Is a DUI a Felony or a Misdemeanor?

A lot of people call my office and they don’t understand what a DWI is. A DWI, first offense, in the state of Louisiana is a misdemeanor. A second offense within the year cleansing period is also a misdemeanor, but it’s a more severe misdemeanor so it’s going to have greater penalties: longer probation periods, longer jail periods. The third kind, is if you get a third DWI within the ten year period and that’s a conviction and sometimes those dates and those times are a bit grey so people don’t realize that that ten years include probation and parole and so forth, that’s a, that’s a felony and the fourth or fifth or sixth these are all felonies which, have a 3rd, a DWI 3 has a mandatory one year in jail so it can be very, very serious.

We consider those very serious felony cases that need an expert attorney that really knows what they’re doing to go in there and represent them. It’s not something to fool around with because I know people when they get DWIs they never think they’re going to get a subsequent one, but you was to make sure that first one’s handled properly so that you are preventing yourself from actually having a second or third, DWI.

There are also different types of DWI’s, too. If you injury someone there can be a vehicular homicide so there are some other types of drinking or drugging while driving that will automatically elevate themselves to a felony charge.