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Criminal Defense
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Personal Injury
Raleigh DWI Accident Lawyer
Serving Wake County & Beyond
250+ Reviews and counting
When a DWI involves an accident with injuries or property damage, you’re looking at felony charges, possible prison time, and civil lawsuits that can destroy your financial future. Protect your rights. Schedule a confidential consultation with a Raleigh DWI defense attorney who knows how to challenge accident reconstruction today.
At DeMent Askew Johnson & Marshall, we’ve defended countless clients facing the nightmare of DWI accident charges. We know you’re terrified about what happens next. You’re wondering if you’ll ever drive again. If you’ll lose your career. If you’ll watch your children grow up from behind prison walls.
Your entire future hinges on what happens right now. The next steps you take will determine whether you face the maximum punishment or whether we can build a defense that gives you a fighting chance.
When your DWI involves an accident, the charges escalate dramatically. Instead of facing misdemeanor penalties, you’re now looking at:
If someone was hurt in the accident, you face a Class F felony carrying:
If someone died in the accident, you face a Class D felony carrying:
If you have prior DWI convictions, the charges elevate to:
And that’s just the beginning. You’ll also face:
The state doesn’t just need to prove you were driving impaired—they must prove your impairment caused the accident. They build these cases through:
The prosecution will use every resource at their disposal to secure a conviction. They know these cases carry emotional weight with judges and juries, who naturally sympathize with injured victims and grieving families.
DWI accident cases are fundamentally different from standard DWI cases. They involve:
An attorney who simply handles routine DWIs isn’t equipped for the technical, legal, and strategic challenges these cases present. You need a defense team with specific experience in vehicular felonies.
At DeMent Askew Johnson & Marshall, we don’t just defend your case—we fight for your future. Our comprehensive approach includes:
When facing charges this serious, the attorney you choose can literally determine whether you spend decades in prison or have a chance to rebuild your life. When you choose our firm, you benefit from:
If you’ve been charged with a DWI accident offense, here’s what you can expect:
Every case is different, but these charges typically take 6-18 months to resolve due to their complexity and severity.
If you’re facing DWI accident charges, take these critical steps immediately:
The prosecution is already building their case against you. Every day without experienced representation puts you at greater risk.
At DeMent Askew Johnson & Marshall, we understand the devastating impact of DWI accident charges. We know you’re facing the fight of your life, and we’re ready to stand with you through every step of this difficult process.
Our experienced trial attorneys will leave no stone unturned in defending your case, protecting your rights, and fighting for your future. While we can’t guarantee outcomes, we can promise that you’ll receive the most vigorous, strategic defense possible.
The consultation is completely confidential.
Call us now at (919) 752-5023 or complete our online contact form to schedule your consultation. Don’t wait another day to begin defending your future.
Serving clients in Raleigh, Durham, Orange, Carteret, and Chatham Counties, and throughout North Carolina.
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North Carolina courts consider injuries “serious” when they cause substantial pain and suffering. Factors courts examine include whether the victim required hospitalization, underwent surgery, experienced significant blood loss, suffered permanent disfigurement, or missed substantial work time. Even if injuries eventually heal, they can still qualify as “serious” if they caused significant temporary suffering. Our attorneys work with medical experts to challenge the prosecution’s characterization of injuries, potentially reducing charges from felony to misdemeanor level in appropriate cases.
Yes, but these blood draws are vulnerable to legal challenges. Hospital blood draws are primarily taken for medical purposes, not legal ones, and often use different testing methods than forensic samples. We challenge hospital blood evidence by:
Often, hospital blood evidence can be suppressed or significantly undermined through proper legal challenges.
This is a critical defense in many cases. The prosecution must prove not just that you were impaired, but that your impairment was the proximate cause of the accident and resulting injuries or death. If we can demonstrate that the crash would have occurred regardless of your impairment—due to another driver’s actions, road conditions, vehicle malfunctions, or other factors—we may be able to defeat the felony charges even if the DWI charge remains. This “causation defense” has helped many clients avoid the most serious consequences in these cases.
Most insurance policies provide coverage for accidents even when DWI is alleged, but typically only up to your policy limits. However, many policies exclude coverage for punitive damages, which are common in DWI accident cases. Additionally, if your policy limits are $100,000 or $300,000, but the damages exceed millions of dollars, you face personal liability for the difference. Our defense team works with insurance defense counsel to coordinate strategies while protecting your interests in both criminal and civil proceedings.
Your license faces multiple suspension periods:
For felony convictions involving serious injury or death, license revocation is typically permanent, though limited driving privileges may eventually become available through a complex restoration process. Our attorneys guide clients through both the immediate license hearings and long-term restoration strategies.
While these charges carry presumptive prison sentences, several factors can sometimes help avoid or minimize incarceration:
The possibility of avoiding prison depends entirely on the specific facts of your case, the extent of injuries, your prior record, and the judge assigned. Our attorneys develop comprehensive sentencing strategies focused on demonstrating rehabilitation potential rather than punishment alone.
Prior DWI convictions dramatically escalate both charges and penalties. A prior DWI within seven years elevates charges to “aggravated” status, increasing felony classification levels and potential sentences. Multiple prior DWIs or prior vehicular felonies can trigger “habitual” status, potentially resulting in decades-long sentences. Prior convictions also eliminate many plea bargaining opportunities and make pretrial release more difficult. Our defense approach must address and mitigate the impact of any prior history while focusing on the current case’s specific facts.
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