Driving issues before and after a Virginia DWI trial- Fairfax DUI lawyer addresses license and car loss

Driving issues are one of the major headaches of a Virginia DWI arrest and conviction. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer defending people against prosecutions for driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs under Virginia Code § 18.2-266, I know that a chief concern of Virginia DWI defendants is not only to avoid a conviction and jail — and such collateral harm as adverse effects on security clearances, military status, immigration, jobs and reputation — but also to not have to be hitchhiking and taking taxis for extended time periods, nor for the ignition interlock device (IID) to put a damper on the defendant’s work and personal life. All of the foregoing concerns mean all the more the importance of obtaining a Virginia DUI lawyer who not only knows how to defend a case and take it to trial, but who also understands the science and procedure involved in DUI investigations, arrests and prosecutions. I am among a small percentage of Virginia DUI defenders who is a member of the National College of DUI Defense or its equivalent, and — as shown on my NCDD webpage — I am a graduate of the NCDD’s field sobriety testing (SFST) training program, which included one of the nation’s top trainers to police, and which included my conducting FST’s on people who had consumed alcohol.

How and when do I retrieve my license after it got seized after my Virginia DUI arrest?

After the unpleasantness — and for some, a shock — of a Virginia DUI arrest, no arrestee wants the added imposition of a license suspension. If you are charged for a Virginia DWI offense without also being charged with refusal to submit to breathalyzer testing and without having a post-arrest Intox EC/IR II / breathalyzer test result of 0.08 or higher, a post-arrest pretrial license suspension should not be expected. This means, for instance, that any blood test result will not result in a post-arrest pretrial license suspension, because the blood test result will not be known usually until weeks after the blood draw. However, if your post-arrest breathalyzer result is 0.08 or higher or if you are charged with refusing to submit to post-arrest breath or blood testing, you may receive driving issues with an administrative license suspension, which will be for seven days if you have no prior DWI nor refusal convictions, and usually will be for sixty days if you do have such a prior conviction for an incident date from within the past ten years.

How do I retrieve my seized license as soon as possible after my Virginia DUI arrest?

First determine whether your license has been administratively seized. If you cannot find your license among your belongings when you leave the jail after your Virginia DUI arrest, see whether you have a landscape-printed administrative license suspension order, which should be on this DC-201 form. If not, you can see whether one has been filed at the courthouse. If your license has simply been misplaced by the authorities or yourself but not ordered administratively suspended by the court magistrate or judge, then you should be able to simply visit a full service Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles service center to pay for a replacement license. If your license has been administratively suspended, the quickest way to retrieve it is to do so on the day it is ready for release back to you, at the General District Court clerk’s office for the county or city where your case is being prosecuted, during 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If you do not retrieve your license on that date, you can expect it to be mailed to you, and for that to possibly add several days to your receiving your license. You also have the option once your license is releasable, to receive a new one, for pay, at a full service DMV location. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, as a courtesy to my clients with DWI cases in this county, my staff will at their request pickup their licenses on the releasable date, to help ease such driving issues.

How do I challenge my license suspension driving issues in court?

Ideally with such driving issues, you will consult with your Virginia DUI lawyer about challenging your administrative license suspension. Here is the Virginia General District Court DC-202 form you can use for scheduling a hearing to challenge your administrative license suspension. Of course, if your license suspension is for seven days rather than sixty days,  any win for challenging a seven day administrative license suspension will be limited for how many fewer days you are suspended, but such a hearing can also be an opportunity to obtain information about your case that is relevant both to challenging your license suspension and to defending you at your Virginia DUI trial.

What happens if I am arrested and convicted for violating my administrative license suspension order?

Driving during your post-Virginia DWI arrest license suspension period can be a headache at best with your driving issues, not only with that making you face up to a year in jail and further (and lengthy) suspended driving if convicted, but also suffering a thirty-day seizure of the car you were driving. No exceptions exist to your post-arrest administrative driving suspension. That includes not allowing you to run to the drugstore to obtain pain reliever for a headache. Moreover, in Fairfax and other highly-populated areas, judge will be even less sympathetic to claims of emergency driving in the light of the abundance of taxis and other paid driving services (although, admittedly, sometimes a long wait can take place for such drivers to arrive to pick you up).

What happens to my license if convicted for my Virginia DUI case?

Adding to your driving issues, by law, without exceptions, a Virginia DUI conviction means a one year loss of your Virginia driving privileges (and of your entire license if a Virginia licensee) for a first time Virginia DWI conviction, and a three year loss if the conviction is listed as a second within ten years. A refusal conviction involves a one year loss for a first offense and a three year loss for a second offense within ten years. A first time Virginia DWI conviction that is not for a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.15 or higher gives you the option to select restricted driving privileges (if the judge will grant restricted privileges) with the IID as the only restriction, but with the hitch of having to drive with the IID for twelve months versus the minimum six months for more restricted driving. One month after a refusal conviction, the defendant may apply for restricted driving privileges for the remainder of that one year suspension for a first refusal offense conviction, but that is only for limited driving with the IID.

How do I rent a car, driver shared family vehicles, or drive employer-provided shared vehicles while I have my interlock device obligation?

The interlock is a pain for your driving issues. For employer-provided vehicles that must be shared with your co-workers or on which your employer will not permit an IID installation, talk with your Virginia DUI lawyer about petitioning the court — with your employer’s written permission — to not require using the IID when driving employer provided vehicles for work purposes only. However, that permission is granted or denied only at the sole discretion of the judge.

Why must I deal with all these driving issues for my one alleged Virginia DUI mistake?

The Virginia DUI laws and prosecution and judging approaches can be harsh, and goes beyond driving issues. Until the law, prosecuting approach and judicial sentencing approach eases, this situation is all the more reason to obtain the best possible Virginia DWI lawyer to defend you. You only get one real chance to defend yourself in court, unless you appeal, so choose wisely in selecting your attorney. Fairfax DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz will be delighted to meet with you in person for free about your court-pending case. Call 703-383-1100 to secure your meeting date and time with Jon, who can usually meet with you the same day or else the next business day after you call.