The Different Kinds of DUI Hearings

Anyone who finds them self in the middle of a charge for DUI will usually become overwhelmed. It may initially seem like a cut and dried situation, but there are actually many different pieces to the process. If you do not have a qualified and experienced DUI lawyer on your side, you will likely not know what is going on. There are actually several different court dates that you will be expected to attend and without DUI attorneys to help people with the process, it seems like each one is the same thing.

The first thing that will happen from a legal perspective is that an arraignment will be scheduled. You will likely already know about the main charge, but this is the place where the prosecution has to tell you every charge that is going to be filed. It is important that you show up for this arraignment, and you should be early. If you do not allow yourself ample time to get to the courthouse, any unexpected delays could cause you to be late. The judges for each step of this process literally control your future. It is in your best interest to put your best foot forward and represent yourself as a responsible adult and a productive member of society. Being late, poorly dressed or being rude is guaranteed to give you a more negative outcome than you may have been able to get otherwise.

When you are seen before the judge, this is not about talking about what happened. This meeting is about making sure that you understand the charges against you. The judge will also ask how you plan to plead. In “real life” it is tempting to want to be honest and hope for the best outcome. However, you are not in “real life”, you are in a court room. You should plead not guilty.

At the end of the arraignment, you will be scheduled for a pretrial hearing. This will likely be two to three months in the future. The pretrial hearing is mostly administrative in nature. It is basically a meeting to let the judge know that everything is on track with the case. Each side may have various motions to submit regarding some of the details of the case that they judge will have to make a decision on before the real trial starts. The next step is a motion hearing. Depending upon the complexity of the trial, there could be several of these. This is much more formal than the pre-trial hearing, but the burden of proof is not as strict as the final trial. During these hearings, the judge will hear arguments for and against the various motions that have been filed and the judge will make their final decision.

The final phase of the process is the trial. You can choose whether to have a standard trial by jury or to just have the judge pick your case. Either way, the verdict is final. If you win, the process is completed. If you lose, you will be subject to whatever consequences the judge decides.

Ellie Lewis recently worked with a Cincinnati DUI Lawyer while conducting research for a new article. She learned quite a bit about the merits of hiring a great attorney when she spent a day with a small group of Cincinnati DUI attorneys helping to make their practices more efficient.

For more information about DUI lawyers go to
http://www.jarnoldlaw.com/ .

Author Bio: Ellie Lewis recently worked with a Cincinnati DUI Lawyer while conducting research for a new article. She learned quite a bit about the merits of hiring a great attorney when she spent a day with a small group of Cincinnati DUI attorneys helping to make their practices more efficient.

Category: Legal
Keywords: Cincinnati DUI Lawyer,Cincinnati DUI attorneys

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