Building a Columbia Third Offense DUI Defense

When building a defense for a third offense DUI, lawyers may start of by trying to deciding whether the traffic stop was legal, if it was traffic stop, whether the person provided a voluntary statement, whether there are legal issues regarding the field sobriety tests, whether the person’s arrest and Miranda warnings were videotaped as required, whether the breath test was done properly as far as checking the mouth and waiting the 20-minute wait period, etc.

A third-offense DUI attorney could also work by reviewing the case, conducting a thorough investigation of the state’s evidence, and trying to find those strengths and weaknesses that would be there to hopefully convince the prosecutor to reduce it from a third offense to something much more manageable and something with which the criminal defendant can live. They always have the right to take it to a jury trial.

Differences in Challenging the Suspension of a License after Third Offense DUI Charges

Although the basic defense is the same, a third offense DUI is a different type of case. The person must go before a judge and is treated differently because it is the person’s third offense. Prosecutors pursue those cases more aggressively and are less likely to reduce the mandatory jail time or reduce the charge to avoid the mandatory jail time.

A person wants to have a defense attorney with experience defending third offense DUI cases; not just first offense cases in magistrate court. The case is heard in general sessions court so the attorney must deal with a more seasoned prosecutor instead of an officer or a younger prosecutor. There is a difference between a first offense and a third offense as to how it is expanded. The basics of constitutional issues and legal defenses are the same.

Specific Evidence Used

In looking at the field sobriety tests, the lawyers want to make sure that there are video recordings as required and wants to check the video regarding how the person performed. Did they perform such that an average person off the street who watches the person do these field sobriety tests would feel that they are not under the influence of alcohol? Did the person follow the instructions appropriately? Was their speech clear and answers appropriate versus slurred speech and slow kind of responses that are off-topic?

How is Defending a Third Offense DUI Different From a First-Time DUI?

It is very different because the police are generally much more careful in making sure their documentation’s done appropriately. They are less likely to be favorable in providing notes to the prosecutor. The prosecutor is going to be much more aggressive. South Carolina laws already have in place a mandatory minimum sentence that is much higher than a first offense. The judges will be looking at the person, one facing a third offense, as a danger to the public as a repeat offender.

Working with a Columbia Third Offense DUI Attorney

Defending the case is much more difficult, but these are the cases in which one absolutely needs an experienced DUI lawyer who knows how to find the defenses that others do not, who knows how to dig deep and go with a fine-toothed comb to find that detail that shows that the case is not as strong as the prosecutor thinks it is, who can bring it to the prosecutor and change the nature of the case. If one has to try the case, one needs a lawyer who has had that experience, who’s tried these cases and who has been successful, although there is no guarantee. A person certainly would not want to go to trial facing a mandatory minimum without an experienced lawyer.