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Understand The DUI Laws In Washington When You Are Facing Criminal Charges

Washington has some of the strictest, most draconian laws regarding DUI in America. RCW 46.61.5055 requires mandatory jail time, mandatory loss of license, mandatory fines, mandatory ignition interlock, and mandatory treatment as just the start of the penalties. Some of the collateral losses are mandatory high risk insurance that will be required and the loss of the ability to visit Canada (A DUI in Canada is a felony and Canadian immigration will not let those convicted of DUI through the border). Sometimes, just having been charged with a DUI prevents travel to Canada as the border agents do not always understand the difference between an accusation and a conviction.

Be Prepared For If You Are Pulled Over

There are increased penalties depending on if you refused to take the breath or blood test or had a blood alcohol concentration .15 or above. And for every additional DUI you have on your record, or an offense treated as a prior DUI by RCW 46.61.5055 (physical control, deferred prosecution, negligent driving in the first degree amended from DUI, reckless driving or endangerment amended from DUI). Those penalties increase dramatically until on the fifth DUI a person is looking at years of prison time. One final consequence to note is that you will almost certainly lose your right to drive by a license suspension by the Department of Licensing (DOL) unless you get an attorney veteran in DOL hearings right away.

Driving While Under The Influence Includes Marijuana

Many people are now aware that while Marijuana is legal to consume (if you are over 21 years of age) it is illegal to drive under the influence of THC. Much like .08 of alcohol is presumed to affect your driving, 5 ng of THC is presumed to affect your driving too. Unlike .08 for alcohol, there are NO studies supporting the 5 ng standard. Marijuana was illegal so they could not study it. Many experts are of the opinion that a driver could easily still have 5 ng of THC in their blood from consuming marijuana the day before.

Many people do not know that ANY substance in your system, legal or otherwise, from methamphetamine to prescription Ambien, can be the basis for a DUI charge if law enforcement believes it affected your ability to control a motor vehicle. Even if you are taking the medication as prescribed. The attorneys at The Law Offices of Smith & White, PLLC, have a unique defense to prescription DUIs stemming from old case law related to the mens rea, mental state, required to commit a crime. And frankly, many prosecutor’s offices are not familiar with the effects of prescription medication to know if the perceived “bad driving” is even a result of that medicine or something unrelated. Let the DUI defense attorneys at The Law Offices of Smith & White, PLLC, educate them for you.

Let Us Help You With A Strong Criminal Defense

If you have been charged with a crime of driving while under the influence or physical control, you need an attorney with the compassion to hear your side of the case and the passion to defend you in court than contact our office. Come to our Law Office for an intake with our Tacoma DUI defense lawyers, call the mainline at 253-363-8662 or contact us online.