Lincoln Felony DUI Attorney

Lincoln Felony DUI Lawyer

The consequences of a DUI are already enough to significantly impact your daily life. A felony DUI conviction, however, has even more power to impact your life in a negative way. Felony DUIs are serious charges, and you don’t have to face them alone. A Lincoln felony DUI lawyer can help you understand the charges brought up against you, navigate the Nebraska legal system, formulate a plan for your DUI defense, and help finalize your case and move on.

Sopinski Law Office is an experienced and dedicated DUI defense law firm. We believe all of our clients deserve to be treated with respect and that you are innocent until proven guilty. We will work tirelessly to defend your rights, as all of our lawyers are skilled in negotiating plea deals, which is oftentimes the ideal route in felony DUI cases.

We take great care with every case we represent and, at times, have been able to help our clients receive minimized charges and diminished DUI penalties. In some cases, we have gotten DUI charges dropped altogether. We cannot promise all of our clients their charges will be dropped or lessened, but we can promise to apply the highest quality legal services to your case.

What Is the Difference Between a Felony DUI and a Misdemeanor DUI?

The majority of DUIs in Nebraska are misdemeanor charges because most charges for DUI are not felony charges. For someone who has repeat DUIs, the first two will typically be misdemeanor charges.

Even a third DUI for individuals whose BAC was identified to be above 0.08% but below 0.15% will likely get a misdemeanor charge. However, with two prior convictions with a BAC greater than 0.15%, a third DUI will result in a felony charge.

Additionally, if you are facing your fourth DUI conviction, you will be charged with a felony and could be sentenced to three years in jail and a $10,000 fine. This is a Class IIIA felony. After four convictions, DUI charges are upgraded to Class IIA felony charges, and this conviction carries a sentence of 20 years in prison.

There are limits to how many times you can get arrested for drunk driving, and eventually, you will face felony DUI charges. Some circumstantial factors will play a role in determining the severity of your charges, including the following:

• The number of times you’ve been arrested or convicted of DUI

• Your blood alcohol content at the time of your arrest

• Conviction of regular or aggravated DUI

• Length of time between repeat DUIs

• Ability to follow past sentencing such as probation or community service

• If you caused an accident or personal injury to anyone due to your drunk driving

Besides having a felony on your record, the biggest difference between a misdemeanor and a felony DUI is the penalties that are incurred following a conviction. Misdemeanor fines are much cheaper (only up to $1,000 per charge) and result in less time in jail (only weeks or months in jail). Felony DUI charges, on the other hand, can result in thousands of dollars in fines, many years of jail time, and many years of license revocation.

Felony DUI Defense

Building a strong defense for your case is important when it comes to strategizing your defense. Essentially, this is what Lincoln criminal defense lawyers do for their clients–come up with a defense strategy to argue the prosecution’s case against them. Below are some of the DUI defense tactics that have been successful in past felony DUI cases in avoiding conviction for DUI defendants.

• Proving the initial traffic stop was illegal (e.g., weaving inside lanes is not an illegal act in Nebraska, and thus doesn’t warrant pulling a vehicle over; also, law enforcement cannot pull a car over just because someone anonymously reported there was a drunk driver on the road)

• Proving a field sobriety test was given to someone outside the requirements of effectiveness (i.e., field sobriety tests are not accurate when administered on people who are 50 pounds or more overweight or 65 years of age or older)

• Proving an unapproved field sobriety test was administered (e.g., touching a finger to the nose, counting backward, or reciting the ABCs are not considered valid tests by the Nebraska state code of law)

• Video that shows suspect acting in a way opposite to how the officer describes (e.g., subject is not belligerent, slurring, or stumbling, contrary to what the reports state)

• Dashcam video showing the suspect driving regularly, contrary to what the police officer described

• Issue with the breathalyzer or blood test, such as the operator’s license was expired at the time the test was given

• Defendant’s medical issues, such as injuries to the legs or back that invalidate field sobriety tests

• Lack of probable cause for an arrest

• Bad weather conditions that cause poor driving on the road not due to alcohol or drug influence

• Illegal search performed by police officers on the subject; this invalidates any evidence submitted to the court under these pretenses

• Medications the subject took before driving that could have skewed test results

• Failure to turn over recordings, videos, and dispatch tapes that corroborate probable cause and other evidence against the defendant

• Statute of limitations: most misdemeanor charges are inadmissible after a time period of 18 months has lapsed

• The car was driven on private property, which does not validate that a DUI occurred

• Witnesses barred from testifying against the defendant

• Failure to properly record test results (e.g., the value of the simulator solution used to test the machine prior to testing the driver)

• Improper equipment used in testing at a hospital or by law enforcement

Hiring a Lincoln Felony Lawyer for Your DUI

All of the above defense strategies can be identified and presented to the court in an optimal and sufficient way by a Lincoln felony DUI lawyer with experience in such cases. The Sopinski Law Office is skilled in scrutinizing case reports, records, and documents to determine which option can be applied to a case, if any. Contact one of our knowledgeable and competent defense lawyers for a consultation to discuss a valid defense strategy for your DUI case.