Rhode Island DUI Lawyer

A projected starter for the Virginia Tech Hokies has been suspended from the team indefinitely after being arrested for Driving Under the Influence.  Police pulled Zach Luckett over at approximately 1 am after he backed his vehicle into a dumpster in a store parking lot and then proceeded to drive off without checking for damage.

According to the team’s coach, he was suspended because his arrest violated team policy.  After taking a breathalyzer test, Luckett blew a .16 which is twice the legal limit.

Because this is his second DUI charge in less than five years, he must pay a $500 fine and spend at least one month in jail.  Luckett also faces an additional year in  prison.

If you have been arrested for a DUI, contact Rhode Island DUI defense attorney James C. Powderly at 401.662.9006 to discuss your case and further legal options.

Washington State- A report from a concerned citizen over a reckless driver led to the arrest of the Police Chief of a small Washington community.  This chief is now facing a Driving While Intoxicated (DUI) charge.  An issue has arisen over how the arresting officers administered a breathalyzer test.

The Police Chief of Pacific, who is a throat cancer survivor, speaks with a voice box through a hole in his throat.  The test is being challenged because it allegedly should have been administered through the throat, as the chief explained to the officers.  The continued to administer the test orally.

Pacific’s mayor will not take any action against the chief until he sees the police records from the arresting officers.

If you have been arrested for a DUI, contact Rhode Island DUI Defense Attorney James Powderly at (401) 662-900 for a free initial consul.

Rhode Island State Police arrested a man last week for driving under the influence after he blew a .491 on a breathalyzer test.  The 34 year old man is being represented by Powderly Criminal Defense.

The legal limit of blood alcohol level in Rhode Island is .08, however .4 is considered comatose and .5 lethal.  The fact that the defendant blew a .491 is not only extraordinary, but questionable considering he was respondent while science concludes he should have been dead.

During the first breathalyzer test administered by police he blew a .489 then followed by the .491, the highest blood alcohol recorded in Rhode Island for a living person.

If you have been charged with a DUI, contact the Rhode Island DUI defense lawyer of James Powderly at 401-662-9006  to discuss your case and legal options.

A debate arose recently in front of the State Supreme Court over whether new, harsher penalties for drivers who refuse Breathalyzer tests are valid of if they were actually made void when the governor signed a budget bill containing the law’s old language.

The new law, signed by the General Assembly in 2006, doubled the minimum license suspension to six for first offenses and it made subsequent offenses criminal rather than civil.  The law stated that second time offenders could serve up to six months in prison, fines of up to $1,000 and up to 100 hours of community service.

Before the law was passed, 85% of Rhode Islanders pulled over under the suspicion of drinking and driving refused a Breathalyzer test.  This is nominally higher than the national average of 25%.

If you were arrested for a DUI and refused a Breathalyzer test, contact the Rhode Island DUI Attorney James Powderly at 401-662-9006 to discuss your case and legal options.

Because of the increased number of teenage deaths in the state of Rhode Island, they are currently beginning a project in order to crack down on the number of fatal teen DUI accidents that are happening in the state of Rhode Island.

The project that they have started, called Zero Fatalities, is there way of trying to inform teenagers of the dangers of drinking and driving and to hopefully prevent it from happening in the future. The process through the project is where they bring many high school students to the jail and put them behind bars. They then talk to them about the many dangers that could happen if they choose to drink and then drive on the road.  These groups of teenagers also get to speak with people just like them who have already been through the same thing and are now serving long sentences in jail for what they have done.

The Zero Fatalities project has already begun and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections is hoping to raise lots of awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving.

For more information, contact the Rhode Island DUI Attorney James Powderly at 401-662-9006.