DWI - Need advice

G

GurSingh54

New Member
Recently i got a dwi in north carolina and i got the following penalties this month,

48 hours of community service
substance abuse assessment
court cost and fines around 500 dollars

1 year unsupervised probation.

now the biggest problem is, i'm moving to India next week. my lawyer is saying, if you have dwi conviction in your records, you wouldn't get permission to enter US. so, he is asking me to make a appeal for jury trial which will come after 12 months. he is saying i need not be there in us in jury trial and if i win then i can come back to us else i will be denied entry. also, he is asking 4000 dollars for jury trial. i feel there is some problem here. guys, please advice me. what should i do now? believe my lawyer and go for jury trial?

second problem is, i cannot stay beyond next week. i read from this forum that, if we do all the things that court said and get court disposition papers, court reporters document and police report with me then there will not be any problem in getting the visa. is it valid as per the current law? (because i read it in a post in 2004). I couldn't complete the community service and AA before i'm leaving to India. only thing i can do is pay fine and court cost. Is there any way of completing community service and AA from India? also, can i pay the court cost from India? please advice.

i hope, i have explained my current situation clearly. i got the above mentioned penalties for my dwi conviction in NC and had to leave to India next week. What the best i can do to make myself safe to come back to US?

my employer said there is no help for my personal problems and they are trying to find ways to terminate me. my lawyer is giving a solution which i couldn't even trust atleast 10% of that. with no help around me, i'm hoping that i might get some good news from this forum. Any help to point out where i stand now or any other directions would be highly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Talk to an immigration lawyer. Criminal lawyers are mostly ignorant of immigration law. However if you leave before completing your community service a warrant will be issed for your arrest even if you are out of the country. You will be arrested if you ever come back to the US or may even be denied a visa if the consulate/embassy finds out you have a visa. A DWI in itself does not you inadmissible. My advise talk to a lawyer, try to meet with judge that sentenced you and explain your situation and see about alternative sentencing.
 
My guess is it would be worth it to pay the $4000 for the jury trial even if all you achieved is a delay of at least a year. If you don't complete your court mandated resolutions then you'll get a warrant as already stated. With a warrant out for your arrest, well ... see the above post.
 
1 more question,

my visa expires on Jul 2010. if i apply for Jury trial, it will come on June 2010. If i apply for jury trial then i need not do any of the things that district court said to me. so, till the jury trial, i will not be issued any warrant. my question is, if i leave back to India and if i have to come back by Dec 2009, is it possible? I will be holding a valid visa and my jury trial is pending and there will not be any warrant on my name, so if i come back to US, say on Nov/Dec 2009, will I be arrested/denied entry at the POE? with no warrant on my name but Jury trial pending, will there be any problem while fingerprinting in POE? Please, this is the very important question that I need answer at this moment. I WILL appreciate any response which will make me to take a decision at this time.

Thanks.
 
You will probably be able to come back with no problems if your appeal for a jury trial is accepted. You might go through secondary inspection at POE if it flags your fingerprints but like I said earlier DWI/DUI in itself is not inadmissible unless it is aggravated DUI or you are ruled habitual drunk.
 
Thank you very much, AzBlk and So_Special, for your advice. My next step would be apply for Jury trial and with a hope that I could come back, I have to travel to India.

Thank you very much.
 
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