New Hampshire DWI Laws

DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED CASE EXAMPLE

Administrative License Suspension Victory July 27, 2010

DWI ALS CASE EXAMPLE: TWO YEAR SUSPENSION OF RIGHT TO DRIVE BASED ON AN ALLEGED REFUSAL OF A BREATH TEST-DISMISSED AFTER ADMINISTRATIVE LICENSE SUSPENSION HEARING AT THE DMV

http://www.ByeByeDWI.com

Please note-this is an example of the result of a recent New Hampshire DWI case. It is by no means a guarantee of any particular result in any other case.

BASIC FACTS: The citizen in this case was stopped for driving 54 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone.  After the arresting officer stopped the citizen, he asked where he was coming from and why he was driving so fast.  The citizen told the officer he had been at a bachelor party at a bar in Massachusetts that features topless dancing, and he didn’t realize he was driving too fast.  The officer parroted the usual observations of drunkenness at the hearing, red, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, obvious odor of alcohol, etc (blah, blah, yak, yak).  The officer asked him to get out of the car for roadside gymnastics called “field sobriety tests” by the police.  The citizen “failed” the roadside gymnastics in predictable fashion.

After dutifully counting up enough “clues of impairment” during the roadside acrobatics, the officer asked the citizen if he would take a roadside breath test.  The citizen declined the roadside breath test, expressing his concern to the officer that he might fail the test.  The officer then arrested the citizen and charged him with DWI.

At the station he declined the officer’s invitation to blow into a breath test hose.  He also declined to sign any paperwork or say anything else at all about the breath test.  He later received a suspension action notice from the New Hampshire DMV because he allegedly refused to submit to a “breath test” test after being arrested for DWI.  The notice said that his driver’s license would be suspended for two years for the refusal, as he had a prior DWI conviction on his driving record from several years ago.

This driver contacted Attorney Mark Stevens at 1-603-893-0074 within the thirty day time period in which a hearing can be requested to challenge this suspension.    Attorney Stevens filed a hearing request with the Department of Safety in Concord to challenge the administrative license suspension action.

HEARING PROCEDURE:            Attorney Stevens requested a hearing for this citizen at the New Hampshire DMV Bureau of Hearings in Concord.  Attorney Stevens challenged everything in his hearing request that the law and the rules allow regarding DWI breath test refusals.  The rules that govern administrative license suspension hearings are found at New Hampshire Administrative Rule Saf-C 2800.  After the state presented its case Attorney Stevens cross examined the arresting officer. 

The issue in this case was whether this citizen ever refused to blow into the breath hose at the police station.  After hearing the testimony and the evidence, the hearings examiner rescinded the administrative license suspension in this case.

RESULT:       ADMINISTRATIVE LICENSE SUSPENSION DISMISSED!!!   This citizen’s right to drive was restored.  He did not suffer the two year administrative suspension that the state sought to impose on him.

Attorney Stevens thanks God for this successful defense!!!

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE:

“A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights of the bag are His work.”

Proverbs 16:11.

Contact Information:
If you leave a voice message or send an email, please include ONLY the following information:

• Date of any alleged offense you have been charged with.
• The court in which you have been told to appear.
• The date and time you have been told to appear.
• Your telephone number and the best time to reach you.

Information in this column should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Mark Stevens Law Office, nor any attorney associated with the Mark Stevens Law Office. The information contained herein is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts and circumstances. Please bear in mind that laws change frequently. We will make an effort to update the information on a regular basis, but are under no obligation to do so. No part of this document, nor any information contained in this website, may be disseminated without this paragraph. This may be considered legal advertising.