According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, American roads play host to some 1.5 million drunken driving cases annually. In other words, more than one out of every 121 drivers with a valid license commits a DUI at some point.
Participating in DUI court hearings can make anyone anxious, especially for beginners who have never been through a legal process before. You can go through this procedure effectively if you have the right knowledge.
In most cases, a DUI court appearance marks the official start of your criminal case proceedings.
What to expect at a DUI court appearance? At court, the judge or jury will rule on the conviction and decide your penalties.
In the US, a plea hearing is most often the initial stage of DUI criminal proceedings wherein the district attorney reads the complaint to the accused. The rights of the defendant will be read to them and the court will ask if they truly understand their rights. The defendant will forward a guilty, not guilty, or no contest plea to the court.
Let’s examine the different stages involved in a DUI court appearance.
The DMV Hearing: A Separate Proceeding With a Shorter Deadline
In the event a DUI arrest is made and a chemical test is requested, the officers would usually, within the next couple of hours, come up with a suspension notice. As a suspect, it is advisable to request a DMV hearing within 7-10 days, depending on your state, following the successful official license suspension. Failure to do so will lead to the suspension of your driver’s license an additional 30 days beyond the date of the DUI arrest.
It must be noted that the DMV procedure and criminal DUI process run simultaneously but independently from one another. In fact, one can win the DMV case and still face penalties under the criminal DUI process, or vice versa.
Unfortunately, most suspects fail to comply with the deadline set by the DMV, which makes them lose their licenses since they have failed to file an appeal in the proceeding.
DUI charges vary depending on your state. For example, in Georgia, you can face jail time ranging from 24 hours or more to a year of probation for the first-time drunk driving offense, according to McDonough DUI lawyer Suesan A. Miller. Other states can have longer or shorter imprisonment durations for a first-time DUI offense.
The Criminal Case: Five Stages From Arraignment to Resolution
Arraignment
Arraignment refers to the process where the police take an arrested individual to court for the very first time. Once the suspect is arraigned, the judge lays down the accusation and the penalties that will follow if the suspect is found guilty. The judge then calls on the accused to plea.
Several accused persons normally opt to enter a plea of not-guilty since such an option has been regarded as necessary and convenient for legal processes such as plea negotiation and pretrial motions.
It is at this stage that the prosecutor will start presenting to the defendant the discovery process. These include the police report, the breath alcohol content analysis, and any relevant field sobriety test evidence.
Pretrial Conference
Once the arraignment process has been completed, DUI cases will enter into pretrial conferences, where both sides will analyze the evidence and work on resolving the case.
The cases can be solved during this pretrial stage through negotiation, plea bargain, reduction, or even dismissal of the cases. One way to reduce DUI charges is by filing a “wet reckless,” which is treated differently from DUI cases and carries less severe penalties.
Motion Hearing
The defense may challenge the validity of the traffic stop, the conduct of the field sobriety tests, or the chemical test results by filing a motion to suppress evidence. The court conducts a hearing where both parties present arguments in favor of the acceptance or elimination of the evidence in dispute.
Losing such a battle may even lead to the exclusion of a useful piece of evidence in the prosecution’s hypothetical case. Case dismissals may result from successfully eliminating a piece of evidence from the prosecution.
Trial and Sentencing
If there is no agreement made, the case keeps going to trial. With DUI cases, some courts do bench trials. In bench trials, the case is decided by a judge and there is no jury. Other places allow jury trials and the outcome can depend on the jurisdiction.
It is important for the prosecutor to verify every single detail pertaining to the offense. Should the conviction occur, the consequences could range from fines to enforced attendance at a treatment clinic. Prohibitions on driving, probation, or incarceration are other examples of DUI sentences.
In case of aggravating circumstances or older convictions in the defendant’s criminal history, short-term imprisonment should not be ruled out. In many jurisdictions, the law also requires an ignition interlock device. The individual must install this device in their vehicle to get their license back.
Why the Arraignment Plea Matters More Than It Appears?
Arraignment may be simple procedurally, yet the plea made during arraignment has outcomes that can complicate the case.
Entering a not-guilty plea during arraignment preserves one’s right to review the evidence, raise objections about admissible evidence, attempt a plea bargain, and go to trial if all other options fail. A not-guilty plea is admission, which can be withdrawn at any point during the process of the hearing.
When an individual pleads guilty or enters a no-contest plea during arraignment, that indicates that there is no need for the case to go ahead in a legal criminal trial and the right to the trial is forfeited.
Individuals who confess upon arraignment without studying the discovery, considering the possibility of admitting evidence, and talking to the prosecution are prone to just go along with the charges and the sentencing provided by law.
During the very first hearing in the trial court, the accused may plead not guilty and start constructing a defense strategy.
Two Tracks, Two Deadlines, One Window to Act
There are two clocks that run once a driver is arrested for driving under the influence.
One track is the criminal court clock, which officially begins at your initial DUI Court Appearance and moves through the legal process outlined above. Typically, these criminal proceedings span several months or even a year before reaching a final resolution.
The other clock is the DMV timeline. In most jurisdictions, a subject has only a week or ten days from their arrest to appeal the suspension of their license.
It is necessary to know about these deadlines to manage one’s DUI case.
Read more: How to Document Workplace Issues to Build a Strong Legal Case?
