You can go to jail for a DWI. But will you?

For the vast majority of people with a DWI charge, jail isn't on the table. Your experience in court will be as expensive and anxiety producing and inconvenient as you can imagine, but it won't be life-ending. There are very few judges where I practice who actually sentence first-time offenders to jail. So when should you be worried about going to jail on a DWI conviction?

If any of the following conditions pertain to you, there might be a problem.

• If you are in an accident while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and someone is hurt or killed.
• If you are in an accident while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and there are kids in the car.
• If you have more than one prior conviction for DWI - even if the prior convictions are old. At DWI charge number three you should be pretty concerned.

Those are the three factors that set off red flags for me, but every case is very fact specific. We also have to consider who is prosecuting your case, and who the judge is. Every judge and prosecutor has a different idea about what kind of sentence should be imposed on a DWI charge, be it a conditional discharge, probation, or jail.

If you have more questions, contact The Militello Law Firm at (585) 485-0025. We can help.