DUI Defense
Idaho DUI Law
This section is dedicated to provide a general knowledge base for anyone cited for, involved in, or generally interested in the current state of Idaho law regarding Driving Under the Influence (DUI). If you want further information regarding Idaho DUI and legal representation for your case, please contact Mark R Petersen, Attorney at Law, of the firm Snake River Law PLLC to schedule a DUI Defense Strategy Session, a $400 value for free by calling (208) 406-9885.
There are many ways to lose your driver’s license or Idaho driving privileges if you are stopped and cited for drunk driving in Pocatello or anywhere in Idaho. Failing the field sobriety tests and/or evidentiary testing (breath or blood tests) can cause you to lose your Idaho driver’s license and driving privileges. Refusing to submit to evidentiary testing can result in a loss of your Idaho driver’s license for a one (1) year mandatory period. Snake River Law may be able to help you keep your driver’s license or get it back if it was taken from you as a result of an Idaho DUI charge. Please keep reading to learn more.
What Should You do If Stopped for DUI in Idaho?
1. You do not have to answer any questions the police officers ask. You can politely decline to answer questions without an attorney. Why? The only answers that will be included in the police report will be answers that tend to show you were driving under the influence.
2. Always be courteous and cooperative with the police officers and politely decline to answer questions or participate in testing. Your attitude during the stop may affect your ability to get the charge dismissed or reduced.
3. Decline to take the field sobriety tests (i.e. gaze nystagmus, walk & turn, one-leg stand) because you are not required to perform the tests and regardless of your condition the officers will probably conclude that you have failed the tests and find probable cause to request further testing.
4. Agree to take the evidentiary breath test, if your are confident you are under .08 blood alcohol content (BAC). Remember that any refusal of the handheld testing could result in a 1 year absolute suspension of your driving privileges.
5. If you are cited for DUI and your license is suspended (this includes when your license is taken and a temporary permit issued) make sure you or your attorney requests a hearing before the Idaho Department of Transportation within 7 days to contest your suspension.
6. If you have the resources, immediately upon release from police custody go to an available medical facility and ask for a blood test to determine your blood alcohol content, as these test generally are more accurate.
Should I Just Plead Guilty to the DUI Charge?
NO! And here’s why:
1. Just because you were cited for DUI and the results of the breath test was over .08 blood alcohol content does not mean that you are guilty. Infrared breath analysis are not the most accurate devices and their accuracy may be subject to challenge. Also, all evidence collected by police officers through field sobriety tests and physical observation may be subject to challenge, depending on the procedure used by the officers.
2. DUI is a serious offense with serious penalties. Your driving privileges could be suspended by the Idaho Department of Transportation and by the judicial system for one (1) to five (5) years with no driving privileges. If you have a commercial drivers license your commercial license may be suspended for a mandatory one (1) year period. You may have to go to jail and if it is your second or third offense you will have a minimum ten (10) days in jail. You will be placed on some form of probation wherein in you lose certain civil rights and have to pay the costs of supervision. Fines and reinstatement fees can also range between $500.00 to $1,000.00. You may also be required to attend treatment or AA meetings. A DUI conviction has serious consequences on your life and your ability to maintain your employment.
3. You may be able to win your DUI defense case. Winning your DUI case may include having the charge reduced to a different offense or obtaining a plea bargain that avoids a conviction (e.g. withheld judgments). Without consulting an Idaho DUI lawyer you may miss the opportunity to exhaust your investigation, conduct discovery, examine witnesses, and fully understand the consequences of pleading guilty to DUI.
4. If you have a commercial driver’s license, you will lose that license. Idaho requires any driver with a commercial driver’s license (i.e. Class A, B, or C) that is convicted of DUI, even if they were driving their personal vehicle, to have their commercial driving privileges suspended for one (1) year with absolutely no commercial driving privileges.
What Does the Prosecutor Have to Prove to Convict Me of DUI?
Probable Cause
Police officers must make a finding of probable cause to stop the driver of a motor vehicle in a DUI case. If the officers lacked sufficient cause, any evidence obtained as a result of the stop, which would likely include all evidence except observations of driving, must be suppressed by the Court. Any request for suppression must be made within 28 days of entering a plea of not guilty. If probable cause for the stop existed, the prosecution still must justify the investigatory detention. Again, if there are insufficient facts to warrant detaining the driver beyond a temporary stop, then it may be possible to suppress the evidence. If successful, this will suppress all evidence but observations and statements made during the brief stop. Finally, if there existed probable cause to detain the individual for a field investigation, the officers still must show evidence of intoxication to warrant an arrest. The prosecution’s failure to meet these standards of probable cause may result in a judge suppressing all evidence obtained after the driver establishes a failure to find probable cause. Please consult an Idaho DUI attorney because there are also numerous Idaho and federal cases that interpret “probable cause”.
Idaho DUI: Elements of the Offense
The prosecution has to prove in Idaho that:
1. You were under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other intoxicating substances, or any combination of alcohol, drugs and/or any other intoxicating substances, or you have an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or greater;
2. You were driving or were in actual physical control of a motor vehicle;
Note: Idaho defines “actual physical control” as being in the driver’s position of the motor vehicle with the motor running or with the motor vehicle moving.
