Category: Drunk Driving

Drunk Driving Attorney Michael Bowser explains the legal process for MA residents arrested for first offense OUI in MA. Attorney Bowser has successfully defended hundreds of cases for clients charged with drunk driving, commonly referred to as “Operating Under the Influence” (OUI) in Massachusetts. Attorney Bowser has developed a well earned reputation for being one of the top drunk driving defense attorneys in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Drunk Driving Attorney Michael Bowser explains the legal process for MA residents arrested for DWI in NH. Attorney Bowser has successfully defended hundreds of cases for clients charged with drunk driving, commonly referred to as “Operating Under the Influence” (OUI) in Massachusetts. Attorney Bowser has developed a well earned reputation for being one of the top drunk driving defense attorneys in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Many commonly prescribed medications cause symptoms that can affect a driver’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle, and so it is becoming increasingly common for a driver to be arrested for an OUI Drugs Offense after using medication as directed by a doctor. A recent Massachusetts OUI case, for example, involved a man who had not had a single drink in 15 years and was not an illegal drug user, but he was stopped at 7:00 a.m. on his way to work and arrested for OUI Drugs. All of the drugs in his system were medications prescribed by his doctor for various legitimate medical conditions. Ultimately the OUI Drug charge was dismissed.

In cases like this, the Commonwealth must prove a particular prescribed medication falls into the category of a “narcotic drug” as defined under M.G.L. Chapter 94C, section 1, AND that the person taking the medication had prior knowledge that the side effects of the drug could impair their capacity to drive safely. That makes cases like these quite difficult to prove. Without a blood test and expert testimony to describe to a jury the effects of certain medications, Motions to Dismiss are common.

OUI Drugs Cases Differ from Other Cases of Alleged Intoxication

In drunk driving cases, the prosecution routinely calls upon jurors to utilize their own experience and knowledge of the effects of alcohol. However, the effects of any particular

prescribed medication on a person are beyond the ordinary understanding of most jurors and pharmaceutical side effects are known to differ wildly from person to person. Additionally, most people have a basic understanding of the effects of alcohol on drivers, whereas there is no way to prove that a person taking a prescription medication has been informed of all possible side effects, including those that could make driving dangerous. Ultimately, taking a medication as prescribed without knowledge of the effects upon the capacity to drive safely is “involuntary intoxication” and therefore not a criminal act.

OUI Drugs Offense Arrests on the Rise

So-called “drugged driving” arrests are on the rise, and this number includes both incidents involving illicit drugs and incidents involving prescribed medications. Consequently, police departments throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire are sending certain police officers to special training to become “Drug Recognition Experts” or “DRE.” This training is designed to equip a police officer with the ability to determine what particular class of drugs are present (stimulants, depressants, etc.) in an allegedly impaired driver and whether said person is under the influence of that class of drug.

In Massachusetts, the Court must determine prior to trial whether DRE training and the protocol meet scientific requirements to be admissible at trial and whether a police officer can testify as an “expert” in the areas of drug physiology and drug pharmacology. It is often the case that the government cannot meet the burden of showing scientific acceptance of the DRE protocol and training to make this opinion testimony admissible at trial.

If you have been charged with an OUI Drugs Offense in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, you need to hire a lawyer qualified to handle the scientific, evidentiary, and legal issues that apply to a “drugged driving” case. OUI attorney Michael Bowser has years of experience successfully defending those accused of drugged driving in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. If you have been charged with an OUI in Massachusetts or New Hampshire or have questions about OUI penalties in either state, call Attorney Michael Bowser today at 1-888-5BOWSER to discuss OUI penalties and your individual circumstances.

The real and ongoing consequences of a DUI charge and conviction can be surprising because they go beyond harsh penalties like jail time, time spent in court, and the loss of driving privileges. In fact, a DUI charge can end up costing more than $10,000 – in some cases much more – when you add up all of the expenses associated with the arrest, trial, and fees.

