DWI Information Center

The Chetson Firm

• Reforms to NC Criminal Law February 13, 2011
  For the first time in about 100 years, the Republicans control the state legislature in Raleigh. Usually Republicans are regarded as “tougher” on crime than Democrats, and so it somewhat surprising that over the past 100 years North Carolina has developed a criminal justice system that is largely – though not entirely – difficult for... […]
  Damon Chetson
• NC Drunk Driving Myths and Facts February 12, 2011
  Drunk Driving is certainly a serious problem in our country. Since the early 1980s, however, alcohol-related accident deaths have steadily declined, even as the number of people on the roads and the number of vehicle-miles driven each year has increased. In 1982, there were more than 26,000 alcohol related deaths, even though there were many... […]
  Damon Chetson
• Proposed Changes to North Carolina DWI Law in 2011 February 11, 2011
  North Carolina has some of the harshest DWI and Drunk Driving Laws in the country. In addition, the NC DWI statute favors the prosecution in ways that make defending a DWI case in Raleigh much more difficult than if the person were accused in other states. But the DWI statute may become even harsher if... […]
  Damon Chetson
• North Carolina Criminal Process January 21, 2011
  A lot of clients who I meet have never been involved in the criminal process. Or they’ve had experience with the criminal process in another state than North Carolina. Or they have only seen the criminal process acted out on TV or in the movies. Below is a graphic – a flow chart – that... […]
  Damon Chetson
• Community Service in Wake County January 19, 2011
  In some cases, your attorney may recommend that you perform community service to improve your chances for a successful outcome in your case. In other cases, you may be ordered by a court to complete community service. If you’ve been asked or ordered to complete community service, you should be sure that whatever letter you... […]
  Damon Chetson
• Domestic Violence Cases in North Carolina January 15, 2011
  Domestic violence cases require special handling in North Carolina. In Wake County, for instance, Domestic Violence cases (which include all cases of violence involving people who have or are in intimate relationships) are handled in a special courtroom called 4A. This courtroom is paid for by special funding from the federal government. Given understandable […]
  Damon Chetson
• Violence has become a way of life January 9, 2011
  Radley Balko has an excellent post on the very violent culture in which we live: a culture in which various governments across the United States conduct something like 100 militarized raids each day in the war on drugs. Certainly, drug addiction is a serious problem. But the overall approach which criminalizes the sale of drugs,... […]
  Damon Chetson
• North Carolina Driving While Impaired: Limited Driving Privileges January 1, 2011
  A North Carolina DWI (Driving While Impaired) arrest will result in an automatic “civil revocation” of a person’s driving privileges in North Carolina. If the person holds a NC driver’s license, the person’s license is revoked for 30 days and the person may not drive in any state, including North Carolina. If the person holds... […]
  Damon Chetson
• New Years Laws in North Carolina and Beyond December 31, 2010
  New Years brings with it celebration of a New Year, and with it new laws. In North Carolina, new laws usually go into effect in the beginning of December. This past December, for instance, the state enacted harsher punishments for animal cruelty. The law enhanced the felony punishment from a Class I to a Class... […]
  Damon Chetson
• Prescription fraud in Wake County December 23, 2010
  Since about August of 2010 I’ve seen an uptick in the number of people charged with prescription fraud in Raleigh. The reason seems to stem from increased concern among law enforcement. In August, law enforcement was pressing the legislature to grant authority to allow police access to prescription databases so that they could determine whether... […]
  Damon Chetson