Timeline of a DUI

If you have been arrested for a DUI you may be unsure of the process of what happens next. While the best thing to do is speak to an experienced lawyer as soon as possible, the below timeline summarizes the different stops along your DUI journey so you can know what to expect next and be as prepared as possible.

The Arrest

• Police officer pulls you over for minor or major traffic violation. For example, tail headlight not working, forgetting to turn on your headlights, not making a complete stop at a stop sign, making a turn without using an indicator, noticing that your vehicle registration tags have expired, not adhering to the speed limit, weaving over the road, and so on.

 

• He will ask to see your driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance, which you are legally obligated to show

 

• He will then run your license to ensure it is valid and to see if you have any outstanding bench warrants

 

• Note well: the police officer is hoping that he will not just book you on a minor traffic violation but that he can get you on a much more serious charge such as a DUI/DWI, or possession of drugs for example.

 

• He will ask you questions about where you have been, where you are going, and if it is night-time or he can smell alcohol on you, whether you have been drinking, and how much. You do not need to answer any of these questions – he is asking these questions for the sole purpose of establishing probable cause to arrest you, so politely decline to answer.

 

• If he suspects you have been drinking or using drugs, he will ask you to step out of the car or vehicle and perform field sobriety tests. You do not need to do these tests – they are 100% voluntary and inherently unreliable – so again, politely decline to do them.

 

• He will ask you to blow into a portable breath test which is designed to measure the level of blood alcohol in your system. Again, you do not have to do this. If you have been drinking – even just one drink – you should decline to do the test, as these portable machines can also often be unreliable and lead to false positives.

 

• It may be that the officer still goes ahead and arrests you on suspicion of DUI for drugs or alcohol – but you will have made it harder for the prosecution to build a case against you in court by declining the field sobriety tests and portable breath test. All the officer really needs to arrest you is to witness your erratic driving and smell liquor on your breath. The field sobriety tests and portable breath test results just make the prosecutions case that much stronger down the line.

 

• At this point the officer will read you your Miranda Rights, put handcuffs on you, and put you in the back of the patrol car to take you back to the precinct. You should remain calm and cooperative at this time. Any belligerence or refusal can lead to further charges against you such as refusing arrest, and will not give the judge a good impression of you even before you have first appeared in court.

 

Back at the Station

• The arresting officer will take you back to the station where you be booked, have your mug shot taken, be fingerprinted, and locked in a cell where you will be observed by video camera for at least a 20 minute period.

 

• In some counties, the officer will take you to a local hospital first to have your blood drawn. In others, the police officer who arrested you may be a trained phlebotomist which means he can draw your blood at the station. You will normally get to choose whether you take a blood or breath test, but if you refuse both, you will be guaranteed to lose your driver’s license for a year. Even if you do refuse, in some states the police can gain a search warrant to forcefully remove blood from you, in which case you will have just lost your license for no reason.

 

• In every state, you have a certain amount of time (normally 20-30 minutes) to contact a lawyer before taking the test so you should certainly use this time well. Having the number of a 24 lawyer on hand is always a good idea.

 

• You will then go through an interview process at the station – most lawyers recommend that you decline to answer any questions without a lawyer present. By being overly cooperative, you can help the prosecution build a stronger case against you down the line.

 

Informal Arraignment Hearing

• You may be held at the station overnight and taken to county court to see the judge the next morning. The judge goes through a list of cases, makes rulings on bail and sets a court date for the Preliminary Hearing.

 

• Depending on whether there were any aggravated circumstances about your DUI, for example, you were driving on a suspended of revoked license, you had a minor in the car, or you were involved in an accident where someone was injured or killed, you may be held in custody for up to 10 days – it will be up to a judge to decide whether to grant you bail.

 

• If none of these circumstances apply, you will normally be free to go. Your car will likely have been impounded in which case you will need to call a taxi or get a ride home.

 

• Once you are released, you will be given a date for a preliminary hearing normally sometime within the next two weeks. It is strongly advisable to contact an experienced DUI attorney at this point, but you can also ask the judge to assign you a public defender if you cannot afford to retain the services of a private attorney. Think carefully before making this decision however, as a good attorney can make a huge difference to your case.

 

Preliminary Hearing

• If you are not granted bail, your preliminary hearing will be scheduled within 10 days and you can be held in custody throughout that time if you were not granted bail because of an aggravated set of circumstances, as discussed above.

