Wisconsin State Representative Jeff Wood is facing charges on his fifth arrest for OWI and several are calling for his resignation. read more
Being charged with drunk driving is a serious and stressful matter. Taking the edge off before your court date by drinking to intoxication, however, is not a good move, and is highly unlikely to help your outcome in court.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Bradley J. Arnold was in court earlier this week to answer to charges of his second DUI. Court officials smelled alcohol on the Hartland man’s breath and the judge ordered a breathalyzer. read more
A responsible citizen called the police when he saw a vehicle driving erratically on Wednesday morning. It was rush hour and Mike Schmidt was driving to work when he noticed the swerving Highlander. A OWI this early in the morning may be surprising to some but what’s even more surprising is it isn’t that rare.
Schmidt states in this TMJ4 report that he gave the other driver the “benefit of the doubt” when he first noticed the swerving. When the erratic driving continued, however, he called 911 to report the possibly drunk driver. He stayed on the phone with dispatch, following the swerving SUV to assist law enforcement in finding the vehicle. read more
According to the Associated Press, Tomah Alderman Dennis Workman has been charged for the 3rd time with DUI. On January 10th he was pulled over due to a defective license plate lamp, when police discovered he had been drinking.
We all make mistakes, sometimes repeatedly and this goes to show that even prominent public officials can make mistakes in trying to skirt Wisconsin’s drunk driving laws. Sometimes in takes people several times before they learn a lesson.
On this occasion, Workman’s blood alcohol level registered at .11 percent on one of two breath tests. In Wisconsin, the legal limit is .08 percent. Police say that Workman stated he had just had dinner with his wife before getting pulled over.
Laws in Wisconsin are unique in that a first offense OWI and even a second offense can be treated as a first offense when it comes to penalties. However, once you are charged with third offense DUI, those second chances are over.
A 3rd offense OWI/DUI conviction could land Workman with fines from $600 to $2,000 as well as jail time up to one year and a driver’s license suspension of 2 to 3 years. That’s a serious penalty for anyone.
Unlike regular folk, Alderman Workman gets his DUI story printed in the news and recopied all over the country. The shame and stress are about the same for anyone charged with DUI. An experienced and aggressive criminal defense and a lesson learned will benefit him and anyone else facing charges like these in Wisconsin criminal courts.
Some Wisconsin citizens are petitioning for drunk driving on a snowmobile to have the same consequences and impact on your driver’s license as regular drunk driving.
The idea is being treated cautionly by most Wisconsn legislators, but there is a real likelyhood of tougher OWI on a snowmobile laws as a result.
The initiative is a product of the high incidence of alcohol related snowmobile deaths recorded in the state. In Wisconsin, the death rate on snowmobiles is 3 times greater than than in neighboring Minnesota and Michigan. The speculation is that this statistic is related to Wisconsin’s status as the state with the highest drunk driving rates in the nation, and stricter enforcement of snowmobile operation laws and restrictions.
However, is it fair to attach driver’s license suspension penalties for operating a snowmobile under the influence? Most people think that option would take punishment too far.
But the climate for tougher OWI laws in Madison is ripe, and most expect a wide variety of proposals and laws ultimately to be enacted in the new legislative session next year.
—
If you are charged with a crime in Wisconsin such as drunk driving/OWI, please contact me for a consultation on the charges you are facing.
My initial advice is free, with no further obligation.
Two new proposals are being floated by Wisconsin lawmakers to potentially toughen penalties and law enforcement in drunk driving cases.
Governor Jim Doyle has proposed taking another look at allowing OWI roadblocks, aka field sobriety checkpoints. Wisconsin is one of 12 states that does not allow these roadblocks, where police stop all drivers to confirm that they haven’t been drinking or aren’t impaired. These checkpoints have always been controversal, since critics argue it is unconstitutional to stop people and investigate them without any specific reason or suspicion of wrongdoing.
The second proposal is for an enhancement to Wisconsin’s use of ignition interlock devices. An IID prevents a car from starting if the driver doesn’t blow an alcohol free breath sample into this “mobile breathalytzerw”. Currently, these systems are required to be installed in the vehicle of anyone who has 2 convictions for OWI.
One Wisconsin legislator is proposing that that requirement be ammended to also include anyone with a single OWI conviction if he or she registered a .16% BAC on a breath test, or twice the legal limit of .08%.
These high BAC interlock requirements are becoming more common in other states, and are supported by even the American Beverage Institute, a restaurant and bar industry trade group that has opposed 1st offense “low BAC” interlock laws.
—
If you are charged with a drunk driving (OWI) offense in Wisconsin, or any other criminal charge, contact me for a free legal case evaluation. I’ll let you know what I can do to help you protect your rights in court.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a new blog dedicated to issues of drinking, laws, and culture in Wisconsin, entitled “Wasted in Wisconsin“. It is dedicated to exploring the fact that Wisconsin has the highest per-capita drinking rates in the nation, and the causes and effects that has on the state with regard to drunk driving, and other negative impacts of drinking on our society.
One recent post lays our the convictions for drunk driving (OWI) statewide since 1989, including a breakdown of multiple convictions. As it turns out, nearly 500,000 individuals have had one or more Wisconsin drunk driving conviction in that time.
That is a staggering figure. With a state population of 5.5 million, that means that nearly 9 % of the population of Wisconsin has had a drunk driving conviction in that time. Some of those convictions may have been from out of state residents, but there also could be out of state convictions for Wisconsin residents not counted in that mix.
If those stats are true, then most everyone in the state has a friend, neighbor, or co-working with an drunk driving conviction. And that also doesn’t include anyone who may have been arrested, but not convicted.
So Wisconsin resident’s alcohol use and the laws that seek to prevent the negative societal affects of underage drinking, binge drinking, and drunk driving is a fascinating and timely topic. Kudos to the Journal Sentinel for tackling it. Hopefully the continuing coverage and analysis will be thoughtful and practical. We’ll be reading.
—
If you are facing criminal or drunk driving (OWI) charge in Wisconsin, contact my law office for a free legal consultation.
A Wisconsin driver with multiple OWI convictions found a clever way to get around his alcohol sensing car igintion interlock device. He was using a balloon and portable air compressor to provide a clean breath sample that would allow his car to start.
An ignition interlock device is a “rolling breathalyzer” attached to your car’s ignition. You must blow into it, and test as alcohol free for it to allow your car to start. Under Wisconsin OWI laws, an ignition interlock breath alcohol device is usually required after a 2nd offense OWI conviction as a condition of license reinstatement.
Experts familiar with the interlock technology believe the method he used would not be successful on older interlock models. The new systems test for breath temperature and other factors to establish that it is a person’s breath sample. Proposed enhancements to the IIDs also include a digital camera storing a picture of the test being performed, to insure that it is the driver who is using the device.
The defendent is this case is now charged with a 6th offense felony OWI, as well as tampering with the interlock device, which is a separate misdemeanor criminal offense.
—
If you are charged with an OWI in Wisconsin, or any other criminal charge, please contact me for a free legal case evaluation on the charges against you. I’ll give you some helpful advice, and let you know exactly what I think I can do to help, with no further obligation.