Posted on May 16, 2018 in OWI

An operating while intoxicated (OWI) offense in Wisconsin could mean serious consequences in the event of a conviction. If it's a first offense, the punishments will be less severe than subsequent offenses.

Here is what you can expect if you're convicted:

• You will be required to pay substantial court costs in addition to a $150 to $300 fine.
• In the vast majority of cases, you do not have to fear a jail sentence. However, if you were carrying a passenger under the age of 16, you could be sentenced to as many as six months in jail. Jail or prison time could also result if you hurt someone.
• The revocation of your driving license for six to nine months.
• In cases where your blood alcohol content (BAC) was at least .15 percent or more, you'll need to install an ignition interlock device in your car.
• You'll have to submit to an alcohol assessment.
• You could receive as many as six points on your license.
• There will be other noncriminal consequences, such as the potential loss of your job (depending on what you do for work) and a sharp increase in your auto insurance premiums.

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 Posted on May 16, 2018 in Drug Charges

The federal government classifies controlled substances into five different schedules with Schedule I having the most severe criminal consequences attached to them and Schedule V having the least severe consequences. Familiarizing yourself with the following drug schedules is important if you've been accused of a drug crime or if you want to avoid getting in trouble with the law for a drug crime.

Schedule V: This category of drugs includes those that the federal government believes are the least dangerous in terms of their propensity for abuse, addiction and potentially damaging effects. They include: Parepectolin, Lyrica, Lomotil and Motofen.

Schedule IV: This category is believed to be slightly more dangerous than Schedule V. They include Darvon, Soma, Xanax, Valium, Ambien and others.

Schedule III: These drugs present a moderate to low threat of addiction and dependency. They include anabolic steroids, ketamine, testosterone and certain codeine-containing medications.

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 Posted on May 15, 2018 in OWI

When it comes to drunk driving arrests, most Wisconsin residents know about Breathalyzer tests and the fact that a test result that renders a .08 percent blood alcohol content (BAC) will usually result in an immediate arrest. However, Breathalyzer tests are not always accurate, and they can often get thrown out in court so they can't be used as evidence against the victim.

As such, a police officer will try to gather more evidence against a defendant by taking notes about his or her appearance and behavior, and by subjecting the defendant to a field sobriety test.

A field sobriety test involves police officers taking a driver through a series of tests. Police will ask the diver to perform different tasks and judge the person's ability to successfully complete those tasks. Video footage and evidence gathered during the field sobriety test will then be used against the defendant during his or her criminal proceedings.

Here are a few things an officer could ask a driver to do in a field sobriety test:

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 Posted on May 11, 2018 in Criminal Defense

Would you know what to do if you're accused of shoplifting? Would you run and hope that you get away? Would you stay where you are, explain yourself and pray that everything works out?

Although shoplifting is not the most serious crime, it can still lead to a serious punishment. This is particularly true in the event that you are convicted of shoplifting an expensive item, such as jewelry.

Here are some things to keep in mind if you're facing a shoplifting accusation:

• You have the right to remain silent. You don't need to become upset and start talking, even if a store employee or security guard is imploring you to do so. You don't want to say anything that can harm you later, so consider remaining silent.
• Security officers and store owners have the right to detain you until police arrive. However, keep in mind that they must have probable cause and are not permitted to use deadly force.

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 Posted on April 27, 2018 in Drug Charges

Drug addiction is a mental and emotional illness, just as much as it can be a crime. Fortunately, more and more states are beginning to treat the mental health issues that cause drug offenses rather than simply sending people to jail.

Through alternative drug treatment techniques called Treatment Alternatives and Diversion (TAD) programs, states across the country -- including Wisconsin -- have helped many nonviolent drug offenders get the help they need through voluntary substance abuse treatment as an alternative to prison or jail sentences.

TAD programs in different Wisconsin counties

The TAD programs available to drug defendants in Wisconsin vary depending on the county where the alleged offense occurred. These programs have helped many people overcome their addiction problems. They have also saved taxpayers money because they bypass the costs associated with imprisonment.

