There is no question that facing felony DUI charges are very frightening, especially because if someone was injured, you probably had no intention of causing any harm. However, the law is more concerned with the fact that someone was harmed in the first place than the fact that it was an accident.

Considering the amount of public awareness about drunk driving, the general public and the courts expect people to drink responsibly. When they fail to drink responsibility (e.g. calling a taxi or using a designated driver) and injure or kill someone else as a result, then the courts come down hard on them.

In the state of Nevada, if a person is convicted of DUI they can expect the following penalties: 1 year or longer jail or prison sentence, hefty monetary fines, lifetime driver’s license suspension or revocation, mandatory attendance at a DUI school, drug/alcohol counseling/rehabilitation, the installation of an ignition interlock device, vehicle impoundment, up to 5 years probation, parole, sky high insurance premiums, a permanent criminal record, a “strike” on their criminal record under Nevada’s “Three Strikes” law, and points on their DMV record.

In less severe cases, where the drunk driver caused minor injuries to someone else, their case may be prosecuted as a misdemeanor instead of a felony. These cases are called “wobblers” under Nevada law. An example would be in a drunk driving case where a drunk driver caused injuries to another, but their injuries were relatively minor, then they could be charged as a misdemeanor. On the other hand, if the accident caused broken bones, brain injuries, or hospitalization, then it would most likely be charged as a felony.

Aside from causing bodily injury, when a drunk driver is arrested for their fourth or subsequent drunk driving offense within a 10 year period they face felony charges even if no accident occurred and no one was hurt. When a drunk driver causes death to another person, it’s almost always prosecuted as a felony. These cases fall under the category of vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, or second degree murder. Regardless of the circumstances of your case, it’s absolutely critical to retain the services of a highly qualified attorney.

A Las Vegas DUI Attorney can tailor a defense strategy on your behalf which could result in a favorable outcome in your DUI case. When an attorney is successful getting your charges and penalties reduced, it can make all the difference for you and is well worth the time and expense invested in a good defense.

Level of comfort

First when you hire your own private DUI Attorney you get to interview as many attorneys as you like and find the one you feel most comfortable with, and who you think will get you the best results. When someone is appointed a public defender they don’t get to interview that attorney, they don’t get to try and find the best fit, and they don’t get to ask questions about that attorneys experience and what they success rate is. Once you get assigned a public defender that is who will represent you, and typically no exceptions are made.

Volume of Caseload

Secondly is the size of the caseload between a private DUI Attorney and a public defender. Often public defenders have very high caseloads. That means, at any given time they could have a couple hundred clients. Private Attorneys on the other hand don’t have near the volume of cases, meaning they have less clients and more time to devote to each individual case.

DUI Defense – The field of specialization

Lastly is experience. The world of DUI defense is pretty specialized. Meaning there is lots of science to it, and other issues that one needs to know and understand. An experienced DUI Attorney will usually limit their practice to exclusively defending those accused of DUI. Oftentimes, court defenders are right out of law school, or this is their first real job, or they simply don’t have the resources to get all the training and education done that an attorney who exclusively practices in a certain area of law can.

Generally, a majority of public defenders are very good attorneys. However, like all professions there are good ones and there are bad ones. The legal field is no different, and you may get stuck with someone you don’t like. Remember DUI defense is a pretty specialized field.

These motions actually deal with suppressing evidence, suppressing statements, and/or dismissing the charges. Because these legal issues may be dispositive, meaning if the Defense prevails the charge will get dismissed, they are usually heard on their own date. This is called a motion hearing.

In order to have the best chance of prevailing during this motion, your Las Vegas DUI Attorney must do some proper amount of preparation in advance of the actual hearing date. Here are a list of items that need to be done in order to prepare for motions.

Write and draft a motion

The first thing that needs to be done is the writing of the actual motion. After a thorough investigation of the case, any legal issues will come to the surface. Based on this research the DUI Attorney will write and file the appropriate motions. In a DUI case these legal issues can range from challenging the stop, the field sobriety tests, any statements, and of course dismissing for lack of probable cause to arrest.

