Fort Lewis DUI Lawyer

Can our DUI lawyers help answer your questions about your Fort Lewis DUI or JBLM DUI? We are on call day and night, every day of the year. Contact us now—the sooner we talk, the sooner you will feel better about the situation.

If you are in the armed forces and were arrested for DUI in Fort Lewis or arrested for DUI in JBLM (Joint Base Lewis McChord), you probably are concerned about how this may affect your military career. Aside from the penalties, such as incarceration, fines and restrictions that accompany a DUI conviction, the following may occur as a result of the DUI arrest:

• Your driving privileges on base will likely be restricted, even after merely being accused of DUI, prior to any conviction.
• You may be demoted, denied future promotions, removed from your position or unit, or even be discharged from the military. 
• The career consequences may be more severe for high-ranking individuals and those with specialized duties, including civilian GS employees and SES grade level employees who are arrested for DUI.  
• Because a person in the military arrested for DUI poses a potential risk to national security, persons with confidential, secret or top secret security clearances will often lose their clearances, and as a result, the job that goes along with it.
• You may not be allowed to deploy with your unit or be otherwise reassigned until the matter is resolved here in Washington.

Is it possible to avoid a conviction for DUI arrest in Fort Lewis (JBLM)? Absolutely—in virtually every case there is a thread to be found which will unravel the prosecution’s case. DUI cases involve scientific evidence that may be shown unreliable and therefore, inadmissible against you. Law enforcement officers must adhere strictly to protocols in every step of the Fort Lewis DUI arrest, or JBLM DUI arrest: field sobriety testing, breath or blood testing, interrogation, and the advisement of rights. The question is: will your lawyer be skilled and knowledgeable enough to find the thread that unravels the DUI case against you?  

Our Fort Lewis DUI lawyers know the errors and omissions that open the door to evidentiary challenges on scientific, technical and legal grounds. We leave no stone unturned in our search for the best possible outcome in every case. Sometimes, this means our client’s case is dismissed, often it means the case is reduced to a lesser charge.  We have also successfully assisted our clients in requesting that records related to the DUI arrest (e.g., letter of reprimand) be placed in their local personnel files only, not their permanent personnel file, thus potentially limiting the effect of the Fort Lewis DUI or JBLM DUI arrest on their military career. We want to do the same for you!  Give us a call now.

After a Fort Lewis DUI arrest, may I drive?  It is likely that your on-base driving privilege will be suspended when and if your commanding officer learns of the arrest. (Note: if you were booked into the Pierce County Jail for a DUI off base, they maintain a blotter accessed by JBLM MPs, and your commanding officer will be notified of an off-base DUI arrest, but this is not know to occur in other county jails in the area.) Your privilege (or license) to drive off JBLM is not immediately affected by the JBLM DUI arrest. Washington law gives you sixty days before your Washington driving privilege or license can be taken away due to a DUI arrest—so that you may challenge the suspension. To do that, you have to fill out a hearing request form (which you got from the officer or can download from the department of licensing website) and submit it to DOL within 20 days from your arrest date. That means it must be postmarked or submitted on line within 20 calendar days. If the officer or MP who arrested you for the Fort Lewis DUI / JBLM DUI did not give you that paperwork, we can email you the form, just give us a call.

I was arrested for DUI at the military gate—what is going to happen next?  We have helped many people, military and civilian, who have been stopped by gate personnel at Fort Lewis for DUI or McChord AFB for DUI. What happens next depends on which law enforcement agency took jurisdiction of the case. If, for example, you are a civilian, or were followed, stopped, or contacted at or near the gate and arrested by the Washington State Patrol, or other state law enforcement officer, your Fort Lewis DUI charge will probably be filed in the courthouse for Pierce County. In that event, that court, located in Tacoma, will send you a summons to appear for a hearing called an “arraignment.” It may take a few weeks before you receive the summons. 

If an MP arrested you for DUI within JBLM, past the gate, your case will likely be filed in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, in Tacoma. (Exception: if you are a civilian your charges may be in state court if the State Patrol was called to arrest you.) You will receive a summons to appear in court, and on the date of your hearing, the pretrial services department will interview you before you go before the federal magistrate. Pretrial services will make a recommendation as to whether you should be incarcerated while your case is pending, or whether you should be “PR’d” (released on personal recognizance). Finally, if you are military and were arrested for DUI on base, you could be charged in military court, under the UCMJ. However, as experienced Fort Lewis DUI lawyers and McChord DUI lawyers, we most often see on-base DUI cases filed in the U.S. District Court in Tacoma, applying the law of the State of Washington to the case. Then, when the case is resolved, the military takes action based on the outcome of that case, rather than prosecute the matter independently as a military DUI under the UCMJ.

Does it matter where my case is filed and where I go to court?  Our Fort Lewis DUI lawyers have found that it does not matter in terms of the resolution of your case whether it is filed in Federal or State court. For the vast majority of our clients, we negotiate a resolution to a charge lesser than one for which they were arrested, whether in federal or state courts. We cannot promise any particular result will be achieved, but we can promise to bring the same intensity and diligence to your case that we bring for all of our clients. If you are charged under the UCMJ, you should contact an attorney who practices in the military court.

Whether your case is heard in the Washington State court system, or in the Federal court system, our Fort Lewis DUI attorneys know both, and we know the defense strategies that have the best chance at the most favorable result for our clients. Contact us now for a free case evaluation.