The book · Now on Barnes & Noble
Charged with DWI in North Carolina?
A Practical Guide to the Stop, the Science, the DMV, and the Defense
By Chris Adkins — a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer who made several hundred DWI arrests before becoming a DWI defense attorney — and his law partner Chris Purkey of Adkins & Purkey, PLLC. Written for the person holding the citation, the revocation paperwork and a hundred questions.
NOOK ebook at Barnes & Noble (EAN 2940185246962). Barnes & Noble also lists a paperback edition — choose your format on the Barnes & Noble page.
A North Carolina DWI charge is never just one court date. The same traffic stop can set off a civil license revocation, a chemical-testing dispute, a possible DMV refusal case, insurance consequences and a criminal prosecution built on roadside evidence — all at once. Charged with DWI in North Carolina? is a plain-English guide to those tracks, co-written by a lawyer who once built DWI cases as a police officer and now scrutinizes them as a defense attorney.
Why a former police officer wrote a DWI defense book
Because he has seen a North Carolina DWI case from both sides of the patrol car — and most people charged have seen it from neither. Chris Adkins spent 2007 to 2013 as an officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. In those years he personally arrested several hundred people for driving while impaired, and he was trained in the same DWI detection methods and Standardized Field Sobriety Tests that North Carolina officers rely on today.
That kind of experience teaches you how a DWI case is actually assembled. It starts long before anyone says the word “arrest”: with the reason for the stop, the first words exchanged at the window, the odor, the eyes, the way a driver steps out of the car. Then come the roadside tests, the portable breath screen, the trip to the breath-test room, the rights form, the observation period, the printouts and, finally, the paperwork that turns a night on the side of the road into a court file. An officer learns which details go into the report — and which ones never make it there.
Then he changed sides. As a defense attorney, Chris Adkins has defended hundreds of people charged with DWI and has tried DWI cases in North Carolina courtrooms. Someone charged with DWI can be anyone who drives — a first-time defendant, a parent, a commercial driver, a college student, a visitor passing through Lake Norman for the weekend. And most of them face the same imbalance: the officer, the prosecutor and the DMV each work inside this system every day, and the person charged usually has never seen it before.
That gap is the reason the book exists. A DWI charge moves fast. A civil revocation can take your license at the magistrate’s office before you ever see a judge. Deadlines to request hearings or petition for privileges arrive while you are still trying to read the citation. And the decisions made in the first few weeks — what to say, what to request, what to preserve — can shape everything that follows. Chris Adkins and his law partner, Chris Purkey, wrote Charged with DWI in North Carolina? so that people facing that moment can understand the road ahead before they have to make those decisions.
The officer, the prosecutor and the DMV each understand the system. The book is for the one person in the case who usually doesn’t — the person charged.Adkins & Purkey
Chris Adkins’ path to the book
- 2007–2013 · Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police DepartmentServes as a CMPD officer, receives DWI detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Test training, and personally arrests several hundred people for DWI.
- 2009–2018 · U.S. Army / NC Army National GuardServes as an officer in the U.S. Army and the North Carolina Army National Guard — overlapping with his police years.
- Defense attorneyMoves to the other side of the courtroom as a North Carolina defense attorney, defending hundreds of DWI clients and trying DWI cases.
- Adkins & Purkey, PLLCPractices with law partner Chris Purkey from offices in Huntersville (Lake Norman) and Locust (Stanly County).
- Late August 2026 · The bookThe Barnes & Noble ebook edition of Charged with DWI in North Carolina? goes live.
Military service and police work share a habit: respect for procedure. In both worlds, rules exist for a reason, and when the rules are skipped, the result is less reliable. North Carolina’s DWI laws are full of procedures — rights advisements, observation periods, timing requirements, notice requirements, hearing deadlines. Those procedures are not mere technicalities; they are safeguards the General Assembly and the courts built into the process, and knowing them is one of the best ways to protect yourself.
What’s inside: the stop, the science, the DMV and the defense
The subtitle is the map: the stop, the science, the DMV and the defense. Each is a different part of a North Carolina DWI case, governed by different rules and often decided by different people. Choose a tab below for a short overview of each part — and links to the in-depth articles on this site that go further into each topic.
Everything that happens on the roadside. Why was the car pulled over? Did the officer have reasonable suspicion for the stop and probable cause for the arrest? What do the field sobriety tests actually measure, and what can a portable breath screen legally be used for? Under G.S. 20-138.1, the State can prove impaired driving in more than one way, and the roadside evidence usually carries much of the case.
Breath, blood and drugs. North Carolina’s evidential breath instrument, the Intox EC/IR II, has its own procedures and records. Blood tests involve warrants, chain of custody and lab analysis. Drug and medication cases raise entirely different questions, because there is no simple “legal limit” for most substances. This is the part of a case where details on a printout or a lab report can matter most.
Your license runs on its own track. A DWI arrest with a qualifying test result or a refusal usually triggers an immediate civil revocation under G.S. 20-16.5 — before any trial. A refusal can bring a separate DMV case under G.S. 20-16.2. Then come limited driving privileges, ignition interlock, restoration and insurance. The DMV side has its own deadlines, and missing them can cost you months of driving.
