Winning is a word that we often associate with sports. In 2002, the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl. In baseball, the Atlanta Braves world the World Series. However, there is are dfinately ways for my clients to win in court. It doesn’t mean my clients always get their case dismissed or a not guilty verict at trial either. As a five-star rated Drunk Driving attorney, I get all kinds of clients who call me wanting to “win” their Drunk Driving case. Just about every lawyer you can find on a google search claim they are a winning lawyer. Of course, winning in criminal law is not as straight forward as winning the Super Bowl or World Series. A person charged with OWI/Drunk Driving/ DUI will often have subjective definition of what winning is. I always try to get my clients to feel they have “won” their case. This means getting their a lesser charge sometimes. In other cases, it means keeping them out of jail or getting no probation. In some cases, it’s about keeping their ability to drive legally.
Winning a drunk driving case is a matter of perspective. As a lawyer who has handled many drunk driving cases, it is a true statement to say no two cases are alike. Your results will many times be different than the result of your neighbor who claims they have been convicted of OWI 5 times and never spent a day in jail.
When I meet someone who is interested in retaining me, I ask my clients to be honest about what happened. Is there a good chance that you are in fact guilty? Did you drink? How much did you drink? Did you hit another car? Did you go off the road? What was your BAC at? This does not mean I will not challenged the government’s case, but it does mean my client needs to have some proper perspective about the outcome of the case.
I tell my clients up front what my goals are for their cases. I tell them what I think I can get them as a plea deal up front. If jail is a possibility, I tell my clients that and what they need to do in order to only get probation instead of incarceration. If jail or prison is not likely, I tell my clients that and let them know what I am hoping to do for them on their case. My clients pay to get results, guidance, help and expertise.
I never make promises to my clients that I know I can’t keep and I never scare my clients into retaining me. If a lawyer is promsing to get your third offense DUI dropped when the BAC was 3.0 and several people get hurt when you crashed into them, you are being sold a bunch of baloney. If your lawyer tells you that you need to pay them “x” amount of dollars to stay out of jail, fire them immediately and report them to the state bar.
In many cases, plea agreements are great wins. If I can get my client an impaired driving plea when they are facing a High BAC charge, that is a great win for my client. If you are facing a second offense OWI and I am able to help you stay out of jail, that is a great win! If I am able to get my clients felony DUI dropped to a misdemeanor charge that is a great win!
Finally, if your case goes to trial that does not mean you are winning. In fact, many times going to trial means you are losing. Many trials end up with a not guilty verdict. Clients need to do a cost-risk analysist of going to trial. In many cases, it is simply not worth it. Juries love to compromise and find a person guilty of a impaired driving instead of drunk driving. A good lawyer could have reached an impaired driving plea deal with you that keeps his clients from having an expensive trial.
In some cases, a client is found guilty after they did everything they could in their case. In this cases, I tell them to take the time to determine what their relationship with alcohol is going to be. Driving under the influence is always wrong. If you use a DUI charge as a learning experience and stop using alcohol and leave behind all the problems you had from drinking this is a very important win!