after your license has been suspended. You have no right to drive after suspension and driving then is a serious criminal offense. There are no provisions for you to drive for work or personal reasons without being granted an occupational license.
6. Not requesting that the officer be present at your administrative license revocation hearing. If you do not subpoena the officer, you will waive his or her presence. The hearing will be based on the officer's report only and you will not hear how the officer will testify. Many things can be learned at this hearing by your attorney, if the officer is present. If the officer fails to appear after being subpoenaed or justify what was done, you get your license back.
7. Taking the District Attorney's first offer. The first offer is not a bargain, it's just to get rid of your case with the least amount of work. Very few cases are dismissed or reduced to a non-alcohol charge at this stage. You do not give the judge an opportunity to rule on constitutional challenges. You give up your right to raise these issues and make the State prove it's case.
8. Failing to appear in Court. The Court will issue a warrant for your arrest and revoke any bond. The next time you are stopped for a traffic infraction, you will be spending some time in jail and posting a bond for your future appearances.
9. Talking to anyone but an attorney about your case. Anything you say to them can be used against you. When you discuss your arrest with friends or family, you risk turning them into involuntary witnesses against you. It is in your best interest to remember the details of your arrest. It will help you in your defense. In any criminal case, you must be represented by a competent defense lawyer.
You may choose a lawyer or risk the consequences of representing yourself. By hiring an attorney immediately following your arrest, you won't miss any deadlines. Judges won't know if they should protect your rights unless someone defends you. For example, overworked prosecutors may use reports from inexperienced or over-zealous police officers to over-prosecute a case.
Defense attorneys are aware of these tendencies and are trained to handle such situations. If you ask the judge to let you be your own attorney, he or she must allow this in most cases. But do not do this. In all DWI cases, get a lawyer quickly. You should interview immediately after arrest if you can (you have a 15 calendar day deadline after arrest, to avoid an automatic license suspension.
10. Thinking that talking to numerous attorneys will help you handle it on your own. You need to have an attorney go to Court with you. There are many rules of evidence and procedure that non-criminal specialist attorneys and normal people don’t know and they present a trap that can cause an innocent person to be convicted or any person to suffer worse consequences than they deserve or that they would have gotten with a competent attorney.
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