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To be found guilty of “driving while intoxicated” in a Missouri DUI / DWI case, the defendant must actually be found to have been “driving” or “operating” the vehicle, otherwise, it is a mere case of at worst public intoxication or possibly minor in possession if the driver is Under 21 years of age.

One of the standardized field sobriety tests which officers typically employ to determine if someone is above the legal limit is the HGN Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus eye test.

Missouri police departments commonly employ sobriety checkpoints at set locations, where all drivers passing through are stopped and questioned regarding their alleged intoxication, without any observed traffic violations being committed, or prior probable cause to arrest for DUI / DWI.

If your Missouri driving privilege / Missouri driver's license has been suspended, and you would like to get your driver's license reinstated, do the following things:

Missouri has recently passed legislation that has made life a lot tougher for Missouri drivers who plead guilty or are sentenced for a second or greater DWI or BAC offense.

It is important to understand how alcohol interacts with the human body when discussing a Missouri DUI / DWI case. Lay people assume that if you “blew above 0.08% BAC,” your case is hopeless. Testing above the legal limit, by itself, is only an indicator of intoxication, it does not indicate “when” the intoxication took place.

It is important that you understand that if you were involved in an accident in a Missouri DUI / DWI case, that you consider not speaking with your insurance carrier prior to first retaining an attorney for advice.

There are three Main points of contention in a license suspension hearing for a refusal of a chemical test in the civil portion of a Missouri DUI / DWI case.

In 1964, Missouri passed the state's first "Implied Consent" law. Currently, everyone who operates a motor vehicle within the state impliedly consents to giving a blood, breath, saliva or urine sample to determine the alcohol content of their blood if arrested upon reasonable grounds to believe they were driving a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated or drugged condition.

The first question that potential DUI / DWI clients in our office almost always asks is: “Do I have to hire an attorney to handle my Missouri DUI / DWI Case?"