Boise DUI Attorney: Charges Reduced to Reckless Driving?

If you have recently been arrested for DUI, you are looking at your first appearance in court really soon. You don’t want to show up at this hearing without a seasoned Boise DUI attorney by your side. This will be your first chance to talk to the prosecutor about getting a reduced plea. If you don’t have a criminal defense lawyer in Idaho with you, there’s a good chance you won’t see the prosecutor at all. The best chance at having a conversation with the State prosecutor is by hiring an attorney. Our attorneys have working relationship with the local prosecutors. They’ll do their best to get the charges against you either dropped or reduced.

Conviction for Wet Reckless is Not as Bad as Conviction of DUI

Regardless of the penalties that come along with a conviction for a wet reckless, it’s still better than a DUI conviction. A DUI conviction now will make it very hard to get a reduced charge if you get arrested for DUI again. Even though a wet reckless charge is a lesser offense as compared to DUI, it still shows up in your criminal history. If you get charged with DUI again any time in the five or ten years, it may not be treated like a first offense. It all depends on the facts of the case and the details in your criminal history.

Your Boise DUI attorney will talk to the prosecutor and try to convince them to drop the charges against you. It is very difficult to do this. The State wouldn’t have followed through with the charges if they didn’t think they had enough evidence to convict you. Unless the evidence is very thin, the prosecutor is probably going to refuse to drop the charges. But that doesn’t mean they can’t reduce them. Being offered a plea for a wet reckless charge is a win. It may not feel like it at the time, but it is a lot better than being convicted of DUI.

A DUI conviction can send you to jail for months, even years. You’ll also be paying several thousand dollars between fines and insurance surcharges. You’ll also lose your driver’s license for at least 6 months. Rather than face the risk of this by going to trial, your criminal defense lawyer in Idaho will try to get the reduced plea.

What are the Penalties for a Wet Reckless Conviction?

If your Boise DUI attorney was able to get the charges against you reduced to a wet reckless, you’ll still be facing stiff penalties. However, the penalties for a wet reckless are nowhere near as bad as the penalties for DUI. You do face the possibility of a jail sentence. A wet reckless carries a possible jail sentence of up to 6 months. Now, most of our clients don’t spend any time in jail. Other than the day or two you spent in jail after your arrest, you shouldn’t have to worry about a jail sentence. It all comes down to whether your criminal defense lawyer in Idaho can get the charges reduced.

In addition to possible jail time, you will also face fines of up to $1,000. In addition, you’ll lose your driver’s license for thirty days. Now, if you had been convicted of DUI, you’d be facing a suspension of anywhere from 6 months to a year. Most people can figure out how to get around for a month. It’s a lot harder to do this for 6 months or longer.

What Must Your Boise DUI Attorney Prove to Get the Prosecution to Agree to a Reduced Plea?

In order to convince the prosecutor to reduce your charges to a wet reckless, they’ll have to demonstrate that you deserve it. The prosecutor doesn’t have to entertain a plea deal. Before they’ll even consider reducing your charges, your Boise DUI lawyer will have to show that you meet the following criteria:

• This is your first DUI offense
• You don’t have a criminal history
• Your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was only slightly over the legal limit of 0.08
• You weren’t involved in a DUI accident prior to your arrest

If your criminal defense lawyer in Idaho can show that are a good candidate, there’s a good chance the prosecution will agree. Of course, as explained here, just because the charges are reduced, that doesn’t mean the DUI charge won’t appear on your criminal record.

One of the things that makes Idaho so strict when it comes to DUI is that the original charges don’t go away. This means that when an employer or school runs a criminal background check, they’ll see that you were arrested and charged with DUI. They’ll also see that the charges were reduced. So, while this isn’t the best possible outcome, it’s a lot better than having a conviction for DUI follow you around for the rest of your life.

You Have a Much Better Chance of Getting a Favorable Plea if You Have a Criminal Defense Lawyer in Idaho

Technically, the prosecutor is not required to offer a defendant a plea deal. In fact, most pro se defendants don’t get a chance to meet with the prosecutor until minutes before their trial. This is just one more reason why you should hire an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Idaho long before your trial date. Most of our clients call from jail just minutes after they’re charged and booked. Others call within a few days of their arrest. When our Boise DUI attorneys have time to prepare their clients’ cases, they get a much better outcome. If you wait until the day before court to retain our services, we don’t have time to do a lot of investigating. We probably won’t get to see what evidence the State has until the trial is upon us. That’s why we suggest you don’t wait until the last minute to ask for help.