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Possibility of Jail Following a Baltimore DUI

After a DUI arrest in Baltimore, the police take the person to the police barracks headquarters in the location where the person was stopped by the officer. There are numerous police barracks and state trooper barracks in the Baltimore area; they take the person to the one that is closest to them. If you have been arrested for a DUI in Baltimore and jailed, you will need a Baltimore DUI lawyer who has experience in this arena. Having a dedicated attorney experienced in the Baltimore courts can help minimize the negative impact of the charges in your daily life.

Ways a Person Can Face a DUI Charge in Baltimore

Someone can be arrested for a DUI when they are in their parking lot and their driveway. They don’t need to be driving on the road, although the driveway is much harder for the officer to prove. Generally speaking, numerous DUIs come from bar and restaurant parking lots as well as parking lots for a residential space at an apartment or in residential areas.

Individuals are arrested for DUIs in parking lots frequently. Officers patrol parking lots nears bars and restaurants particularly around the closing time for the bars. Prosecution must prove driving. Driving is an element of every single DUI case whether it is for a DUI, DUI drug, or a DWI. Driving is always an element of the case and the prosecution is required to prove that element beyond a reasonable doubt.

A person can be charged with DUI in Baltimore even when it isn’t clear who was driving. There are cases where everyone in the vehicle is charged with DUI and then it is up to the state’s attorney to prove the case one way or the other. In the vast majority of DUI cases, it is clear who is operating the motor vehicle, but there have been ambiguous situations where the state can’t prove that one of those individuals was actually operating the vehicle.

“Shelter Doctrine” in Baltimore DUI Cases

Driving in relation to a DUI means actual physical control of a motor vehicle. That can be driving on the road as anyone thinks of it. It can also include sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle with keys in ignition, even if the person is asleep. Maryland uses something called a “Shelter Doctrine.” This states that a person can use their vehicle as a shelter without being in actual physical control. However once they put the vehicle into motion, they are no longer using it as a shelter.

It is acceptable for a person to sleep off intoxication in their car as long as they never move the vehicle. If they are in the parking lot of the bar where they were drinking and they decide to fall asleep in their car, that is not driving in Maryland. However, if someone drives ten feet down the road, decides they are too impaired to drive, pulls over and then sleeps it off, at that point, they are in actual physical control of the motion of the vehicle. The rule in Maryland basically comes down to the person can use their vehicle as shelter, but they cannot put the vehicle in motion.

Going to Jail for a DUI

A person can go to jail for a DUI in Baltimore. The maximum period of incarceration for a first offense DUI in Baltimore is one year of incarceration and a $1,000 fine. For a first offense DWI, the maximum period of incarceration is sixty days and $500 fine. Those are maximums and are not realistic penalties. However, jail is a possibility for DUIs in Baltimore.

In Baltimore DUI cases, a judge can sentence somebody to a mandatory minimum which means to send the person to jail, it is the minimum period that is required based on a conviction. That is a mandatory minimum.

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