With drunk driving legislation news making its rounds, it seems like as good a time as any to discuss your options if you find yourself charged with an OWI.
Hiring a lawyer to help you defend an OWI case in Wisconsin can help you in ways you may not even be aware of. The Wisconsin courts, like any legal system, can be a difficult-to-navigate and frustrating process for the uninitiated, but an experienced Wisconsin drunk driving lawyer can help you get through it with relative ease.
Here are five of the most important reasons why hiring an attorney to help you defend your OWI case can pay dividends.
1. Greater familiarity with the courts
As mentioned, the court system can be a bureaucratic nightmare if you don't have the savviness provided by an experienced OWI lawyer. The complex administrative procedures and paperwork chock full of law-speak involved with even the most basic OWI charge can be broken down into simpler terms by such an attorney.
One more thing: if you are considering hiring a lawyer, make sure you can not only connect with them in normal conversation, but that they make the details of your case more easy to understand. Don't be afraid to ask questions, or you may never get the answers you need.
2. Knowledge of plea bargain details
Any good defense attorney should know the ins and outs of plea bargaining. In most cases, plea bargaining can be a practical alternative to a defense trial for any number of reasons:
- plea bargaining can dramatically reduce uncertainty involved with a case and the likelihood of a harsh sentencing
- it helps those charged avoid the publicity involved with a trial
- it can vastly reduce the time and money commitment involved with a case
3. The severity of your sentence can be mitigated
If your BAC tested well above the legal limit, you may feel simply pleading guilty is your best option. However, an experienced OWI defense lawyer may be able to offer you advice that can help lessen the severity of your sentence.
Remember, truly adept attorneys have the knowledge and experience to negotiate a plea bargain with maximum benefits to those they represent.
4. Advanced knowledge of technical aspects of OWI laws
Attorneys build their reputations on knowing every detail of each law. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than when applied to OWI laws, which involve plenty of judgment calls from officers and sobriety tests that are prone to failure.
If processes are not followed down to the most minute technicality, an OWI charge can be dismissed.
5. The ability to decipher between the differences in multiple offense OWIs
The implications of your plea and your sentencing vary dramatically depending on how many OWIs you've committed in the past.
The Wisconsin drunk driving bill that's been all over the news would change these laws once again, so it's crucial to have a drunk driving lawyer that is agile enough to know these various implications even as they change.
OWI Defense Success Story
Case Victory: Three Consecutive OWI/PAC 5th/6th Victories in One Month
Attorney Stangl of Stangl Law Offices, S.C. achieved three (3) back-to-back OWI 5th/6th victories within a one-month period in May-June 2023 thereby saving his clients from mandatory prison sentences. In State v. Shirikian, 2023 WI App. 13 the Court of Appeals held that the sentencing language for a 5th/6th OWI/PAC offense requires the sentencing court to impose a mandatory prison sentence upon conviction. Even if the sentencing court wanted to impose a non-prison sentence, they do not have the discretion or authority to do so under the current penalty structure for the offense and this decision.
In the first case Attorney Stangl successfully argued that one of his client’s prior convictions could not be counted because he was not properly advised of his right to counsel in a previous case and that the record did not demonstrate a free and voluntary waiver of his 6th amendment right to counsel. After investigating and researching the issue, Attorney Stangl brought a motion challenging the uncounseled conviction and after an evidentiary hearing the trial court agreed that the prior conviction could not be counted, thereby reducing the 5th/6th offense to non-mandatory prison charges.
Approximately 2 weeks later, in a different case, Attorney Stangl previously argued to the court that the arresting officer did not have a sufficient legal reason or probable cause to arrest his client on a 5th/6th OWI/PAC. After the evidentiary hearing and briefing by the parties the court issued a very thorough and analytical oral decision granting the defendant’s Motion to Dismiss and the case against his client was dismissed.
Within two weeks after the 2nd consecutive OWI/PAC 5th/6th victory Attorney Stangl secured his 3rd consecutive OWI/PAC 5th/6th victory within (1) one month with the dismissal by the State of charges during a preliminary hearing. At the preliminary hearing it was clear that the arresting officer testified falsely about the alleged events including his client’s performance on the field sobriety test (FST’s) when in fact his client never submitted to the FST’s. Once the State realized the major problem with the officer’s perjured testimony it moved for immediate dismissal of all the charges. His client will not be re-charged.
Schedule a free consultation with experienced OWI defense lawyer Attorney Patrick Stangl by clicking here.
Stangl Law Offices, S.C.