DUI & DWI in Massachusetts
If you have been arrested for OUI in Massachusetts, you are not alone. The Massachusetts DUI attorney of your choice will help you to build the strongest defense possible. In addition, this article will help you to understand what you’re facing:
- Massachusetts OUI Laws
- Massachusetts OUI Punishments
- Potential OUI Defenses
- Massachusetts’s Other Drunk Driving and Alcohol Laws
- How to Find a Massachusetts OUI Attorney
When is a Driver Considered to be Legally Drunk in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts General Laws contain Massachusetts’s drunk driving laws.
You are legally too drunk to drive in the state of Massachusetts if you’re a:
- Regular driver and your BAC is .08 or higher.
- Commercial driver and your BAC is .04 or higher.
- Under 21 driver and your BAC is .02 or higher.
What is Massachusetts’s Punishment for DUI Convictions?
Stronger criminal sentences will be handed down if you are convicted of OUI and you seriously caused bodily injury to another individual or you were driving with a child, under the age of 14, in your motor vehicle. This is called “Melanie’s Law”.
These are the “normal” OUI penalties:
- 1st Offense – up to 2.5 years of jail time – fines of $500 to $5,000 – driver’s license suspension for 1 year.
- 2nd Offense – jail time of 30 days to2.5 years – fines of $600 to $10,000 – driver’s license suspension for 2 years – ignition interlock for 2 years after suspension ends.
- 3rd Offense – jail time of 150 days to 5years- fines of $1,000 to $15,000- driver’s license revoked for 8 years – ignition interlock for 2 years after suspension ends.
*Massachusetts has a “lifetime look-back” period. This means that there is no time limit for considering previous OUI convictions.
Massachusetts Drunk Driving Defenses
A MA OUI attorney will know how to investigate, analyze police procedures, consider potential defenses, and present your case to the court. Consult with the DUI lawyer of your choice – www.attorneys.org.
Potential drunk driving defenses include:
- Mistakes were made.
- Evidence that should have been admitted wasn’t admitted.
- Statements made without Miranda warnings were admitted into evidence.
- The judge gave the jury the wrong instructions.
- The roadblock was not proper.
- There was no probable cause to stop you.
- BAC testing error.
- Improper procedure during arrest or detainment.
- BAC improperly calculated.
Massachusetts’s Other Drunk Driving and Alcohol Laws
Dram Shop Statute
Massachusetts doesn’t have a Dram Shop statute so no criminal charges can be brought against an establishment for serving an underage or intoxicated patron; however, a civil case may be filed on the theory of negligence.
Massachusetts’s Providing Alcohol to Underage Persons Law
If any adultor licensed drinking establishment gives or sells alcohol to an underage person, the penaltyis up to 1 year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
How to Find a Massachusetts DUI Attorney
To find a Massachusetts DUI attorney, you can search our website, www.attorneys.org, or ask friends or the bar association for a referral. You are not alone.
