Massachusetts DUI Law : Mass Lawyer & Attorney for Drunk Driving Arrests in Boston, Worcester, Framingham

Clients often ask about the costs associated with Massachusetts DUI First Offense conviction. They are as follows: a mandatory $50.00 OUI Victim / Witness Assessment, a $250.00 24D OUI Fee, a $250.00 head injury fund assessment, a $65.00 monthly probation fee, a fine of between $500.00 and $5,000.00, 25% surfine, and Massachusetts DUI First Offenders are required to pay for the 24D Alcohol Education Program, which costs approximately $600.00. This class must be completed as a condition of probation and enrollment is mandatory to get a hardship license. The Massachusetts RMV charges a $500.00 license reinstatement fee for first offense DUI cases. The failure to pay these mandatory fines, fees, and costs can result in a probation violation, the issuance of a default warrant, and the conversion of a continuance without a finding (CWOF) to a guilty finding. There are also "hidden costs" such as the substantial automobile insurance premium increases caused by a DUI conviction.

Although jail is not a real possibility for the majority of Mass. DUI First Offenders, many charged with OUI elect to take their cases to trial to avoid the above-listed expenses as well as having a criminal record and having to face being charged as a DUI second offender. Along with the substantial costs assocaited with an OUI conviction, the lifetime lookback period for DUI offenses makes taking a Massachusetts DUI case to trial an attractive option.

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The recent case of Commonwealth v. Tina Boe shows how difficult it is to get Massachusetts DUI and other related criminal charges expunged from your record, even when you are actually completely innocent of the crimes for which you have been charged. I

n the Boe case, there was no dispute that Ms. Boe was not the driver of a vehicle which left the scene of a motor vehicle accident in Boston, after causing personal injury. Although Boe was the registered owner of the car, there was absolutely no dispute that she was not the driver. Nevertheless, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled that the criminal record resulting from the crash did not have to be expunged.

Although a superior court judge ordered the Mass. Commissioner of Probation to expunge Boe’s criminal record, so that she would not be forced to live under a "cloud of prosecution," the Mass. Commissioner of Probation appealed and, today, it was announced that the criminal record reflecting the charge of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, a violation of G. L. c. 90, § 24 (2) (a½) (1), did not have to be expunged from Boe’s Massachusetts Criminal History, even though there is no question that she did not commit the crime.

Many DUI clients ask about expungement of criminal and court records which reflect prior DUI convictions. This is generally not possible and no Massachusetts DUI Lawyer should advise his or her client that expungement of DUI records can be routinely accomplished. However, it may be possible to have the DUI record sealed, so that access to it is severely limited and its existence does not have to be disclosed on employment applications. However, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles maintains its own database which contains DUI conviction information. The Massachusetts sealing law would not require the Registry to seal its records, which are often accessible by the public.

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Worried about getting arrested for DUI in Massachusetts? Step on it!  

Earlier this week, the Appeals Court upheld a Massachusetts DUI arrest and resulting conviction where part of the police officer’s reasoning for the traffic stop was that the DUI defendant was driving too slow.

Donald W. Standley's Massachusetts DUI Lawyer argued that the police did not have the sufficient “reasonable suspicion” which would warrant their stopping, and later arresting, Mr. Standley for drunk driving. There is no law in Massachusetts which requires drivers to operate at a certain speed. Instead, speed limits prohibit drivers from going too fast and the law requires slower moving vehicles to drive in the right-hand lane so as to allow faster vehicles to pass them.

In Standley’s DUI case, the prosecution also claimed that, for no apparent reason, stopped his car almost in the middle of the road in a manner that obstructed the lane of traffic and that it was an “odd place” for him to have stopped. The Massachusetts Appeals Court found that the above-described driving behavior allowed the police to stop the driver and the Mass. OUI arrest and conviction which followed the traffic stop were legal.

Notwithstanding the result in this case, a good Massachusetts DUI Lawyer will always thoroughly analyze the facts and circumstances surrounding the traffic stop to see if suppression is possible. If the DUI traffic stop is suppressed, anything that flows therefrom is inadmissible in any DUI trial, as a matter of law. This usually results in a not guilty verdict or a dismissal of the DUI charges.

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As of March 22, 2010, the Board of Appeal of the Division of Insurance of Consumer Affairs and Business Administration will be moving from its South Station location to the 8th floor of 1000 Washington Street, the former Teradyne Building in Boston’s South End.

The RMV Board of Appeal hears Massachusetts license suspension and reinstatement appeals, as well as ignition interlock violation appeals, and hardship license requests.

At the new location, the Board of Appeal will join other state agencies such as the Division of Banks, Division of Professional Licensure, and the Mass. Dept. of Telecommunications and Cable.

As a Massachusetts DUI Lawyer and hardship license specialist, I appear before the Board of Appeal at least on a weekly basis.

The Board’s new mailing address will be: 1000 Washington Street, 8th floor, Boston MA 02118-2218. However, hardship license and accident surcharge appeal forms will still be mailed to the post office box addresses appearing on the forms. In addition to holding hearings at its new Boston location, the Board will continue to hold hardship license, ignition interlock, and license suspension hearings at its other off-site locations such as the Marlborough District Court.

This move represents and effort on the part of the state to consolidate offices, increase efficiency, and save money on rent. The state executed a 10 year lease for the office space.

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In the case of Commonwealth v. Brian McCormack, which was decided on March 8, 2010, the Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld a district court judge’s decision not to return McCormack’s license after the judge found him not guilty of a 3rd offense OUI.

This case shows that where a license has been suspended because of a breathalyzer refusal, its reinstatement is not automatic. Even when a Massachusetts DUI defendant is found not guilty of the criminal charge, his or her license may still remain suspended in cases where the driver refused to take the breathalyzer.

I have found that many Massachusetts DUI lawyers fail to tell their clients about the license return procedures in cases where there is a breathalyzer refusal.

In the McCormick case, the judge refused to overrule the breathalyzer refusal suspension, in part, because of McCormick’s two prior convictions of operating under the influence, a prior conviction of operating so as to endanger, and convictions of other alcohol related offenses, including a recent conviction of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that it was proper for the judge to considaer McCormick’s prior DUI convictions when deciding whether or not he would present a risk to public safety.

A positive aspect in this case for Massachusetts DUI lawyers and their clients is that the Court ruled that McCormick’s motion was not untimely because he did not attempt to get his license reinstated immediately after his DUI trial.

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