Are you facing a felony after a drunk driving arrest in South Carolina? While most DUI charges are misdemeanors in South Carolina, a DUI can be elevated to a felony in some cases. The risks of facing a felony DUI are far more severe than the risks of facing a misdemeanor DUI—though both carry the potential for fines, jail time, and other penalties.

When is a DUI a felony in South Carolina? If you are facing a felony DUI charge, what defenses can you use to protect yourself? Rock Hill DUI defense lawyer Michael Brown explains what you need to know:

Misdemeanor vs. Felony DUI in South Carolina

As we mentioned above, most DUI charges are misdemeanors in South Carolina. If the police pull you over on suspicion of driving under the influence and you get arrested, you will most likely be facing a misdemeanor charge. This is true regardless of your level of impairment.

So, when is a DUI a felony? In South Carolina, you can be charged with a felony DUI if you cause great bodily injury or death while driving under the influence. This could mean that you:

• Caused a collision with another vehicle
• Hit a motorcycle
• Hit a pedestrian or cyclist
• Caused a single-vehicle crash that seriously injured or killed your passenger
• Collided with a building injuring or killing someone inside

South Carolina law defines “great bodily injury” as, “bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.” Thus, causing a minor accident that only results in scrapes and bruises should not lead to a felony DUI charge. But, if you cause an accident that puts someone’s life at risk or that alters their life for months or years to come, you can expect to face a felony DUI charge in South Carolina.

Felony DUI Penalties in South Carolina

If you are facing a felony DUI charge, the penalties you are facing depend on the consequences of the accident that you caused (or allegedly caused). While the penalties for causing great bodily injury are much higher than the penalties for a misdemeanor DUI, the penalties for causing a fatal accident while driving under the influence are even greater:

• Felony DUI Involving Great Bodily Injury – A mandatory fine of $5,100 to $10,100 (plus thousands of dollars in assessments and surcharges) and 30 days to 15 years behind bars.
• Felony DUI Involving Death – A mandatory fine of $10,100 to $25,000 (plus thousands of dollars in assessments and surcharges) and 1 to 25 years behind bars.

A felony DUI conviction can also result in a long-term driver’s license suspension or permanent driver’s license revocation, along with other costs and penalties. If you are also being charged with an implied consent violation (for refusing the breathalyzer), endangering a child passenger, and/or other violations, you are facing additional penalties for these charges as well.

Defenses to a Felony DUI in South Carolina

If you have been arrested for causing an accident while driving under the influence in South Carolina, what defenses can you use to fight your felony DUI charge? The answer to this question depends on the facts of your case. DUI cases are always fact-specific, and understanding the facts leading up to your accident and arrest will be a key first step toward determining what defenses you have available. With this in mind, some examples of potential defenses include:

Insufficient Evidence of Impairment

One option for fighting your felony DUI charge may be to challenge the prosecution’s evidence of impairment. Even if you caused an accident, if you weren’t driving drunk, you don’t deserve to be convicted of a felony DUI.

Challenging the prosecution’s evidence of impairment could involve challenging your field sobriety test (FST) results, showing that your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reading is unreliable, or raising questions about the prosecution’s evidence through other means. But, don’t forget that prosecutors have two ways to prove DUI in South Carolina. If your driving abilities were impaired, prosecutors don’t need your BAC. Conversely, if your BAC was over the legal limit, prosecutors don’t need evidence that your driving abilities were impaired.

You Didn’t Cause the Accident

Another way to defend against a felony DUI charge is to show that the accident wasn’t your fault. If you got hit by someone else, this shouldn’t expose you to the life-altering consequences of a felony conviction.

The Police Violated Your Constitutional Rights

You may also be able to defend against your felony DUI charge by showing that the police violated your constitutional rights. If the police arrested you without probable cause or questioned you in custody without reading your Miranda rights, this could render the prosecution’s evidence inadmissible in court.

What if you caused an accident while driving drunk, and what if the police followed all of the necessary procedures to conduct a lawful arrest? In this scenario, you could be facing an uphill battle. But, the prosecution still has the burden of proof; and, if prosecutors cannot prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, you are entitled to walk free. But, this may also be a scenario in which seeking a plea bargain is the best path forward. Negotiating a favorable plea bargain can significantly reduce the consequences of your arrest when avoiding a conviction entirely is unlikely. An experienced DUI defense lawyer will be able to help you make informed decisions about how to approach your case with your long-term best interests in mind.

Schedule a Free Consultation with an Experienced Rock Hill DUI Defense Lawyer

If you need to know more about defending against a felony DUI charge in South Carolina, we encourage you to contact us promptly for a free consultation. To speak with an experienced Rock Hill DUI defense lawyer in confidence as soon as possible, call 803-328-8822 or tell us how we can contact you online today.

