Morgantown, WV DUI Lawyer

Driving Under the Influence Defense in Monongalia County

The DUI lawyers in Morgantown, WV have represented hundreds of citizens charged with drunk driving or drugged driving. Driving under the influence is a crime in all states, and West Virginia’s DUI laws can be harsh and somewhat arbitrary in some ways. While all DUI attorneys are criminal defense lawyers, not all criminal attorneys focus on motor vehicles crimes, much less limit their law practice to driving while intoxicated. But Morgantown DUI lawyer Harley Wagner has done just that.

Helping You Defend Your Future

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    Fewer than 3% of all West Virginia lawyers are experienced in DUI defense.

    Some may handle criminal law, but that is often white-collar crime or felonies, like aggravated assault, sex crimes, or murder. To define “experienced,” the criteria being used for West Virginia DUI lawyers is having helped over 1,000 prior clients. If you contact local law firms, you will be hard-pressed to find local attorneys with such extensive experience as a DUI defense lawyer. At The Wagner Law Firm, Mr. Wagner is routinely one of the most frequent DUI attorneys in Morgantown, WV, representing clients charged with impaired driving. In fact, he is the only lawyer who limits his entire legal practice to intoxicated driving and travels to any county in West Virginia. Harley also work with the families of college students who were arrested for DUI under 21, underage possession of alcohol, and even misdemeanor marijuana possession.

    West Virginia University DUI Defense

    Almost 30,000 college students attend West Virginia University in Morgantown, and their safety both on and off-campus is the responsibility of several police forces, including campus police (WVU Police), the Morgantown Police Department, and the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office. Part of the police officer’s role as law enforcement officers is to arrest impaired drivers. In addition to helping WVU students, DUI defense attorney Harley Wagner receives desperate phone calls from alumni, parents, and Mountaineer football fans who were in Morgantown for a home game. The basketball team has also flirted with national prominence, but these home games bring smaller crowds to Morgantown. Public safety officers cover the city and county of Monongalia for these events. Many clients call us and ask their first question: “Is a DUI a felony?” Because they were arrested, they think that their criminal charge must be a WV DUI felony. Most drunk drivers are a first offense DUI, about 90% are for alcohol only, and well over 90% of driving under the influence cases are a misdemeanor DUI. Citizens arrested for drunken driving may be charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, alcohol and drugs, driving while impaired by marijuana or after taking prescription medications (DUI-drugs). The Wagner Law Firm also has handled cases for a parent who was in Morgantown for purposes of moving their child into a new dorm or new apartment. Some citizens are arrested for DUI in WV at a DUI checkpoint, set up late at night, after the main traffic jams have subsided. Many out-of-state drivers travel on local roads, including Interstates 68 and 79, and Don Knotts Blvd, and suddenly hear a police siren and see flashing blue lights behind them. Being handcuffed and driven to jail is traumatic enough without having to travel back to Morgantown for court over the next year or more. Such costly time away from work is disruptive and can signal an employer that “something is wrong.”

    Harley Wagner Is Known Across the State of West Virginia

    Harley’s DUI law office is in Martinsburg, WV, about a 2-hour drive from WVU. When retained for cases in Morgantown, Mr. Wagner routinely drives to Morgantown to meet with his clients. The purpose of the face-to-face meeting is to explain the best defense strategy for their pending case. Beating a DUI starts with filing written motions in court to get damaging evidence excluded or suppressed. This is an essential part of vigorously defending his clients facing DUI charges in Morgantown Municipal Court and in the Monongalia Magistrate Court. Your first court date is called an arraignment, but you DO NOT have to be present. Harley Wagner will file a plea of not guilty for you and file a discovery motion to obtain a copy of your arrest video and your breathalyzer results (blood alcohol content level). Harley Wagner will begin working on your case immediately because not a single day can be wasted to protect clients’ right to drive and fight to avoid a DUI conviction. Highly important is to protect your driving privileges by having Mr. Wagner file your administrative license suspension appeal WITHIN 30 DAYS of arrest.

    Don’t Hesitate, Contact The Wagner Law Firm Today

    The WV state prosecutor’s office gets your arrest paperwork and breath test results within hours of your arrival at jail. They get a head start on building a solid case against you. But there is hope. With Harley Wagner, experience can help turn hope into reality. The Wagner Law Firm has changed the outcomes of people’s cases from “hopeless” to “successful,” for almost 20 years. Favorable results have saved hundreds of Mr. Wagner’s clients a lot of grief that (if not handled properly) would have stretched out their entire lifetime.
    Why not take advantage of your FREE consultation? If you or a loved one was facing a dire cancer diagnosis, would you search for a cancer specialist near me, or find the true expert in the field, even of that meant going to Texas, North Carolina, New York or Atlanta? Pick up your phone, and call us at (304) 461-6000. What do you have to lose?

    Why Trust Harley Wagner?

    24 Years of Experience

    Over 24 Years of Experience

    More Than 3,000 DUI Cases Handled

    Performed 800 Hours of DUI Defense Training

    Award Winning Representation

    Faculty Member at DUI Defense Lawyers Association

    Author of West Virginia's Preeminent DUI Book

    Attorney Harley Wagner

    Harley Wagner

    Award-Winning DUI Attorney Harley is the owner of The Wagner Law Firm, West Virginia’s only exclusive DUI defense law firm. Harley is a graduate of his beloved alma mater, West Virginia University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in journalism in 1990. He attended law school in Lansing, Michigan where he graduated from the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law in 1995. Criminal law and being a criminal defense attorney was Harley’s singular focus during and after law school. In furtherance of .