Can You Lose Your Right to a Jury Trial If You’ve Been Charged with DUI?
If you’ve been charged with a DUI, you probably assume that you have the right to have the facts presented to a jury of your peers. After all, it’s right there in the 6th amendment to the Constitution:
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.”
But sadly, that’s not what happens in some states. Why is this the case? It started with the 1968 Duncan vs. Louisiana case, when a Federal court decided that the framers of the Constitution didn’t mean “all” criminal prosecutions. Instead, they changed it to a right to jury trial in “serious” criminal prosecutions.
Then, in the Supreme Court case Baldwin vs. New York in 1970, they decided that a criminal prosecution is not “serious” if the maximum authorized prison sentence does not exceed six months, which is the case for DUIs in most states.
However, the Court added additional language specifying that a defendant would have a right to a jury trial if it can be demonstrated that “any additional statutory penalties, viewed in conjunction with the maximum authorized period of incarceration, are so severe that they clearly reflect a legislative determination that the offense in question is a “serious” one.”
Of course, DUI cases do include additional statutory penalties, such as fines, suspension of your driver’s license, probation, and ignition interlock devices, and this fact was argued in the 1989 case, Blanton vs. City of North Las Vegas.
Unfortunately, the Court ruleds that even when considering those additional penalties, it is not a “serious” offense, and therefore a jury trial was not guaranteed by the Constitution.
The result is that today many a substantial number of DUI cases are presented to a single judge who decides on guilt and assigns punishment, and trial by jury is becoming less and less frequent.
In some states, such as California, anyone charged with a crime automatically has the right to a jury trial. By in other states, such as Nevada, Hawaii, New Jersey, and most recently Arizona, misdemeanor DUI defendants do not have the right to a jury trial.
That means that the guilt of a DUI defendant in one state can be decided on by a single individual, while guilt for a similar case in another state would have to be agreed upon by a jury of 12 peers. These are obviously very different situations for the exact same alleged crime.
If you are a repeat offender, the maximum jail sentence may be longer than 6 months, and there may be even more additional penalties than those for a first time offender. Also, if you had a very high blood alcohol content, you may face stiffer penalties. In these situations, you may qualify for the right to a jury trial even in states that don’t usually give this right.
Let’s take a look at how the law changed in one state, the most recent battle about the right to a jury trial that took place in Arizona in July of 2011. Residents of the state did not even get to vote on whether or not they wanted to preserve this Constitutional right to a jury trial for people who are charged with a DUI or DWI. For first-time offenders who are not charged with an “extreme” DUI, there is no right to a jury trial. It just isn’t an option anymore.
However, those who were repeat offenders or who had an “extreme” DUI, which is defined as having a blood alcohol content over 0.15, still have the right to a jury trial. And those people who are charged with an aggravated DUI, which covers driving under the influence with a suspended license, ignition interlock device, or with someone under the age of 15, also have the right to a jury trial.
Each driving under the influence case is unique, and your right to a jury trial may be complicated by many factors. Because there really is no clear cut way for a layperson to determine if they can qualify for a jury trial when arrested for driving under the influence, . Tthe best way to understand what your options are is to hire an experienced DUI lawyer. He or she will know the laws in your state and understand what avenue is best for you.