- District of Columbia DUI – statute(s) DC ST § 50-2206.11; DC ST § 50-2206.14.
- District of Columbia DUI – standard
- “No person shall operate or be in physical control of any vehicle in the District: . . . [w]hile the person is under the influence of alcohol or any drug or any combination thereof.” DC ST § 50-2206.11(2).
- No person shall operate or be in physical control of any vehicle in the District while the person’s ability to operate or be in physical control of a vehicle is impaired by . . . any drug or any combination thereof.” DC ST § 50-2206.14.
- District of Columbia DUI – applicable substances
- Any drug. “Drug” means “any chemical substance that affects the processes of the mind or body, including but not limited to a controlled substance . . . and any prescription or non-prescription medication.” DC ST § 50-2206.01(6).
- District of Columbia Implied consent – applicable drivers
- Person operating a motor vehicle within the District. DC ST § 50-1904.02(a). Implied consent – tests authorized Consent to provide two specimens for chemical testing of the person’s blood, breath, or urine. DC ST § 50-1904.02(a).
- District of Columbia Implied consent – basis for test
- Test can be requested if: (1) LEO has “reasonable grounds to believe” that a person is operating vehicle while intoxicated or impaired; and (2) after driver’s arrest. DC ST § 50-1904.02(a).
- If the arrested person was involved in a collision that resulted in a fatality, a LEO “may employ whatever means are reasonable to collect blood specimens from the person if the law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person was intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol or of any drug or any combination thereof.” DC ST § 50-1905(d).
- District of Columbia Implied consent – evidence of refusal
- Evidence of the refusal is “admissible in any civil or criminal proceeding arising as a result of the acts alleged to have been committed by the person prior to the arrest.” DC ST § 50-1905(c). If the offender has a prior DUI conviction, however, “there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the person is under the influence of alcohol or a drug or any combination thereof.” DC ST § 50-1905(b).
- District of Columbia Implied consent – administrative / civil penalty for refusal
- Driver’s license suspension of 12 months. DC ST § 50-1905(a)(1)(2)(A).
- District of Columbia Implied consent – criminal penalty for refusal
- District of Columbia DUI Conviction – administrative / civil penalty (license suspension, use of IID)
- First conviction driver’s license revoked for up to six months.
- Second conviction driver’s license revoked for up to one year.
- Third or subsequent conviction driver’s license revoked for up to two years. DC ST § 50-1403.02.
- Any person whose licenses has been revoked may apply for participation in an IID program. 18 DCMR § 311.3.
- District of Columbia DUI Conviction – criminal penalties (jail sentence, fines, community service)
- First conviction (impaired) jail sentence of up to 90 days; $500 fine.
- First conviction (influence) jail sentence up to 180 days, with a minimum of 15 days “if the person’s blood or urine contains a Schedule I chemical or controlled substance . . . Phencyclidine, Cocaine, Methadone, Morphine, or one of its active metabolites or analogs”; $1,000 fine.
- Second conviction within 15 years (impaired) jail sentence of 5 days to one year; fine of $1,000-$2,500.
- Second conviction within 15 years (influence) jail sentence of 10 days to one year, with a minimum of 20 days “if the person’s blood or urine contains a Schedule I chemical or controlled substance . . . Phencyclidine, Cocaine, Methadone, Morphine, or one of its active metabolites or analogs”; fine of $2,500-$5,000.
- Third or subsequent conviction within 15 years (impaired) jail sentence of 10 days to one year; fine of $1,000-$5,000.
- Third conviction within 15 years (influence) jail sentence of 15 days to one year, with a minimum of 25 days “if the person’s blood or urine contains a Schedule I chemical or controlled substance . . . Phencyclidine, Cocaine, Methadone, Morphine, or one of its active metabolites or analogs”; fine of $2,500-$10,000.
- Fourth or subsequent conviction within 15 years(influence) same as third offense with an additional 30-day minimum sentence added for each additional violation. DC ST § 50-2206.13(a)-(d); DC ST § 50-2206.15(a)-(c). Child endangerment If an offender had a passenger under age 18 in the vehicle at the time of the offense, then the offender faces additional penalties of: (1) fine of $500-$1,000; and (2) mandatory minimum prison sentences of five days or 10 days, with the higher sentence occurring if the minor is not restrained in age-appropriate safety restraint. DC ST § 50-2206.18(a).
- Treatment
- Any person convicted of violating § 50-2206.11 or § 50-2206.14 for the second time within 15 years “shall have his or her alcohol or drug abuse history assessed and a treatment program prescribed as appropriate.” DC ST § 50-2206.54.
- Marijuana use in vehicle
- The District of Columbia allows persons to possess marijuana for recreational use and for certain registered patients to use marijuana for medicinal use. A patient is not allowed to ingest marijuana anywhere but their residence or a medical treatment facility. DC ST § 7-1671.03(b).
- District of Columbia DUI Selected state court decisions
- Taylor v. District of Columbia, 49 A.3d 1259 (D.C. 2012)à OWI does not carry a lesser impairment standard that DWI (despite lesser penalties), but rather was created as a “lesser offense” to promote plea bargaining.
- Karamychev v. District of Columbia, 772 A.2d 806 (D.C. 2001)à “A person is guilty of DUI if he or she is ‘to the slightest degree … less able, either mentally or physically or both, to exercise the clear judgment and steady hand necessary to handle as powerful and dangerous a mechanism as a modern automobile with safety to himself or the public.’”
- Reference:
Drugged Driving: 2016 Summary of Key Provisions of State Laws
