Q: First offense DWI. First offense, no accident 1192.2 and 1192.3 and 1128a. Returned Dl. What to expect in court?
Westchester county NY. Never been arrested first offense. Tried to get the police report and the police doesn’t want to give me one. 2 breathlyzer one highway and the HQ. I don’t know how much the police found BAC. High education, 30, full time employee. Can go down to DWAI since is first offense? Or reckless driving ? Plea bargain?
A:
A first offense DWI with no aggravating factors may be able to be reduced to a DWAI violation, but it will depend on the BAC. The Westchester DA's office is very specific about how they handle different BAC readings. You should hire an attorney, so that can try to get the paperwork from the court, and find out the specifics. My office is located in White Plains, and has represented hundreds of people charged with DWI around Westchester County.
Michael Litman
917-554-8231
A:
You should retain a DWI attorney who knows the personality of the county. Westchester County has a strict policy in terms of when they offer a plea bargain to a lesser charge and what their recommended sentencing may be.
DWI cases usually do not get resolved overnight or quickly, partially because you as the defendant are entitled to what's called "discovery". The State has to provide you/your attorney with discovery including police report, your BAC, MVRs and BWC (body worn camera), etc. A lot of people desperately take actions (going to the PD for police report etc) themselves, but it is the State's obligation, NOT you, to provide discovery to you, especially with the recently amended discovery laws in NY.
Your attorney will review all the discovery and will make further inquiries for any missing discovery. I understand you are worried and concerned, but DWI defense takes time and thorough analysis of your case. You should let your lawyer do his/her job.
Reckless driving, which is a criminal offense/misdemeanor, may often be issued along with DWI summons as a "fall back on" ticket where you may plead guilty to as part of plea agreement when the DWI charge wouldn't go through. You used to be able to plead to reckless and dismiss DWI charges a long time ago, but I don't believe there is any county that does that any more without a sufficient reason for it.
Good luck.
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