How Much Jail Time For My DUI in Virginia?

Описание: How Much Jail Time For My DUI in Virginia?

Johnson Law Firm, PC www.JLFva.com/
James M. Johnson, Esq. www.JamesMJohnsonLaw.com/
GMB Woodbridge - https://g.page/jlfva-wb/
GMB Gainesville - https://g.page/jlfva-gh/

Johnson Law Firm, PC is a premiere DUI Defense firm in Prince William County, VA. Attorney James Johnson is certified in and is an Instructor for DUI Detection and Administration of Field Sobriety Tests to drivers.

HOW MUCH JAIL TIME WILL I RECEIVE FOR MY DUI CHARGE

What about jail time? What am I facing? What are the possibilities? There are lots of factors that go into your possible jail time.

Factors in determining Jail Time:
• Have you had prior DUI's?
• What was your BAC?
• What was your driving behavior?
• Was there an accident involved with other vehicles?
• Who's your attorney?

There are a couple mandatory jail times which takes some of that out of the control of the judge or the commonwealth attorney or your attorney.

• Mandatory DUI Jail Sentences are determined by statute §18.2-270:

Mandatory jail sentences are what we call “day for day” jail time. It is not the typical Virginia half days where, if you're convicted of a misdemeanor, you only serve half your time. For example, if the judge sentences you to 10 days in jail, you only actually do five days in jail. When it's mandatory time, you have to do “day for day” so when the judge says five days in jail, you're actually doing five days in jail.

When the judge sentences you to more than the mandatory statutory jail time, (i.e. "I hereby sentence you to 20 days, 10 are mandatory") you would do the mandatory days first, and then the days you would do half the time because DUI is a misdemeanor.

Make sure you're speaking with an attorney if you're facing these elevated BACs. Usually the attorney can poke holes in either the administration of the breath test or some other defenses that they have, which they can use with the Commonwealth attorney try to reach a plea agreement to knock the BAC down or reduce the charge from a second of five to a second and 10 to help reduce the amount of mandatory jail time you're facing.

If you're facing a DUI, that's more than just a first, you really, really need to speak to an attorney. If you're facing a DUI first, you should still really think about hiring an attorney instead of going your own route. Years of experience have taught me that just because you're charged with it, doesn't mean that they're going to find you guilty of it. Force the Commonwealth to prove their case.

So make sure that you hire an attorney that can, put pressure on them to make sure that they're being able to prove their case and meeting the requirements set out by statute.