3. Within the State of Idaho; and
4. Your driving or actual physical control of a motor vehicle occurred upon a highway, street or bridge of the State of Idaho, or upon public or private property open to the public (e.g. Walmart’s parking lot).
DUI: Penalties in Idaho
DUI: First Offense
If you plead guilty or are found guilty of a DUI and its your first offense in the last ten (10) years, you will be guilty of a misdemeanor.
1. Jail sentence: Up to six (6) months.
2. Fine: Up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).
3. Impact on Driving Privileges: A court-imposed driver’s license suspension for 90 to 180 days. The first thirty (30) day period you will have absolutely no driving privileges of any kind. After the thirty (30) day period of absolute suspension of driving privileges has passed, you will have your driving privileges suspended by the court for an additional period of at least sixty (60) days with up to one hundred fifty (150) days, during which you can request restricted driving privileges if necessary for employment, school, or family health needs. Note: this suspension is separate from any administrative suspension before the Idaho Department of Transportation, so you could potentially have two Idaho driving privilege suspensions.
4. Probation: The court will likely impose a period of probation, regardless of the type of sentence entered, for a minimum of six (6) months and up to one (1) year. Depending on your prior record, BAC results, and likelihood to re-offend, probation could be unsupervised to the court or supervised by the Idaho Department of Probation and Parole. All supervision costs are at your expense.
5. The provisions regarding disqualification of your commercial license apply, which results in a one year suspension of your commercial license.
DUI: Second Offense
If you plead guilty or are found guilty of a DUI, and its your second offense within ten (10) years, you will be guilty of a misdemeanor.
1. Jail sentence: Mandatory minimum period of not less than ten (10) days the first forty‑eight (48) hours of which must be consecutive, and five (5) days of which must be served in jail. The other five days, at the discretion of the judge, may be served on the Sheriff Inmate Labor Detail. The maximum jail sentence is up to one (1) year.
2. Fine: Up to two thousand dollars ($2,000.00).
3. Impact on Driving Privileges: Mandatory minimum period of one (1) year after release from confinement with absolutely no driving privileges of any kind. Note: this suspension is separate from any administrative suspension before the Idaho Department of Transportation, so you could potentially have two Idaho driving privilege suspensions.
4. Ignition Interlock System: You will be required to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning ignition interlock system, following the one (1) year mandatory license suspension period during your period of probation.
5. Probation: The court will likely impose a period of probation, regardless of the type of sentence entered, for a minimum of one (1) year. All supervision costs are at your expense.
6. The provisions regarding disqualification of your commercial license apply, which results in a one year suspension of your commercial license.
DUI: Three (3) or more offenses
If you plead guilty or are found guilty of a DUI, and its your third or more offense within ten (10) years, you will be guilty of a felony.
1. Jail sentence: A mandatory minimum period of thirty (30) days, the first forty‑eight (48) hours of which must be consecutive, and ten (10) days of which must be served in jail. The maximum jail sentence is up to ten (10) years.
2. Fine: Up to five thousand dollars ($5,000.00).
3. Impact on Driving Privileges: Mandatory minimum period of one (1) year after release from confinement with absolutely no driving privileges of any kind, with additional suspension with absolutely no driving privileges for up to five (5) years. Note: this suspension is separate from any administrative suspension before the Idaho Department of Transportation, so you could potentially have two Idaho driving privilege suspensions.
4. Ignition Interlock System: You will be required to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning ignition interlock system, following the one (1) year mandatory license suspension period during your period of probation.
5. Probation: The court will likely impose a period of probation, regardless of the type of sentence entered, for a minimum of one (1) year. All supervision costs are at your expense.
6. The provisions regarding disqualification of your commercial license will likely apply, which results in a one year suspension of your commercial license.
Effect of a DUI on a Commercial License
When you were cited for DUI, if you were (1) operating a commercial motor vehicle or (2) if you hold a class A, B or C driver’s license, even if you weren’t driving a commercial vehicle, you will be disqualified from operating a commercial motor vehicle for a period of not less than one (1) year if convicted in the form of a judgment or withheld judgment of a first violation under any state or federal law.
Also, if you were (1) operating a commercial motor vehicle, or (2) if you hold a class A, B or C driver’s license, even if you weren’t driving a commercial vehicle, you will be disqualified from operating a commercial motor vehicle for a period of not less than one (1) year if you refuse to submit to a test to determine your alcohol concentration while operating a motor vehicle.
Effect on Out-of-State Licenses
If you have an out-of-state license when you are convicted for DUI in Idaho or fail or refuse to submit to an evidentiary test your license will be suspended. Any suspension entered in Idaho will apply to your license issued from another state. Idaho reports all DUI convictions, failures of evidentiary testing, and refusals of evidentiary testing to the other states.
This information is current as of February 1, 2010. Any opinion or comment contained herein is the professional opinion of the law firm Snake River Law and its attorneys; and may or may not be applicable to your case or the judicial/administrative interpretation of the law. Please check the applicable Idaho Code sections found in I.C. §§ 18-8001 et seq. for any amendments to the statutes since February 1, 2010 or consult an Idaho DUI attorney.
