Facing a criminal charge for drunk driving, refusing a breath sample or dangerous driving is a frightening thing. It’s inevitable that you think to yourself, if only I could turn back the clock and not make the mistake of getting behind the wheel. However you feel about what happened, you need to make good decisions when you’re defending a DUI charge. A conviction for a criminal impaired driving offence is likely to follow you for the rest of your life so if you’re facing a drunk driving charge, now is the time to inform yourself as best you can and make the best decisions to protect your future.
Should I plead guilty?
100% of people who plead guilty to a criminal charge of impaired driving, .08 or refusal to blow are GUILTY.
It may seem like a funny way to view it, but it’s important to remember that in Canadian law we have a presumption of innocence. Everyone is considered innocent because of the presumption of innocence. If you plead guilty you take yourself from being an innocent person, to being a person who is guilty of a crime.
The nice thing about the presumption of innocence it that you as an accused person are entitled to challenge in court each and every bit of evidence that the prosecutor intends to use. You are entitled to have your lawyer. You are entitled to disclosure. You are entitled to bring your own experts. It is your right to show the court why the prosecutor is wrong.
And beyond that, it’s actually your right to simply sit in silence. The obligation is on the prosecutor to call their case and prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. The judge must start with the presumption that, at the start of the trial, the prosecutor has proven nothing. The presumption of innocence, a fundamental principle of Canadian Law, means that it’s their job to call the evidence to prove your guilt – not your job to establish your innocence or anything for that matter.
If you plead guilty, you give away your right to be presumed innocent and you abandon your right to challenge the evidence. The reason 100% of people who plead guilty are guilty is because they give up their right in law to the presumption of innocence. And because all drunk driving criminal convictions in Canada end with a criminal record, 100% of people who plead guilty get a criminal record.
Can you succeed in court?
Every case is different and when it comes time for trial, every case unfolds differently. Evidence that might seem to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt may be inadmissible and never considered by the court. Evidence that seems likely to show only guilt might come out as equivocal or even support more forcefully the theory of the defence. It is very common that a case which appears awful at the time of arrest is in fact a great defence case when you have a lawyer with the right skills.
The economics of drunk-driving conviction
The mandatory minimum sentence includes a criminal record for impaired driving, having a blood-alcohol concentration at or over .80 or refusal to blow. In other words, if you plead guilty to any of the drinking driving offences in the Criminal Code, you get a criminal record then and there. Criminal records last forever. Although you can get a pardon many years down the road by going through the rigmarole and paying a hefty fee, it doesn’t change the past or eliminate the fact of the criminal record. A criminal record can be used against you in court in a later proceeding, for example, even if you have a pardon.
The worst thing about a criminal record is the impact it has on your career and future earnings.
If you’re working in a job that pays $32,000 per year, you can expect to earn more in the future, perhaps $5,000 to $10,000 more per year even a few years down the road. But all of that is likely to change if you get a criminal record. Many employers perform criminal record checks. Many employers simply refuse to employ anyone who has a criminal record. In the event that two otherwise equal candidates apply for a job but one of the candidates has a criminal record, the decision for the employer is easy. The person with the criminal record simply doesn’t get the job.
What types of jobs are restricted by a criminal record? Anything in government, finance, education, real-estate, security, retail, banking and any other industry where criminal record checks. Many employers typically reject candidates who have a criminal record.
Getting back to that $32,000 per year income, if you have a criminal record and you miss out on the job opportunity as a consequence that then costs you $10,000 in lost income per year, that’s $100,000 of lost income for every decade of work.
This is likely a very conservative estimate and obviously every person’s circumstances are different. Over the course of one’s working career, the lost income can very well be into the millions of dollars. It may be the difference from enjoying a good life to living a miserable one. And you only get once chance. Regardless, the economic consequences of a drunk driving conviction are likely to be staggering for any person in that position.
The cost of defending a DUI vs. lost income and lost opportunity:
The cost of defending a DUI charge is usually about the same as the cost of a good inexpensive used car. Over the course of your life it’s a very small amount of money that can protect your ability to earn a decent living over the course of your life. When it comes to defending a DUI, it’s worth it in the vast majority of the cases because the success rate is very good and the cost is significantly less than the cost of a criminal record.
If you have been charged with a criminal DUI, call us. It cost you nothing to phone us about your case. We are skilled lawyers who have protected thousands of people from criminal records for drunk driving. Our goal is to ensure you don’t get a record, so you can keep in living, and enjoy your life.