Mississippi DUI Lawyer Explains Aggravated DUI in Mississippi

Mississippi DUI law contains tough penalties for persons who drive under the influence and cause serious injury or death to another person. 

Under Mississippi Code Annotated Section 63-11-30(5),

Every person who operates any motor vehicle [under the influence] and who in a negligent manner causes the death of another or mutilates, disfigures, permanently disables or destroys the tongue, eye, lip, nose, or any other limb, organ or member of another shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a separate felony for each such [injury or death]….

This is commonly referred to as Aggravated DUI. 

The potential sentence for Aggravated DUI in Mississippi is five (5) years (minimum) to twenty-five (25) years (maximum) for each such injury. 

In Mississippi, DUI-related injury and death cases are usually punished more harshly than violent crimes which are intentionally committed.  It is not unusual to see sentences at or near the maximum for Aggravated DUI.

Been arrested for Aggravated DUI in Mississippi?  You need an experienced DUI lawyer to protect your rights.  Please contact me at 601.944.1984 to discuss your case.  There is no charge for an initial consultation.

Jackson, Mississippi DUI Lawyer Discusses Field Sobriety Tests

All police officers who arrest drivers for DUI in Mississippi are trained in field sobriety testing.  The most common training comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, for short.  The field sobriety tests taught by NHTSA include the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test, the walk-and-turn test, and the one-leg stand test.

If you get stopped for DUI in Mississippi, you should never take these tests.  At the point that an officer asks you to take these tests, he has already decided he is going to arrest you for DUI.  These tests do nothing more than give the officer additional evidence to use against you.  These tests cannot help you, but they can certainly hurt you.  Mississippi DUI law does not require you to take these tests, and there is no penalty for refusing to take the tests.  If you get pulled over in Mississippi for DUI, you should refuse to take any field sobriety tests.

If you have been arrested for DUI in Mississippi, please contact us at 601.944.1984, or visit our Jackson, MS DUI Defense website for more information.

Ridgeland, Mississippi DUI Lawyer Explains What Tests The Police May Ask You To Take

If you get arrested for DUI in Mississippi, the officer will likely ask you to give a sample of your breath.  This is done by blowing into a device called the Intoxilyzer 8000.  This is usually done at a local Sheriff’s Office or police department.  Under Mississippi DUI law, officers may also ask that you provide a sample of your blood or urine for testing.  However, in Mississippi, blood or urine tests are not usually requested unless the DUI suspect was involved in an accident, or if the officer suspects the driver is under the influence of a substance other than alcohol.

If you get charged with DUI in Mississippi, the law provides for testing to help the police prove you are guilty of DUI.  However, even if your breath sample shows that your blood alcohol concentration is over .08%, you still may be able to beat the DUI charge. 

Curt Crowley is a DUI lawyer in Jackson, Mississippi.  If you have been arrested for DUI, please contact us at 601.944.1984, or visit our Mississippi DUI lawyer website for more information.  There is no charge for an initial consultation.

Jackson Mississippi DUI Lawyer-Top Ten Mistakes People Arrested for a Mississippi DUI Make: No. 9

Hiring the jack-of-all-trades lawyer, rather than an experienced Mississippi DUI lawyer.

Mississippi DUI law is complicated.  Every DUI case involves issues of constitutional law, police tactics and procedures, toxicology, and even mathematics and physics.  No other area of the law has this many different subjects in every case.  If you have been charged with DUI in Mississippi, you need a lawyer who devotes his full attention to defending people arrested for DUI and other crimes.

I decided a long time ago that in order to provide my clients the best defense possible, my firm would focus our practice on DUI and criminal defense in Mississippi.  Unfortunately, Mississippi does not certify specialists in DUI or criminal defense.  The only way to find out if a lawyer concentrates his practice on defending DUI cases is to do your research.  Internet searches are a good place to start.  The time to research a lawyer’s background is before you pick up the phone.

Curt Crowley is an experienced Mississippi DUI defense attorney in Jackson, Mississippi.  If you’ve been charged with DUI, please contact Curt to discuss your case.

Mississippi DUI Lawyer Defines Implied Consent

Mississippi’s DUI statutes, like all states, contain something called “implied consent.”  What this means is that in exchange for the State of Mississippi granting you the privilege of operating a motor vehicle on the roads of this state, you are “deemed” to have given your consent to having your breath, blood or urine tested for alcohol or other substances which may impair your ability to operate a motor vehicle.

Charged with DUI in Mississippi and need a lawyer?  Please contact us at 601.944.1984 for a free consultation.  For more information, please visit our Mississippi DUI Lawyer website.

Need Information on Mississippi Criminal Defense Issues?

If you need information on Mississippi criminal defense issues other than DUI, please visit my Jackson, Mississippi Criminal Defense website.

You can also visit my general criminal defense blog here: Mississippi Criminal Defense Lawyer.

If I got a DUI in Mississippi, can I get a hardship license?

Yes.

If you were convicted of a Mississippi DUI, you can get a hardship license.  In order to get a hardship license, a petition must be filed in the Circuit or County Court where you live or where you were convicted.  After the petition is filed, the Court will hold a hearing.  We must prove that you need a license to (a) continue your employment; (b) continue your education; or (c) obtain medical treatment.

