DWI dismissed for Reckless Driving; Administrative License Suspension withdrawn

DOVER DISTRICT COURT (July, 2023)

People charged with DWI will almost always also be served by the arresting police officer with DSMV 426, a pink copy of paper that operates as a 30-day driving permit for NH licensed drivers. It also serves as notice for a 6 month administrative license suspension (ALS) for refusing a breath or blood test or testing at .09 for breath or .08 for blood. Subsequent offenders receive a 2-year ALS. Refusals result in license suspensions that run consecutively with any court-ordered suspensions while tests over run concurrently with court-ordered suspensions.

Here, we were able to dismiss the DWI charge and replace it with reckless driving which is violation rather than a criminal offense. First offense DWI is a class B misdemeanor in New Hampshire that carries a 60-day loss of license. Here, we negotiated dismissal of the ALS, saving the client a criminal conviction, mandatory DWI penalties, and saving them a further 6-month license loss.