Your arrest triggered two wholly separate actions against you. The first concerns the license suspension of your driving privileges and this is conducted by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The other is the criminal charges that you will face in court. Both require the services of an experienced Overland Park DUI attorney to properly resolve.
In Kansas,you have just 14 calendar days to request a DMV hearing following the date of a breath test failure or breath test refusal (usually the date of the DUI arrest); and if you fail to appear or lose the hearing, your driver's license will be suspended. Quick actions are needed to properly defend the cases against you.
The tests given to detect blood alcohol concentration or whether or not you were intoxicated are not infallible. Field sobriety tests can be administered incorrectly and the results rely on the personal opinion and observations of the officer who gave the tests. Blood tests can be faulty when the methods used to take, preserve and test the blood sample are improperly done. In addition, the reliability of breath tests can be forcefully challenged as physiological and other factors may throw off the results.
That depends upon the exact DUI offense you have been charged with, the severity of the crime and your prior DUI history. Commonly, DUI offenses are penalized by fines, community service, driver's license suspension, a jail sentence and possible impoundment of your vehicle. In addition, you will have to attend an alcohol awareness program. In some cases, an ignition interlock device will be installed in your car.
For more serious charges such as multiple DUI, felony DUI or vehicular manslaughter the penalties increase substantially.
My name is Steve Neighbors, and I've successfully practiced law for 30 years. I have purposefully narrowed the scope of my practice to concentrate on DUI defense and in my experience, it is only through aggressive, and thorough, defense work, in opposition to the prosecution of DUI charges, that my client will obtain the best outcome possible. Your freedoms and rights are at stake; and, with a knowledgeable attorney working for you, there are many times when your charges can either be reduced, or dismissed (for insufficient evidence to convict) - which could result in the penalties you face being diminished.
Because it is illegal, under Kansas law, to plea bargain a DUI charge, the plea options, in a Kansas DUI matter, are usually limited to the following:
A 4th alternative may be having the DUI charge dismissed IF the defense can show the prosecution that there is insufficient evidence to support a conviction to the charge - however, only an experienced attorney can understand the complexities of a DUI case, and conduct the relevant discovery (reports, lab results, video/audio recordings, and witness statements) needed to show the prosecution the true weaknesses to their prosecution case. I believe that every client deserves to have the best result possible under the circumstances of their case. I educate my clients on the relevant law regarding their factual circumstances so that my client can make the best decision possible regarding the outcome of their case.