Keep in mind that a hardship license is not automatic.  However, with the right lawyer, these petitions usually are granted.  If you are in need of a hardship license following your Mississippi DUI, please contact us for a free consultation.

Ridgeland, Mississippi DUI Lawyer Explains License Suspension for DUI in Mississippi

For a first offense DUI in Mississippi, your license will be suspended for ninety (90) days.

On a second offense, the suspension will be for for two (2) years.

On the third conviction for DUI, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety will suspend your license for five (5) years.

Of all the potential penalties for a DUI conviction in Mississippi, having your drivers license suspended is usually the most severe.  Not having a drivers license can result in job loss, and can adversely impact school and family life.  The one way to avoid this consequence is to not be convicted of DUI in the first place.  If you’ve been arrested for DUI in Mississippi, there is hope.  Contact Mississippi DUI Defense Attorney Curt Crowley to discuss your case.

Mississippi DUI Lawyer Discusses Driver’s License Suspension Before You Go To Court

So you got a DUI in Mississippi?  Did you know that your driver’s license will be suspended thirty (30) days from the date you were arrested for DUI, even though you haven’t been convicted of DUI yet?

According to Mississippi DUI law, the Commissioner of Public Safety is required to suspend the driver’s license of any person arrested for DUI thirty (30) days after the arrest, regardless of whether the defendant has been found guilty of DUI.  While it may seem downright unfair to punish you for DUI while you are presumed innocent, this is yet another way Courts have “suspended the Constitution” in DUI cases.

The good news is that an experienced Mississippi DUI lawyer can prevent your license from being suspended.  By filing one simple motion at the beginning of the case, your Mississippi DUI lawyer can have the judge order the Department of Public Safety to not suspend your license.  Unfortunately, many lawyers who “dabble” in DUI cases either (1) don’t know that the driver’s license will be suspended before the client goes to Court; or (2) if they do know the driver’s license will be suspended, they don’t know how to stop it.  This can be a disaster for someone who has been arrested for DUI in Mississippi, as he likely will not know his license is suspended until he gets arrested for driving with a suspended license.

This does not happen to my clients.  One of the first things we do is file the necessary motion to stop the license suspension.  In fact, we have a 24-hour rule.  Within 24 hours of taking a DUI case, we will have this motion filed.  After the motion is filed and granted by the Court, we contact the Department of Public Safety  to ensure that the order has been received and that our client’s driver’s license will not be suspended.

My name is Curt Crowley.  I am a Mississippi DUI lawyer, located in Jackson, Mississippi.  If you’ve been arrested and charged with DUI, we can help you.  For a free consultation and case evaluation, please contact me at 601.944.1984, or visit our Mississippi DUI lawyer website for more information.

Top Ten Mistakes People Arrested for a Mississippi DUI Make: No. 10

Not taking the charge seriously. 

Some people get arrested for DUI and treat it like it’s just an expensive traffic ticket.  That’s just not the case.

If you get convicted of DUI in Mississippi, you’re looking at heavy fines and jail time.  In addition, a DUI conviction in Mississippi stays on your record forever.  Potential employers will see that conviction when they do a background check.  So let’s say you get arrested for a DUI in Ridgeland.  Twenty years from now if you apply for a job in Gulfport, that Ridgeland DUI is still going to be on your record.

On top of a permanent criminal record, you’re facing jail time, heavy fines and lengthy driver’s license suspension.  Further, your insurance rates will skyrocket with a DUI conviction.  If you’ve been arrested for DUI in Mississippi, you need to take it seriously.

Curt Crowley is a Jackson, Mississippi DUI defense attorney.  For a free consulation, please contact us.

Mississippi DUI Lawyer Explains Charge of DUI for Alcohol

There are basically two ways you  can be arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in Mississippi.

The first way to be charged with a DUI is under Mississippi’s DUI “per se” law.  Under this law, all the police have to prove is that you were operating a vehicle on a public roadway within Mississippi, while you had a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or more.  Police in Mississippi prove this by having you blow into an intoxilyzer.  If your breath sample registers .08% or more, you will be arrested under Mississippi’s DUI “per se” law.

The other way you can be charged with DUI in Mississippi is under Mississippi’s “common law” DUI statute.  Under this section of Mississippi’s DUI law, the police can arrest you if you are “under the influence” of alcohol or some other substance.  It is tougher for the police to prove DUI under this law, because the police have to prove you were actually under the influence.  The police typcially try to do this by proving you were impaired.  It is much more difficult to prove you were impaired, as opposed to just proving your blood alcohol concentration was at a certain level.

But regardless of how police charge you under Mississippi DUI law, keep in mind there’s a big difference between an arrest for DUI, and being convicted of DUI.  The difference between a DUI arrest and a DUI conviction often comes down to the lawyer you choose to handle your DUI case.  Curt Crowley concentrates his practice exclusively on Mississippi DUI and criminal defense.  That focus ensures that our clients get the very best defense in their DUI cases.  If you’ve been arrested for DUI in Mississippi, please contact Curt Crowley for a free consultation.