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drink and drive
genepher
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What are the punishment for first time drink driving offense?
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Which country/state are you in?
Generally speaking they don't give you leeway for a first time offence because drink driving is a pretty big deal, if you get caught doing it in the UK expect to lose your licence at the very least.
As an example. In Germany the limit is 0.5 promille in your blood (did I phrase that correctly?). Get caught with a figure/value above that and you'll get fined at the least. Fines can range up to 3.000€ (which currently is about $4,000).
it depends on a lot of things. i went to college in a small town in southern MD, and i had to go to court for underage drinking (2 months before i turned 21!!). there were about 5 DUI cases before me, all of them got PBJ. Granted, there is a difference between DUI and DWI... DWI is when you are really in trouble.
In America a typical first offense will result in a fine and a license suspension varying from 1 to 6 months. It varies pretty wildly state to state though, and of course how much you were drinking and whether you caused any injuries/damages. If you didn't cause any damage and weren't ridiculously over the limit, you may be able to plea out with a fine without a suspension (IANAL).
Probably something like $1000-2500 in fines / costs by the time all is said and done, and likely a requirement to attend some 'alcohol education' classes and maybe do an evaluation. Possibly community service, on the order of ~100 hours.
It can vary significantly based on where you are, how drunk you are, and other modifiers (was there an accident, were you speeding, etc).
Depending on where you are at, a lawyer may not matter, but it's probably good to do a consultation with one just to be sure.
Apart from the legal stuff a few other things come to mind. Like possible damage to property, injury and death. Seriously - drinking and driving should not be mixed.
Some may think they'll get away with it or even that the worse they risk is the driving license, but those people lack imagination and class. Those people should try imagining their drunk driving causing an accident and possibly harming someone in the process and then hopefully they'll see it is not to be taken lightly.
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This is one of those things that judges just LOVE to come down really, really hard on, even with first offenders. Sometimes especially with first offenders.
If you have a lot of money, it can be amazing what a good lawyer can do, getting the whole thing downgraded to defective equipment isn't unheard of, but if you look at cases like that they read a lot more like blatant corruption than leniency.
Assuming this is in the US and there was a DUI/DWI arrest you can bank on a license suspension of 3-12+ months (it may be possible to petition the DMV/DPS to get a license so you can drive to work), fines of $3K+, probation for 6-18+ months (this costs money and time, and they will likely breathalyze you randomly), requirement to complete alcohol awareness/education classes, and a misdemeanor+ on your criminal record. Having legal counsel would be key in minimizing all of the above, or getting you deferred adjudication or some other means to have this not come up as a conviction or to permit an eventual expunction of your record. If you plead no contest your punishment will be up to the judge to decide with only the prosecution's counsel. If you have other items on your criminal record (particularly relating to alcohol or drugs) then that is going to figure into your punishment.
Note: IANAL and this is not legal advice.
If in the US, I'd definitely get a consultation. From my observations of friends/acquaintances who've had lawyers vs. one's who didn't, the ones with lawyers all managed to plead down to lesser charges.
Yeah.
Mine (when I was 19) was a bit of an aberration - I didn't get a lawyer, but took my chances with going in there and taking full responsibility / making no excuses and putting myself on the mercy of the court. I ended up out the door with the minimum required in my state at the time - roughly $500 in fines / fees, had to attend one half-day class, and the mandatory 6-month restricted license.
Wrecked car and insurance bent me over, but that's a given.
I wouldn't advise anyone to follow my lead as typical.
And like Dr. French said, at .95 your biggest penalty legal penalty is that they issue you a death certificate. You probably mean .095.