Defining DUI and DWI under Maryland law

Maryland separates impaired driving based on the degree of alleged impairment. A DUI charge often relates to a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or higher, or other signs that suggest stronger impairment.

A DWI charge may apply when alcohol affects driving ability, but the BAC falls below 0.08. Officers may review driving behavior, physical signs and test results when deciding which allegation applies. The main difference focuses on the level of impairment rather than the reason for the stop.

Comparing penalties, procedures and administrative outcomes

The charge level can influence what happens after an arrest. In Maryland, you can encounter both criminal court proceedings and administrative action through the Motor Vehicle Administration. Depending on the allegation and case details, the process can include:

• Reviewing potential fines or jail exposure linked to the charge
• Addressing license suspension or ignition interlock requirements
• Managing separate timelines for administrative hearings and court dates
• Preparing for evidence such as alcohol test results or officer observations

These tracks can proceed concurrently but follow different procedures.

Key considerations after a DUI or DWI charge

After an arrest, you may review the charge listed in your paperwork and look for deadlines linked to license suspension or administrative hearings. The difference between DUI and DWI may affect issues such as ignition interlock use or limits on driving privileges. Understanding these details may give you a clearer context as you consider your next steps.

They don’t discuss the case with an attorney or look at their options for fighting the charges. Even though they insist that they are not guilty, they enter a guilty plea in the hopes of limiting the penalties that they face or minimizing their costs related to court. Quite a few people may be able to avoid criminal convictions if they have the right support when responding to pending charges.

What are some of the most common and effective responses to pending criminal charges?

Negotiating a plea bargain

Many people who eventually plead guilty do not leave themselves at the mercy of the courts. Instead, they retain an attorney who negotiates with the prosecutor’s office. A criminal defense attorney can negotiate arrangements in which the state reduces the charges brought against a defendant or limits the penalties that the courts may impose. A plea bargain may even entail limiting what information the prosecutor submits to the courts. Plea bargains are often a means of limiting the long-term consequences of criminal charges.

Undermining the state’s case

Depending on the charges that someone faces, there may be many types of evidence used to prove that they broke the law. A defense attorney can help evaluate that evidence. They can bring in professionals like forensic accountants to conduct a secondary review. They can hire expert witnesses to show that the state made mistakes when analyzing the evidence. In some cases, they can even keep certain evidence out of court by showing that police officers violated the law or the rights of a defendant during an investigation.

Building an affirmative defense

Sometimes, the law extends a degree of leniency to people who make difficult choices. There are scenarios in which behavior that is typically illegal is not a criminal offense. Those scenarios include when people use physical violence to defend themselves against an imminent threat of harm. An affirmative defense involves presenting a different perspective about a criminal incident. In cases where the state has strong evidence but there are special considerations, an affirmative defense may be the best option available.

Reviewing pending charges and the evidence gathered by the state with a skilled legal team can help people develop effective criminal defense strategies. Defendants who have support early in the criminal process can potentially defeat their pending charges or minimize the consequences that they’re facing.

For example, did you know there are specific laws about having open containers of alcohol while driving? These laws are called open container laws, and they keep people safe.

What are open container laws?

These laws are, simply put, laws that make it illegal to have open containers of alcohol in the passenger areas of a vehicle while it is being driven or parked on a public road. The laws include any open bottle, cans or container of alcohol.

In Maryland, it is illegal for the driver or any passenger to possess an open container of alcohol in the passenger areas of a vehicle while the vehicle is in motion. These laws apply to having any alcoholic drink or empty container of alcohol in the passenger areas of the vehicle.

Passenger areas

It is important to understand what “passenger areas” means because the laws specifically target these areas.

Passenger areas are any part of the vehicle where people sit or ride. It also includes the glove compartment and the center console.

Exceptions

But what about exceptions? There are certain types of situations when you might see people drinking inside a vehicle where it is legal to do so.

For example, passengers in limousines, taxis or buses are allowed to have an open container of alcohol. In addition, passengers in the living area of a mobile home or trailer are exempt from these laws. Note that drivers may never drink and drive.

Consequences

If law enforcement catches you violating Maryland’s laws in this way, you are subject to fines and penalties. Depending on the specific circumstances, the fines can be as high as $500 for a first-time offense.