Cross examination

Preparation of the cross examination of the arresting officer needs to be done sooner rather than later. Unless the motion is a non-testimonial motion the Prosecution is going to call their witness (i.e., the officer) to testify. An examination needs to be done by the DUI Attorney.

Case law

It is always helpful, especially if the motion hearing rests are specific case law to have the specific cases printed out. Providing copies to the Judge and Prosecution shows the appropriate amount of research has been done in advance, and the Attorney is thoroughly prepared. In addition when a Judge is making their ruling it is always helpful to have them review an item you provided.

Prep the client

Whether or not a client testifies is an important decision that needs to be discussed. In addition the appropriate behavior of the client is equally as important. Often times if a client is mumbling under their breath, or making off hand comments during the hearing it can not only be distracting for the Attorney, but a Judge is going to take notice.

Familiarize with legal issues

In DUI case it’s pretty rare for a new legal issues to be litigated. Meaning the Attorney may have gotten the gist of their legal argument from a colleague or from a prior brief researched. If this is the case it’s still important to thoroughly review the legal issues, and the case law as if it’s the first time being argued. There is nothing more defeating than an Attorney that isn’t familiar with their own motion.

However, as a defendant , if you receive the notice from the Court about your probation hearing at a later date then it is surely not a good sign. This is because when such probation hearing is set, it is usually on behalf of probation department’s request and the main reason behind such request is an allegation that you as the defendant has not followed one of the agreed conditions set by the jury at the time of your sentence.

First of all, it is never a good idea to walk into Court, especially a probation hearing without your Las Vegas DUI Attorney. If the Probation hearing was set for a violation of one of the conditions of the sentence, if those allegations are proven the defendant can face sanctions ranging anywhere from jail to fines to community service.

So what occurs at this hearing. Prior to the start of the hearing, the Defendant will be informed what the allegations are. Typically this comes in the form of a probation report and is actually what is sent to the Judge to set the hearing in the first place. A defendant has three options at this point. They can either admit the allegation, admit the allegation with explanation, or they can deny the allegation.

If the allegation is admitted than basically the Defendant is stating the allegation is true and therefore they violated the conditions of the sentence. This is kind of like pleading guilty. At this point, the Judge can impose a sanction and the Defendant will have to abide by whatever gets imposed. If a suspended sentence was imposed at the time of sentencing than the Judge has the remaining balance of jail at their disposal.

If the allegation is admitted with an explanation than the Defendant is offered a chance to explain what happened, and present any mitigating circumstances to not impose any sanctions. If an allegation is true than in my opinion its best to go with this option and try to take responsibility for the slip up. Depending on what the allegation is a sanction may not be imposed if the Judge is sympathetic.

If the allegation is denied than a contested revocation hearing is set. This is kind of like a trial, except the Prosecution only has to prove the allegation was committed by a preponderance of the evidence, not by beyond a reasonable doubt. The difference in legal standards make these hearings difficult, but in some cases it is necessary to challenge the allegation.

The best way to convince the Prosecutor to reduce a DUI charge is if there is some legal issue that exists in the case. This is why its important to thoroughly investigate and research the DUI case. For example if the arresting officer didn’t have a lawful basis to stop the driver, or if there were insufficient facts to support probable cause to arrest, or if the breath or blood test was not administered correctly or it wasn’t entirely accurate than those are legal issues that need to be raised with the Prosecution.

Another helpful thing to do is present any mitigating circumstances that the Prosecutor may not know about the defendant. If the defendant has never been in trouble before, mention that. If the defendant is an upstanding member of the community, they have a family, a stable job, mention that.

Often times the client gets an alcohol and drug assessment prior to the resolution of the case. Your lawyer would like to present these to the Prosecution (with my clients permission of course) to show they don’t have any issues with alcohol or drugs. Obviously a Prosecutor doesn’t want to offer a reduction in charges if they think the defendant is going to get in trouble again.

Typically what an expert defense lawyer does is schedule a time to speak with the Prosecutor. He/She then sits down and tells them all the legal issues that have been uncovered and explain to them about the possibilities if the case proceeds to a jury trial. Your lawyer also tells them about the client and present the alcohol and drug assessment to show the DUI arrest was an isolated incident, and they are not likely to re-offend.

