When faced with a DWI charge, the immediate reaction may be to freeze and not know what to do next. Once one finally comes to terms with what has occurred and begins to map out a plan of action, there are different approaches to the process as well as different stages of the DWI case that need to be dealt with.
There are two different approaches to a DWI charge. One approach is the wait-and-see approach, meaning to wait until the court or the prosecutor says what to do. The other approach is called the proactive approach, which is to anticipate what is needed and then to get it done early. Under the second approach one does not wait to be told, but takes important steps right away.
So those two approaches are vastly different and the reason for using one versus the other is that with one of them you can use time to your advantage. If you take the wait-and-see approach and wait for people to tell you what to do, it could take longer to get your case resolved. In some cases that may seem to be an advantage. If you don’t want to put things behind you, and are not looking for closure that quickly, this is a means of postponing the consequences, at least for a while. But the reason the proactive approach makes sense is that it condenses the time and allows you to concentrate your efforts to place this case in perspective and put it behind you as quickly as possible. That makes it the best way possible.
So, using time to your advantage, the proactive approach is usually the better way to go. Your case needs to be looked at by an attorney and needs to be evaluated to see what issues are going to come up with your particular situation. There is no one-size- fits-all way to handle all cases.
Not all stages of the DWI process are created equal. There are some important differences between what it takes to charge a DWI in New York and what it takes to prove the case against you. Charging a DWI case is just a matter of a couple of traffic tickets. These could be violations, misdemeanors, or they could be felonies. The prosecution is just going to give some additional information beyond that, not much more. In New York State it just takes probable cause and reasonable, trustworthy information that you did a particular DWI offense for you to be charged.
But to really prove a DWI charge against you is a different story. That is where your attorney is going to make a demand for what is called a Discovery. Discovery is a lot of detailed information and documentation, including; field sobriety testing, chemical and/or breath testing, information about what you said to the police, how you acted, and sometimes much more. It takes a lot more to prove a crime than it takes to charge a crime. Your attorney is going to make a demand for this, go through it, and see if there are things that can be challenged.
So these are some of the things you should know when faced with a DWI in New York. If you have questions about your DWI case, give us a call or shoot us an email and we’ll be more than happy to discuss it with you.