DUI/DWI
Facing a DUI/DWI charge in Oklahoma can have serious consequences, including license suspension, fines, and even jail time. Understanding your rights and the legal process is crucial to protecting your future. Whether you are dealing with a first offense or multiple charges, knowing how a Tulsa DUI/DWI attorney can assist you may make all the difference in your case.
Legal challenges require experienced guidance to navigate complex laws and procedures. The Tulsa attorney team at Wirth Law Office offers personalized defense strategies tailored to each client’s situation. If you need legal help, call Wirth Law Office at (918) 879-1681 to discuss your options and protect your rights under Oklahoma law.
What's More Points on Your Driver's License in Oklahoma: DUI or Reckless Driving?
As you've probably already known, Oklahoma has a driver's license point system through the Department of Public Safety. Read more » Do This To Avoid an APC Charge
According to Oklahoma attorney Brian Jackson from the Wirth Law Office, APC carries similar penalties to a DUI. Read more » Oklahoma Ignition Interlock Program Targets Drivers Arrested for DUI
Under a new Impaired Driver Accountability Program drivers arrested for DUI can slightly reduce the risk associated with installing an ignition interlock device. The six month program is extended 60 days each time a driver fails an alcohol breath test, Drivers who successfully complete the program can get their drivers license reinstated without paying a reinstatement fee. Read more » Sweeping 2017 Oklahoma DUI Law Overturned
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has overturned a sweeping 2017 DUI law for due-process flaws and for violating constitutional single-subject requirements. The entire law was set aside before it even took effect. The decision means ongoing uncertainty for thousands of drivers accused of DUI - and police enforcing DUI laws - with regard to the procedure for contesting drivers license revocations after DUI arrests. Read more » Oklahoma Supreme Court Finds Speedy Trial Violation in DUI License Revocation
The Oklahoma Supreme Court handed down speedy trial guidelines for DPS drivers license revocation hearings, suggesting the hearings must be scheduled within 60 days after DPS receives a request for a hearing. But DPS has been notoriously reluctant to accept its losses. While the new precedent could pave the way for streamlined hearing process, we anticipate the DPS docket will remain clogged with cases the Supreme Court would likely dismiss but DPS will more likely refuse to let go until told to do so by a superior court. Read more » Appeals Court: Oklahoma DUI Prosecutions Can Rely on Invalid Rules
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals concluded DUI attorneys cannot challenge admissibility of breathalyzer results based on the Board of Tests failure to follow state rules for authorizing breathalyzer equipment. Read more » Court Declines to Review Case that Invalidated Oklahoma DUI Breathalyzer Tests
State Failed to Adopt Valid Intoxilyzer 8000 Rules The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Sept. 26, 2016 declined to review the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals decision in a drivers license revocation case that effectively – should – make breath test evidence from the current generation of breathalyzer machines inadmissible in Oklahoma DUI cases. It might […] Read more » Speedy Trial Violations Void Drivers License Revocations in Oklahoma DUI Arrests
The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals decided year-long delays before DUI drivers license revocations hearings amount to speedy trial violations. While Oklahoma DPS says the delays are the result of budget constraints, the agency is also awaiting the Oklahoma Supreme Court's possible review of a decision that undermined the agency's reliance on a current generation of breathalyzers. The Intoxilyzer 8000 is used to gather evidence for drivers license revocations and for DUI criminal cases. Read more » No New Rules Sought for Breathalyzer Tests in Oklahoma
Tests Director Responds to Appeals Court Case The Oklahoma Board of Tests of Alcohol and Drug Influence will probably not seek emergency rules for approval of reference materials used in DUI breathalyzers throughout Oklahoma. The director of the state agency has declined to recommend emergency rule making in the wake of a November, 2015 decision […] Read more » Oklahoma Court Strikes Breathalyzer in DUI Drivers License Revocation
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has been asked to review a case that could stop DUI drivers license revocations in Oklahoma until the Board of Tests for Alcohol and Drug Influence promulgates rules related to calibration of the Intoxilyzer 8000 breathalyzer. Read more » Oklahoma Appeals Court Rejects Intoxilyzer 8000 Breathalyzer Results
Decision Could Affect Oklahoma DUI Prosecutions The state’s highest criminal appeals court has driven another nail in the coffin of the Intoxilyzer 8000 breathalyzer used in Oklahoma driving under the influence cases. Unfortunately, this robocop machine might be counted among the undead. Here is why. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Sept. 11, 2014 […] Read more » Oklahoma Supreme Court Throws Wrench in Intoxilyzer 8000 Breathalyzer
