What You Need to Know About Appealing New Hampshire DUI Convictions

The majority of our clients visit us seeking assistance in defending themselves against a DWI charge. However, other clients request our assistance after their conviction. DWIs are classified as criminal cases, and as such, specific circumstances can allow for this criminal conviction to be appealed. DWIs are also considered to be administrative matters because they affect the defendant’s right to operate a motor vehicle. If your license has been suspended at an administrative hearing, then this suspension can be appealed as well.

Not all motorists convicted of DWI charges will be entitled to appeal their conviction and subsequent license suspension. The grounds for an appeal must exist. Appeals for administrative license suspensions must be conducted through the Superior Court. DWI conviction appeals may be handled by either the Superior Court or the New Hampshire Supreme Court, although the latter option is rarely used.

For a New Hampshire motorist convicted of a DWI, the ramifications can be severe. New Hampshire maintains a reputation for possessing some of the strictest DWI laws in the United States. Significant monetary fines, loss of one’s license, loss of employment, and mandatory jail sentences are just a few of the penalties a conviction can result in.

In April 2013, former prosecutor Peter Heed, confessed to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. On January 10, 2013, he was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving. Because Heed, who resigned as acting attorney general in 2004, maintained close ties to the state judiciary, the arraignment for his charges had to be delayed until a neutral judge could be found to preside over Heed’s case.

Just about every one who contacts me after being arrested for DWI wants to keep their license. This is very difficult to do, but not impossible. In order to keep your license, the first step if you refused a breath or blood test, or tested above the legal limit, is to request an administrative license suspension hearing. If you do not do that within 30 days you will lose your license for 6 months or 2 years, even if you are found not guilty of DWI.

Requesting the hearing is the easy part. Winning the hearing is more difficult. The cop basically has to show it is more likely than not that you refused the test or tested above the legal limit. The police do not have to show you were drunk or under the influence.

However, there are some other things the state must prove. I have won these license suspension hearings by showing: the driver was not on a public way, lack of jurisdiction, the officer gave improper legal advice, the blood test was not above the legal limit, the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to believe the driver was impaired, the officer or intoxilyzer were not properly certified, a proper 20 minute observation period was not followed, the person did not actually refuse the requested test, the driver was confused regarding the consequences of the refusal due in part to conduct by the officer, and the officer did not properly advise of ALS rights.

If we are able to win the administrative license suspension hearing, the next step to keep your license is to win the criminal case. Even if we win the administrative hearing, the prosecutor will still go forward with the criminal charge. Sometimes the charge can be reduced to reckless driving, which avoids a DWI conviction, but it still has a 60 day loss of license. Even more rare is a plea offer to something less, such as negligent driving, a non driving offense, or a flat out dismissal.  You are much more likely to be found not guilty at trial with a good dwi lawyer than you are to be offered a plea that has no license loss.

Assuming there is no plea offer with a license loss, you will have to go to trial and be found not guilty in order to keep your license.

If you are convicted of DWI in New Hampshire, there is presently no hardship license, work permit, cinderella license, etc. It does not matter how compelling your reason to drive is, you will fully lose your license during the suspension period. NH is finally considering to amend the statute to allow for a hardship license under certain conditions.

For New Hampshire First Time DWI Offenders, Restricted Use Licenses Could Become a Possibility

New legislation has been introduced in New Hampshire that could allow first-time DWI offenders to become eligible for restricted use licenses. New Hampshire is one of a handful of states in the United States that does not bestow limited driving privileges to motorists who have been convicted of DWI offenses.

It is summer time and that means more sobriety checkpoints. Last week the State police held them as well as Manchester police department. While I sometimes see the posting on their website ahead of time, I usually find out about them afterwards as I get a call from someone frequently after a sobriety checkpoint is used. In order to do a sobriety checkpoint, the police need to obtain permission from superior court, and perform the checkpoints in certain ways.

The first defense to attacking a sobriety checkpoint is to show the police did not do the checkpoint as approved, or in some other way violated your rights. If you were pulled over for trying to avoid a checkpoint, this may be a valid defense as well. The police are supposed to notify the public before doing the checkpoints. If you are stopped at a checkpoint you have the right to not answer questions such as if you were drinking. Just give the police your license and registration and choose to be silent or tell them you want a lawyer. If you are asked to step out of the car, ask the officer if he is asking you to step out or if he is ordering you. Also ask the cop if you are free to leave. The less evidence you give them, the more defenses you probably have.

If you are asked to do field sobriety tests, you are probably going to fail no matter how hard you try and how little alcohol you had. If you were arrested hire a good dui attorney immediately.