If you have been arrested for DWI in New York, a few factors decide whether you are charged with a misdemeanor or a felony. First-time offenders are typically charged with a misdemeanor, unless an accident, an injury, or another crime happened alongside the DWI. One important exception: under Leandra's Law, driving while intoxicated with a child age 15 or younger in the vehicle is an automatic felony, even on a first offense.
A misdemeanor, but not a minor matter
The word "misdemeanor" usually suggests a small offense with small penalties. Misdemeanor DWI is different. It is one of the few misdemeanors that regularly carries the possibility of jail. If a court does impose jail on a misdemeanor DWI, it will be no more than one year in a county facility, and in practice a first offense with a clean record often avoids jail entirely, but the exposure is real, and a conviction is a criminal record that does not simply disappear.
Aggravated DWI: the .18 line
A first DWI is charged as Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated when the chemical test shows a blood-alcohol concentration of .18 or higher. It is still a misdemeanor on a first offense, but the fine range is higher ($1,000–$2,500), the license revocation is a full year instead of six months, and prosecutors treat it more seriously. The higher the reading, the more it matters that the testing was done correctly, which is one of the first things we examine.
The real cost adds up
The fines and fees attached to a misdemeanor DWI, the court fine, the mandatory state surcharge and victim fee, the DMV Driver Responsibility Assessment, and a program such as the Impaired Driver Program, add up quickly, before any attorney fee and before the years of higher insurance premiums. That is exactly why your legal fee should be one clear, fixed number you can count on, which is why Jonathan charges a flat $1,500 for misdemeanor DWI representation from start to finish.
The realistic goal: a reduction
By law, a DWI cannot be reduced below DWAI (Vehicle and Traffic Law §1192(10)). For a first offense with a clean record, a common goal is a plea down to DWAI, a traffic violation, not a crime, which keeps a criminal DWI conviction off your record. Where the stop or the testing was mishandled, dismissal may be on the table. Knowing how the district attorney evaluates these cases, from the inside, is a real advantage. Read more about how the defense is built.