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Why the implied consent law isn't an automatic DWI conviction

August 13th, 2015 • drunk driving

Many defendants arrested for DWI are unclear about their rights with regards to New York State's implied consent law. Without getting too complicated, implied consent stands for the concept that driving a vehicle in New York is a privilege and not an individual right. Based on that principle, your acceptance of a driver's license carries with it an implied agreement with law enforcement officials that you will participate in chemical tests to determine your blood alcohol concentration if officers have reason to believe you have been driving while under the influence of alcohol.

As discussed in a previous article on our legal blog, under the implied consent doctrine your refusal to blow into a Breathalyzer will almost certainly result in the automatic suspension of your driver's license. For many defendants, a BAC determination beyond the state's legal limit seems like an insurmountable amount of evidence to overcome to prove their innocence. You need to know that isn't always the case. In fact, there are a wide range of challenges a defense attorney can make regarding your arrest that can result in a dismissal of the charges against you. This is true even in cases where you have exceeded legal limits in BAC testing.

For example, a criminal defense attorney with experience in New York's drunk driving laws can examine whether your initial traffic stop was lawful under Constitutional search and seizure laws. An attorney can also challenge the reliability of the tests performed to determine your BAC, as well as the training and qualifications of the individuals who performed those tests. An attorney can expose the mistakes made during all aspects of your arrest and subsequent testing and may even succeed at suppressing certain key pieces of evidence.

Based in Newburgh, our law firm provides representation for DWI defendants in Orange County and throughout the greater Hudson Valley area. Prospective clients should know that our principal DWI attorney is also a former prosecutor of these types of cases. Our law firm also supports Spanish language speakers. Se Hablamos Español.

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