When you are facing a DUI charge in South Carolina, building a comprehensive defense strategy is absolutely essential. Prosecutors may have several forms of evidence available, and even if you can successfully challenge one piece of evidence, the remaining evidence may still be enough to establish your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Then, there is the fact that prosecutors have two ways to prove a DUI charge in South Carolina. Under the state’s DUI statute, you can be found guilty if your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is over the legal limit or your “faculties to drive are materially and appreciably impaired.” Prosecutors do not need to prove both.

As a result, while many people focus on their BAC, challenging your BAC reading alone may not be enough to protect you. If you took the field sobriety tests (FSTs), you may need to challenge your FST results as well (in addition to challenging any other evidence prosecutors have in their possession).

Challenging Your Field Sobriety Test Results: The Officer Administered the Tests Improperly

One way to challenge your field sobriety test results is by demonstrating that your arresting officer administered the tests improperly. Police officers must take several steps to properly administer each of the three FSTs—and, if they don’t take all of these steps, this can render your test results unreliable.

The steps police officers must take when administering the field sobriety tests include:

Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus

• Hold the stimulus approximately 12 to 15 inches from the nose and just above eye level.
• Check for equal pupil size and resting nystagmus.
• Check for equal tracking and smooth movement in both eyes, then repeat.
• Check for each eye being held at maximum deviation for a minimum of four seconds, then repeat.
• Check that each eye moves slowly from the center to 45 degrees, then repeat.
• Check for vertical gaze nystagmus, then repeat.

Walk and Turn

• Instruct the suspect to place their feet on a line, heel-to-toe with arms at their sides.
• Ask if the suspect understands the instructions.
• Tell the subject to take nine heel-to-toe steps.
• Explain the turning procedure.
• Tell the suspect to count steps out loud, look at their feet while walking, and not raise their arms.
• Do not tell the suspect to stop once they begin.
• Ask again if the suspect understood all of the instructions.

One Leg Stand

• Instruct the suspect to stand straight, place their feet together, and hold their arms at their sides.
• Ask if the suspect understands the instructions.
• Tell the suspect to raise one leg approximately six inches off of the ground.
• Tell the suspect to keep both legs straight and look at their elevated foot.
• Tell the suspect to count seconds out loud until told to stop (up to 30 seconds).

If your arresting officer cannot testify that he or she took all of the required steps to properly administer the field sobriety tests during your DUI stop, this may be enough to keep your FST results out of court. But, even if the officer properly administered the FSTs, you may still have defenses available—as we discuss below.

Challenging Your Field Sobriety Test Results: Other Factors Render Your Results Unreliable

While the field sobriety tests can serve as evidence of intoxication in a DUI case, they are also notoriously unreliable. Several factors besides a person’s intoxication can lead to a “failure” of one or more of the FSTs. These include (but are not limited to) factors such as:

• Medical conditions that affect a person’s balance.
• Medical conditions that affect a person’s eye movement.
• Wearing shoes or clothes that make it difficult to balance.
• Walking or standing on gravel, muddy ground, or an angled shoulder.
• Having headlights or bright sunlight in your eyes.
• Not being able to see adequately in the dark.
• Attempting to take the field sobriety tests in rainy or windy conditions.

If any of these factors (or any other non-alcohol-related factor) played a role in causing you to “fail” the field sobriety tests, then prosecutors should not be able to use your test results against you. In this scenario, your test results are not evidence of impairment, and they should not put you at risk for a life-altering conviction.

When considering these types of defenses, it is important to remember that you do not need to prove your innocence to avoid a conviction. The burden of proof always rests with the prosecution. So, if your attorney can raise the possibility that a non-alcohol-related factor led to your “failure” of the FSTs, this could be enough to keep your FST results from being used against you.

Challenging Your Field Sobriety Test Results: The Police Stopped You Without Reasonable Suspicion

A third option for challenging your field sobriety test results is challenging the reason for your traffic stop. To conduct a lawful traffic stop, the police must have “reasonable suspicion” that you committed (or are in the process of committing) a traffic violation or crime. Stopping you without reasonable suspicion violates your constitutional rights, and it can serve as grounds for a motion to have all of the evidence from your traffic stop excluded from your DUI trial.

As with all types of DUI defenses, determining how you can challenge your field sobriety test results requires an in-depth assessment of the facts of your case. To ensure that you are defending yourself by all means available, you should discuss your case with an experienced SC DUI defense lawyer as soon as possible.

Request a Free and Confidential Consultation with a SC DUI Defense Lawyer

Do you need to know more about how to challenge your field sobriety test results after a DUI arrest in South Carolina? If so, we invite you to get in touch. With offices in Rock Hill, we handle DUI cases throughout South Carolina. To discuss your case with an experienced SC DUI defense lawyer in confidence, call 803-328-8822 or request a free consultation online now.