How does the real cost of a DUI charge and conviction stack up? First, there are the initial expenses associated with arrest. Depending on where the alleged drunk driver was arrested, he or she may have to pay towing and impound fees that could cost a few hundred dollars or even a thousand. Because DUI is a criminal charge, our hypothetical driver could have to post bail before trial, so add $500-2,500 to that. The attorney fees can run anywhere from $ 1500 to $15,000 or more for a jury trial or appeal, and court fees can add another $515 to $ 8,000. The costs aren’t done rising yet, though. Insurance carriers tend to look down on those arrested for drunk driving, so assuming the driver pays the $100 (in NH) or $500 (in MA) for license reinstatement, his or her car or motorcycle insurance premiums can rise substantially. Plus, if the driver lives in NH and is convicted in MA, or vice versa), he or she will pay license reinstatement fees in both states – adding $600 to the total.

Depending on the outcome of the trail, a convicted drunk driver can face hefty fines that may amount to thousands of dollars, along with the hidden costs of time away from work doing community service or the price of participating in mandatory alcohol treatment programs or substance abuse courses. A court ordered ignition interlock system may cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, and the same goes for electronic home monitoring. For some drivers, even a DUI charge can result in the suspension of professional licenses, and losing a driver’s license may mean getting fired from a job that requires commuting. Our hypothetical driver may never again be able to get life insurance or visit countries that refuse entry to anyone with a criminal record.

Now can you see how important it is to contact qualified, experienced representation if you have been accused of driving drunk? A drunk driving conviction can literally cost you your financial freedom. DUI attorney Michael Bowser has years of experience successfully defending those accused of drunk driving in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. If you have been charged with a DUI in Massachusetts or New Hampshire or have questions about DUI penalties in either state, it is vital that you talk to representation who understands the law. Call Attorney Michael Bowser today at 1-888-5BOWSER to discuss DUI penalties and your individual circumstances.

To plead out or not to plead out – that is the question that anyone charged with drunk driving needs to answer. What these same people seldom know is that a guilty plea can come with extensive and unexpected consequences that are seldom explained to the defendant during the plea bargaining procedure. That is, in part, why you should never plead guilty to a drunk driving offense unless it is the only reasonable course of action in your particular circumstances.

The fact is that some drunk driving cases cannot be won in front of a judge or jury, and these cases should not be tried. But more often than not, there is a legitimate defense that can be mounted in the courtroom. Every case can be examined for issues that can include illegal stop, search, seizure and arrest; Miranda violations with admissions or confessions; implied consent and statutory rights violations regarding chemical testing of the driver; violations of testing protocols and standards, scientific and forensic limitations of breath or blood testing; and the validity of field sobriety test evidence in light of age, disability, and other individual factors.

Even with all of those factors, however, there are still cases that call for a plea. Anyone considering a plea should be aware that pleading out can have consequences that go beyond sentencing. For example, a plea can be expensive if the courts requires the defendant to pay restitution, court costs, or fees. Pleading guilty to a criminal charge can lead to prosecution of an accompanying civil suit. A guilty plea may severely curtail future employment opportunities or lead to the revocation of professional licenses. A defendant may lose his or her driver’s license, housing, custody of children, and other rights and privileges.

Without excellent legal advice on these issues how can you make a correct decision as to whether it is appropriate for you to plead out your DUI charge? It is this attorney’s experience that very rarely is a client penalized by a sentencing judge after trial for a well tried case resulting in a guilty verdict, especially on first offenses. Many cases should be tried, and some, especially mandatory minimum subsequent offenses, must be tried. A very good lawyer once told me: “Don’t be a plea escort service.” And I’m not. I’m a trial lawyer who gives very valuable plea advice. Before you plead out, hire a qualified DUI Defense Trial Lawyer, with experience bringing DUI cases to verdict, winning acquittals and true dismissals, and yes, even experienced in the hard fought battle resulting in a guilty verdict and an appropriate post trial sentence.

