DWI Trials Can Cite Breath Test Refusals Defense Attorneys Call Va. Law Unfair
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In addition, the law could delay DWI prosecutions for months. Refusing to take a breath test is a separate, civil offense punishable by a year’s license revocation. The new law requires a conviction on that charge before the refusal can be used in DWI cases, and experts said defense lawyers could appeal the refusal case, stalling the DWI case. Maryland legislators passed a similar measure last spring, allowing breath test refusals to be admitted as evidence in a DWI trial. That law takes effect Oct. 1. Maryland has no separate offense for refusing to take a breath test, said Eric Gally, of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The Virginia law instructs judges and juries not to consider the refusal as evidence of a driver’s guilt. The Maryland law does not have that provision, and the “prosecutor is now free to say whatever he likes” about the refusal, Gally said. District law also allows the evidence of refusal without a separate proceeding first. Source : pqasb.pqarchiver.com |