DUI Process - Court Appearances and Legal Steps

There are always certain steps that will occur if you are fighting drunk driving charges.  Below are listed the basic process that will occur.

Arrest - If you are pulled over and a breath test is given, you may or may not be over the legal limit.  If you are, you will be arrested for drunk driving, booked, fingerprinted, and processed.

Arraignment - The arraignment is your first court appearance and should normally be the next business day after your arrest.  You must appear before the court, preferably with an experienced Southeastern Massachusetts OUI Attorney representing you, and plead not guilty. This appearance is mainly a formality. You will be able to get a copy of your police report and a date for Pre-Trial will be scheduled.  At this point the court will schedule the date and your lawyer should plan your defense strategy.

Pre-trial - The Pre-Trial conference or hearing is where your attorney first sits down with the prosecution and goes over the case. They may offer you a deal which can be accepted or rejected.  If it will go to trial, then the case needs to be prepared for Trial.  The prosecution must provide the evidence against you.  If your attorney will be taking this to court, he will likely review all details of the arrest with you at that point.

Motion Hearing - At a Motion to Suppress hearing, the police officer will go on record as to exactly what happened during the stop.  They will have to say why they pulled you over and/or believed you were impaired.  We need to make certain your rights were not violated by the arresting officers failing to follow correct procedure.  Here is where we can challenge the evidence.

Trial - At the Trial, your case will be heard before either a judge or a jury.  Both sides, your attorney and the prosecutor will present the evidence.

Sentencing - You will either win the case and charges be dismissed or be sentenced if found guilty.  If you are convicted, our office will help you through the steps and make arrangements with probation.  Our experienced attorneys will explain the entire process to you so you'll understand what you'll need to do.

Law Enforcement will aggressively pursue a conviction.  Therefore, it is necessary that you retain an insistent and experienced Southeastern Massachusetts DUI Defense Attorney from the Law Offices of Irwin Pollack to cautiously review each legal aspect of your case in order to make sure that law enforcement followed the law and required procedures. 

If you are in need of a South Shore Massachusetts DUI Attorney, contact The Massachusetts DUI Defense Group online for a FREE Case Evaluation.