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 Posted on April 21, 2018 in OWI

Most people who have had a little bit to drink will err on the side of caution and take an Uber home or ask a friend to give them a ride. What happens if you're somewhere in the middle, and you're not sure if you've had too much to drink? What if you're trying to determine if your friend has had too much to drink before letting him or her drive you home?

Whenever you're not sure of how drunk you or your friends are, it's safest to take an alternate way home and avoid driving altogether. That said, here are a couple methods you might want to use for evaluating the state of someone's intoxication:

• Take the one drink an hour test. Add up the number of hours you've been drinking and add up the number of drinks you've imbibed. If the number of drinks exceeds the number of hours, there's a very good chance you're too drunk to drive. That said, you can't drink one beer in the first hour and five beers during the sixth hour. Also, you can't drink five beers on the first hour and one beer on the sixth hour. Use common sense at all times, and remember that smaller people have lower tolerances.

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 Posted on April 18, 2018 in OWI

Have you ever wondered what factors could affect your blood alcohol content (BAC) levels? There are many things that can interfere with the percentage concentration of alcohol in your bloodstream after you've drunk an alcoholic beverage. In some cases, such factors could cause two people who drank the same amount of alcohol to render different BAC levels when taking a Breathalyzer test.

Here are a few things that could be contributing factors to varying Breathalyzer test results between two individuals who drank the same amount of alcohol during the same period of time.

• Your age: The older you are, the more you'll be affected by the intoxicating effects of alcoholic beverages. In this respect, you might have the same amount of alcohol in your blood as your younger counterpart, but you exhibit more signs of inebriation.
• Your sex: Men tend to show fewer signs of inebriation and will have a lower BAC than women after consuming the same amount of alcohol. This is because men tend to have more water in their blood than women.

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 Posted on April 14, 2018 in Criminal Defense

Two black men were at a Philadelphia Starbucks waiting to have a business meeting when police entered the premises and demanded that the men leave. A Starbucks employee had called the authorities, asking police to remove the men, who the Starbucks employee claimed had not purchased any coffee and refused to exit the premises when asked.

Police arrived and an ugly, racially-motivated arrest ensued, all while others in the cafe watched and videotaped the incident. Police questioned the men, asking them why they were there, and they answered that they were waiting for someone to arrive for a business meeting.

The incident, which went viral on the internet, has sparked nationwide protests against Starbucks. Even the CEO of Starbucks has issued a formal apology to the men and closed down Starbucks stores for training intended to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.

The fact is that most Starbucks customers have sat down in a store and waited before ordering because their friend or business associate had yet to arrive. In this case, as police were putting the handcuffs on the men, their business associate arrived for the meeting, verifying the men's initial claim.

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 Posted on April 10, 2018 in OWI

When it comes to the various ways you can get from A to B, human beings have a lot of options. You could hop on a bicycle, a skateboard, a jet ski, a unicycle, a golf cart – and even a riding lawn mower – if you wanted to. The thing is, even though these vehicles are not automobiles, when you operate them, you must follow the rules of the road. As such, you can get arrested for drunk driving a lawn mower in Wisconsin. In fact, this is exactly what happened to a man in Pennsylvania.

According to police, a 55-year-old man was driving his lawn mower with an open beer can during the early morning hours. Police further alleged that the man smelled of alcohol and when they searched the storage compartment of his lawn mower, they found an empty beer can. The man claimed he was riding the lawn mower to his home, which was six miles away.

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 Posted on March 29, 2018 in OWI

Defendants in Wisconsin who have been accused of drunk driving will have various criminal defense strategies available to them. However, only certain methodologies will apply to any given case depending on the facts and evidence being presented by the prosecution, and depending on the potential punishments involved.

That said, here are three common defense strategies used by lawyers in Wisconsin:

Improper stop

Police must have a valid reason -- virtually any valid reason -- to pull over a driver, such as the driver not having his or her headlights on or crossing the double-yellow line. If police stop a driver for no good reason and it ends in an arrest, then the resulting charges could get thrown out of court.

Bad handling of chemical test samples

Whether police use a Breathalyzer test, or hold a test without a Breathalyzer through a blood or urine sample, these tests are hard to prove as accurate in some cases. If the defendant can show that lab technicians or police mishandled the samples related to the test, he or she might be able to get the lab results thrown out as evidence.

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