Columbia City, IN asked in DUI / DWI, Criminal Law and Traffic Tickets for Indiana

Q: For prior offense DUI is it dated from date of conviction or date of last occurrence?

I have a pending DUI charge and IC 9-30-5-3 has recently changed. Prior occurrence has changed from 5 years to 7 years. My first DUI occurred November of 2012 but was not decided until April of 2013. My pending charge occurred on 02/05/2020. So because of this change my charge is somewhere in between a felony and a misdemeanor depending on how the this section is interpreted.

3 Lawyer Answers
Andrew L. Bennett
PREMIUM
Andrew L. Bennett
Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • Valparaiso, IN
  • Licensed in Indiana

A: You should expect to be charged with a felony OWI since it has been less than 7 years from your last conviction.

Paul Stanko and Joel D. Hand agree with this answer

Paul Stanko
Paul Stanko
Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • Plymouth, IN
  • Licensed in Indiana

A: The calculation goes from date of CONVICTION of the earlier case to date of OCCURRENCE of the newer case. The Level 6 charge is appropriate. If you need more questions answered, you can contact attorneys privately through this site---you should not post details about your case in "Ask a Lawyer".

Joel D. Hand agrees with this answer

Joel D. Hand
Joel D. Hand
Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • Indianapolis, IN
  • Licensed in Indiana

A: The seven year time period begins on the date of the prior conviction. In your situation, the new charge is a Felony because it is within seven years of your most recent OWI conviction. If you have not previously had a Felony conviction reduced to a Class A misdemeanor through the Alternate Misdemeanor Sentencing provisions, you may be eligible to still get your current case entered as a misdemeanor upon the taking of a guilty plea or even if you take your case to a trial and lose.

You will be well served to hire a criminal defense attorney with extensive experience handling OWI cases. That will give you the best opportunity to obtain a better result.

1 user found this answer helpful

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