Welcome. Our goal is to provide the highest quality legal services to you in a timely fashion. We welcome the opportunity to talk with you and to discuss how we may be of service. DUI is a life altering charge and can have far reaching consequences. Time is of the essence. Please call me immediately and let me get the ball rolling and start preparing your defense. Call NOW...
About Michael I. Gowdey
Email: mgowdey@aol.com
Practice Areas: Criminal Defense; Personal Injury ; Driving While Intoxicated; Civil Litigation.
Admitted: 1992, State Bar of California, U.S. District Court Southern and Central District of California; 2000, Nevada, U.S. District Court, Southern and Northern Districts of Nevada
Law School: California Western School of Law, J.D., 1992
College: San Diego State University, B.A., Economics, 1989
Member: Clark County Bar Association; State Bar of Nevada; State Bar of California; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice.
Languages: Spanish.
Born: Los Angeles, California, January 10, 1963
Office Location: The Law Offices of Michael Gowdey are located at 815 S. Casino Center Blvd., at the corner of Gass Street, in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. Our telephone number is (702) 471-0321. Our fax number is (702) 474-1320. Michael Gowdey can be reached by e-mail at mgowdey @aol.com.
DUI Questions and Answers
Las Vegas is a city where alcohol is cheap and plentiful. A person can be served alcoholic beverages 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and in casinos and bars, alcohol is free as long as a person is gambling. This makes Las Vegas a great party town. The downside to this is that with alcohol so plentiful, arrests for Driving Under the Influence are commonplace. He are some answers to frequently asked questions about Nevada DUI law (and DUI law in general), and what you might expect from the Law Offices of Michael Gowdey should you choose us to represent you in your DUI case.
Is DUI a Felony or Misdemeanor?
Actually, it could be either. Generally DUI is a misdemeanor offense. However, if you are involved in an accident, and a person is injured, you may be charged with Felony DUI Causing Substantial Bodily Injury. If someone is killed, you may be charged with Vehicular Homicide, or DUI Causing Death, both felonies. Also, if you have had two or more prior DUI convictions in the past seven years, you will be charged with Felony DUI.
Does the DUI Statute Apply to Drugs As Well?
The Nevada DUI Statute, NRS 484.379, encompasses driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This can mean both illegal controlled substances such as marijuana, cocaine or methamphetamine, and prescription controlled substances such as xanax, lithium, percocet and others. A valid prescription is not necessarily a defense to a DUI for prescription medication, if there is a warning fro the drug that it may impair your ability to operate machinery safely.
Further, a combination of drugs and alcohol, even if the alcohol level is less than .08% may result in a charge of DUI.
If I am Forced to Give a Chemical Test, what Choices do I have?
First, Nevada has an Implied Consent Statute, which means that a driver may not refuse to submit to a chemical test if an officer has probable cause to believe the driver is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If you refuse, officers will forcibly take blood from you. If you agree to submit, you are usually offered a choice of blood draw of breath test. If given the choice, you ought to ask for the breath test. Breath tests will be addressed below. Breath tests are less accurate than blood tests, and there are more opportunities for the police to screw up the administration of the breath test.
Regardless of whether it is blood or breath, the chemical test must be administered within 2 hours of the time the person was found to be in physical control of the vehicle.
About Breath Tests
The reason we suggest that a driver ask for a breath test is that the office must observe certain protocols when administering the breath test. First, the officer must be certified to administer the test. If he is not certified on the machine in question, he must call on another officer who is certified to administer the test. That means that later at trial, that other officer will likely have to be subpoenaed to testify. If the prosecution fails to subpoena him, the breath test results will not be admissible. Second, the officer must wait a minimum of 20 minutes while constantly observing the driver before he administers the breath test. He must also clear the suspect’s mouth of foreign objects. He must correctly transfer the serial numbers of the machine to his report. There are other procedural requirements as well.
There are many things we look at with breath tests, and there are many ways an officer can screw it up. If he does, we recognize it and exploit it to our client’s advantage.