Criminal Defense Lawyers

Driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs in both North Carolina and South Carolina is a serious crime that can undermine your personal and professional prospects. Most often, people are convicted because their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was above the legal limit. If you are 21 or older, you are over the limit if you have a BAC of .08%. However, if you are a commercial driver, you are over the limit if you have a BAC of .04%. While DUI is less complex than some crimes, this does not mean that your case is necessarily open and shut. For example, we may be able to challenge the justification for the police stop or the way in which field sobriety tests or chemical tests were conducted.

The DUI laws in South Carolina are very specific and sometimes different from those in North Carolina. We are familiar with their nuances. For example, South Carolina uses certain presumptions and inferences that are based on a defendant’s blood alcohol content:

• The defendant is presumed to not have been under the influence if their BAC was 0.05 or less
• There is no presumption or inference about whether the defendant was under the influence if their BAC was between 0.051 and 0.079; the BAC reading may be considered together with other evidence to determine whether the defendant was under the influence
• There is an inference that the defendant was under the influence if their BAC was 0.08 or greater

Both Carolinas prohibit drug possession, drug manufacturing, and drug distribution under their respective criminal laws. Our Charlotte criminal defense attorneys can help you fight any of these types of charges. There are six different schedules into which drugs fall, and these will determine the penalties upon a conviction. Schedule I drugs are considered by the state to be the most addictive and dangerous types of drugs, and they are always illegal to possess. Heroin and ecstasy are examples of Schedule I drugs. Drugs in schedules II, III, IV, and V are increasingly less likely to be used for abusive reasons, and they have more medical uses. These drugs may be legal under certain circumstances, such as use with a prescription. Schedule VI drugs include marijuana and substances related to marijuana.

North Carolina sex crimes encompass such offenses as child molestation, sexual battery, sexual exploitation of a minor, kidnapping of a minor, and rape. In North Carolina, for example, there are two degrees of rape. In first-degree rape, a perpetrator forces a victim to have non-consensual sex, and another circumstance is present, such as possession of a deadly weapon, a serious injury being inflicted, or the perpetrator being helped by one or more other people. In second-degree rape, a victim is forced to have non-consensual sex, but the victim is not able to give consent, due to incapacitation, mental disability, or physical helplessness. Consent is often a disputed issue in sex crime cases in either North Carolina or South Carolina, as is the credibility of the witnesses on each side. We understand the emotional complexities of the situations that may give rise to these types of charges.

Our Charlotte criminal defense lawyers also represent people accused of violent crimes, including assault, assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence, stalking, kidnapping, robbery, and homicide. There are three misdemeanor types of assault and battery. However, if you assault someone with a deadly weapon and an intent to kill, or the assault results in a serious injury, you can be charged with a felony. In some cases, a defendant in North Carolina or South Carolina may be able to argue that they acted in self-defense, if the alleged victim actually instigated the incident. Or they may argue that they lacked the intent to commit the crime.

Domestic violence victims are protected by civil and criminal laws. Domestic violence occurs if someone with a certain relationship to the victim tries to intentionally cause a bodily injury, or if someone puts another person or a member of their family in fear of an imminent serious bodily injury, among other situations. Someone may be charged with domestic violence if they are a current or former spouse of the victim, are living or have lived with the victim, are dating or have dated the victim, are a parent or child of the victim, are a grandparent or grandchild of the victim, are the other parent of the victim’s child, or are a current or former household member.

The penalties for traffic violations are less severe than for felonies or misdemeanors, but our criminal defense lawyers know that Charlotte residents and people in the Rock Hill area may face major problems if their ability to drive is constrained by traffic tickets. With some traffic tickets, you will need to go to court for a hearing. However, there are sometimes options to waive or to ask for an online dismissal or online reduction from the District Attorney's Office. We can help you try to keep points off your license and keep your insurance premiums down. If your license has been revoked or suspended, we can assist you with the reinstatement process as well.

We can represent spouses who need to move forward from a broken marriage. North Carolina is a “no-fault” divorce state. If you want to divorce in the state, you will need to be a resident who has separated from your spouse for a minimum of 12 months. Our family law attorneys can assist you not only with the main divorce proceeding but also with related matters, such as child custody and support arrangements.

If you have suffered serious injuries in an accident, you may need to bring a claim or lawsuit to help cover the resulting costs. Most personal injury lawsuits are brought under a theory of negligence. This means that an accident victim must prove that another person or business caused the accident because they failed to take reasonable precautions in the circumstances. For example, a truck driver may breach the duty to use reasonable care by failing to abide by the hours of service regulations and driving while overly fatigued, which may result in rear-ending a car.

Many drivers fail to take appropriate steps to avoid putting people around them at risk of harm. Most states allow the recovery of damages even if a plaintiff was partially at fault for a car accident. However, if your own actions contributed to a North Carolina accident in any way, you will be barred from recovering damages at all based on the harsh doctrine of contributory negligence. This makes it especially important to consult an attorney early in the case. We can investigate a car accident from your perspective and build evidence to defeat any assertion that you were at fault.

If you are charged with a crime in North Carolina or South Carolina, you should contact Powers Law Firm. Serving people in the Rock Hill and Charlotte areas, our criminal defense attorneys also represent defendants in Gastonia, Statesville, Mooresville, Lincolnton, Monroe, Indian Trail, Fort Mill, Rock Hill, York, and other areas of Mecklenburg, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Union, and York Counties. Call us at 704-342-4357 or contact us via our online form to set up an appointment.

** Bill Powers is licensed in the State of North Carolina and limits his practice to legal issues in North Carolina. Attorney Chris Beddow is licensed to practice law in both South Carolina and North Carolina, and is therefore solely responsible for legal matters in South Carolina.

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