Commercial driver licenses need protection against DWI and reckless driving prosecutions, says Fairfax DUI lawyer

Commercial driver licenses (CDLs) are at risk when you get prosecuted for allegedly violating the Virginia DWI and reckless driving laws and numerous other traffic laws. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I state the truism that you avoid court risk by avoiding being arrested and charged in court in the first place. That is easier said than done, with humans being social and fun-seeking animals who do not always want to break the mood or be ridiculed by insisting on a designated driver or a hired vehicle, and who often want to test the limits of their motor vehicle’s power. Regardless of what brings you to criminal court, CDL holders need to overcover risk against their prosecutions, which includes obtaining the best possible attorney for your defense, working closely with your lawyer, and keeping a realistic perspective on your defense.

How should my Virginia DWI lawyer respond to the prosecutor or judge saying “If he knew the risk to commercial driver licenses, why did he engage in such misbehavior in the first place?

As a Fairfax DUI lawyer and Virginia criminal defense attorney, I often hear retorts to my saying my client needs to save their commercial driver licenses (CDLs), security clearance, immigration status, and military status, along the lines of prosecutors saying that my client should have modified their behavior to save such a status. However, it is not always as easy as that. First, Virginia criminal defendants are presumed innocent, and many did not commit the alleged crime. Second, with Virginia DWI prosecutions, many people have no idea that they have crossed the watered-down 0.08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit under Virginia Code § 18.2-266, nor met the unworkable DUI definition of having drunk enough alcohol to noticeably affect one’s appearance or behavior. Even elevated BAC levels do not always correlate with the driver’s ability to feel any impairment, let alone that the BAC level may have been lower at the time of driving than the time of testing, and that the breathalyzer / Intox EC/IR II devices administered through the Virginia Department of Forensic Science (DFS) are so unreliable that they violate the Constitutional Due Process requirements of barring a conviction without proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Can I get a restricted CDL after a reckless driving or DWI conviction that includes a driving license suspension?

Virginia does not have such a thing as restricted commercial driver licenses / CDLs. Consequently, do whatever you can to avoid a Virginia DUI conviction, which involves a statutorily mandated one year loss of license (LOL) / license suspension for a first offense (with the option to apply to the court for a restricted operator license / ROC), and avoid the “wet” part of a wet reckless that would involve any suspended driving (which can run zero days to six months).

Does my Fairfax DUI lawyer know how to convince the prosecutor to reach a deal that saves my CDL?

Prosecutors handle a wide variety of cases, and cannot be expected to know the relevant law backward and forward. It is your Fairfax DUI / Virginia criminal defense lawyer’s job to know and internalize the relevant law, procedure, evidence, and client’s circumstances (whether for commercial driver licenses or otherwise) not only to persuade the assistant commonwealth’s attorney / prosecutor to agree to a negotiated plea / settlement that you want, but also to do that in a way that saves the prosecutor’s time, not only by omitting unnecessary chatter (although initiating the conversation with some relevant small talk can sometimes help) but also by making clear to the prosecutor how much time s/he will save by accepting your attorney’s proposed settlement. Many times I prepare a written settlement sheet signed by me and my client, which tells the prosecutor that by signing that sheet, the prosecutor is done with me for the day, unless the judge does not accept the agreed sentence.

Does my Virginia DWI attorney know how to convince the judge to accept the parties’ agreed plea deal?

Do not rejoice over a desirable agreed settlement — for instance an agreement that may save commercial driver licenses — until your Virginia trial judge goes along with it. In a county like Fairfax where numerous judges may think that the self-styled progressive chief prosecutor’s assistants sometimes or often are too defendant-favorable, such judges may be more willing to take an independent approach and not simply honor the parties’ agreement, especially when the alleged crime victim dissents from the agreed sentence as too lenient. When the judge states such resistance, this is not the time for your Virginia attorney to get bent out of shape, to whine nor complain, but to accept the judge’s signal as the gift that it is, which is an opportunity for your attorney to know how to adjust their approach to bring the judge on board. Also, make sure that your Virginia DUI lawyer is obtaining the necessary intelligence on any judge s/he does not fully know about already, to minimize any response of feeling blindsided by the judge’s reaction to the parties’ plea deal.

How much should I pace my drinking to avoid a Virginia DUI conviction?

My understanding is that some watchword / rule of thumb / gospel is circulating to security clearance holders, commercial driver license holders and others, to not have more than one drink per hour (in terms of one ounce of hard liquor, four ounces of wine and a twelve ounce beer). Is your career important enough for you to overcover risk? If so, then consider my watchword not to drive any motor vehicle within twenty-four hours of consuming any alcohol. Why? Because some police will be hair trigger happy in conducting Virginia DUI investigations for even the slightest-seeming whiff of liquor on the breath. Because your drink may be larger or stronger than the above servings. Because if you if you are unable to provide a sufficient breath test volume for a BAC test, you then face the watered down DUI definition stated above. Because the suggestion of needing only one hour to metabolize a serving of beer, wine or liquor puts you at the mercy of that suggestion, of the breathalyzer machine’s inaccuracy, and of the police officer’s level of accurate reporting, or not.

Fairfax DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz leaves no essential stone unturned in pursuing your best defense against prosecutions for allegedly driving under the influence of beer, wine, alcohol. liquor or drugs. Jon Katz keeps learning and collaborating with colleagues in fighting for your victory, including as a small percentage of Virginia DWI defenders who is a member of the essential National College of DUI Defense (NCDD) or its equivalent. When you hire Jon as your defense lawyer, you have an attorney who will never give up and never give in for your defense. Today, get your free in-person confidential initial consultation with Jon Katz about your court-pending prosecution. Start your great defense by calling us at 703-383-1100, emailing info@BeatTheProsecution.com, or texting 571-406-7268.