What Are The Factors That Could Enhance Or Aggravate A DUI?

Generally, prior DUIs are big enhancements even if they are outside of the five- and ten-year windows established for minimum sentencing for second and third offense DUIs. Another factor that will enhance a DUI, is one that people don’t really think about and that is whether or not the person is driving on a suspended driver’s license. That is huge, particularly in smaller rural counties. That alone can invoke 30 days in jail without any other aggravating factor whatsoever.

Additionally a person who is arrested for a DUI and has a child in the vehicle will face an enhanced charge as well. Other aggravating factors would be personal injuries and an accident of any kind or property damage. There is a judge in one county where he has a policy that if there is an accident, ten days in jail. One of my cases where this almost happened was a first offense DUI case where someone had run into an orange traffic cone. This person was stopping the vehicle with blue lights behind them flashing in the mirror when they bumped into a traffic cone and crushed it a little bit with the bumper of the vehicle. The DUI investigation took some time and the cone had some minor damage to it and the person was charged with DUI with property damage as a result. That particular judge wanted to impose ten days in county jail for simply bumping a traffic cone and I made sure that didn’t happen.

There can also be hidden aggravators that you don’t expect, can’t foresee and don’t know about that make a big impact. The last thing someone wants to find out about such a thing is when they are standing in front of a judge unrepresented and have entered a plea of no-contest. They have waived their rights to trial, waived their rights to counsel, and waived their rights to just about everything you can imagine. They are at the mercy of the court and all of a sudden they discover they are going to jail; this happens routinely. One can’t emphasize this enough that people underestimate their risks.

A Number Of Factors Can Enhance Or Aggravate A DUI Case. For legal assistance, call the criminal defense office of Stephen G. Cobb for a FREE Initial Consultation at and get the information and legal answers you’re seeking.

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