Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) Attorneys
Broden & Mickelsen provides an aggressive defense for those charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI). Unlike most attorneys, we usually include in our fee the representation of our clients before the Administrative Law Court that will decide whether to suspend the person's license. We do this for two reasons. First, if successful in the Administrative Law Court, the client will be allowed to keep his driving privileges. Second, even if unsuccessful in the Administrative Law Court, it gives us an opportunity to cross-examine the arresting officer and to learn the strength of the state's case in the event of a DWI trial in criminal court. Moreover, in the event a client's license is suspended, as a part of our fee, we will secure an occupational license for the client that will allow the client to drive for up to twelve hours per day.
While Broden & Mickelsen advises against performing road side and/or station house sobriety tests or submitting to an intoxilizer test, it is a reality that persons often do submit to these tests. We will review the videotapes of a client's performance on the sobriety tests and consult with him or her regarding our assessment of his chances of prevailing at trial. In our experience, jurors will often rely heavily on these videotapes as people tend to believe what they can see with their own eyes more than they believe the testimony of a police officer.
Even before talking to a client about the chances of prevailing at a DWI trial, we will be diligent in determining if his constitutional rights have been violated. For example, there must have been reasonable suspicion to stop his vehicle in the first place. Similarly, there must have been probable cause to arrest him for DWI. Both "reasonable suspicion" and "probable cause" are legal terms and are best analyzed by attorneys experienced in search and seizure law such as the attorneys at Broden & Mickelsen.
If a client elects to have a DWI trial, we will zealously represent him at trial, aggressively cross examine the arresting officer and help him make the decision whether to testify on his own behalf. If he elects not to go to trial, we will zealously represent him to obtain a plea to a lesser included offense. In most cases, the penalty, even if the client is convicted at a tria,l will not be any worse than if the client had accepted the state's plea offer. Therefore, unlike many layers, we will rarely advise a client to accept a plea bargain in driving while intoxicated cases unless it is to a lesser offense such as obstructing traffic.
We encourage you to review our list of published appellate cases.
