Carolina Criminal Defense & DUI Lawyer UpdatesSearch the phrase “per se DWI North Carolina,” and the results look deceptively confident. AI summaries and legal directories will tell you that if your blood test hits a 
certain number, a conviction is inevitable.
It is not the language of the statute. It is not the language used to instruct juries. It is a mantra of sorts that has been repeated so often it now masquerades as doctrine.
North Carolina’s DWI statute does not use the phrase per se impairment for alcohol or marijuana, and North Carolina’s jury instructions do not tell juries that a specific number automatically requires a finding of guilt. That phrase does not appear anywhere in N.C.G.S. 20-138.1.