A man from a neighboring state was recently arraigned in the Berkeley County Magistrate Court. This followed his arrest on the previous evening when he was stopped by Martinsburg police. According to court documents, the man was charged with a third DUI offense.
Furthermore, the arraignment included a count of driving with a revoked license due to a prior drunk driving incident. The legal blood-alcohol percentage limit in West Virginia is .08, and court documents show that the 24-year-old man's breath test results indicated that his BAC was .142 when he was stopped at about 11 p.m. It was apparently later established that the driver had two previous DUI convictions from December 2013.
Police report that the man failed to comply with a prior court order for a DUI-interlock system, upon which his driver's license was suspended. When a driver is convicted of a second drunk driving offense, the penalties are significantly more than for a first offense. Monetary fines and jail time can be increased, and the court may order an ignition interlock device to be installed in the driver's car.
When a driver faces a third DUI charge, it is a felony under West Virginia laws. A conviction may result in a one-year license suspension, a $5,000 fine and/or three years in jail, along with a mandatory installation of an ignition interlock device. To conduct a thorough investigation into the arrest and charges against an accused driver, the assistance of an experienced DUI defense attorney may be invaluable. A lawyer will always endeavor to fight to ensure the consequences are minimized.
Source: heraldmailmedia.com, "Hagerstown man charged in W.Va. with third DUI", Matthew Umstead, June 11, 2015