Practice area
DUI and DWAI defense
Two cases start the night you are pulled over, and only one of them is in a courtroom. The Division of Motor Vehicles runs on a seven day clock.
Class 1 misdemeanor up to a class 4 felony on a fourth offense
What a dui and dwai case actually involves
A Colorado drink driving allegation splits immediately into an administrative revocation at the Division of Motor Vehicles and a criminal case in county court. They have different rules of evidence, different standards of proof and different deadlines. Winning one does not win the other, and the seven day window to demand the DMV hearing closes long before your first court date.
We take both tracks on the same file. That means the DMV hearing is used the way it should be used: as free, early, sworn cross examination of the arresting officer, months before anyone in the criminal case has to commit to a version of events.
Most of the real work is in the machine and the manoeuvres. Intoxilyzer 9000 certification and maintenance records, the twenty minute deprivation period, blood draw chain of custody, whether the horizontal gaze nystagmus test was administered the way the officer was trained to administer it. Those records are obtainable, and they are frequently imperfect.
The counts that get filed
| Count | Level | Note |
|---|---|---|
| DWAI | Class 1 misdemeanor | BAC of 0.05 up to 0.08, or impairment to the slightest degree. |
| DUI per se | Class 1 misdemeanor | BAC of 0.08 or above within two hours of driving. |
| DUI with a prior | Class 1 misdemeanor, mandatory jail | A second offense carries ten consecutive days that cannot be suspended. |
| Felony DUI | Class 4 felony | Fourth or subsequent alcohol related driving conviction, whatever the state it happened in. |
| Vehicular assault, DUI | Class 4 felony | Strict liability once impairment and serious bodily injury are proved. |
| Underage drinking and driving | Class A traffic infraction | BAC of 0.02 up to 0.05 for a driver under 21. |
Where these cases break
Not every one applies to every file. The first job is working out which two or three do.
The stop
Reasonable suspicion has to rest on articulable facts. Weaving inside a lane, a plate light, an anonymous tip with no corroboration: each has been litigated and each has limits.
The manoeuvres
Roadside tests are voluntary in Colorado and are validated only when administered exactly as the standardised protocol requires. Body worn camera usually shows whether they were.
The machine
Certification, maintenance logs, the observation period, radio frequency interference, mouth alcohol. A breath result is a machine output, not a fact.
The blood
Draw by an authorised person, correct tubes and preservative, storage temperature, an unbroken chain of custody, and the option of retesting the second vial independently.
Rising blood alcohol
The statute asks about your BAC while driving, not at the station. Absorption timing matters when the last drink was recent.
Medical and physiological
GERD, diabetes, a keto diet, an inner ear condition or an old knee injury can each explain a result or a poor performance on the roadside.
What happens, and when
Hour one
We request the DMV hearing and get the temporary permit sorted before anything else.
Week one
Discovery demand, preservation letter for the body worn camera and the intoxilyzer records.
Month two
The DMV hearing: the officer testifies under oath with no prosecutor in the room.
Months three to five
Suppression motions in county court, built partly on that transcript.
Months four to nine
Negotiated resolution or a jury of six.
The attorneys on these cases
Elena Vargas-Ortiz
Partner, DUI and DMV practice
Formerly: Deputy District Attorney, Eighteenth Judicial District
A breath number is a machine reading. Machines have maintenance records, and maintenance records have gaps.
What people ask us about this
If your question is not here, ask it on the call. There is no charge for the first conversation and it is with an attorney.
Start a case reviewRefusal is not a free pass. It carries a one year revocation with no early reinstatement, a persistent drunk driver designation, and the refusal itself can be used against you at trial. It also removes a number that we might otherwise attack.
Usually yes. Requesting the DMV hearing within seven days extends your driving privileges until the hearing is decided. If the revocation takes effect, an interlock restricted licence may be available after thirty days on a first offense at 0.08 or above.
The statute sets five days to one year for a first DUI, and that minimum can usually be suspended on completion of alcohol education. A first DWAI has no mandatory minimum at all. A second offense is different: ten consecutive days is mandatory.
No. Colorado excludes DUI and DWAI convictions from record sealing entirely. That is one reason a dismissal or a reduction to a non alcohol offense is worth fighting for.
If any of this is happening to you, the first conversation is free and it is with an attorney.
Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.