Tag Archives: dui trial

When Is It Worth It To Fight My DUI?

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Everyone who is arrested for a DUI must ask themselves: “Should I fight this DUI?” This decision will affect the rest of your life and should be carefully considered. The decision to make a plea or go to trial depends on several factors that are unique to each person and situation.

Did I have physical control of the car?

The first thing the prosecution must prove is that you were driving or had physical control of the vehicle at the time of the DUI arrest. If you had a normal experience of getting pulled over while driving, then this will be easy for the prosecutor to prove.

If you were involved in an accident, however, it may not be clear to the police who was driving because they showed up after the accident. Other circumstances that bolster your DUI case are multiple passengers, the owner of car is not who was charged with the DUI, and the keys are in ignition and not in anyone’s possession.

How Close to .08% Was Your BAC?

The prosecutor must prove you were over the legal limit when you were actually driving, not when the police got around to administering the chemical test. The closer you BAC was to .08%, the better your chances are of a successful result at DUI trial.

You usually take a breath, blood, or urine test anywhere from 30 min. to several hours after your DUI arrest. A person’s BAC rises and falls in the body. What if you drank a significant amount of alcohol shortly before you got into your car to drive? Your DUI attorney can argue that the alcohol did not have enough time to enter your blood stream to cause impairment while you were driving. You may have been over .08% at the time of the chemical test; but, there could be reasonable doubt whether your BAC was over .08% when you were actually driving.

Was the Breath Test accurately administered?

The breath test is subject to all kinds of challenges. The hand-held machine that police use on the streets is notoriously unreliable. There was a study conducted in Florida that showed that as many as 40% of breath test results were inaccurate.

The police do use a much more accurate machine at the police station, but if there were discrepancies between these two tests, this would show a weakness in the State’s case.

Were proper procedures followed for the DUI arrest?

Depending on your state, police are required to follow certain procedures when they administer chemical tests. For a blood test, did they clean the area with a non-alcoholic swab? For a breath test, did the police give you a fifteen minute observation period before they administered the DUI chemical test? Are the hand-held breath machines properly calibrated twice per week? Your DUI attorney knows all of the approved procedures and can challenge the validity of the DUI chemical test results if the police failed to administer the chemical test properly.

Should you plead guilty or risk taking your DUI case to trial? The honest answer is that it depends on the circumstances surrounding your DUI arrest. You should consult with an experienced DUI attorney in your area. He can look at your DUI arrest and tell you the best course of action for you and your future

What Happens at a DUI Trial?

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If you have been arrested for DUI and you are going to trial, you are probably wondering what will happen. Hopefully, you have hired a DUI lawyer who has explained the DUI process to you and is ready to present a solid DUI defense, but even if you have a DUI lawyer, it is likely you are nervous and scared, especially if this is your first DUI arrest.

You may have heard your DUI lawyer mention a lot of fancy terms such as blood alcohol or tainted blood defense. You may have questions about the DUI process. How is the jury selected? What will the prosecutor say in their opening statement? Is your DUI attorney ready to present your DUI defense?

In every state the DUI process is similar. Hopefully, you have a skilled DUI attorney who has investigated the circumstances of your DUI arrest, he has answered all of your trial questions, and he is ready to defend you at your DUI trial.

The DUI Trial

Under the United States Constitution, you have the right to a public and speedy trial. “Speedy” may be a subjective, but in some states if you are in police custody your DUI trial must be scheduled within 30 days from your arraignment. If you are not in police custody, the state may have 45 days to begin your trial. Trial dates may be extended at the request of your DUI lawyer.

DUI trials which are not commenced on or before the expiration date must be dismissed by the state. Under some conditions, the state may have an extra 10 days from the trial date to start the trial. The DUI trial is considered “commenced” if the jury panel has been sworn in.

A DUI trial is like all other criminal proceedings and there are certain procedures and processes which must be followed. First, the prosecution will present their DUI case against you. This can include testimony by the arresting officer and expert witnesses.

If an expert witness is called to testify they may present evidence for the breath or blood test, opinions about the legality of the field sobriety test and whether or not your blood alcohol level would have caused you to be impaired and unable to safely operate your vehicle.

Each witness for the prosecution will be cross-examined by your DUI defense lawyer. Cross-examination of the prosecuting witnesses, if effective, should put doubt in the mind of the jurors about your guilt. Often the DUI lawyer attempts to shift the focus from your DUI test results, physical appearance at the time of the arrest, your field sobriety test or driving patterns, and attempts instead, to create doubt in the juror’s minds about the legality of how each test was administered.

After each witness has been cross-examined, the DUI defense lawyer will present defense witnesses. This is your chance to tell your side of the story and what really happened when you were arrested for DUI. Keep in mind that a juror may assume the witnesses that the defense calls will naturally favor the defense, and they may tend to discount or dismiss their testimony. After all defense witnesses are questioned by the defense, the prosecuting attorney will have their opportunity to cross-examine each defense witness.

After each side is finished calling their witnesses it is time for the closing arguments for the DUI case. The closing arguments are the DUI defense attorney’s last chance to explain their side of the story to the jury. Most jurors have probably made up their minds by this point, but a persuasive closing argument may be enough to sway their opinion and add credibility to your story.

