License After a Second Offense DUI Charge in Prince George’s County
In addition to criminal penalties, a second DUI offense in Maryland will also carry penalties on your driving privileges. Below a Prince George’s County second DUI lawyer discusses these penalties and you ability to challenge your license suspension. To learn more about the effect of a second offense DUI on your driving privileges or to discuss your case, call and schedule a consultation with an attorney today.
Your License Following a Second DUI Charge
For a second DUI offense, the penalty to your license will be enhanced. That suspension is purely an administrative function, they’re going to look at what your breath test result is and if your test result is an alcohol concentration that’s greater than 0.08. you are eligible for a suspension.
Additionally, a second offense, will likely result in a 90-day suspension after your MVA hearing of after the 45 day temporary period expires.
If you are above 0.15, and it’s a subsequent offense, you will want to get on the ignition interlock program immediately. If you don’t utilize ignition interlock then, you will be suspended and that suspension will be for 180 days as a second time offense. Or if it’s a refusal, it’s a year. You have to get to your attorney quickly so they can explain to you just how this will adversely affect your license.
Your License After a Second DUI Conviction
With a second conviction, you’re going to get points from the conviction just like any moving violation of the transportation article. There are points associated with these citations that can result in a maximum of 12 points on your license making you eligible, from the administrative standpoint, to have your license revoked.
MVA will send you a notice and you have an absolute right to request an administrative hearing. When you get that notice you will need to request that hearing immediately. It costs $150 for that hearing so there’s a cost associated with that but you’re doing so to hopefully enhance your ability to keep your license, You also may already be in the ignition interlock program and if you don’t respond to this letter and your license is suspended, you’ll be immediately removed from ignition interlock and your license will be suspended. There will be no exception for not responding.
Can You Still Be Eligible For a Restricted License After a Second DUI Offense?
You can absolutely request that your license be restricted but that depends on that the result of your breath and the alcohol concentration number. Your restriction is based on your score being .08 but not greater than .149
Challenging the Suspension of your License
With regards to the license itself, if it has been suspended or if it has been imposed on by the administrative judge following an MVA hearing, that decision will have to time itself out. You can still win your case but your license may still be suspended due to the fact that the administrative and criminal process are two completely different functions.
In an MVA hearing the standard of proof is simply called the “preponderance of evidence” (not the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard) which is the lowest standard of evidence. Merely a suggestion of alcohol with just enough evidence to support that allegation can be enough to have your license suspended or restricted. Because of the two differences in evidentiary standards, you can win a trial but you may still have a license that’s suspended for the term that your suspension would run.