 

• If you are released on bond or bail, your preliminary hearing will usually take place between 10 and 20 days from the arraignment hearing. At this time you or your lawyer will be asked to enter a plea, and the prosecution will be given a chance to outline the evidence they have against you. What plea you enter should be discussed at great length with your attorney before you enter it, and you should feel comfortable with the plea you enter as it is non-retractable.

 

Pretrial Conference

• This normally takes place a month before the formal arraignment hearing. There is conference between the prosecuting attorney, your attorney, and the judge to determine what facts of the case will be allowed into evidence and what will be left out.

 

• This conference is especially important if you or your attorney believe it to be in your best interest to take the case to a jury trial as he or she will be pushing to have any incriminating evidence withheld on the grounds that it was obtained by the police illegally – for example, they pulled you over for a reason which was not valid and then gave you a breath test back at the station after arresting you. Because the stop was invalid, your attorney will argue that the results of the breath test cannot be used in court. This conference usually takes between 30 and 40 days of the formal arraignment hearing.

 

• Your lawyer will also be staying in touch with the prosecutor at the District Attorney’s office to try to negotiate a possible plea-agreement. You will not need to be present for these negotiations. If your attorney feels he can get you a good deal with putting you through the stress of a jury trial, he will recommend that you plead guilty or no-contest, in return for a lesser charge or fewer punishments. This is beneficial to the DA’s office because they are resource constrained and do not get additionally compensated for taking a case to trial unlike a private attorney. The vast majority of DUI cases settle before going to criminal trial – upwards of 90%.

 

Criminal Trial

• If your attorney is unable to work out a plea-deal with the DA and thinks you have a good chance of winning at trial, the next stage will be jury selection held by the prosecuting attorney and the attorney representing you. Again you do not need to present for this.

 

• Once this process is complete, a criminal trial will be held to determine your guilt or innocence of the charges filed against you. This process can take anywhere from 1 day to months, depending upon the circumstances of your particular case.

 

• Unless you waive your right to speedy trial, the state must bring its case against you before the jury within 90 days of the original arraignment hearing. If you waive the right in order to build a case against the prosecuting attorney, the court may take up to a year to bring you before the jury.

 

• The jury will be the ones to decide your guilt or innocence against the range of charges against you – normally there or other charges accompanying the DUI, and the DUI charge is itself broken into two parts: one being breaking the per se limit of .08 while driving, the other is driving while impaired.

 

• Note that the judge can advise the jury as he or she sees fits and can be heavily influential in swaying a jury. You should always be as courteous to the judge as possible.

 

• After the jury has deliberated, they will inform the judge of your decision and it is then up to the judge to sentence you.

 

• Most states have mandatory minimum sentences and punishments for DUI offences, and these will depend on which county you are charged in, whether there were aggravated circumstances, and whether you have any prior convictions related to drinking or driving.

 

Going to Jail

• Normally you have a few days to a week before you have to report to jail, although if the judge feels that there is a high likelihood you will re-offend before that time, they can send you straight there to begin your sentence.

 

• Jail is certainly no picnic, and so you will want to ensure your lawyer has requested work/student release for you so you are allowed out during the day, and only have to do your time at night and on weekends.

 

Fulfilling Court Obligations

• The court will give you a set period of time in which to pay fines and fulfill the penalties bestowed on you. Failure to meet these deadlines can result in a bench warrant being issued for your arrest, as you are not meeting the terms of your probation, so you should always talk to your lawyer or the judge if you are going to be late making a payment for example.

 

• You will also have to satisfy certain administrative obligations with the DMV in order to get your driver’s license reinstated, such as showing proof of SR-22 insurance and getting an ignition interlock device installed in your primary vehicle.

 

Getting the Conviction Expunged

• Once you have satisfied the court by paying off all fines, doing required jail time, community service, alcohol screening, probation visits, and so on, your lawyer can request that your conviction be removed from your criminal record. This is highly advisable given how common background checks are in today’s society in order to gain employment, credit or a place to live.

 

• The arrest will stay on your record however, but the conviction itself will be removed so you when you are asked on a job application if you have ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, you can legitimately answer “No.”

 

• If you or someone you know has been arrested and charged with a DUI, do not waste time in contacting an experienced attorney in your area. Simply complete the short contact form on our home page and we will put you in touch today!