Category: DWI

When you are pulled over by an officer who suspects you have had too much to drink, you may be asked to leave your vehicle so you can take a field sobriety test.

What exactly is a field sobriety test? Do you have to take it? What happens if you don’t? What happens if you do?

An FST is just one request that can be made of you if you’re pulled over, but it’s a big one. In this post, we’re going to explain what these tests are and how they are used. [...]

Recent stories of cops being charged with DWIs in North Carolina show how penalties can go beyond what the law includes. Below, we’re going to tell you more about these cases, along with what the laws say.

Job Consequences for NC Police Officers Charged with DWIs

One police officer was arrested and charged with DWI after driving his personal vehicle over a highway center line around 1 a.m. on a recent Saturday in Banner Elk. The officer, who worked for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for the past 17 years, was removed on unpaid [...]

A new method is being tested that is supposedly more accurate at detecting marijuana in a driver’s system. How does it work?

With the new system, a police officer would take a sample from the offender’s mouth, using a cotton swab to collect saliva. The testing kit boasts 100 percent accuracy rate for detecting marijuana use.

The new testing process would also speed result collection. Currently, states must submit samples to a lab for testing. This new test is said to take only minutes, so results could be obtained at the scene of [...]

St. Patrick’s Day is almost here, and many North Carolinians will be out celebrating the holiday. Unfortunately, in the past many people have been known to celebrate a bit too hard.

In 2016, North Carolina law officers made a whopping 790 DWI arrests during the four-day St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Of those, 718 arrests were related to alcohol use, with the rest being drug related. The top county for arrests was Cumberland County with a total of 89. In the Triangle region, the top county was Wake County with 34 arrests. You can [...]

If you were recently arrested and charged with DWI in North Carolina, you are probably wondering what happens next in the process. In this post, we will outline the steps of a DWI case for you and advise you on what to do next.

Your Arraignment

The first step after the arrest is your arraignment. This is a court hearing where a judge will read the charges against you. You will be asked to enter a plea. In most cases, your attorney will advise you to enter a plea of “not guilty.”

The [...]