A Massachusetts third offense OUI carries a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 150 days and is also a felony offense, that will require you to submit to a DNA test, will cause an eight year loss of your driver’s license and presents the risk that you could be sentenced to a maximum jail sentence of 2.5 years.

Proving Third Offense OUI: To prove a third offense OUI, the Commonwealth first must obtain a conviction on the underlying offense. If that occurs, you are then entitled to a separate trial, which can be before a judge or jury as to how many prior OUI convictions you have on your criminal record. The Commonwealth has to prove certified copies of the dockets of your prior convictions, that prove that you were the same individual who has two prior convictions.

Arraignment and Bail for Third Offense OUI:

If you are charged with a 3rd offense or higher Massachusetts OUI, bail is likely to be an issue. The amount of bail is determined by a number of factors: including

• Criminal record
• Ties to the community where the arrest occurred
• Employment history
• Record of failing to appear in prior cases, referred to as number of defaults.
• Seriousness of the case and strength of the Commonwealth's case.

Dangerousness hearings: Additionally, if you are charged with a Third Offense or greater, the Commonwealth may file a request with the court for a dangerousness hearing to hold you for up to 90 days without bail. Any charge of a Fourth Offense OUI or greater is likely to result in a request for a dangerousness hearing. Depending on the court, a dangerousness hearing may even be requested for a Third Offense OUI.

Click here to read more about Massachusetts dangerousness hearings:

Potential for Bail Revocation if you commit a new crime while on bail:

If you commit a new crime while on bail for a drunk driving charge, there is a potential that the Commonwealth can move to revoke your bail on your first court case and hold you up to six days without bail. Click here to read more about bail revocation.

If you face a Massachusetts Third Offense OUI charge, you need to hire an attorney to appear at the arraignment to defend against a request for bail and to challenge any request to hold you without bail. You can call Attorney DelSignore at 508-455-4755 or on his cell phone at 781-686-5924 to speak to him about a third offense OUI charge, facing yourself, a family member, loved one or friend.