We didn’t mince words when we stressed in a recent firm blog post that the downsides linked with a drunk driving conviction for a New York motorist can be “severe.”
In fact, we noted in our July 18 post entry at the Law Offices of Joshua D. Martin (in Carmel and White Plains, respectively) that, “A drunk driving conviction can change the direction of your life.”
That is true for even a first-time charge regarding a DWI incident without any so-called “aggravating” factors. Central among those contributors is a blood-alcohol content reading of .18 percent or higher. Drivers with a BAC at that level are unquestionably going to confront some fundamentally serious legal challenges, especially if their driving history is marked by multiple high-BAC convictions with a limited period of years.
New York legal authorities construe any second or subsequent DWI charge within a 10-year period as a felony, which instantly ratchets up penalties materially for an affected driver.
That is where that “aggravated” designation comes into play, in sometimes draconian fashion. The New York DMV underscores that a second AGG DWI conviction within a decade can yield up to a four-year prison term, coupled with thousands of dollars in fines and a minimum 18-month license suspension. A person arrested a third time on that charge can potentially be slapped with a seven-year term behind bars.
Arguably, the consequences aren’t much brighter even where repeated DWI offenses involve far lower BAC readings. Those too are deemed felonies and yield stark downsides.
We recognize the elevated seriousness of a felony drunk driving charge at our criminal defense firm. The Law Offices of Joshua D. Martin advocates aggressively and with a proven record of advocacy on behalf of New York motorists who need our help.
