Today, many people in the Williston area believe a DUI is just another traffic infraction. In other words, they believe it is similar to a speeding ticket. Unfortunately, that is not the case. A conviction for DUI is going to result in a criminal record. Even though lengthy jail time is not common, a defendant convicted of drunk driving who spends no time in jail will still have a criminal record. That is why it is important for those charged with DUI to consider hiring a criminal law lawyer in Williston ND area.
A person with a criminal conviction of DUI will find there are a lot of serious life-long consequences. Many employers and landlords perform background checks. These background checks are cheap, so they’re getting hard to avoid, and make getting jobs and housing more difficult for anyone with a record. Furthermore, criminal records are usually permanent. Even supposedly expunged criminal records can show up years or decades later on background checks, especially if the background check is requested by a government agency.
Beating a charge of drunk driving is not easy. Law enforcement has a lot of tools to gather evidence a person is driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A skilled Criminal Law Lawyer in Williston ND, is needed in order to avoid conviction. For example, the police may have required the driver to give a sample of blood to test the blood alcohol level. The driver may have been required to take a breathalyzer test as well. Those two tests can cause a jury to believe that the driver is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
In some instances, the Criminal Law Lawyer can introduce doubt by finding problems with the testing equipment or the testing procedure used by the police. Without the help of a skilled attorney, it will be nearly impossible for the typical layperson to defend against test results. Other evidence gathered by the police may be helpful in proving that the driver is not guilty. For example, the police video camera may show that the defendant is driving the vehicle in a safe manner that is inconsistent with a drunk driver. Again, a skilled attorney is needed to gather this evidence and use it to convince a jury that the defendant is not guilty.
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