How A Criminal Defense Attorney Hopewell VA Has Deals With DUI Cases

By Mattie Knight


There are few crimes in the US with implications that are more serious than being caught driving while intoxicated. This fear is made stronger by the stringent measures that law enforcement officers take against people arrested on DUI charges. As a matter of fact, more than 85 percent of the DUI arrests made in the US annually end up in convictions. The conviction rates differ from state to state, but it is generally not easy to walk free after a DUI charge. In case you have been arrested for DUI, it would be advisable to get the most competent criminal defense attorney Hopewell VA has to represent you. Here are the steps that the professional follows.

Step one is normally getting arrested. A traffic officer may pull you over when they have a probable cause like a traffic violation. In case there is no justifiable reason for being pulled over such as a burned light, careless driving or accident, the DUI charges will not hold.

After the flagging down, the officer may notice that you are intoxicated. At this point, they will ask you to step out of the car so they can conduct field sobriety tests. The common tests include counting backwards, standing on one foot, and walking in a straight line among others. In case you are found to be intoxicated, your Miranda rights will be read to you, and an arrest will follow.

Once you have been taken down to the precinct, the next step, which involves testing the blood sugar level, will follow. If the BAC test indicates that you have a result of 0.08 percent alcohol content in your blood or more, excessive BAC driving charges may be brought against you. You may also get tested for other drugs.

In case of conviction, you lose the driving license automatically. You will be issued a temporary pink permit, and the suspension of the license happens a month after the arrest. Your license ends up at the Department of Motor Vehicles. The arresting officer will compile the evidence and hand your file to the local prosecutors, who will decide whether to charge you formally or not.

If the officers file the DUI charges, the case will begin. At this point, you have to decide whether you want a private DUI lawyer, a public defender, or you will represent yourself. A lawyer, whether a PDA or a private DUI lawyer, is recommended for anyone that wants to win a DUI. The hearings will be set up where you will have a chance to defend yourself.

The lawyer can decide on several different defense lines depending on the evidence presented. The first popular one is challenging the evidence that has been presented. A second option would be claiming that you were arrested without a probable cause. The lawyer could also decide to question the qualifications of the people that administered the tests.

A competent lawyer will choose the line of defense they feel will work best to get your charges dropped. The competence and experience level of the lawyer will play the biggest part in determining the case outcome. Ensure you hire a lawyer with the right credentials.




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