Every case is going to be different. Different facts, didn’t clients, and different Prosecutors. Just because one case got a reduction doesn’t necessarily mean a similarly situated case will get reduced. So often times a DUI Attorney needs to be creative when negotiating with the Prosecution. Some times my clients will agree to do community service, or pay a larger fine, or agree to do some extra AA meetings. Whatever it takes to get the charge reduced.

Now sometimes this won’t happen, that is just a fact of practicing in DUI defense. But if everything has been done, every avenue has been explored then the client needs to make a judgment call about what to do… Whether talking the DUI charge or litigating the case in trial.

Once the DUI arrest is done and you are placed in the custody, your license will be suspended temporarily. You will have 10 days from the time of arrest to request an administrative hearing with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV). Failure to meet this requirement will potentially lead to a one year license suspension.

The Criminal Process

The criminal process includes an initial appearance in front of a judge (usually within 24 hours of arrest), an arraignment, a pretrial hearing, motions and evidentiary hearings, and possibly a trial. This is the time to retain legal counsel to help defend against the charges you face. A qualified Las Vegas DUI attorney can make sure the process is undertaken correctly and that you are doing everything necessary to help reduce, acquit, or possibly dismiss any pending charges.

Penalties

• If convicted, Fla. Stat. §316.193 states that a first time offender will be required to pay up to $1000 in fines and / or serve up to six months in jail. If you had a BAC of .15 or higher, or had a minor in the vehicle, you will be required to up to $2000 in fines and / or serve up to nine months in jail.
• Furthermore, a first conviction comes with a mandatory 50 hours of community service or an additional fine of $10 for each hour of community service required. If probation is part of the sentence, the total period or probation and incarceration may not exceed one year.

Knowing what to expect after an arrest for an alleged DUI in Florida gives you the opportunity to approach the situation in a way that keeps you from inadvertently hurting your options.

Just like in any other area in life, having a strong comprehension of what is involved in a particular process, along with the laws that govern it, will most likely give you a more informed outlook of how you should react to adversity. This should allow you to have more composure and confidence during this stressful situation. A Florida DUI can come with extreme consequences, but with a calm and informed demeanor  and with the help of your Las Vegas DUI Attorney, you may find yourself in a more favorable position.

DUI under Florida Law

The state of Florida has specific laws concerning a first time offense for Driving under the Influence. According to Fla. Stat. § 316.193, a person can be found guilty of a DUI is he or she is in actual physical control of a car and is under the influence of alcohol, chemical or controlled substances which impair normal cognitive faculties. The legal limit for BAC in Florida is .08 grams.

During the initial stop, the police officer must follow protocol and approach the situation in the proper manner. If the police officer suspects that you are driving under the influence, he or she will order you out of the vehicle for further investigation.

Field sobriety tests may be administered at this point, although you always have the right to refuse these. They are oftentimes difficult for even the most sober drivers. The officer may also give a breathalyzer test on-site. A breath, blood, or urine test may also be given once taken to the police processing station.

Although refusal to take these tests will automatically lead to an arrest, it may also keep potentially incriminating evidence from being collected, possibly giving you a better chance at fighting the eventual charges. No matter if you take part in the tests or not, if the officer believes that a DUI occurred, they will make the arrest, read your Miranda rights and place you in police custody.

Generally, the length of this report is around 3-4 pages and is delivered to the Prosecutors office. Based on this report, the Prosecutors office takes a decision regarding filing DUI charges after analyzing the report thoroughly. In case the DUI charges are filed then this police narrative is subsequently passed over to Las Vegas DUI Attorney.

As most of these police narratives are redundant in nature, a proper system is required  for DUI incident report review and assessment to decide the valid existence of any legal issues. While a additional investigation is of course needed, the DUI incident report offers the basic foundation and can help DUI defense attorney to decide his/her strategy in a particular direction. With an experience, your DUI lawyer can sense possible discrepancy and concentrate his efforts on specific part.

The strategy used by our DUI lawyers is simple yet very effective. Once we receive the DUI incident report, we classify whole information into 6 main categories like Driving, Initial Contact, Statements, Exit, Field Sobriety Tests, Breath or Blood test. This is a similar kind preparation we do for cross-examination of law enforcement officer.

