December 8, 2014: OWI-4th/PAC-4th Reduced to Non-Traffic Misdemeanor Offense

A fourth offense OWI is serious business. A typical sentence for such an offense would include a jail term of 6-12 months, 3-year license revocation, ignition interlock device (IID) installation, lengthy probation, alcohol counseling and exorbitant fines. So when our client, SK, was arrested for what would be his fourth offense, he was terrified. It had been 16 years since his last OWI and he couldn't fathom facing such a harsh outcome at this stage of his life. He now had a firmly established career, owned his own home and was about to get married. All of that was in grave danger if he were convicted as charged. Knowing he had no choice but to do something about it, SK set out to find the best lawyer possible to save the life as he knew it. Fortunately, a close friend in whom SK had confided about his situation was a former client of Dennis Melowski. His friend told SK not to bother calling anyone else and to set up a meeting with Dennis. That's exactly what SK did and it was the best decision he could have made. After slugging the case out for more than a year, Dennis had sufficiently undermined the State's case against SK to the point that he was able to negotiate a fantastic deal for SK. The original fourth offense drunk driving charges were dropped. Instead, SK plead no contest to the non-traffic, non-alcohol-related misdemeanor offense of Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle. This offense carries no license loss whatsoever and will not even appear on SK's driver record, meaning no insurance ramifications. SK was also able to completely avoid probation and was spared of the awful ignition interlock requirement. SK was sentenced to just 50 days in jail, all with work release and electronic monitoring. Another extremely happy client.