Were you recently charged with driving while license suspended because you were operating a car while your driver’s license was suspended or revoked?
Here’s What You Need To Know
There are three classifications of driving while license suspended:
- Driving While License Suspended 1st Degree. The Revised Code of Washington 46.65 states: A person is guilty of DWLS 1st Degree if they are an habitual offender and driving a car while their license is suspended. An habitual offender” is someone who has a very bad driving record and who has accumulated multiple driving offenses. DWLS 1st Degree is a gross misdemeanor. If found guilty of DWLS 1st Degree an individual would face a minimum of 10 days of imprisonment for their first offense, a minimum of 90 days of imprisonment for their second offense, and a minimum of 180 days of imprisonment for every other subsequent offense. Also,they would have an additional year of license suspension added on to their prior license suspension term.
- Driving While License Suspended 2nd Degree. For an individual to fall into this classification, the individual would have not been eligible to reinstate their driver license, and they would have a decent driving record, they would not be considered an habitual offender. DWLS 2nd Degree is also a gross misdemeanor and if found guilty, an individual would have an additional year of license suspension added on to their prior license suspension term. There is no minimum imprisonment for DWLS 2nd Degree. The only way to avoid the additional one-year license suspension for a person convicted of Driving While License Suspended 1st or 2nd Degree is if the court recommends against the additional license suspension and the person has obtained a valid driver’s license.
- Driving While License Suspended 3rd Degree. For a person to be placed into this classification the person must have been eligible to reinstate his/her driver’s license at the time of the charge. DWLS 3rd Degree is a simple misdemeanor. A person convicted under this section will not lose their driver’s license for any additional period. However they would still want to hire a criminal defense attorney to fight their case and negotiate the charge down to a lesser fraction or get it dismissed.
If you’ve been charged with Driving While License Suspended, call the experienced criminal defense lawyers at David O Defense, 206-459-6392, to schedule a free legal consultation where you can talk about the details of your case, ask questions, and find out more about DWLS charges.