Felony DUI Charges Attorneys in Fairfax, Virginia

Skilled and experienced DUI Defense lawyers in Fairfax help clients avoid or minimize the consequences of a felony DUI charge.

When Your DUI Case Is Charged as a Felony

Most DUI cases are charged as misdemeanors. That doesn’t mean that they represent minor legal problems for the people arrested for drinking and driving, but DUI defendants don’t normally face a significant risk of prison. In Virginia, however, there are two ways that drunk driving charges can be brought as a felony. The more common one involves a third DUI arrest within a ten-year period. The less common situation involves a serious or fatal motor vehicle accident attributed to drunk driving.

Call Us for Advice About Felony DUI Defense

If you’re facing the possibility of felony charges for a Northern Virginia traffic accident or repeat DUI offender arrest, contact The Sprano Law Firm, PLLC in Fairfax for a consultation. Our lawyers work closely with our clients to find the defense strategy that will protect your interests while expanding your options for a favorable outcome.

In cases such as DUI manslaughter or assault, we defend the drunk driving aspects of the case while attacking the evidence of causation. The more we can show that the accident did not result from your conduct as a driver, the more likely it is we can beat the felony charge. The key to success in felony DUI defense is not necessary to prove an alternative causation scenario. Instead, it’s enough to show that the prosecution can’t prove its causation theory beyond a reasonable doubt.

A qualified DUI defense lawyer will start by attacking your Felony DUI case the same way he or she would challenge the prosecution’s case in a Misdemeanor DUI Case. Was there a valid legal justification for the police to stop you in the first place? Did the information obtained by the police officer during his or her roadside investigation (defendant’s statements, odor of alcohol, field sobriety tests, preliminary breath tests) rise to the level of establishing probable cause sufficient to make a valid arrest for DUI? If the answer to either of those questions is no, our attorneys will file a motion to suppress seeking to exclude any further evidence – which will result in the DUI charge being dismissed. For people facing the risk of conviction as three-time repeat offenders, our attorneys will also explore whether the admissibility of evidence of those prior convictions can be challenged. If we can keep a prior conviction out of the record on the current case, you can’t be convicted of Felony DUI.

If you are charged with a 3rd offense of DUI within 5 years, the law requires a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison upon conviction. In such cases even if there are no strong defenses to the charge, our attorneys will make a strong case to the prosecutor to amend the charge to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. The lawyers then draw upon almost 40 years of combined experience practicing criminal law – representing people charged with all sorts of crimes – to formulate the best possible case in mitigation to convince the judge to be lenient in sentencing.

Find out how our experienced defense lawyers can find ways to protect you from the consequences of a felony DUI conviction. Contact The Sprano Law Firm, PLLC in Fairfax for a consultation.