What happens after a first DUI arrest in Wyoming
Most people don’t know how important the first 48 hours after a DUI arrest are. You only have 20 days from the date of your arrest in Wyoming to ask for a hearing to fight your license suspension. If you miss that window, your license will be automatically suspended, no matter what happens in your criminal case. These two cases are happening at the same time, and both need to be addressed right away.
When you first go to court, you’ll be arraigned, which means the charges will be read and you’ll enter a plea. Most people who are charged with a first DUI don’t have a lawyer and plead guilty at this point because they think it’s the quickest way to get it over with. Most of the time, it’s not the best choice. You don’t yet know whether the stop was legal, whether the breathalyzer was properly maintained, or whether the evidence the prosecution has is strong enough to support a conviction.
Penalties for a first DUI in Wyoming
Under Wyo. Stat. § 31-5-233, a first DWUI offense in Wyoming carries up to six months in county jail, fines between $200 and $750, and a 90-day driver’s license suspension. In addition to those basic penalties, courts can also put people on probation, make them go to alcohol education or treatment, or make them do community service. When your license is restored, you must have an ignition interlock.
How we fight first DUI cases in Wyoming
The same test is given to every first DUI case: Was there a good reason to stop you? Did the police follow NHTSA rules when they gave the field sobriety tests? Was the breathalyzer machine properly serviced and calibrated? Was any blood drawn in a legal way? And lastly, was the request for the 20-day license hearing made in time? Each of these could be a point of defense. Any of them could lead to the suppression of evidence, a reduction of charges, or a dismissal.
In Wyoming, we’ve had our first DUI cases thrown out. State v. Ault—dropped after we successfully fought the extension of a traffic stop. These results aren’t guaranteed, but they could happen. They only happen when someone looks at the case closely from the start, rather than assuming it will end the way they think it will. A first DUI guilty plea starts the ten-year clock for Wyoming’s habitual offender law. If you get a second conviction during that time, the penalties are worse. A third is a crime. The first case is the most important one to get right.
