After people cross the Piscataqua River Bridge heading north from New Hampshire, they are greeted by a few very large Maine D.O.T. signs. One says that MAINE HAS TOUGH DRUNK DRIVING LAWS. That is something of a misnomer.
It should say that in Maine, it is against the law to drive while your mental or physical facilities are impaired to the slightest degree or to any extent. But, although the signs are very large, they are not big enough for that mouthful.
Like every state, Maine law gives prosecutors two ways to prove an OUI case (other states use acronyms like DWI, DUI and OWI). The first option is common to all states: operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.08 or higher. States have different laws regarding the second option. So, what happens if there is no test result because the defendant refused to take a test ? What happens if the jury decides that the state has not proven that the defendant had a 0.08 or higher BAC because of problems with the test ? The defendant is not off the hook just yet.
In the DWI (Driving While intoxicated) states, the jury must then decide whether or not the defendant was intoxicated while driving. Most, if not all, jurors will interpret the word intoxicated to be the equivalent of drunk. However, in Maine and a few other states, the threshold level of proof that the state must meet is significantly lower.
OUI is Operating Under The Influence. The best way to explain the difference between Maine’s impaired driving law with the intoxicated/drunk driving laws in other states is to quote the portion of the jury instructions on what it it means to be “under the influence.” At the end of a trial, the judge instructs the jurors on the law. In a typical OUI trial, the jury instructions last for about 30-35 minutes. This is what the judge tells them:
The state does not have to prove that the defendant was drunk or intoxicated to any degree. The state does have to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant’s mental or physical faculties were impaired to the slightest degree or any extent by alcohol and/or other drugs.
Note that the judge tells the jurors specifically that the state does not have to prove that the person was drunk or intoxicated. Obviously, we have a significantly lower threshold on our prohibition against drinking and driving than most other states.
We share what is called the “per se 0.08 BAC or higher” limit with the other 49 states. Per se means that, regardless of whether or not the defendant exhibits any impairment of mental or physical faculties, he is guilty if the state proves that the test is an accurate reflection of his BAC at the time of driving. I have had far more trials than any other lawyer in Maine in which the jurors were not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the test result was reliable.
But, I have also had to address that second option, impairment. That is a different topic for a different time. I have developed a variety of extremely effective ways to attack the state’s evidence in that regard.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide general, not specific, information about Maine law. The publication of this article does not constitute an attorney-client relationship between the author(s) and the reader(s).
