Was someone arrested in Albuquerque for DWI? Are you or a loved one facing DWI charges?

If you are reading this page, you need not be reminded of public service warnings like “you booze, you cruise, you lose.” Each year “you lose” means, with public pressure, our legislature enacts stiffer and stiffer laws that increase both minimum and maximum penalties for those convicted of DWI. In recent years, the police have been arresting other passengers in the car with a DWI driver as parties to a crime.

In Albuquerque, what are the consequences if you are found guilty of DWI? If convicted, the mandatory minimum penalties throughout New Mexico are severe even if your lawyer persuades the prosecutor and the judge to impose only the minimums. The first consequence is being arrested and placed in the Albuquerque Detention Center (jail) awaiting a reasonable bond. Sometimes the lawyer will find a legal error in the case requiring dismissal of the DUI charge, and on occasion the defense will be strong enough to proceed either to a jury trial or a bench trial.

When you hire a DWI criminal defense lawyer, the prosecutor may consider dropping an aggravated DWI down to a simple DWI, or a second or third DWI offense down to a first or second, in order to lower the mandatory minimums. This may depend on who is assigned from the Santa Fe District Attorney’s office to handle all Albuquerque DWI cases in magistrate court, or the city attorney if you are charged in Albuquerque Municipal Court. It is much easier, frankly, to negotiate to a lesser DWI than to secure an outright dismissal. I have had good success getting lesser charges with email negotiations, getting good character letters of support to the prosecutor, talking with the arresting officer about the impact on your family and job. Often lesser charges will be dismissed by agreement of the parties and, on rare occasions, the judge will consider electronic monitoring instead of a mandatory jail sentence. In borderline cases I may be able to negotiate for a “deferred to dismissal” plea which means if you complete the terms of probation the charges would be dismissed off of your record for employment purposes. Here are some of the minimums; click any underlined term for more information

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