Fall football season in South Carolina brings tailgates, watch parties, packed parking areas, rideshare traffic, and late-night driving across Greenville, Clemson, Spartanburg, and nearby Upstate communities. Drivers may encounter sobriety checkpoints, driver’s license checkpoints, or concentrated DUI patrol activity during busy weekends. A checkpoint stop can be lawful, but the Fourth Amendment still applies, and […]
A South Carolina DUI arrest video can reveal far more than whether a driver appears intoxicated. A lawyer may examine when recording began, what supposedly justified the traffic stop, how the driver spoke and moved, how field sobriety tests were administered, what the officer said, and whether legally required portions of the investigation were recorded. […]
Yes. You can be arrested for DUI in South Carolina after taking a legal prescription drug if an officer has probable cause to believe the medication impaired your ability to drive. A valid prescription may explain why a drug was in your system, but it does not automatically prevent an arrest or defeat a DUI […]
DUI and DUAC are separate South Carolina offenses that can arise from the same traffic stop, but they focus on different proof. A DUI case asks whether alcohol, drugs, or a combination of substances materially and appreciably impaired your faculties to drive. A DUAC case focuses on whether you drove with an alcohol concentration of […]
A DUI arrest in South Carolina can create professional licensing concerns, but an arrest does not automatically mean that you will lose a nursing, medical, teaching, real estate, or other occupational license. If you hold a professional license in Greenville, Clemson, Spartanburg, or a nearby Upstate South Carolina community, you may need to address the […]
A second DUI conviction in South Carolina can bring mandatory jail time, substantial fines, a two-year ignition interlock requirement, and participation in the Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program, commonly called ADSAP. The sentencing range becomes more severe when the alcohol concentration tied to the conviction is at least 0.10 percent, and the highest second-offense […]
South Carolina’s 2026 Labor Day Sober or Slammer campaign is scheduled for August 14 through September 7, 2026. During this period, drivers in Greenville and across Upstate South Carolina may encounter added impaired-driving enforcement, including saturation patrols, traffic stops, and public safety checkpoints. A roadblock stop is not automatic proof of DUI. Officers must still […]
A South Carolina DUI arrest does not automatically cancel every college scholarship. The result depends on the type of financial aid, the terms of the award, the outcome of the criminal case, the student’s prior record, academic performance, enrollment status, and the rules of the college or scholarship sponsor. South Carolina state scholarship laws focus […]
A South Carolina DUI case often takes several months to resolve, but no single deadline applies to every case. Some less complicated misdemeanor cases resolve in roughly three to six months. Cases involving disputed evidence, pretrial motions, expert review, a jury trial, a collision, or felony allegations may take six to twelve months or longer. […]
August can create conditions that raise the risk of a boating under the influence investigation in South Carolina. Late-summer crowds, long days on the water, heat, fatigue, alcohol use, and increased activity near ramps, marinas, coves, and narrow channels can bring boaters into contact with law enforcement. The Bateman Law Firm helps people in Greenville, […]
Sleeping in your car after drinking does not automatically make you guilty of DUI in South Carolina. Police can still investigate and file a charge when the facts suggest that you drove while impaired before parking. South Carolina DUI law focuses on driving, and state appellate decisions have treated vehicle movement as part of that […]
A DUI arrest during back-to-school weekend in Greenville can create two separate proceedings: a criminal case and, after a breath test refusal or a result of 0.15 percent or higher, an immediate driver’s license suspension. The seasonal setting does not change South Carolina DUI law. Crowded streets, unfamiliar routes, late-night gatherings, student move-ins, and heavier […]