Drunk driving attorney Michael Bowser has years of experience successfully defending those accused of drunk driving in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. If you have been charged with drunk driving in Massachusetts or New Hampshire or have questions about OUI penalties in either state, it is vital that you talk to representation who understands the law. Call Attorney Michael Bowser today at 1-888-5BOWSER to discuss drunk driving penalties and your individual circumstances.

Drunk Driving Attorney Michael Bowser explains how the Souza v. Registrar of Motor Vehicles decision will affect Massachusetts drivers. Attorney Bowser has successfully defended hundreds of cases for clients charged with drunk driving, commonly referred to as “Operating Under the Influence” (OUI) in Massachusetts. Attorney Bowser has developed a well earned reputation for being one of the top drunk driving defense attorneys in Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Before 2003, a BAC level above .08 was considered “evidence but not proof of drunkenness” according to Massachusetts law. That year, however, Massachusetts became the last state in the US to adopt a per se OUI offense where proof of blood alcohol content above the legal limit at the time of driving became enough evidence to prove that a driver was intoxicated and justify an OUI conviction.

Consequently, prosecuting a drunk driving case in Massachusetts became substantially easier with a positive breath test because all that must be proved is that the driver operated a motor vehicle on a public way with a .08 BAC – not that the driver was impaired or driving dangerously. In per se cases, the government gets “two bites at the apple.” They will proceed on the traditional “impaired by alcohol” theory of OUI, and also proceed on a second theory of “per se OUI” when evidence of a breath or blood test is available and admissible. A jury can convict a driver on either theory, or both, but only one OUI conviction is recorded as part of your criminal record and driver’s history.

As a secondary result of the adoption of the .08 law, the State legislature drastically revised the administrative penalties for taking a breathalyzer test at the time of driving versus refusing the test entirely. If you test over the legal limit at the time of arrest, you will only lose your license administratively for 30 days, regardless of whether it is your 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th offense. However, if you refuse the breathalyzer test, you lose your license for 180 days for a first offense, three (3) years with a prior OUI, five (5) years with two prior OUIs, and for lifetime if you have three (3) prior convictions.

Clearly the Massachusetts Legislature wants to encourage drivers suspected of drunk driving to consent to a breathalyzer test because, as noted above, the prosecution is in a much better position with a breath test. However, in cases where the driver did take a breathalyzer test and was shown to have a BAC above the legal limit, the a qualified DUI Defense lawyer will argue the breath test does not accurately and scientifically reflect a true “blood alcohol” level..

For instance, a breathalyzer test is not a blood test, and the variables that can affect the reported results from a breath test machine include, but are not limited to, body size, sex, absorption and elimination cycles, breath temperature, breathing pattern, volume of breath submitted, reflux and/or heartburn, and hematocrit.

Any good lawyer will tell you never to take the test because you’re essentially providing evidence the prosecution will use against you. But of course, the penalties for refusing, depending on your prior record can be devastating. Interestingly, the only way to eliminate a chemical test refusal suspension (CTR) is to be acquitted of the underlying OUI charge.

So if you find yourself in a situation where you need help, be sure to hire a trial attorney capable of winning an OUI trial for you. The Commonwealth is one of only a very few jurisdictions that does not allow the government to enter evidence of a breath test refusal, so if you exercise your right to refuse, it cannot be used against you at trial.

OUI attorney Michael Bowser has years of experience successfully defending those accused of drunk driving in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. If you have been charged with an OUI in Massachusetts or New Hampshire or have questions about OUI penalties in either state, it is vital that you talk to representation who understands the law. Call Attorney Michael Bowser today at 1-888-5BOWSER to discuss OUI penalties and your individual circumstances.

Sobriety checkpoints, also known as sobriety roadblocks, have become commonplace in recent years as special interest groups and the general public have lobbied for more intense measures to curb drunk driving in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and across the U.S. Even so, there is still a great deal of legal opposition to sobriety checkpoints – and not just because data shows they aren’t effective as a drunk driving deterrent. The Fourth Amendment, which restricts searches and seizures, would seem to bar law enforcement officials from conducting roadblocks, but the U.S. Supreme Court has found DUI checkpoints to be constitutionally permissible. Plus, procedure at sobriety roadblocks must be followed exactly, leading to numerous grounds upon which to challenge a DUI charge that results from a checkpoint stop.

