5 Tips To Help You Prepare For Your Houston DUI Hearing
Your finances, career, and ultimately your life, can be severely impacted by a DUI conviction. It is important that you start getting ready for your DUI charges hearing in court by hiring a seasoned DUI lawyer if you do not want the charges to significantly affect your life. To enhance your likelihood of getting a favorable outcome from the court process, a DUI attorney can help you take the steps outlined below.
1. Settle On A Plea
You will enter a formal plea during an arraignment. The next step in your case is determined by your plea. Your case will proceed to sentence if you take a “no contest” or “guilty” plea. On the other hand, you will get the opportunity to fight the prosecution and test the strength of the evidence if you take a “not guilty” plea.
Before you decide on the plea you will take, it is essential that you discuss all of this with your DUI lawyer. A lawyer will help you choose the best step forward after reviewing all of the facts of your case.
2. Find Out Why You Were Stopped
Officers are required to have reasonable suspicion in order for them to ask you to stop under suspicion of driving under the influence. In effect, you must have been in a traffic accident, or the officer must have seen you flouting traffic rules. The officer in question may not have had a reasonable reason to stop you if none of the above scenarios transpired.
3. Note Down Your Recollection Of The Occurrence
It is essential that you recall all of the events of your case. You need to remember what the officer did and said after asking you to stop, in addition to remembering what happened right before. This information can be used to identify any misconduct on the side of the officer, and noting it down as soon as possible ensures that all the details are still fresh in your memory.
4. Prepare For Your Defense By Having All Of The Evidence & Documents For Your Case
From the breathalyzer test and/or blood sample test results to reports drawn up by the arresting officer, the prosecution will have a variety of documents and evidence prepared for the case.
To get your hands on all of these documents and evidence you need to work closely with your lawyer. You can even get the testimony of any passengers that might have been in your car. You also need to provide documents on any conditions that you might have that may have affected your performance of field sobriety tests as well as blood-alcohol test results.
5. Prepare For The Outcome Of The Process Both Financially & Emotionally
Be prepared to handle the outcome of a conviction on your DUI charges, from the beginning, no matter what. You may end up having to pay a fine of no more than 1,000 US dollars, or serving a county jail sentence of no more than 6 months if convicted of a DUI for the first time. You may also face a six-month, maximum, suspension of your driving license from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
DUI convictions are associated with lifelong financial implications. These include higher insurance costs, local fines, restitution, and penalties. All in all, you can expect to pay around 16,000 US dollars towards a first-time conviction for driving under the influence.
For your own best interest, be sure to contact or call Attorney Jim Butler immediately, if you are facing DUI charges. Visit our blog for more related articles!
