Admission to Driving in a Charlotte DWI
Since the investigating officer in a Charlotte DWI accident case likely did not see the accident occur, nor the driver of the vehicle, one of the first things the officer will attempt to do is get you to admit that you were the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident. While it is always wise to refrain from making such an admission – or any incriminating admission for that matter – your admission to driving, standing alone, is not enough evidence for the State to convict you of DWI. The law on this is clear. It states, “an extrajudicial confession, standing alone, is not sufficient to sustain a conviction of a crime.” This means that if your out of court admission to driving is the only evidence the State uses to prove that you were the driver of the vehicle in question, that alone is not sufficient to sustain a conviction for DWI. This rule primarily exists to help ensure that you are not convicted of DWI, or any other crime, that you didn’t commit or was committed by someone else. Let's now look at how the State may overcome this rule.
Common Questions Regarding DWI
Corroborating Your Admission to Driving in a Charlotte DWI
As mentioned above, your admission to driving, standing alone, is not enough evidence for the State to convict you of DWI in Charlotte. However, your admission to driving, in combination with other substantial independent evidence that sufficiently corroborates your admission, may be enough to convict you of DWI. This means that if the State uses other independent evidence that officers gather during their DWI investigation, and this independent evidence confirms that your admission to driving is a trustworthy admission, then your admission in combination with the other independent evidence may be sufficient to convict you of DWI.
This independent evidence that the State will attempt to use to corroborate your admission to driving in a DWI accident case may come in a variety of forms, including testimony from:
- EMS Workers
- Firemen
- Insurance Agents
- Civilian Witnesses
- Your proximity to the car
- The location of your car keys (i.e.. in your pocket)
- To whom the car is registered
- Injuries to you consistent with being in a car accident, such as bruising from an airbag, steering wheel, or seatbelt
- Mud or dirt near the car and on you
- Your personal items in the car
- Your description of the crash
- Blood on you and in the driver’ seat
- Fluids leaking from the vehicle and on you
While this is not an exhaustive list, this list demonstrates that potential evidence may exist in your DWI accident case that could help the State prove that you were the driver of the vehicle that was involved in a car accident that the investigating officer did not observe, with or without your admission to driving.
The Right To Confront Witnesses in a DWI Trial
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