Connecticut Drug DUI Faqs: Court Process

Yes, a prosecutor can access your medical records if you’ve been operating under the influence and are charged with a DUI or are about to be charged with a DUI. They will get a search warrant for your medical records. Once they satisfy a judge that probable cause exists, the judge will issue an order that they can obtain those records and see what was in your system at the time of your accident or arrest. 

Defending against a medical marijuana DUI is the same as defending against a recreational marijuana DUI. There are a lot of things that a lawyer can do to help you, but our main focus is showing that you were not under the influence to the extent that your ability to drive was impaired. Unlike alcohol, which has a specific blood alcohol level at which you can be convicted of a DUI, marijuana cases do not have levels. The prosecution will have to prove that you were too impaired to drive, and it is the defense’s job to prove that even if there was marijuana in your system, your ability to operate a motor vehicle was not impacted. 

If the prosecution wants to dry a marijuana DUI charge, they can. In order to do so, they have to go on the record in court and establish a reason as to why they can’t prosecute the case. This is why it’s important to have a drug DUI defense lawyer on your side. They can find the reasons why the case should be vacated, express them to the prosecutor, and convince them to drop your case. 

As of right now, SCRAM bracelets in Connecticut are used to monitor alcohol, not marijuana or other drugs. SCRAM stands for “secure continuous remote alcohol monitoring.” While this technology exists for transdermal THC testing, it is not yet used in Connecticut. However, we suspect that it is on the horizon in this state and will keep you posted to the changing laws. 

Yes, alcohol DUI and drug DUI have exactly the same penalties, whether you’re a first offender, second offender, or 10th offender. 

The consequences of a drug DUI conviction can range anywhere from probation to jail time. Depending on the level of offense that you have and what happens in your case, you could be saddled with probation and have to report to a probation officer every two weeks during the pendency of that probationary period. If this isn’t your first offense, you could wind up in jail. And if you have one alcohol DUI from years ago and then get a new charge because you have been prescribed marijuana to treat your maladies, you can still wind up getting a conviction, having to do jail time, and having to be treated as an offender in our system, even giving up a DNA sample for the national DNA database. 

Yes, like many other crimes, a marijuana DUI can be expunged in Connecticut. If you are convicted, three years after your conviction, it will be expunged if you file the proper paperwork with the Pardons Board. Coming up in 2023, there will be changes to the pardon system and we’ll provide more information once the court determines the changes that they are going to make. 

A drug DUI lawyer can help you in plenty of ways. They can determine whether or not the police actually had probable cause to pull you over in the first place. If the police didn’t have probable cause, you might be able to bring a motion to dismiss your case outright and not even have to see the inside of a trial. If there was probable cause, your lawyer may be able to bring a motion to suppress some or all the evidence against you. If that happens, then the case against you is weakened or destroyed. In addition, your lawyer will have the skills, the knowledge, and the training to combat the police officers, combat the state’s experts, and show that while you may have had a drug in your system, you weren’t necessarily under the influence at the time you were driving. That’s how a DUI defense lawyer can help you with your case.

If this isn’t your first marijuana DUI charge, you need to contact us. These cases get very complicated very quickly and the stakes get much higher. You may be facing felony charges. Felony charges can disqualify you from many jobs and licenses, impact your credit score, and have a significant impact on your life. You need our help!

There are, and only recently have they started actually involving drug counseling for these types of cases. But you shouldn’t use one of these programs if the state can’t prove their case against you. What we do as defense lawyers is work up every case to see if there are any ways to resolve the case without you having to use a drugged driving diversion program. We keep that in our back pocket and use that as an escape valve if we need it down the line. 

Another common charge that you might face in addition to a drug DUI is engaging the police in pursuit. That will happen if you don’t pull over right away. You can be charged with interfering with an officer and that’s for 100 different reasons when you are not cooperating with them. You can also be charged with infractions like driving too fast, driving too slow, failure to maintain your lane, etc. There’s a whole host of evaluations that you could be charged with as well.

A drug DUI will impact your Commercial Driver’s License significantly. A CDL needs to have an annual health certification. And if you are arrested for a drug DUI, you’re facing at least a minimum one year CDL disqualification. If you have a second arrest, you could be facing a lifetime ban from a commercial motor vehicle. If you are a commercial driver who has a CDL, it is important that you invest in your defense and put yourself in the best position to avoid an impact on your career.

Depending on your employer, a drug DUI can cause you to be terminated. A number of companies that allow people to drive vehicles on company time may lay you off as a result of you having a drug DUI arrest. It’s important to know the status of your company and whether or not you have to disclose your arrest. We can review your employee handbook if you contact us after an arrest for drug DUI.