There are two parts to any Driving Under the Influence case. The first part is the criminal case where the driver’s guilt or innocence is established. The second part is the hearing before the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA). The MVA hearing establishes what happens to your driving privileges as a result of the DUI conviction. Drivers can also be required to attend an MVA hearing if they need to contest a license suspension because they [...]

Most people who drive need their vehicles for personal matters, such as shopping and getting the kids to their games on time. Many also need their vehicles to commute to their jobs. For a large number of people, their job is their vehicle. Commercial drivers who haul freight and inventory lose their livelihood if they lose their right to drive. Drivers of commercial vehicles, normally larger trucks, need a special license called a commercial driver’s [...]

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), minors between 12 and 20 account for a 1/10 of the nation’s alcohol consumption. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, alcohol is a major reason why teenagers are involved in roadway crashes that result in fatalities; more than one out of every three deaths in the 16-20 age group are due to alcohol use. Across the country, adults who drink and drive can [...]

In Maryland, police don’t have complete freedom to stop any driver they see and give him or her a set of field sobriety tests. The first line of defense in any DUI case is whether the police had proper grounds to stop a driver and pull him/her off to the side of the road. The proper grounds standard in Maryland is less strict than the “probable cause” standard for obtaining a warrant. The police must [...]

Normally, the police cannot stop and/or search a person unless they have reasonable grounds to believe a crime has been committed. Under the law, law enforcement officers should obtain a warrant before arresting anyone, or searching them or their property. However, cases involving suspicious of driving under the influence are treated a bit differently. The police do still need reasonable grounds to stop any driver for DUI. Examples of reasonable grounds include observing a [...]

When you are convicted of a DUI in Maryland, you will lose your license for a certain amount of time, based on your prior history and the circumstances of your conviction. Once you get your license back, however, you are generally free to travel wherever you wish to go – unless you’re planning a trip to visit our Neighbor to the North, Canada. Before 2019 year, Americans who had ever been arrested or convicted of [...]

Most drivers who are charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics are charged with a state crime. Cases are heard in the county where the offense occurred or where the driver lives. There are some instances though where a driver can be accused of a federal DUI. Filing federal charges requires some federal involvement – typically that the offense occurred on federal property. Maryland has numerous federal roads, including the Baltimore-Washington Parkway [...]

Drivers who are charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI) face many penalties if convicted. They can be sentenced to jail or prison (depending on the type of charge), and be forced to pay substantial penalties and fines. Their insurance rates can increase, or their coverage can be cancelled. They can lose their security clearance, in some cases, too. One extra risk is that you will likely lose your driving privileges [...]

The State. com reported in September 2018 that a South Carolina Law (called Emma’s Law) that was meant to help force DUI offenders to prove sobriety before they could drive has not worked as planned. The law requires that anyone convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, whose blood alcohol content (BAC) level was .15 or more, should have to use an ignition interlock device, or IID. The IID analyzes the driver’s BAC and [...]