New Jersey DWI defense strategy: When other serious charges may affect your outcome

A New Jersey DWI charge is very serious and has significant consequences if you are convicted. As a result, your defense must be thoroughly planned and executed to obtain the best results possible.

It is always the goal of the qualified DWI defense attorney to attempt to have a DWI charge dismissed. The success of having the DWI dismissed, of course, depends on the specific facts and circumstances of the case and the overall situation.

Your DWI lawyer must always be ready to go to trial in your case. That doesn’t mean that your case will end up in trial, however if your lawyer is ready to actually try your case, the prosecutor, police officer, and judge may look at your circumstances differently.

In determining whether to actually go to trial in your case, the DWI attorney must assess what the best result is without a trial and the best result if the case proceeds to trial. If you can get a better result by going to trial, then you must weight the potential for success against the cost of trial, including what would happen with a negative result.

One of the most significant issues in this regard is whether there are additional charges that could result in a longer suspension, or even jail time, if you were to go to trial and lose. Four instance, if you were involved in an accident and left the scene of the accident, you are subject to additional suspension time. If there was personal injury from that accident, you are subject to jail time. You would have to consider whether you want to risk adding that suspension or jail time, if your lawyer can get rid of those charges without a trial.

The same considerations apply if the suspension time can be reduced with a plea, but if you go to trial, the suspension time may be longer.

Your New Jersey DWI attorney should lay out all of the possible options for you, go through them thoroughly, and let you decide how you wish to proceed. Only you can determine what is in your best interest and how to move forward, but it is critical that you have a qualified New Jersey DWI lawyer to fully inform you regarding the circumstances. You must have a lawyer that has a reputation for going to trial when necessary.

Please contact us at Levow and Associates for a free consultation.