Whether or not it is your first offense, it is critical to have an attorney who can represent you and advocate for you because of how the state charges and possibly convicts you, which could have lifelong consequences in many areas of your life.

However, the offense goes on the individual’s driving record, and it could lead to increased insurance rates or the suspension of their driver’s license.

In summary, it is important to understand and follow Maryland’s Open Container Laws to stay safe and keep others safe on the road.

Remember that it is not only you that you are protecting by following the law. It is everyone else in your vehicle, as well as other drivers, that you could hit if you are driving drunk.

Of course, the judge or jury in your case, whichever is ultimately going to decide your fate, is tasked with considering this testimony and determining how reliable and powerful it is in light of the circumstances. That’s why if you want to protect yourself as much as possible at the trial, you need to be prepared to address witness credibility. After all, if you don’t attack when you have the opportunity to do so, you could be subject to an otherwise avoidable conviction.

Ways that you may be able to attack witness credibility

If you want to create doubt in the prosecution’s case, you should be sure to address witness credibility. If you’re able to successfully draw the reliability of the prosecution’s witnesses into question, you can significantly diminish their case and increase the chances that you’ll be acquitted.

But how do you influence witness credibility? Here are a few options that may be available to you:

• Criminal history: If the witness has a criminal history, you may be able to bring their credibility into question, especially if that history involves dishonesty. This is the case when an individual has been previously convicted of fraud, forgery or false reporting.
• Prior inconsistent statements: Making a witness contradict themselves is one of the most powerful ways to attack witness credibility. This is often teed up through depositions, where you lock in a witness’s testimony. Once you have that depositional testimony, you can refer back to it at trial if the witness is inconsistent in any way. Even seemingly minor inconsistencies can prove to be immense in your case.
• Bias: In many cases, the prosecution calls to testify one or more witnesses who are completely biased against the defendant. Sometimes, the witness and the defendant have a bad relationship that taints the witness’s perception of the defendant, and, under other circumstances, the witness is biased against the witness’s race, gender, religion or ethnicity. It’s crucial to point these biases out to the judge and jury so that the witness’s testimony can be taken with a grain of salt.
• Motivation: Some witnesses are motivated to testify against the defendant for one or more reasons. Maybe a criminal conviction will help the other parent of the defendant’s child secure sole physical custody of the kid. Or maybe the individual who is testifying against the defendant was also under criminal investigation but was able to sidestep charges by agreeing to testify against the defendant. In these circumstances, you need to highlight the motivation and paint a picture of how it renders the witness’s testimony suspect.

Take control of your criminal defense

There are a lot of moving pieces to a criminal defense. And overlooking or inadequately addressing even one of them can leave you at risk. That’s why you should be diligent in taking control of your case and diligently creating the strong legal arguments that you need to aggressively push back against the prosecution.

That can be a daunting task, but it’s one that you have to be willing to accomplish if you want to protect your future. The good news is that you can find assistance in building your case by reaching out to a legal team that has proven itself strong in handling these types of cases.

Police departments and prosecutors across the country claim that devices like the Intoximeter ECIR II provide scientific, objective evidence that a person charged with drinking and driving was over the legal BAC limit of .08 percent. Nationwide, prosecutors base many, if not most, of their DUI cases on the breath test results. But are these tests really as reliable as law enforcement agencies claim?

Breath tests found to fail frequently

Not according to an investigation that found that breath test machines routinely produce inaccurate results that get people convicted for DUI who did not commit the crime. A handful of states had to question tens of thousands of drunk driving convictions. These convictions were based solely or largely on breath test results from machines that may not have been handled properly.

Human error most often to blame

The problem is that police departments often fail to calibrate or maintain their breath test machines properly. Operator error can lead to an inaccurate reading. Nevertheless, judges and juries often assume that if a prosecutor presents a breath test reading, it must be accurate. So do defendants who may be unaware of mistakes the authorities made during the test.

Stories like this show that nobody charged with DUI in Maryland should automatically assume that they have no choice but to plead guilty. Every case is different, and there may be things you can do to defend yourself against the charges that you won’t know about until you speak to a defense attorney.