According to Minnesota law, DWI is considered to be an “enhanceable offense”.
When you have been charged with DWI, the exact degree of the charge or the appropriate severity of your drunk driving violation depends greatly on the factors that are present at the time the arrest is made.
Those who have had unfortunate brushes with the law in the past might understandably be even more nervous than others about what could happen in the event of a second, third or fourth arrest. In areas concerning drunk driving this is an especially common concern given the escalation in penalties faced by repeat offenders.
If you’re out for an evening on the town and find yourself in the car with someone who may have had too much to drink, you might not think you are at risk of any criminal charges. After all, impaired driving is a crime only for the person operating the vehicle, right? While this is true that only those found operating a motor vehicle while under the influence can be charged with a Minnesota DWI, the reality is that others could potentially face aiding and abetting charges.
News reports across the country have repeatedly shown individuals being charged with DWI for sleeping in their vehicles… the victims are usually impaired drivers who decided to take a quick nap or sleep it off before heading home. Is this behavior acceptable in the state of Minnesota? The answer is “it depends.”
Under any circumstances, a driving while impaired charge in the state of Minnesota is a serious and complex matter. Being charged with DWI is considered a severe offense, however, it is a completely different issue from being charged with DWI when an individual is injured as a result of the driver’s actions.
Just by its name “drunk driving” charges lead most people to imagine that two things had to happen to lead to an arrest: 1) that someone was drunk; and 2) that someone was driving. However, given the way most state laws have been written this second thing isn’t necessarily true and people can and are arrested and charged despite the fact that they were never actually spotted driving. To find out more about how this happens, keep reading.
In 2013, more than 350 DWI arrests were made during Memorial Day weekend in Minnesota. A significant increase since years prior, DWI arrests are on an upward trend, particularly on holidays and holiday weekends. Between parades, cookouts and get-togethers with family and friends, Memorial Day weekend is both a time for celebration and remembrance. Because local law enforcement will be on the lookout for signs of DWI, partygoers should take extra care to stay safe and avoid criminal charges. When planning this year’s Memorial Day festivities, take a few important steps to protect yourself from a DWI charge.
DWI/DUI is among the most commonly committed crimes on U.S. roads, with over 17,000 fatalities and approximately half a million individuals sustaining injuries from alcohol-related crashes each year.
Thanks to the hard work of criminal defense attorneys, civil rights groups and some motivated legislators, Minnesotans now no longer need to fear the troubling practice known as civil forfeiture. That’s because this past week, the governor signed a law that would eliminate civil forfeitures and require criminal convictions before a person’s property could be taken away by law enforcement authorities.
A sad case in Wisconsin reveals the alarming reality that people can be arrested and charged with drunk driving despite startlingly little evidence. In a case that a local news station spent significant resources unraveling, it appears as if a Milwaukee Sheriff’s Deputy blamed an innocent woman for drunk driving to hide the fact that he had caused a serious car accident.
Top 20 DWI Questions in MN
