I know a young lady who was charged with OWI here in Iowa (no, it's me). It is her first offense. I was just wondering if it would be worth the expense of hiring an attorney or if she should just plead guilty and beg for mercy. Does anyone have advice on this topic?
OWI first offense
- Thread starter cyclonestate
- Start date
Well, were you actually drunk? Did you fail the sobriety test? Did you blow over .08?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, it'd be a waste of time and money to hire an attorny.
If you answered yes to any of those questions, it'd be a waste of time and money to hire an attorny.
Was there an accident? Did she blow? What did she blow? Depending on these answers she could get a deferred judgment (depending which county she's in, I'm not familiar with all Iowa counties). Deferred judgment would cut her license suspension in half.
Also, there may be issues with the stop itself. Having an attorney look at that stuff is always a good idea.
Also, there may be issues with the stop itself. Having an attorney look at that stuff is always a good idea.
It depends, do you have any prior convictions/ any sort of evidence that works in your favor. I would highly doubt that it would be differed if its an OWI, even though I have heard of it happening before.
Sorry. There was no accident. She was pulled over for speeding and she blew over .08.
Story I know is tough on 1st offenses, friend got an OWI an was not given one. Have not heard from anybody that was given a differed on 1st offense OWI. Although I have heard of it in Boone County
Plead Guilty. Wish I would have when I got mine. It is not worth the money and time.
If it was .08 I would definitely hire a lawyer. It not only shows that you care but also will be HUGE when negotiating with a lawyer. .08 is borderline= good leverage with a judge....
Agreed. Actually, she might get a better deal not having an attorney. First offense penalties are well established... hiring an attorney just adds to the financial penalty.
Story tends to be tougher than Polk, for example, because they actually have enough resources to deal with the caseload. Polk gives a lot of diversions because they are swamped.
If she tested below .15 (with no accident) then a deferred judgment is a possibility. There are many many factors that could have a bearing and they probably cannot be adequately addressed on this board. Even if not, she may be able to satisfy many of her sentencing requirements through a program like one offered by the McCartney Center (can serve jail time in a hotel setting while taking classes and getting substance abuse evaluation out of the way). It certainly would not hurt to speak with an attorney (and I am not saying that merely because i am one).
Completely false. If its your first offense and you blew under at .15 you can get it defered. Not hiring and attorney would be a HUGE mistake. As long as the offense wasn't related to an accident or anything crazy she'll get it deferred. I know from experience. Far too many people just think they have no options. There are many that can help you not only keep your license, but get the charges dropped.
Like I said, there may be issues with the stop itself. There's no way to know until you have someone look at it. I deal with these quite a bit and you'd be surprised the number of times the stop is not legit (even if the claim is speeding).
The money you'd pay an attorney isn't much more than you'll get stuck with in fines from the charges. From your fines to reinstatement fees for your license, to the required alcohol classes you could easily be paying well over $3000.
I don't know. I've never had an OWI and don't make a habit of driving after drinking more than one or two beers. But my lawyer friends have given me the advice that if I think I'm going to blow under a .15 the best thing to do is to just blow and fight it in court and you'll likely get a deffered judgment at worst.
I can't say I have any experience in this stuff, but what if she hires the attorney but is still found guilty? Then you're stuck with the costs of the fines/classes/etc + attorney fees, right?