Overall, the effectiveness and legality of Massachusetts and New Hampshire sobriety roadblocks remains a point of contention across legal, law enforcement, and public lines. The question remains, however, why DUI roadblocks are still being utilized as a means of catching and deterring drunk drivers when it’s been proven in studies undertaken around the country that checkpoints do neither.

One theory posits that while sobriety checkpoints are only slightly useful for ensuring that drivers are sober, they’re particularly useful for identifying drivers who are behind the wheel without a valid license. Impounds at checkpoints can generate revenue in the form of towing fees and police fines, plus police officers employed at DUI roadblocks are often working overtime. And in some cases, the number of car seizures for license and registration violations even far exceeds the number of drunk drivers removed from the road.

In fact, once a police officer has a driver’s information in hand, he or she can see whether the driver has any outstanding warrants and make an arrest. Officials may also have cause, at that point, to search for contraband materials within the vehicle. One major objection to DUI roadblocks in New Hampshire and Massachusetts is that their scope has expanded beyond driving while under the influence – leading to arrests, the aforementioned car seizures, and charges that go beyond drinking and driving.

If you have been charged with a DUI infraction as the result of a sobriety roadblock, it is important that you work with an attorney who understands the complex legal issues surrounding this practice. Challenging a DUI checkpoint arrest can involve looking at the unconstitutional nature of the practice, the training of the officers involved, probable cause, the effectiveness of roadblocks, and other factors. It is typical in a roadblock DUI case that there are more grounds to challenge a stop, seizure and arrest, even more so than in other DUI cases.

DUI attorney Michael Bowser has years of experience successfully defending those accused of drunk driving in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and challenging the validity and constitutionality of Police Sobriety Checkpoint Roadblocks. Call Attorney Michael Bowser today at 1-888-5BOWSER to discuss DUI laws and your individual circumstances.

It’s easy to think of riding a bicycle as a sobriety test in and of itself, but in reality, the idea that being too drunk to bike means you can’t bike is just plain wrong. Biking under the influence is entirely possible, and the emergency room statistics are as good a proof as any that it can be injurious… even deadly. Booze-rolling, as it’s sometimes called, can lead to self-injury and bodily harm done to others, but the question is, can it lead to an OUI?

The simple answer is that biking while drunk is a criminal offense in some states – particularly those states that treat bicycles as vehicles in the wording of the law. Louisiana, for instance, includes ‘other means of conveyance’ in its OUI laws. In California, a drunk cyclist can be charged with a CUI. An Oregonian charged with a BUI (pronounced buoy) can have their driver’s license suspended. And arrests for drunken cycling are a reality in Utah, but the penalties are lighter than those imposed for driving under the influence.

The fact is, biking while drunk and driving while drunk differ in penalty and punishment in all but a handful of states. In most states, Massachusetts included, operating a bicycle while intoxicated will not lead to an OUI charge. In New Hampshire, though there is precedent, it’s still not clear whether the fact that the law regards bicycles as vehicles means cycling while drunk would constitute an OUI. However, biking under the influence can still lead to charges of reckless endangerment, disturbing the peace, and public drunkenness.

So what’s the best policy for those who want to bike to the bar and remain on the right side of the law? Do like the seasoned cyclists do and get a bar beater, otherwise known as a cheap bike that you can leave chained up overnight without worrying about whether it will be nicked if you’re too drunk to bike home.

OUI attorney Michael Bowser has years of experience successfully defending those accused of drunk driving and other infractions involving the alleged operation of a vehicle while impaired in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Call Attorney Michael Bowser today at 1-888-5BOWSER to discuss OUI laws and your individual circumstances.