What if you are convicted of DUI?

If you are convicted of DUI, even as a first time DUI offender, you may face severe DUI penalties. DUI penalties vary by state but can include:

• High fines
• Mandatory alcohol education classes
• Mandatory installation of a ignition interlock system
• Jail time
• Probation
• Community Service

If you have been arrested for DUI, the most important thing you can do to protect yourself is to contact a DUI lawyer. DUI lawyers understand DUI laws and can answer your questions and begin developing your DUI defense.

The DUI Judge – What They Do, How They Make Decisions, and Your Defense

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A DUI judge is the decision maker. DUI judges are each different, but there are some common elements in how they decisions. Your DUI defense should consider how the judge makes choices and looks at evidence. Since today most DUI trials are via judges, this blog guide can help you understand how the DUI trial time table works and how your lawyer best prepares a defense.

What They Do
The DUI judge quite often has a busy schedule. First, they often handle a high number of cases every week. If you look on their side of the court room for a while, then you may get a better perspective. Say you have a judge who has listened to 3 defendants in one day explain to them how the breathalyzer was wrong, that they had not been drinking over the limit, and that they were perfectly fine while driving. Then the evidence against them cuts holes in the defense.

How would you fair if you plead not guilty to the charges? That’s the problem with many DUI defenses: they do not consider the common pleas made by defendants. We are talking about people, not just figures, and judges have memories.

Decisions Judges Make
Your judge will almost always try to be as impartial as possible. Just because they hear common defenses does not mean they will look down on your plea. You are innocent until proven guilty. A judge will have to decide the strength of your defense. He or she will be making some decisions – life changing ones for you – on how to punish you, if punishment is needed. This includes jail time, license suspension, fines, probation, and more.

Making a Strong DUI Defense
Your lawyer is an invaluable part of this process, if not only because he or she can be on the same page as the judge. A good lawyer will understand the key problem with a not-guilty plea after a DUI – that the judge has heard all the stories before. However, some of these stories have basis in truth. For example, the breathalyzer is not a 100% accurate device. First off, there is no difference if you are a man or woman, and your size. These can vary the results greatly.

Usually you want to plead not guilty to the charges, unless the weight of evidence is too great. You can call into questions evidence such as the breathalyzer and how the officer acted.

Your Lawyer
Should you always hire a lawyer? If you want to stand a chance in front of a DUI judge, you should. If you prepare a defense yourself without any knowledge of the court process, it can cost you. Your lawyer’s job is to present evidence in front of the judge and to counter the evidence given by the prosecution. The problem is most DUI charges stick, mainly because many are guilty on some account. In order to win, you need a professional who knows the court process.

The Truth
There are points where pleading guilty might be best. Simply pleading guilty does not guarantee jail time. However, you should never make this choice without a lawyer. If you are obviously guilty – such as if you hit a car while driving drunk – pleading guilty does not always mean the maximum penalties. Again, this is not a choice to make alone.

DUI law is complex. While it’s smart to consider the role of the judge in a case, usually your lawyer will run things. Letting him or her defend you before the judge is the best choice.

Details On Your DUI Trial

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What happens in a DUI trial? Most DUI cases do not go very far in trial. Usually, a guilty verdict is made, and the case is turned over to sentencing. Other times, you might get a plea bargain with the prosecution, though these are rare in DUI cases.

It’s not just a guilty plea or a plea bargain because the defendant is always guilty. Just because most plea guilty to a DUI charge does not mean you have to. You have rights, and you’ll have your day in court. But what really happens?

First of all, this a criminal trial, and the penalties can lead to misdemeanor or felony charges. In criminal cases, a judge and jury can hear the case, though jury trials are less common in DUI cases. The prosecution – in other words the state prosecutor – will be trying to prove you are guilty of drinking and driving, or using substances and driving. You and your lawyer will be saying there is doubt in this case, that there should be no punishment or punishment should be limited.

You need a DUI lawyer unless you are a DUI lawyer yourself. Even if you are a lawyer, and have court room experience, DUI law is too complex to be done by yourself. You also have the option of using a court appointed attorney; unless you plan on pleading guilty, this is a bad option too.

The first step in the case is choosing a jury. You have a right to a jury, but in some cases you may prefer a judge; your lawyer can help with this situation.

Make sure your lawyer has court room experience. For one, both sides will be trying to choose a jury who will help their case; someone who was hit by drunk driver, for example, may not be the type of juror you want as a defendant.

Next you have the opening statements, witness testimony,  and cross examination. Here your lawyer will earn his or her money, making the case that you are innocent, questioning things like the validity of the breathalyzer tests or the arresting officer’s conduct. A witness or expert can often make or break a case. In cases where something occurred upon the arrest which was wrong, a witness can be brought. If the BAC (blood alcohol content) test was questionably administer by the arresting officer, an expert may cast doubt on the charges.

After your lawyer makes his or her final argument, a jury will go into deliberation and decide whether you are guilty or not guilty, as well as what penalties you should face.

This process can sound like reading a different language. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as you see on TV, and unless your lawyer can prove your innocence clearly, most DUI charges lead to some penalties. That makes hiring the right lawyer very important.