Will Your DWI Arrest Be Public Knowledge?

Interviewer: So for a typical person charged with DWI, they’re probably not going to be in the papers, but how public will their situation be? Will family, friends and work automatically find out, or can they keep it under wraps?

Most Area Papers Do Tend to Publish Local Arrests

Michael: Usually you can keep it under wraps, except we have a lot of local papers, all our towns and villages in Westchester County, and they need the copy to fill those papers and oftentimes the copy comes from the police blotters. So if a reporter has nothing else to do and there’s a little column of recent arrests, which for some reason people in these towns and villages seem to be interested in, you might appear, and it’s pretty embarrassing.

Clients often ask me, is there anything I can do to keep it out of the papers? And there really isn’t anything. Freedom of the press does exist, and the last thing you want to do is as their attorney, call the paper and start telling them to keep something out of the paper. It would probably cause them to investigate the matter more thoroughly.

Will a DWI Arrest Lead to a Feeling of Isolation? How Many Arrests Occur each Year in the Westchester Area?

Interviewer: Do people feel alone, that they’re the only one going through this? I mean, how many people in your area a year do you think get arrested for DWI?

Michael: No, I do not believe that is a common reaction.

Interviewer: How many arrests are there each year in your area?

Michael: I think the number is something like 1,800 arrests a year last year for DWI-type offenses. But as far as the feeling of isolation, it depends upon their family situation, their personal situation. They could feel alone and not even want to tell their family or tell their significant other, which makes you pretty alone. There are others that have the support of a family and friends and most people are more understanding than you think.

A DWI Arrest Does Not Have to Permanently Color Your Life

With a DWI, you’re not branded, that’s the thing you have to remember. As I described earlier, it happens to people from all different walks of life. And it’s the type of crime that people can relate to. I don’t feel there is as bad a stigma as if you’re arrested for a theft, for example, or a possession or sale of small quantities of drugs. There’s much more stigma involved in those type of charges.

Anecdotes about DWI Arrests: What Is the Highest Blood Alcohol Level Attorney Kramer Has Encountered?

Interviewer: What is the highest blood alcohol level you’ve ever dealt with?

Michael: Oh, .35 comes to mind. A level of .08 is legally intoxicated, so it’s over four times the legal limit. The funny thing about it is the police officer indicated that the person was relatively coherent, which leads you to believe that we’re dealing with a person with a serious alcohol problem and who has built up a resistance.

Has Attorney Kramer Ever Encountered a Person with a Record Amount of DWI Arrests?

Interviewer: What’s the most number of DWIs you’ve seen one person have?

Michael: Six or seven. It was quite a few.

Can DWI Case Outcomes Surprise Even the Most Experienced of Attorney’s?

Interviewer: Can you give an example of a real life case, omitting certain details, that looked doomed to fail but there was a good result anyway, and then the opposite, a case that looked good but resolved in a different direction?

Michael: Well, you just asked me about multiple DWIs. I can recall a case where a person who was a disbarred attorney, when he came to me, he must have had three or four DWIs priors, the last one being a felony.

He was arrested for another felony, and I got the case. So we’re talking about his second or third felony plus two or three priors before that. Through jumping through hoops, I was able to convince the judge not to give him jail time after all of this. We worked out a program for him and everything was set to go and good to go, and guess what? A week before sentencing, he was arrested for another DWI.

So, suffice to say, the judge was not too happy, and the judge threw the book at him. But there’s nothing you can do under those circumstances.

Do Not Retain an Attorney Solely Based on His or Her Record

And in terms of cases where people get favorable outcomes after DWIs, the age old question is “What is your record,” right? A prospective client will ask an attorney, what’s your record on DWIs? Well, your record is anything you want to make your record. For example, are they talking about a trial record? Well, that’s really irrelevant because the lawyer may say, well, I’m only taking the cases to trial that I know I can win. I’m not taking the hard ones to trial.

Or what’s your record on pleading people to DWIs? Well, what does that mean? What’s your record of your client not going to jail? What’s your record of getting a reduced charge? So, what’s your record is kind of a ridiculous question to ask.

Basically, you want a lawyer based upon his reputation. He comes to you with a reputation of honesty, of being straightforward, being available, and providing you with the personal attention you need. There are other factors you would want to consider in hiring an attorney, but just looking at results is not the right way.

You Should Consider the Attorney’s Reputation and Experience

If a lawyer gives you the individual attention you need, the lawyer is available, the lawyer’s been practicing for over 30 years, the lawyer’s been practicing in the jurisdiction in which you have the case and knows the court system and can demonstrate some expertise in the particular problem that you have, in this case a DWI, those are the ways to judge.

Interviewer: Over the years, how many DWI cases have you defended?

Michael: I would say over 35 years I have defended thousands of cases.