No single factor determines the sentence imposed in a DUI matter more significantly than a driver’s prior record. Whether you are facing a drunk driving prosecution in Massachusetts or New Hampshire the sentencing Court will insist upon reviewing your prior criminal record, if any, your prior driver’s history, if any, and most importantly, your prior history for DUI convictions.

DUI, OUI, DWI, is all the same. The three (3) letter acronym typically used to describe a drunk driving offense in Massachusetts or New Hampshire is a simply a function of the statutory language that criminalizes the offense, whether it be “driving while intoxicated” (DWI) in New Hampshire, or “operating under the influence of liquor” (OUI) in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts now utilizes a “lifetime look back” period to determine penalties for a subsequent OUI offense. Gone is the ten (10) year look back period of decades past. If you plead out, or were found guilty of, any drunk driving offense, in any jurisdiction, at any period in your life, the Massachusetts Courts and the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles will treat you a second offender. The exception to this rule is the Cahill disposition. Once, and only once, can a repeat drunk driving offender in Massachusetts be given a second chance at a first offense sentence, only if there is a single prior drunk driving offense, and only if it is more than ten (10) years old. All other repeat offenders will be charged as second, third, or fourth offenders, etc… depending on their actual record of prior offenses. All subsequent offenses in Massachusetts (non-Cahill) carry mandatory periods of incarceration, probation, interlock device. A second offense is a Misdemeanor in Massachusetts, a third offense and higher is a Felony. A first offense in Massachusetts typically carries a minimum loss of license between 45-90 days, one (1) year probation, completion of the sixteen (16) week alcohol education class and statutory fees, assessments and fines that will top $2600. A second offense, whether treated as a Cahill disposition or not, will always trigger the requirement of an ignition interlock device for any period of suspension imposed by the Court and/or Registry of Motor Vehicles, plus two (2) years.

New Hampshire still utilizes a ten (10) year look back period to determine a second offense, which is a Misdemeanor. Ironically, New Hampshire does not recognize a Massachusetts OUI offense “continued without a finding C.W.O.F.” as a valid prior offense. Be advised, a New Hampshire prosecutor may offer you a first offense disposition on a NH DWI charge because your prior MA OUI was “continued without a finding”, but the Massachusetts RMV will always treat that offense administratively as a second, third or other subsequent offense based on your driver’s history. Many a Massachusetts resident have plead out a first offense NH DWI charge to minimum penalties only to be notified by the Massachusetts RMV that their Massachusetts license is administratively revoked for two (2) years 2nd lifetime offense, eight (8) years 3rd lifetime offense, ten (10) years 4th lifetime offense, or lifetime 5th lifetime offense. See State v. Sharkey, where a NH DWI conviction was overturned because local NH counsel did not properly advise a Massachusetts resident of the true collateral consequences of his plea to a first offense NH DWI under Melanie’s Law.

NH will impose an interlock device requirement for at least one (1) year for any second offense or aggravated DWI conviction. Jail time for any second or third offense is capped at one (1) year in the House of Corrections as a Class A Misdemeanor, but typical mandatory minimums imposed are three (3) days in House of Correction, followed by seven (7) days inpatient for a second offense, and 150 days in the House of Correction for a third offense. If a second offense in New Hampshire is within two (2) years of the first offense the mandatory minimum jumps to thirty (30) days in the House of Correction followed by the seven (7) day inpatient program.

A Court sentencing any driver in a DUI casein Massachusetts or New Hampshire will consider prior criminal record, conduct at the time of the offense, and whether any aggravating factors exist, be it property damage, accident, or injury to the driver or other innocent parties. A sentencing Court will always look favorably upon any driver/defendant that voluntarily engages in substance abuse treatment, whether it be AA, NA, or other appropriate counseling.

Michael Bowser is a Board Certified DUI Defense Specialist practicing in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Protect your interests by hiring a qualified DUI Defense Lawyer that can not only defend the DUI charge, but properly advise you of the sentencing factors and true collateral consequences to any DUI, OUI, or DWI disposition.