Gig Harbor DUI Lawyer

We want to be your Gig Harbor DUI lawyers. Why don’t you contact us now with your questions? The sooner you do, the better you will feel.

If you got a DUI in Gig Harbor, your case will be held in either the Gig Harbor Municipal Court or the Pierce County District Court.  Where you go depends on where you were arrested for DUI or physical control and who arrested you:

• Gig Harbor Municipal Court. Your DUI hearings will probably be held in the Gig Harbor Municipal Court if the Gig Harbor Police arrested you for DUI or physical control within the City of Gig Harbor. The City’s north boundary is near where Hwy 16 and Purdy Dr. NW intersect, the south boundary is near Goodman Middle School. The west boundary is just west of the Gig Harbor High School, and the east boundary runs along the Harbor with the east most point at Gig Harbor City Park. The Gig Harbor Municipal Court is located at City Hall, at 3510 Grandview Street, in Gig Harbor. There is plenty of free parking there. If you were not given a notice to appear for a mandatory appearance in court by the arresting officer, you will get it in the mail.

• Pierce County District Court. Your hearing will be here if you were arrested by the State Patrol or Pierce County Sheriff (probably, even if you were arrested within the City of Gig Harbor), or if you were arrested in the Gig Harbor unincorporated area, or on Hwy 16 near Gig Harbor. The court is in the City of Tacoma at 930 Tacoma Ave South. There is parking on the street near the courthouse, a lot at the Library nearby, and a courthouse parking lot off 11th Street for a fee. You will get a notice in the mail telling you when and where to appear. Get there early because the lines can be long to enter the courthouse, and bring a jacket and umbrella because you will be waiting outside.

What is going to happen at my first court appearance?  The judge will inform you of the charge(s) against you, you will be advised of your constitutional rights as an accused person, you will be given a date for your next hearing, and the judge will impose “conditions” on you while the case is pending. If you have no previous DUI arrests (or similar incidents), the conditions will likely be that you have law-abiding behavior and not drink alcohol or consume drugs before driving. Conditions vary, depending on the preference of the judge and the request from the prosecutor. People with previous DUI, physical control, reckless driving or negligent driving charges should be prepared for more restrictive conditions—you can be taken in to custody and must post bail to get out, can also be ordered on home detention with alcohol detection, or ordered to get an ignition interlock device—even though you are only charged, not convicted, of the crime. Our Gig Harbor DUI lawyers work with clients in advance to get alternatives in place to reduce the likelihood of being taken into custody or suffering similar, harsh restrictions.  We can do that for you too, but you have to contact us soon.

What is going to happen if I am convicted of a Gig Harbor DUI?  Minimum penalties are mandated by law. They include minimum jail terms (the least is a day or two for a first offender, but at least a month for those with a previous offense within seven years). The most a judge can impose is 364 days (including mandatory electronic home detention for repeat offenders). All convictions result in a fine, fees, costs and assessments starting at $941.00, but the maximum can be over $8,000. A DUI conviction also entails a mandatory ignition interlock restriction and a license suspension or revocation. These are only the court-imposed penalties. There are other consequences.

A DUI appears on background checks for the rest of your lifetime, it will probably result in an increase in your insurance rates, you may have problems with your current job due to the fact that you have a criminal record, or because you have to take time off from work for court or to serve time in jail. The ramifications of a DUI conviction depend on the individual’s circumstances. People who travel to Canada will no longer be permitted entry; people who rent cars may have difficulty doing so; those who have a security clearance (eg, government employees, government contractors, or military) may have their clearance revoked.

I took the BAC test and it was under the limit—will my case be thrown out?  Perhaps not, because there are two ways the prosecution can prove a DUI: by proving you had a breath or blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or higher (for adults) within 2 hours of driving, or by proving that your driving was affected by alcohol (or any drug) to any appreciable degree. So, if your test was under 0.08, and the police contacted you for a reason that didn’t involve impaired driving (like an equipment violation, taillight out or expired tabs) then you need a skilled Gig Harbor DUI lawyer who will fight to have your case dismissed for lack of evidence. In the alternative, in cases where the prosecution’s proof of impaired driving is not solid, they will often be willing to negotiate the case to something less serious than a DUI, rather than risk losing at trial. 

What if my BAC was high?  In that event, our Gig Harbor lawyers will work hard to find errors—things the officer did or didn’t do—that make problems for the prosecution if they take your case to trial. We turn every stone to look for such errors, and there is virtually always something we find lacking. Armed with this, we work to negotiate a better resolution with the prosecutor. A DUI conviction with a higher test results in higher penalties, so work hard to help these folks, often getting them a pretrial diversion agreement that ends with a reduction to a reckless driving or negligent driving. We can’t guarantee what can be negotiated for your high BAC case, but we can guarantee that we will work hard to get you the best resolution we can. In some instances, we can convince the judge to “throw out” or exclude the test results for reasons of a lack of reliability or for legal reasons. Our Gig Harbor lawyers work to ensure that all options are fully explored for each client’s case.

What if I refused the BAC?  Whether you refused, or the officer wrongly accused you of refusing, a DUI refusal conviction has more severe penalties. For instance, on a first offense in seven years, a refusal conviction requires a 2 year license revocation and at least 2 days in jail. To drive during the revocation, you have to be eligible for an ignition interlock driver’s license, apply, and be granted one by the department of licensing. Sometimes “refusal” cases can be difficult for the prosecutor to prove, particularly if no field sobriety tests were done. In that event, evidence of intoxication is often limited to the officer’s observations and any admissions to drinking alcohol or consuming any drug (including prescription medications). At Callahan Law, we focus on DUI cases and know when a case will be difficult for the State or City to prove. We are also well-known by prosecutors for our tenacious representation of our clients. They respect us for our knowledge and our skill in this area of the law—after all, Ms. Callahan wrote the legal book on DUI, a legal resource on DUI law consulted by lawyers, prosecutors and judges across the state. Contact us now about your case for a free consultation.

What do I do with the DOL paperwork the officer gave me? You have three options.

• Do nothing. If you do nothing, your license will be suspended or revoked on the 60th day following your arrest for DUI. You must not drive during this period or it is a criminal offense. After the period, you have to get your license or privilege restored with DOL.
• Request a hearing within 20 days. If you want to try to keep your license / privilege, simply complete the form and mail it with a check for $200 NO LATER THAN 20 DAYS after you were arrested. You can also do this online. The hearing is over the phone, and it is advisable to have experienced DUI legal representation for the hearing.
• Apply for an Ignition Interlock Driver’s License. The application can be found online, it costs $100 to apply, plus you pay for installation, calibration, and rental of the unit, and you need SR22 insurance. If you apply for the IIDL, you won’t be scheduled a hearing and you cannot appeal your suspension or revocation. At the end of the period, you have to apply to get your regular license back.

In a few weeks, you will get a letter from DOL telling you when your have to stop driving, for how long, and how to get reinstated afterward. You will get this letter even if you’ve already requested a hearing because it is generated automatically. If you have questions about how long your license may be affected by your Gig harbor DUI arrest, give us a call, because the length depends on a number of factors.

Our Gig Harbor DUI lawyers are here 24/7, to answer your questions and to help you navigate through the days ahead. We’ll help you get back to normal again.