Your Massachusetts DWI Lawyer wants you to be well informed. These 5 myths about Drunk Driving, by William C. Head, should give you food for thought when selecting you own OUI attorney.

Note: These article is for informational purposes only. Please consult your Stephen Jones for legal advice if you are facing issues with the OUI (also known as DUI) law in Massachusetts.

This article was reprinted with permission of TRIAL (March 1993)
Copyright the Association of Trial Lawyers of America

Myth Number 4: These cases can't be won.

This is the most prevalent myth about these cases. Not only do members of the general public believe this; so do many attorneys. In fact, experienced drunk-driving defense lawyers "win" most cases of first offenders when there is no evidence of a wreck or other manifest bad driving.

The term "win" is in quotation marks here because winning may mean having the charge reduced to a different offense or otherwise obtaining a plea bargain that avoids a conviction. The availability of alternative plea arrangements for offenders varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Where jury trials are available, success rates for acquittal are surprisingly good. The national average for acquittals is about 50 percent for those accused of drunk driving if their cases are heard by juries. In some jurisdictions, only about 20 percent to 30 percent of all drunk-driving arrests lead to a conviction, while other states have an 80 percent to 90 percent conviction rate.

In the few states that have abandoned the right to jury trials for misdemeanor drunk-driving cases, defense attorneys will have a more difficult task convincing a judge to acquit. However, this only applies to about 5 percent of all drunk-driving cases.