Goose Creek Criminal Defense & DUI Lawyer

Goose Creek DUI and DUAC Defense

DUI (S.C. Code § 56-5-2930) means driving while your faculties are “materially and appreciably impaired” by alcohol, drugs or both, and it requires no particular breath-test number. DUAC (§ 56-5-2933) means driving with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. A DUI charge can be prosecuted as DUAC only if the breath or bodily-fluid test was taken within two hours of the arrest and there was reasonable suspicion for the stop, and you cannot be prosecuted for both from the same incident.

At a DUI trial, § 56-5-2950 sets what the alcohol concentration means:

• 0.05 or less: the law conclusively presumes you were not under the influence of alcohol.
• Over 0.05 but under 0.08: no inference either way; the result is weighed with the other evidence.
• 0.08 or more: the court may infer that you were under the influence.

A first-offense DUI carries a fine or jail time that rises with the alcohol concentration: under 0.10, a $400 fine or 48 hours to 30 days; from 0.10 to under 0.16, a $500 fine or 72 hours to 30 days; at 0.16 or more, a $1,000 fine or 30 to 90 days. Those are base fines: the court adds an assessment equal to 107.5 percent of the fine (§§ 14-1-206 to 14-1-208), so the total is more than double. The court may allow public service in place of the minimum jail time. A prior DUI or DUAC offense within ten years brings higher penalties.

The video rule. Under § 56-5-2953, the officer’s recording must begin no later than the moment the blue lights come on and must include any field sobriety tests and the arrest, showing you being advised of your Miranda rights. At the breath-test site, it must show the whole test procedure, the 20-minute waiting period before it, and you being told that you are being recorded and may refuse the test. The statute excuses a missing recording in limited situations, such as inoperable equipment or a medical emergency shown by the officer’s sworn affidavit, and lets the court weigh any other valid reason. In City of Rock Hill v. Suchenski (2007), the South Carolina Supreme Court held that dismissal is an appropriate remedy when a recording violation is not excused. A recording that fails to show the Miranda warning is treated differently: since State v. Taylor (2022), the remedy is suppression of the affected statements, not automatic dismissal. We check both recordings against South Carolina’s DUI video-recording law.

Implied consent and your license. Driving in South Carolina counts as consent to a breath, blood or urine test after a DUI arrest (§ 56-5-2950). You can refuse, but the refusal can be used against you in court, and it brings an administrative suspension: six months for a driver with no DUI conviction or DUI-related suspension in the past ten years. A test result of 0.15 or more brings a one-month suspension for the same driver. These suspensions are separate from the criminal case. You have 30 days from the notice of suspension to request a contested case hearing before the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings and to either obtain a temporary alcohol license or enroll in the Ignition Interlock Device Program (§ 56-5-2951). If you do not request the hearing, you waive it.

On conviction, the Department of Motor Vehicles suspends the license; on a first offense, the way back to driving is the Ignition Interlock Device Program, with the device installed for six months (§ 56-5-2990). Every conviction also requires the Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program. The record is permanent, because South Carolina does not allow a DUI conviction to be expunged (why a DUI cannot be expunged in South Carolina). See also our DUI defense in Charleston and North Charleston.

After an Arrest in Goose Creek: Bond Hearings and the Courts

Arrests in and around Goose Creek are made by the Goose Creek Police Department, which serves the city limits; the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, whose South District headquarters is on Red Bank Road in Goose Creek; and the South Carolina Highway Patrol, whose Troop Six, Post A covers Berkeley and Charleston counties. Berkeley County’s detention center is in Moncks Corner; on Friday and Saturday nights, a Sheriff’s Office van takes people arrested in the southern part of the county there.

South Carolina law requires a bond hearing within 24 hours of an arrest for a bailable offense, and release within four hours after the bond is delivered to the jail (§ 22-5-510). Berkeley County Bond Court sits at 223 North Live Oak Drive in Moncks Corner, with published sessions at 9:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on weekends. For a noncapital charge, the starting point is release on your own recognizance. The judge can require a surety bond or set conditions, such as travel limits or supervision, if release would not reasonably assure your return to court or would create an unreasonable danger (§ 17-15-10). Among other factors, the judge weighs the charge, your family ties, employment, finances, record and history of coming to court (§ 17-15-30). A magistrate cannot set bond on a charge punishable by death or life in prison, and may deny bond on a violent offense. Read more about how bond hearings work in South Carolina.

If the charge is one a magistrate cannot try, you receive notice of your right to a preliminary hearing (at the bond hearing, for a bailable charge), and the request must be made within ten days after that notice (Rule 2, South Carolina Rules of Criminal Procedure). The hearing tests whether there is enough evidence to send the case to General Sessions.

Which court hears the case depends on the charge. Lower-level charges go to a summary court: Goose Creek Municipal Court, at 519 North Goose Creek Boulevard, hears city ordinance cases and the same lower-level state charges a magistrate can hear, within the city; Berkeley County’s magistrate courts hear offenses carrying up to 30 days or a $500 fine, along with first-offense DUI. Felonies and more serious misdemeanors go to the Court of General Sessions at the Berkeley County Courthouse, 300-B California Avenue in Moncks Corner, where the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office prosecutes the case.

Goose Creek Criminal Defense FAQs

How soon is the bond hearing after an arrest in Goose Creek?

South Carolina law requires a bond hearing within 24 hours of an arrest for a bailable offense (§ 22-5-510). Berkeley County Bond Court sits at 223 North Live Oak Drive in Moncks Corner and publishes sessions every day of the week. Once the bond is delivered to the jail, release must follow within four hours.

Will I lose my license after a DUI arrest in Goose Creek?

Possibly, before the criminal case is decided. A breath-test refusal, or a result of 0.15 or more, brings an administrative suspension separate from the DUI charge, and you have 30 days from the notice to request a contested case hearing before the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings (§ 56-5-2951).

Can a DUI be expunged in South Carolina?

No. The expungement statutes for low-level convictions and for youthful offender sentences both exclude offenses involving the operation of a motor vehicle (§§ 22-5-910, 22-5-920), so a DUI or DUAC conviction stays on your record. A DUI charge that is dismissed or ends in a not-guilty verdict is different: the law provides for destroying those arrest records (§ 17-1-40).

Which court will hear my Goose Creek case?

It depends on the charge. Lower-level charges go to Goose Creek Municipal Court or a Berkeley County magistrate court, as your ticket or warrant shows. Felonies and more serious misdemeanors go to General Sessions at the Berkeley County Courthouse in Moncks Corner, prosecuted by the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Is a DUI eligible for pretrial intervention in Berkeley County?

No. State law excludes DUI and DUAC charges from pretrial intervention (§ 17-22-50). For other eligible charges, the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office runs pretrial intervention in Berkeley and Charleston counties as a matter of prosecutorial discretion (§ 17-22-30).

This page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change and every case turns on its facts. Consult a licensed South Carolina attorney about your situation.