You are correct with respect to the range of punishment on a 1st DWI. However, there is a possible enhancement issue. If your breath/blood test is over a .15 they can enhance you. What that means is that you would be facing the same range of punishment someone would face for a 2nd DWI, which is up to 1 year in jail, and a $4K fine.
If it's not the enhancement issue, and you have no priors, they may have your name in the TCIC/NCIC check mixed up with someone else's.
In my opinion, you shouldn't be asking about the range of punishment until you know if they can even prove their case, though. I always inform my DWI clients of the range of punishment. But, I also make sure they understand the most important thing to do is to see if their evidence is sufficient to convict you. If it's not, or if you don't know, you need to hire an attorney who can/will do that for you.
Answered on Jan 24th, 2014 at 3:48 PM