Our practice includes hundreds of drunk driving defense cases in three (3) states each year. Operating Under the Influence (OUI) is the common acronym for Massachusetts and Maine drunk or impaired driving charges. Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is the common acronym for NH drunk or impaired driving charges.
The practice in each state is vastly different based on the methods available in each respective case to resolve a case.
New Hampshire is very much a negotiation based defense practice. The Prosecutors in New Hampshire are given significant discretion to resolve cases without a guilty plea to the original criminal DUI charge in appropriate circumstances. The most effective way to resolve a DUI case in NH is to prepare each and every case as if it will proceed to trial. All relevant Motions to Suppress Evidence should always be filed and prepared for presentation to the Court. That always leads to a meaningful discussion with the Prosecutor about the posture of the case at trial. A Motion may seek to excluded chemical testing, breath or blood. A Motion may challenge the stop of a motor vehicle, or the ability of the police to request a driver to exit a vehicle for field sobriety testing. A Motion may also challenge the admissibility of a particular field sobriety test or tests, based on custody and implied consent. Lastly, exclusion of statements or admissions that are made in violation of Miranda protections. When a case is vigorously prepared and defended, positive negotiated outcomes follow. It is very common for a negotiated disposition in NH to result in a dismissal of the criminal DUI charge in exchange for a plea to a new civil violation of Reckless Driving, Negligent Driving or more rarely, a lesser moving violation. The administrative license suspension (ALS) through the NH DMV is also part of almost every negotiated disposition. It is very common for the maximum DUI charge, whether it be 2nd offense or Aggravated to be resolved with a plea to a lesser DUI charge. If your lawyer is not prepared to try a case, especially a difficult one to verdict, you will not obtain a positive negotiated outcome as an option in New Hampshire.
In Maine, Prosecutors also have significant discretion to resolve OUI charges by negotiated pleas. A meaningful option in Maine is the “Deferred Disposition.” This option requires an initial guilty plea, usually to the charged OUI offense, but with sentencing deferred for a period of time with conditions such as counseling, safe driver course, community service, supervision fees, abstinence from drugs and alcohol and good behavior. In Maine, a defendant is never convicted of any crime until sentenced by the Court. The successful completion of a deferred disposition does not result in sentencing by the Court on the charged OUI. It is not a conviction and therefor may result in an outright dismissal of the OUI after the plea is vacated or a plea to a lesser offense such as Driving to Endanger. Many aggravating enhancements such as prior offenses or high breath test results are often eliminated/stricken as part of a plea agreement to avoid mandatory jail sentences.
Massachusetts Prosecutors, rarely if ever, amend or change the original OUI charge that issues at arraignment. It is almost literally set in stone from the outset. Further, Massachusetts enforces a “lifetime lookback” for charging subsequent offenses. It is common for a person’s prior OUI history from thirty (30) or even forty (40) years ago to be used to increase an OUI offense to a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th offense. There a very few options in Massachusetts short of trial. That is especially true for subsequent lifetime offenders where the choice is go to trial or go to jail following a felony conviction. Thousands of Massachusetts OUI 1st offenders decide to make an admission to the OUI charge and receive a “continuance without a finding, or CWOF.” They are told it is not a “conviction,” which is true under Mass Law. However, the OUI CWOF disposition is the first offense for the remainder of the driver’s life because of the assignment to the alcohol education course by the sentencing Court. There is no difference between a guilty finding and a CWOF if there is ever a 2nd offense. Both count forever as a first offense. That is why many of our cases proceed to trial and verdict in Massachusetts without any meaningful ability to reduce or negotiate outcomes.
If a Massachusetts driver is arrested and charged in Maine or NH with a DUI 1st, with no history in the last ten years, the MA RMV will still impose lifetime lookback administrative sanctions on a reciprocal suspension. A plea to an OUI 1st in Maine or a DUI 1st in NH, can trigger a two (2), eight (8), ten (10) or lifetime suspension of a Massachusetts Driver’s license, depending on the prior history of drunk driving offenses maintained by the MA RMV.