A January 28, 2014, Oklahoma Supreme Court decision makes it difficult — if not impossible — for the state to continue revoking drivers licenses based on evidence provided by the current generation of breath analysis machinery. Currently anyone arrested for DUI in Oklahoma who blows a .08 or more (or refuses to blow) has their […] Read more » Flawed Oklahoma DUI Procedures Could Bring Refunds in License Revocations
Thousands of drivers who paid fees to have their drivers licenses reinstated after Oklahoma DUI arrests could be in line to receive refunds from the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. The revocations could also be expunged from their records if they prevail in a class-action lawsuit filed in Tulsa County District Court Dec. 2. 2013. […] Read more » Appeals Court Tosses Faulty Oklahoma DUI Revocation Affidavit
An Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals has upheld a trial court’s decision to toss out a police officer’s revocation affidavit because it was legally inadequate. The decision means the driver who appealed a DUI revocation gets to keep her Oklahoma drivers license after being arrested for DUI. The decision calls into question potentially thousands of […] Read more »
Tulsa DUI Attorney Explains New Oklahoma Metabolite DUI-D Law
Tulsa DUI Attorney James Wirth talked with News on Six at KTUL-Tulsa this week about Oklahoma’ metabolite DUI-D law. The law, which took effect Oct. 1, 2013, allows prosecutors to charge anyone with driving under the influence if they have any metabolites of any Oklahoma Schedule 1 drug in their blood, saliva, urine or other […] Read more » Everybody is Guilty Under Oklahoma's Zero-tolerance Metabolite DUI-D Law
Oklahoma’s new metabolite DUI law sets the strictest standard possible for evidence of forbidden drugs potentially found in drivers’ blood. The standard is so strict that, technically speaking, everyone who gets behind the wheel is guilty of violating the law. Those who are in pain, even more so. Sound unbelievable? Here’s how it works. Instead […] Read more »
Past Pot Use Can Be an Crime Under Oklahoma's New Zero-tolerance DUI-D Law
Police call it DUI-D. A new law that takes effect today, Oct. 1, 2013, makes it a crime for anyone driving in Oklahoma to have any detectable amount of marijuana in their blood, saliva, urine or “other bodily fluids.” Drivers on Oklahoma highways need to be wary. Police may soon be using new tactics to […] Read more »
Ohio Judge Rules Against Intoxilyzer 8000 Breathalyzer Used in Oklahoma DUI Cases
An Ohio appeals court ruling this month delivered a severe body blow to a breathalyzer machine now being used in Oklahoma DUI cases to infer blood alcohol levels in drivers suspected of driving under the influence. A judge ruled the results from the Intoxilyzer 8000 are “not scientifically reliable.” In Ohio – as has been […] Read more »
Gurneys, Straps and Needles: No Refusal DUI Tests Resemble Execution Procedure
An Oklahoma Highway Patrol captain in command of troopers in seven south-central counties wants to expand the use of forced blood draws in DUI traffic stops. The initiative comes on the heals of an April U.S. Supreme Court decision that put a stop to most forced blood draws by police unless they first obtain a […] Read more »
Constitutional Questions Swirl Around Metabolite DUI Laws
While many states’ criminal codes treat marijuana as an increasingly trivial concern, legislators in some states have been piling on drugged driving laws that target marijuana users long after any intoxicating effect has subsided. Oklahoma is the latest state to adopt a law that allows prosecution of unimpaired drivers on DUI charges when drug tests […] Read more »
With Metabolite DUI, You Still Have the Right To Remain Silent
A new law set to take effect Oct. 1 will make Oklahoma one of the most restrictive states in the nation with regard to drivers who have traces of marijuana in their system. Under the new metabolite DUI law, any driver found with any amount of marijuana – or inactive metabolites of marijuana – in […] Read more »
Under Drugged Driving Law, Unintoxicated Drivers Could Face DUI Charges
A new Oklahoma drugged-driving law set to take effect Oct. 1, 2013 may encourage prosecution of drivers who are not intoxicated. The new metabolite DUI law makes it a crime for a driver to operate a vehicle with any amount of certain drugs – or metabolites of those drugs – in the driver’s bodily fluids. […] Read more »
Would NTSB's Lower DUI Blood Alcohol Limits Save Lives?
The National Transportation Safety Board today released a report calling for reduction of maximum blood alcohol limits for drivers from .08 to .05. The NTSB’s recommendations may find purchase among legislators looking to get tough on drunk driving. As a Tulsa personal injury attorney who represents clients seeking to recover damages in accidents caused by […] Read more »
