Connecticut DUI and DWI Legal Questions

Both New York and Connecticut have signed onto the Driver’s License Compact. This means NY and CT freely share driver information with one another. If you receive a NY traffic ticket but are a CT driver, CT will be notified about the ticket you received. This also applies if you are licensed in NY and got a ticket in CT. If you are an out-of-state driver and accrue 11 points or more, you will lose your New York driving privileges.   This accumulation of 11 points will be determined based on the NY point system, not your home state’s point system. Therefore, if you are caught speeding 41 miles over the posted speed limit or get cited twice for speeding 21-30 miles over the limit, you will no longer be allowed to drive in the State of New York for a specified period of time. Remember, your driver’s license will not be suspended by your home state and NY does not have the authority to suspend an out-of-state driver’s license. However, since CT and NY are both members of the Driver’s License Compact, CT will honor the“suspension” of your New York driving privileges even though it may not take away your ability to drive elsewhere.... Read More

The penalties for a second conviction of OUI are very steep. Yes, there is a mandatory minimum term of incarceration. The statutory penalties can be found at CGS 14-227a(g). Those penalties are: (2) for conviction of a second violation within ten years after a prior conviction for the same offense, A) be fined not less than one thousand dollars or more than four thousand dollars, B) be imprisoned not more than two years, one hundred twenty consecutive days of which may not be suspended or reduced in any manner, and sentenced to a period of probation requiring as a condition of such probation that such person: (i) Perform one hundred hours of community service, as defined in section 14-227e, (ii) submit to an assessment through the Court Support Services Division of the Judicial Branch of the degree of such person's alcohol or drug abuse, and (iii) undergo a treatment program if so ordered, and C) (i) if such person is under twenty-one years of age at the time of the offense, have such person's motor vehicle operator's license or nonresident operating privilege suspended for forty-five days or until the date of such person's twenty-first birthday, whichever is longer, and, as a condition for the restoration of such license, be required to install an ignition interlock device on each motor vehicle owned or operated by such person and, upon such restoration, be prohibited for the three-year period following such restoration from operating a motor vehicle unless such motor vehicle is equipped with a functioning, approved ignition interlock device, as defined in section 14-227j, except that for the first year of such three-year period, such person's operation of a motor vehicle shall be limited to such person's transportation to or from work or school, an alcohol or drug abuse treatment program or an ignition interlock device service center, or (ii) if such person is twenty-one years of age or older at the time of the offense, have such person's motor vehicle operator's license or nonresident operating privilege suspended for forty-five days and, as a condition for the restoration of such license, be required to install an ignition interlock device on each motor vehicle owned or operated by such person and, upon such restoration, be prohibited for the three-year period following such restoration from operating a motor vehicle unless such motor vehicle is equipped with a functioning, approved ignition interlock device, as defined in section 14-227j, except that for the first year of such three-year period, such person's operation of a motor vehicle shall be limited to such person's transportation to or from work or school, an alcohol or drug abuse treatment program or an ignition interlock device service center; Note this is the penalty for a second conviction. If you were granted the alcohol education program the first time you were arrested, this would be your first conviction. However, if you used the program, arrested a second time (the first conviction), this indeed, would be the second conviction.... Read More

If there is an arrest warrant issued by the authorities in one state, you can be arrested in another state. If you are arrested in that other state (and to some extent the authorities in the other state have some discretion), the process is then an extradition proceeding if the issuing state decides to take you back. A conviction may impact proceedings in another state. It all depends on the nature of the conviction and the pending charges in the second state.... Read More