Home – Practice Areas – Q and A - Enhanceable DWI
In 05-06 I got a DUI in WI. Everything was taken care of, my MN license was never suspended or anything. I just got a DUI in MN. Will they count this as my second or as my first dui? Do I have any hopes here?
Answer
DWIs in Minnesota are enhanceable, meaning can be made more serious if a person has a prior DWI-related offense or license revocation within the past 10 years. In your case, your Wisconsin incident was more than 10 years ago, so it would not be used to enhance the severity of the new charge. For purposes of the criminal case, this would be treated as a first offense for charging purposes. Although the prior offense will not directly increase the severity of the charge, it can be considered for sentencing purposes. Be aware as well, that you could have increased license revocation penalties based on DWI-related offenses that occurred more than 10 years prior. When different jurisdictions are involved, this analysis can become rather complicated and should be discussed with an experienced lawyer. You certainly have hope that with the assistance of an defense attorney, you will be able to resolve this matter positively.
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