A breathalyzer test is when a person breathes into a handheld device that measures their BAC. Police officers use them to check if a person is drink driving. Some people also keep them in their cars to check their own BAC levels as a safety precaution.
While a test may enable an officer to make a DUI arrest, these results aren’t admissible in court. This is one of the key reasons that many lawyers for DUI near me spend a lot of time challenging how reliable the breathalyzer results are.
By: Southern Maine OUI Lawyer John Scott Webb, Martindale Hubbell Distinguished and Super Lawyer
In Maine you can be charged with DUI even when you are not driving. Every state has a law that says it is illegal to drive under the influence or operate under the influence (OUI). What many people do not realize is that most states have some variation of this law that allows police to charge you even when you are not actually driving (DUI parked car). Can you drink in a parked car? I highly recommend you don’t do that, even if you are in your own driveway.
Depending on the state, a person can often be charged with attempting to drive, operate, or be in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Usually the DUI conviction penalties are the same as for driving under the influence.
By Portland ME OUI Attorney John S. Webb, Super Lawyer and AVVO Superb Rated Lawyer Near Me
Everyone knows someone who has gotten an OUI in Maine or maybe a DUI in an adjoining state. And if you don’t know of anyone, a friend of a friend likely has. But being arrested for OUI is nowhere close to being found guilty and being convicted of operating (a motor vehicle) under the influence of alcohol or drugs in Portland, ME or Saco, Maine.
What makes the difference between getting arrested for misdemeanor OUI, and eventually being convicted in a court of law? The usual answer is the person who said the least to the investigating officer after being stopped, and who didn’t talk to other people in the holding cell, will usually have a more favorable case outcome. All you have to give the officer is your name and address, and your driver’s license and insurance card.
By Criminal Defense Lawyer Near Me John Webb Serving Portland ME and Saco, ME
Under Maine Law Title 9-A, the possession, transportation or storage of fireworks other than sparklers, morning glories and paper or plastic caps without a permit can fetch up to $1000 in court fines and a maximum of 6 months in jail, provided the value of the fireworks exceeds $100.
The following products are illegal to sell, use or possess in Maine:
By: John S. Webb, Traffic Lawyer near me in Saco ME and Portland ME, with the Webb Law Firm, featuring two experienced local traffic ticket attorneys in Portland Maine and Saco Maine
Not all traffic violations justify hiring a criminal defense lawyer near me. In Maine, minor driving offenses are civil legal issues, while serious violations like driving to endanger, OUI and criminal speeding in Maine justify retaining a defense attorney in Portland or Saco to use his or her legal knowledge and relationships with local criminal courts to be your traffic ticket attorney nearby.
By way of example, with a Maine OUI arrest, that driver facing operating under the influence (OUI) charges has only 30 days to file an appeal pf the pending administrative license suspension, under Mainer’s implied consent law. If convicted you may be required to pay for installation and monitoring of a DUI interlock, an electronic device that requires a clean breath sample before your vehicle will start.
A decade ago I commented that roadblocks are a very poor way to catch DUI drivers. Police can stop a thousand citizens at a roadblock near me without catching a single impaired driver. This wastes taxpayer money, and is an infringement on our rights as citizens.
Proof of that comes from California. A DUI checkpoint was set up on the corner of Collier Avenue and Riverside Drive in Lake Elsinore, California.
Police claimed that this sobriety roadblock location was selected due to being a high DUI area. Cops stopped 1,358 vehicles and questioned the people in them.
Ten years ago the Maine Legislature changed the driver’s license suspension penalties for an OUI offense, which directly impacts a person’s continued driving privileges. These changes went into effect December 1, 2013. They affect only those OUIs that occurred after midnight on November 30, 2013.
Some of the changes affect only a few people. The length of suspension for some repeat offenders increased. Also, some repeat offenders will get their licenses back sooner if they install an Ignition Interlock Device, or DUI interlock. This device acts as a car breathalyzer because a person has to blow into the IID to check their blood alcohol content (BAC) level before the car will start. Its inventors were looking for a way to automatically stop drunk driving.
These changes only affect a few people because these repeat offenders make up a very small percentage of the people who are charged with operating under the influence.
In Maine if a person is driving a motor vehicle and has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC level) of 0.8% or more, they are arrested and charged with a criminal offense known as OUI (operating under the influence). In other states, this type of driving offense is called driving under the influence, or DUI.
A lot of our law firm clients ask us if they are accused of a felony or misdemeanor crime. The answer depends on the circumstances of your criminal case. For example, if this is your first OUI and no one was injured, you likely will be charged with a misdemeanor.
On the other hand, understand that if you have prior OUI convictions in any state within a certain number of years, or your impairment caused injuries or even death, then felony charges will be brought against you. This is complicated legal work that an experienced DUI lawyer near me in Portland, Maine can handle more easily.
By Southern Maine OUI Super Lawyer John S. Webb – ME Criminal Defense Attorney Near Me
One of the most debilitating OUI penalties is a driver’s license suspension. This means you are banned from legally driving for a certain number of days, months, or years. Since 2009 the license suspensions for repeat DUIs has gotten longer – a lot longer.
The year 2020 was one that several generations of Americans will never forget. High stress, bereavement, domestic togetherness and spending more time at our homes that ever before has contributed to more family violence crimes, motor vehicle accidents and driving under the influence.
Sales of alcohol, drugs and CBD products escalated. Depression, stress, and the desire to calm down led many to imbibe and to use prescribed medication or other sources of relief to get through the past year.
Research shows that the number of OUI-DUI-DWI cases involving drug use across America has increased. In addition, two recent US Supreme Court cases, Missouri v. McNeely in 2013 and Birchfield v. North Dakota in 2016 have clarified when and how blood extractions for implied consent purposes are proper.
Southern Maine Criminal Lawyer Blog