Turning the facts into a plan. Reviewing the evidence, filing the right motions, weighing a plea against a trial, and — if there is a conviction — understanding how North Carolina’s sentencing levels and aggravating and mitigating factors work. This is where everything from the first three parts comes together.
The four parts overlap in real life. A refusal on the roadside (the stop) can become a DMV hearing (the DMV) and an evidence question at trial (the defense). A breath result (the science) can trigger both a civil revocation and a sentencing consequence. That is why the book’s four-part frame is useful: it lets you see how one event can ripple across every track of the case, instead of looking at one square of the board at a time. For a closer look at the book itself, read our companion article, “Inside the Practical Guide by Chris Adkins and Chris Purkey.”
Four DWI myths worth unlearning
Much of what people “know” about DWI comes from television, other states or a friend’s story — and much of it is wrong in North Carolina. Tap each card to flip it from the myth to the North Carolina rule.
Each of these myths has led people to make choices they later regretted — skipping a hearing, assuming a low number ends the matter, or waiting too long to deal with the license. Read the statute itself on ncleg.gov, and our line-by-line explanation of G.S. 20-138.1, to see how the law actually reads.
Read it tonight
Charged with DWI in North Carolina?
The ebook is available now from Barnes & Noble and reads on the NOOK app for iPhone, iPad and Android, as well as NOOK devices.
Who this book is for
It is written for anyone who has just been charged with DWI in North Carolina — and for the people who care about them. You do not need any legal background. If you have a citation, a revocation order or a court date and you want to understand what they mean, this book is for you.
- First-time defendants who have never been inside a courtroom and want to know what happens next, step by step.
- Families and spouses trying to help someone through the process — the court dates, the license, the cost and the stress.
- Drivers who depend on their license for work, school or caregiving, and need to understand limited driving privileges and the DMV timeline.
- Commercial drivers, whose stakes are higher — see also our guide to commercial driver DWI.
- Drivers under 21, who face North Carolina’s zero-tolerance rules — see under-21 DMV consequences.
- People with a prior DWI, who need to understand lookback periods and enhanced penalties — see a second DWI in North Carolina.
- Visitors charged at Lake Norman or elsewhere in North Carolina who live out of state — see out-of-state drivers.
What the book is not: a substitute for a lawyer who has read your paperwork, watched your video and reviewed your test records. Every case turns on its own facts. The goal is to help you ask better questions, spot the deadlines and walk into your first consultation prepared — our consultation preparation guide pairs well with it.
Meet the authors
Chris Adkins and Chris Purkey are law partners at Adkins & Purkey, PLLC, which has offices in Huntersville and Locust. Together they co-wrote Charged with DWI in North Carolina?
Co-author
Chris AdkinsChristopher Adkins served as a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer from 2007 to 2013, where he received DWI and Standardized Field Sobriety Test training and personally arrested several hundred people for DWI. He also served as a U.S. Army / North Carolina Army National Guard officer from 2009 to 2018. As a defense attorney he has defended hundreds of DWI clients and tried DWI cases.
Co-author
Chris PurkeyChris Purkey is Chris Adkins’ law partner at Adkins & Purkey, PLLC — the DWI defense firm behind this site, with offices in Huntersville and Locust — and co-author of Charged with DWI in North Carolina? (Barnes & Noble lists him as “Christerfer Purkey.”)
From the book to your case
A book can explain the system; only a review of your own file can tell you where your case stands. If you have read the book — or even just this page — and recognize your situation, the next step is a conversation about your paperwork, your timeline and your deadlines.
Adkins & Purkey, PLLC
Talk to the authors about your case
Bring your citation, your revocation paperwork and your questions. We will walk through the stop, the science, the DMV and the defense as they apply to your facts. Offices in Huntersville (Lake Norman) and Locust (Stanly County), serving Charlotte, Mecklenburg, Iredell, Cabarrus, Stanly and courts across North Carolina.
Frequently asked questions about the book
Where can I buy Charged with DWI in North Carolina?
The ebook is sold by Barnes & Noble as a NOOK book. Barnes & Noble also lists a paperback edition; you can choose a format on the Barnes & Noble product page.
Do I need a NOOK device to read the ebook?
No. Barnes & Noble offers the NOOK reading app for iPhone, iPad and Android devices, and NOOK books can also be read on NOOK devices.
Who wrote the book?
Chris Adkins (Christopher Adkins), a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer who made several hundred DWI arrests before becoming a DWI defense attorney, and his law partner Chris Purkey (listed at Barnes & Noble as Christerfer Purkey) of Adkins & Purkey, PLLC.
What does the book cover?
As the subtitle says: the stop, the science, the DMV and the defense — the roadside investigation, breath and blood testing, North Carolina license consequences, and how a DWI case is defended in court.
Is the book legal advice for my case?
No. It is general information about North Carolina DWI law and procedure. It does not create an attorney-client relationship, and every case depends on its own facts. To discuss your case, contact Adkins & Purkey at (704) 880-9388.
Can the authors review my DWI case?
Yes. Chris Adkins and Chris Purkey practice at Adkins & Purkey, PLLC, with offices in Huntersville and Locust. You can call or text (704) 880-9388 or request a consultation online.
General North Carolina legal information as of November 2026, not legal advice for any specific case. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney advertising.