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Chapter 5 - Timeline of a DUI

 

If you have been arrested for a DUI, the police officer will have given you a document which you have been asked to sign, telling you what penal codes you have violated and when you are due to appear in court. Beyond your initial court date, you may not know what happens next. The timeline below summarizes the different stages of the DUI process, so you can know what to expect next and be as prepared as possible.

 

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 or 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 and DMV 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.”

 

See section “Getting a DUI Record Expunged” below

 

Read Chapter 6 - License Suspension Hearing and Obtaining a Restricted License >>

 

The DUI Guide - Content

 

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