PRIOR DUI CONVICTION

Everyone knows that the penalties for a DUI conviction are worse if you have been convicted of DUI before. But one unusual aspect of Washington State's DUI laws is that you can be treated as if you have had a prior DUI conviction even if you have not actually had a prior DUI conviction. If you were previously charged with DUI and the charge was reduced to a "lesser charge," (typically by plea bargaining) that reduction will be held against you under the new law even though you were never convicted of DUI if the previous arrest occurred within seven years of the arrest for the current charge. This is true even though you might have been told, at the time of the previous reduction, that it would not count as a DUI conviction in the future. Even a successfully completed Deferred Prosecution, which resulted in dismissal of the previous DUI charge, will count as a prior if the arrest was within seven years of the current incident.

Keep in mind that a judge retains the right to consider convictions more than seven years before the current incident in imposing a stiffer sentence, but prior offenses within seven years give the judge no choice but to impose the mandatory stiffer sentence.

Here is a list of convictions which count as "prior offenses" in order to increase the mandatory minimum sentence of a current DUI charge, where the prior arrest was within seven years of the current arrest (see RCW 46.61.5055):

1. A "prior offense" means any of the following:
   1. A conviction for a violation of RCW 46.61.502 (DUI) or an equivalent local ordinance;
   2. A conviction for a violation of RCW 46.61.504 (Physical Control) or an equivalent local ordinance;
   3. A conviction for a violation of RCW 46.61.520 (Vehicular Homicide) committed while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug;
   4. A conviction for a violation of RCW 46.61.522 (vehicular assault) committed while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug;
   5. A conviction for a violation of RCW 46.61.5249, (Negligent Driving, First Degree) 46.61.500, (Reckless Driving) or 9A.36.050 (Reckless Endangerment) or an equivalent local ordinance, if the conviction is the result of a charge that was originally filed as a violation of RCW 46.61.502 or 46.61.504, or an equivalent local ordinance, or of RCW 46.61.520 or 46.61.522;
   6. An out-of-state conviction for a violation that would have been a violation of (b)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) of this subsection if committed in this state;
   7. A deferred prosecution under chapter 10.05 RCW granted in a prosecution for a violation of RCW 46.61.502, 46.61.504, or an equivalent local ordinance; or
   8. A deferred prosecution under chapter 10.05 RCW granted in a prosecution for a violation of RCW 46.61.5249, or an equivalent local ordinance, if the charge under which the deferred prosecution was granted was originally filed as a violation of RCW 46.61.502 or 46.61.504, or an equivalent local ordinance, or of RCW 46.61.520 or 46.61.522; and
2. "Within seven years" means that the arrest for a prior offense occurred within seven years of the arrest for the current offense.

These laws are complex and must be read in the context of other Washington DUI laws in order to gain an accurate picture of the consequences of a DUI conviction in a particular factual setting.