Now this is very similar to the topics your lawyer creates when preparing a cross-examination for the arresting officer. So by knocking this out early on and identifying any legal issues in the report, your lawyer can easily transfer notes to the cross-examination or have an idea on how he wants to structure the questions.

After he has written down the headlines, he starts going through the police report. Let us take driving for example. I will write down what the basis for the stop was. What the police officer observed by the driving. Whether the driver was cited for any infractions. Whether there was an accident involved.

Once he gets the reason for the contact down, he will start to look for what the Officer didn’t write down. If the driver was stopped for speeding, was there any weaving within the lane? Was there any crossing or swerving? Was there any erratic driving? Did the vehicle lawfully pull over? Did they use their blinker and come to a complete stop?

The idea is to look for every little thing the Officer didn’t notice. Then decide whether based on all of that was there a lawful basis to initiate the stop. Was there enough to ask the driver to exit the vehicle based on the initial contact? Was there enough evidence to arrest the driver based on the driving, initial contact, and field sobriety tests?

Now, there is no hard and fast or generalized rule about these decisions or there is certainly not fixed better option. All you need to do is consider various factor before making such decision. While some of our clients are asked to testify others are advised against testifying.

Let us explore the diverse factors that can make difference while taking the decision…

Does the client even want to testify?

Some clients are  shy, soft spoken by nature, or don’t feel comfortable speaking in public. Sometimes a client is not going to be able to speak in public or he/she doesn’t feel comfortable with the idea then its probably a good idea to consider not having them testify. Although there are certain circumstances where this might work to your advantage and the client needs to be prepared for it.

How much alcohol will the client testify they drank?

In a DUI case, most of the times if a client has consumed more than two alcoholic beverages than juries tend to think that he/she is automatically impaired. It seems that most of the jurors think that two drinks is the limit. So as a general rule if you have drunk more than that then usually your Las Vegas DUI Attorney will not put you on the stand unless your testimony is paramount to your defense.

How will the client do during cross examination?

Some clients are really heated over their case. Or they don’t do well with confrontation and become belligerent and angry. It always needs to be considered how the client will do under the stress of cross examination. As an able attorney, he can only prepare you so much. If a client is going to explode on the stand and the Prosecutor is going to push their buttons, then it might be a good idea to advise against testifying.

Every case is different and needs to be considered on a case by case analysis. In some cases it might be helpful to have a shy client on the stand, while in some other cases even a hot headed client on the stand do the trick to show they were not drunk on the night of the arrest but that’s how they normally act.

Driving Under Influence is a serious crime in Las Vegas and law enforcement authorities here are quite strict when it comes to DUI. There are different penalties based on the type and past record of such offense. Please consult your Las Vegas DUI Attorney for more details.

First Time DUI Offense

A first-time offender faces up to six months in jail or up to 96 hours of community service while dressed in distinctive garb that identifies the offender as a violator of Nevada DUI law. A first-time offender is also subject to a fine ranging from $400 to $1,000. These offenders must also pay for and attend an education course on alcohol abuse. The driving license revocation period is 90 days. First-time offenders with a “BAC” of .18 or greater will be placed in an alcohol treatment facility for up to one year.

Second Time DUI

A person who commits a second “DUI” within seven years of the first conviction faces up to six months in jail or six months in residential confinement, which is the equivalent of house arrest. These offenders are also subject to pay a fine between $750 and $1,000 or perform an equivalent numbers of hours of community service while dressed in distinctive garb that identifies the offender as having violated Nevada DUI laws. Second-time offenders will also be placed in an alcohol treatment facility for up to one year. The driving license revocation period is one year.

Third Time DUI

A person who commits a third “DUI” within a seven-year period faces one to six years in prison and must pay a fine of $2,000 to $5,000. The driving license revocation period is three years.

Survival Tips

• Never answer any questions other than name and address.
• Never agree to perform roadside tests.
• Never agree to have your eyes tested.
• Never agree to blow into a hand-held breath tester.
• Never consent to a breath or blood test, if you are asked to take one.
• Be polite. Produce requested documents.
• It is very important that you share with your attorney ALL of the details and facts about your case, and that you give him or her the TRUTH.