Bethesda DUI Attorney
If you are facing criminal charges from a night out, you should contact a Bethesda DUI lawyer who is interested in learning your side of the story. A Bethesda criminal defense attorney from our firm can work with you to prepare a proactive defense.
Police officers recognize that Bethesda is a place where people often go to socialize and drink due to the variety of bars and restaurants, as well as readily-available parking. Thus, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, police officers spend a great deal of time patrolling the area and making sure that people are not getting behind the wheel after having consumed too much alcohol at a restaurant or bar.
Regardless of the circumstances that led to your DUI arrest, working with an experienced Maryland DUI attorney can make a big impact on the shape of your case. Call our law offices today to get started with your free case evaluation.
DUI Charges in Bethesda
Citizens from towns like Rockville, Silver Spring, Bethesda, and Gaithersburg travel these busy streets every day to get to work in Washington, DC. When an extended commute is part of your everyday agenda, you can’t afford to have your driving privileges compromised. DWIs and DUIs are very common criminal charges in Montgomery County.
- A DWI is less serious than a DUI and can be issued if your blood alcohol level is less than .08.
- You can be charged with a DUI if you are found operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol level that is at or above .08%
Although these differences can seem cut and dry on paper, the vast majority of what happens during a DUI stop (including what sort of charges you receive) can be up to the discretion of the police officer. By effectively challenging either chemical evidence or field sobriety test results, a DUI attorney in Bethesda can work to help you mitigate the damage associated with alcohol-related driving charges.
MD DUI Penalties
For a first DUI conviction, you can face up to a year in jail and up to $1000 in fines. However, every subsequent conviction can carry an additional year in jail and an additional $1000 fine. Every time a person is convicted of driving under the influence, in addition to jail time and/or a fine, they can also be subjected to losing their license. Our Bethesda DUI lawyers understand not only how to defend you in criminal court, but also how to help you fight administrative license suspensions, which are controlled by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA)—a completely separate entity from the Maryland courts.
DUI Checkpoints in Montgomery County
There are a great many police officers in the Downtown Bethesda area who are not only patrolling the area, looking for people committing traffic violations, but also at checkpoints where a number of officers stop every vehicle that drives through to make sure that individuals are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. These police checkpoints are often where drivers can find themselves in unprovoked trouble.
We often see these checkpoints situated in places where both alcohol consumption and heavy traffic occur. Because checkpoints are expensive to set up, they are by no means going to occur every single day or every single weekend. You can find checkpoints most often during the holidays when people are out at social functions, after major sporting events like the Super Bowl, and during the summer months, when college students are back in the area with their friends and family and tend to be out late at night consuming alcohol.
How a Bethesda DUI Lawyer Can Help
If you have been charged with a DWI or DUI in Bethesda, let one of our local DUI attorneys ensure that your rights are protected. A number of our lawyers belong to The National College of DUI Defense and have been trained on the administration of Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Call today to see how you can benefit from our experience.