If it’s not your first DWI what you want your lawyer to do is see how many DWI’s have you had in the past 10 years because in Minnesota we have what’s called a look back period. If you have DWI within the last 10 years that DWI as a general rule will make the current DWI much more harsher, in other words, much more severe in terms of penalty. If you have a prior DWI within 10 years and you have a subsequent or a brand new DWI within 10 years of that previous DWI the penalties jump dramatically and you’re looking at the possibility of a year in jail and a $3,000.00 fine with loss of driving privileges for as little as one year and it could be as much as two years.

And this is where the test reading comes in or whether the person refused. If you have a prior DWI within 10 years and you refuse, again, the penalties jump up to as much a year in jail and a $3,000.00 fine. And in fact, the car could be seized at that point or the plates could be impounded, you’d have to get the ignition interlock in order to drive. But really, in terms of the penalties it really depends upon the number of priors you had within the last 10 years it also depends on the test reading or whether you refused. That’s why when you sit down with the DWI lawyer make sure that DWI lawyer has a great deal of experience with respect to Minnesota DWI law because that law does change every year and keeping up with the law is very, very important