If you are facing a DUI charge in South Carolina, there is a lot you need to know. Whether this is your first time facing charges or you are facing charges as a repeat offender, you have a lot at stake, and you need to be very careful to protect yourself.

When you are facing a DUI charge in South Carolina, one of the keys to protecting yourself is making informed decisions. The more you know, the more you do to mitigate your risk of facing unnecessary consequences. With this in mind, here are some important lessons we’ve covered throughout the year:

Handling Your DUI Case if You Were Driving Drunk

While some people who get DUIs are sober, lots of people who get DUIs are driving drunk at the time of their arrest. If you were driving drunk when you got arrested, what does this mean for your defense? Should you accept the consequences and move on? Or do you still have options for fighting your DUI?

In South Carolina, there are several ways to fight a DUI charge, even if you were under the influence behind the wheel. To learn about the options you may have available, you can read: How To Handle a South Carolina DUI Case When You Were Driving Drunk.

What Is the “Best” Defense to a DUI?

Let’s say you are facing a DUI charge, and let’s say you were intoxicated at the time of your arrest. In this scenario, what is the best way to fight your DUI?

The short answer is, “It depends.” As we just mentioned, there are several ways to fight a DUI charge, even if you were driving drunk. But, the defenses that you can use depend entirely on the facts of your case. With this in mind, there is no single “best” defense—and the best defense for you is the one that will minimize the consequences of your arrest as much as possible. Learn more: What is the Best Defense to a DUI in South Carolina?

What if the Police Recorded You with a Dash Cam?

Prosecutors in South Carolina can use several forms of evidence to prove DUI charges. One of these forms of evidence is dash camera footage. But, sometimes, having your traffic stop and arrest caught on camera can work to your advantage.

Was your DUI stop caught on camera? If so, here’s what you need to know: How Can Dash Camera Footage Help (or Hurt) Your Defense in a South Carolina DUI Case?

Consequences of Taking (or Refusing) a Breath Test

Under South Carolina’s implied consent law, you are required to take a breath test during your DUI stop in most cases. But, there are exceptions—and if you refused the breath test, knowing whether any of these exceptions apply is extremely important.

Why? Because if you refused the breath test, you could face penalties for an “implied consent violation” even if you weren’t driving under the influence. Additionally, prosecutors may also be able to use your refusal against you in your DUI case. Learn more: Can You Get Convicted of DUI if You Refuse a Breath Test in South Carolina?

Consequences of Causing an Accident While Driving Drunk

While the consequences of a DUI can be substantial, they can be even more significant if you cause an accident while driving under the influence. South Carolina’s DUI laws impose enhanced penalties in cases involving “great bodily injury” or death.

As a result, if you are facing a DUI charge after an accident in South Carolina, you must discuss your case with a lawyer as soon as possible. To learn what you have at stake, you can read: Fighting a DUI Involving Great Bodily Injury (or Death) in South Carolina.

Don’t Fall for These South Carolina DUI Myths

As we said in the introduction, making informed decisions is critical for protecting yourself when you are facing a DUI. With this in mind, you need to avoid falling for any of the all-too-common myths that you will find online.

For example, while jail time isn’t a risk for first-time offenders in some states, it is a risk for first-time offenders in South Carolina. While you might be able to avoid jail time with experienced legal representation, there are no guarantees. If you are facing a DUI charge, we strongly encourage you to read:  South Carolina DUI Myths: What You Really Need to Know After a Drunk Driving Arrest.

Protecting Yourself After a DUI Arrest

Making sure you don’t fall for common myths is just one of numerous steps you need to take to protect yourself after a DUI arrest in South Carolina. You need to take your case very seriously, and you need to make sure you do everything you possibly can to protect yourself.

What specifically do you need to do if you’ve been arrested for DUI? Find out here: 10 Steps to Protect Yourself After a DUI Arrest in South Carolina.

How Hard Is It to Fight a DUI?

So, you know that fighting your DUI is important. But, how realistic is it to fight your charge successfully?

While fighting a DUI charge isn’t easy, there are several potential defenses to drunk driving charges under South Carolina law. Although you will struggle to protect yourself if you try to handle your case on your own, you can significantly improve your chances of securing a favorable outcome by hiring an experienced defense attorney. Learn more: How Hard Is It to Fight a DUI Charge in South Carolina?

Are You Facing DUI Charges in South Carolina? Schedule a Free Consultation Today

We provide experienced legal representation for individuals who are facing DUI charges in South Carolina. If you are facing the consequences of a drunk driving arrest, we can use our experience to protect you by all means available. To learn more in a free and confidential consultation, call 803-328-8822 or tell us how we can reach you online today.