Imprisonment and jailing- How much a jail risk comes with exceeding 0.30 BAC in a Fairfax DUI prosecution?

Imprisonment and jailing are a real risk in any Virginia jurisdiction if convicted of exceeding of DWI with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) exceeding 0.30. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I recently avoided even a minute in jail for my client whose Intox EC/IR II / breathalyzer post arrest blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reading in my county was 0.34, which is more than four times the 0.08 BAC legal limit. How did my client and I accomplish such a great result? This took plenty of full preparation, persuasion, and teamwork, and we pulled it off. Do not for a moment expect that you automatically avoid active jail in any Virginia courthouse with a BAC over 0.25 (let alone for BACs below that reading), but avoiding incarceration clearly needs to be part of the fight.

Is Fairfax County a safe haven against imprisonment if I get convicted for a high-blood alcohol concentration in my Virginia DUI prosecution?

Virginia DUI law is humorless about violating DWI law period, let alone when the defendant has a very high BAC. A Virginia DWI conviction with a 0.15-0.20 BAC requires at least five days of active imprisonment under Virginia Code § 18.2-270. A DWI conviction in the commonwealth for over a 0.20 BAC requires at least ten days of active jail time. If the same conviction happens but for a second offense within five years, the foregoing mandatory minimum numbers respectively climb to thirty days and forty days (and to twenty days and thirty days for a second offense committed within ten years). Many judges are so firm with Virginia DUI sentencing that some of them will reject a very favorable agreed sentence negotiated by the defense and prosecution / assistant commonwealth’s attorney. With Fairfax DUI prosecutions under Virginia Code § 18.2-266and criminal prosecutions in general in this county, despite any general aversion of the chief prosecutor to mandatory minimum sentencing, do not expect that to mean that your high BAC Fairfax DUI case will yield a no active-jail time plea deal, both because even self-styled progressive chief Virginia prosecutors will still be firm about Virginia DWI violations, and also because Fairfax County line prosecutors have substantial discretion with plea dealing in general, and with DWI cases in particular.

How do I reduce my imprisonment and jail time risk from a very high BAC score in my Virginia DUI case?

Ideally, you will timely obtain a qualified Virginia DUI lawyer who has the experience, knowledge, ability, drive and commitment to detect and navigate the ins and outs of obtaining the best possible result for you at trial, because only through being fully prepared for trial can your attorney present the right kind of threat that helps you with favorable plea/settlement negotiations. Obtaining the best possible Virginia DWI lawyer for you is not enough by itself. You want to benefit from your attorney’s firepower by working closely with your lawyer and asking what you can do to engage in relevant self-improvement to enhance your chances of obtaining a favorable court result, including ideally avoiding imprisonment. Even the best Fairfax DUI lawyer cannot promise your negotiation, trial and sentencing outcome, because the factor of the involved prosecutor, judge, and any jury members is out of your lawyer’s control. Therefore, your lawyer must be ready for any challenges and even bows and arrows that come his or her way, and must be protecting you from the attendant potential fallout.

Should I freak out if my alleged Virginia DUI BAC reading exceeds 0.30?

You cannot change the past, but you can help write the outcome of a potentially great DUI outcome, as I detail in this article, so freaking out serves no purpose, even if your relatives are freaking out about possible imprisonment and more. Many times I have defended people with BAC results ranging from 0.30 to 0.34. Although the measuring approaches of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science (DFS) are riddled with error risk with breath testing and also with error with blood testing (for instance when considering the absence of mass spectrometry testing as part of analyzing blood alcohol content), it is so infrequent for me to see BACs over 0.30 that often a BAC that high indicates a serious alcohol issue, if not for a lengthy period of time, at least for the date that alcohol was being consumed. For me as your Fairfax DUI lawyer, that means for me to work with you in obtaining insight into knowing how much you drank, over what time period, for what reason, and the extent to which you need a level of alcohol treatment, behavior modification, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings (or their equivalent) and psychological intervention beyond what I would usually recommend to a first-time DWI defendant with a low blood alcohol content reading (with whom I would ordinarily simply recommend completing a Virginia Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV)-approved driver improvement class, often an evaluation by a state-licensed alcohol treatment program, numerous AA-type meetings, and completion of an online Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Victim Impact Panel (VIP). As with all my criminal defendants and drug defendants, I am not here judging my clients nor replacing the role of an alcohol treatment professional, but instead am summoning all my own experience working with substance abuse counselors and my prior clients in tailoring a path for you that will serve your case defense well, where often a fringe benefit will be a behavioral change by you that will serve you well for years to come.

How did a Fairfax DUI lawyer obtain a no-active jail result for a 0.34 blood alcohol content Virginia DWI case?

With my above-referenced Fairfax DUI defendant-client charged with a 0.34 BAC DWI offense where the police found my client allegedly with his vehicle running and with alleged substantial signs of impairment, I appeared on the trial date fully prepared for trial, and armed with documentation of numerous hours of self-improvement by my client, and my client’s Army DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) that included verification of his combat experience in challenging battle zones. Immediately after I greeted the arresting officer (who was standing with the breath testing officer), he showed interest in how my client has been doing during the four months since the incident date. The officer was interested in my client’s military history. He was also interested in talking with me in general. WARNING: Manipulation will not work in persuading others. Virginia DWI defense lawyers must at once not let innocent-seeming police and prosecutor questions lead them into a trap that will harm the defendant, and to take the opportunity to meaningfully and persuasively engage with them. The parties negotiated on goals versus positions. The prosecutor pointed out to the officer that for whatever reason the warrant of arrest (WOA) / charging document would have needed to be amended to allege a BAC over 0.20 to have made my client eligible for a mandatory minimum imprisonment, and I was ready (but it was not necessary based on our negotiating result) to point out that I was ready to argue at any trial that the breath technician’s block lettering (rather than signing) his name in the certificate of analysis’s (COAs) attestation clause made the COA inadmissible or at least weakened. The police officer was satisfied with a no active jail plea, and that is what we reached. The judge accepted our plea deal. Had the judge expressed skepticism or reluctance about our deal, I was ready to point out that my client already was fifty years old, never convicted of a crime in the past, so was not in any age range of likelihood of being arrested soon of any other crime. I was also ready to present documentation of my client’s self-improvement steps, and to mention that it is important to consider that a sizeable percentage of combat veterans will at least sometimes turn to alcohol or drugs to alleviate the trauma of having had the experience of their comrades and themselves being targeted by weapons, and their having targeted enemy soldiers with weapons.

What should I do if my potential Virginia DUI lawyer promises me no imprisonment or jailing in my DWI case?

A Virginia DUI lawyer cannot comply with the attorneys’ professional conduct rules by promising you the outcome of your case, including avoiding imprisonment. A lawyer may make educated predictions about your case outcome, hopefully including consideration of the variables that can affect your case outcome. Like I, a lawyer is permitted to discuss your case prospects in relation to prior experience with similar cases (although no two cases are exactly the same) and can address what the lawyer and his or her legal team can to in pursuing your best possible defense.

Fairfax DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz recognizes that a DWI prosecution is not for you merely a DWI case, because it implicates your liberty, driving privileges, reputation, and sometimes such vital collateral factors as security clearance, military status and immigration status. Jon Katz has successfully defended hundreds of people accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, medicine and marijuana. Start your defense today by calling 703-383-1100 for your free initial confidential consultation with Jon Katz.