If you’re charged with driving on a DUI revoked license, we definitely should talk about your case. You may have a strong defense depending upon the facts of your case.
You’d be surprised how many people are charged with this very serious violation when they actually were not driving on a DUI revoked license at the time. It’s quite common for a officer to see a prior DUI or DWI on your driving transcript and see that you’re suspended at the time of the stop, and assume that you’re still suspended because of that DUI or DWI. Therefore, you end up with a charge of driving on a DUI revoked license under the Virginia Code 18.2-272.
The good news for you is that if your DUI suspension is over, then you should not be found guilty under that serious statute. You should only be responsible for driving on a suspended license under Virginia Code 46.2-301.
Now this analysis will differ depending upon the prosecutor involved in your case and the judge that’s hearing your case. Some people don’t agree 100% with this analysis. However, in the Fredericksburg area this is an argument that I definitely am ready to argue on your behalf to try to get the charge amended from the more serious driving on a DUI revoked license violation to a better driving on suspended (46.2-301).
One of the big differences between these two statutes is if you’re found guilty of driving on a DUI revoked license (18.2-272), the statute requires a one-year additional license suspension. However, for driving on suspended (46.2-301), typically it’s only 90 days of additional suspension.
Another key difference is that, depending upon your record, a driving on a DUI revoked license charge (18.2-272) will likely will incur jail time, significant jail time in some courts, such as even a couple of weeks in jail. However, a driving on suspended (46.2-301) might not require any jail time if it’s your first offense.
As you can see, if you’re charged for driving on a DUI revoked license under 18.2-272, you definitely need to contact me today to discuss your situation and your defenses. We’ll start once you hire me by getting your driving record to see exactly why you were suspended at the time of the stop, and to see what arguments we can make to try to make the case better.
photo credit: Renton Transit Center