In Minnesota, the legal drinking limit is .08. What that means is that if your blood alcohol is .08 or higher, you are legally intoxicated. I recently had a client with a blood alcohol concentration of .07, and she was charged with DWI.
In a case where the blood alcohol is .07, the state cannot offer the blood test to prove you are driving while intoxicated. The State at trial will rely on the police officer that made the arrest to testify as to illegall driving conduct, such as speed, crossing over fog and center lines, not using a turn signal, and his observations during the stop and the arest – blood shot eyes, slurred speech, unsteady on your feet. The state will also introduce any failed sobriety tests that the officer used.
In most of these cases, a plea bargain is available, but these cases are also very defensible. A colleague of mine taught me to use the arguement that driver arrested for DWI with a .07 BAC, “should get a thank you letter from the State. My client was responsible, and was not driving drunk.”
Whatever defense is suitable in your case, you should talk with a Minnesota DWI attorney prior to pleading guilty in your DWI case. Call Attorney John Scott for a consultation.
