If you refused a breath test during a DUI stop in Mississippi, your license suspension isn't necessarily the end of the story. There's a strict, easy-to-miss deadline that can get that suspension, and sometimes the entire DUI charge, thrown out. Here's what you need to know before the mail even arrives.
Transcript
Hi, I'm Matt Eichelberger. I'm a criminal defense lawyer here in Mississippi, and we handle a lot of DUIs across the entire state.
You may have heard that if you refuse to give a breath sample when an officer asks you to, your license will be suspended. That's true. It's a violation of what we call our implied consent law to not give that breath sample when an officer asks for one.
Now, that doesn't mean you don't have a right to challenge that suspension in court. Here's what happens: there's something called a 10 day letter that gets sent out, and it does two very important things. First, it tells you when that suspension is going to start, which is something you've got to know. Second, it gives you a 10 day window from the date of the letter, not the date you get the letter, but the date of the letter, to go file something in court saying, "Judge, this suspension is unfair because the officer did not have probable cause to ask me to blow."
What you're doing is getting a judge to review that officer's probable cause. Why is this important? Because you might well win. The judge might not agree with that officer, officers aren't always right, after all, and the judge may say there just wasn't reason enough to believe this person was intoxicated behind the wheel. If the judge agrees with you, that does two very important things. First, your license suspension for the implied consent violation goes away. Second, your DUI charge necessarily goes away altogether, because if a judge finds there was no probable cause to ask you to give a breath sample, that means there was no probable cause to arrest you and charge you with DUI in the first place.
Whenever you get one of these 10 day letters, it's important to move quickly, because our postal service doesn't work like it used to. We're seeing instances where people's 10 day letters show up at their door on the ninth day, or even the tenth day. So if you're ever charged with a DUI and you refused to blow, you need to be watching your mailbox like a hawk, and you need to have a lawyer ready to go challenge that initial suspension.
If you find yourself in a situation like this, always reach out to a lawyer. You can call us at the number on the screen. We're here to help, it's what we do. We're based in Jackson, which means we can cover the entire state and be right there to defend you.
If you're facing a DUI, don't hesitate to reach out to us here at Eichelberger Law Firm.