» DWI

NH law does not provide for a jury trial for those charged with DWI as a first offense. If you are charged with Aggravated DWI, or Subsequent Offense DWI, or Felony DWI, you do have the right to a jury trial.

We work with many clients who come to NH on business, or on vacation, or to visit family, a second home, etc. In particular, we have worked with many clients who have driver's licenses from Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, and New York. Based on these experiences, and based on our close connections with lawyers in these States, we can accurately advise you as to the impact that different potential case outcomes will have on your home State license. For other States, we will take affirmative steps to make sure that our clients are provided accurate and timely information about their local laws, procedures, and administrative consequences. Every State is different. If a lawyer that you consult with simply tells you, if you get suspended in NH, you will be suspended in your home State as well — they are probably wrong. It's much more complicated than that.

We don't know the numbers for the entire system, but we do know that many of our clients are not convicted of DWI. Read more here.

In popular culture, every time a police officer makes an arrest, the officer immediately reads the defendant his "Miranda rights" - you have the right to remain silent, everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you upon request.

However, neither the Federal Constitution, nor the New Hampshire Constitution, requires police officers to routinely read these rights immediately upon arrest. Rather, officers must only ask these questions, after arrest, if the officer intends to engage in "custodial interrogation" - questioning of the defendant, or comments intended to elicit an incriminating response, while the defendant is in custody.

Up until the point of arrest, in the typical case where there is a motor vehicle stop and roadside investigation, the officer can ask questions, including questions that are designed to get the driver to incriminate herself like "how much have you had to drink tonight?", without reading Miranda rights.

If the officer interrogates a person who is in custody, without reading Miranda rights, the typical remedy is to "suppress" (eliminate from evidence at trial) the defendant's incriminating statements, and also, potentially, suppress any evidence obtained as a fruit of those statements. Suppression of evidence, not outright dismissal of the case, is the remedy.

The NH Forensic Laboratory has been backlogged for years and sometimes takes as long as six weeks to report the results of blood tests in DWI cases. However, you should not wait until you get the results — you should consult with a lawyer now. In some cases, we have saved clients from mandatory jail time by acting quickly in blood test cases.

It might, if your case involves breath test evidence. The issue only affects breath tests conducted on the Intoxilyzer 5000EN, the large machine at the police department. It does not necessarily affect portable breath tests administered at the scene of the motor vehicle stop or accident investigation. Read more about this issue with the Intoxilyzer 5000EN.

Unlike our neighbor, Massachusetts, NH law does not allow even a first offense DWI to be continued without a finding. However, our attorneys frequently obtain an even better outcome, a reduced charge such as Reckless Operation that is not a crime like DWI, and is not an alcohol-related conviction. Read more about our DWI Victories.

For decades, NH, unlike many other States, has not allowed drivers convicted of DWI to drive on a restricted license or an interlock. No "Cinderella" licenses, no "work permit" licenses, no "medical hardship" licenses, etc. However, effective January 1, 2016, a new law will allow some people convicted of DWI as a first offense to apply to a Court for a restricted license, after first serving 45 days of the suspension. Read more about the new law.