Getting arrested for and being charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs can be a terrifying experience that may significantly impact the rest of your life. First of all, your poor decision to drive after using drugs or drinking could be detrimental to your life, wellbeing, and the lives of others as well.
Other than that, getting charged with a DUI will probably have your license suspended, if not wholly revoked, and you will most certainly face high court costs, fees, and other penalties. Depending on the severity of your case and charge, you might also serve jail time. You may end up losing your job, or at the very least, get your employability negatively impacted.
A DUI charge is nothing to take lightly and requires getting professional help from an acclaimed criminal defense lawyer to challenge the evidence against you and fight for the best possible outcome on your behalf. Finding the right person to represent your rights when you’re in such a state is difficult, but luckily for you, there are countless highly skilled professionals you can hire online such as www.tsiglerlaw.com. Still, to make things easier for you if you ever find yourself in such a situation, besides getting lawyered up, here are five steps that you should instantly take after you have been charged with driving under the influence.
Get A Ride Home
While some states like Pennsylvania will allow you to be released from jail right after you’ve been charged, as long as someone close to you picks you up and pays your bail, others will demand you to spend the night in jail until you sober up.
Regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in, the best initial step to take is to find yourself a safe ride home. In all probability, your driving license will be suspended immediately upon being charged with driving under the influence, so you definitely don’t want to risk driving yourself home and adding another charge to your docket.
Prioritize Your Court Date
After posting bail and before you leave the jail for good, you’ll be given a notice that contains the date you are to appear in court regarding your DUI charge. So, whatever you do, wherever you go when released from jail, don’t lose, forget, or dismiss your court date.
After you get home, record the date and time of your court hearing and appearance on your calendar. Also, it would be best to contact your employer and anyone else you might need to contact to ensure that you have no conflicting appointments on the same day.
Hire An Attorney Specialized In Handling DUI Cases
While people and attorneys you may know from your surrounding may try to convince you that you don’t always need to hire a DUI specialized attorney to handle your court hearing, that’s certainly not the case. While most of the DUI cases in recent years are very cut and dry, and most court judges only consider blood-alcohol content as preliminary evidence to convict a defendant of a DUI, there are certain circumstances in which it’s valuable to hire an attorney who specializes in handling DUI cases.
For example, such an attorney will help you navigate through all of the necessary steps mentioned in this article to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible for you. Moreover, even if you plead guilty and get convicted of driving under the influence, contacting an experienced DUI attorney practice, such as the law office of Daniel P. Flores, can help to guide you in completing all necessary steps sooner so that you get your driver’s license back and get back to your everyday life more quickly.
Make All Necessary Arrangements For Transportation
While you await your court date to arrive, you won’t have a driver’s license on you to get around town like you usually would. For that reason, you’ll have to make alternative arrangements for your transportation meanwhile.
Occasionally, the court can grant a hardship license to permit you to drive yourself to work or school. However, if they don’t present you with a hardship license, ask someone close to you to drive you around or utilize the public transportation system in your city to get around town.
Prepare For Your Court Appearance
Contingent on how you plan to plead, there will be somewhat different things required of you. For instance, if you’re pleading guilty, you’ll only need to look your best and bring along all paperwork demanded from you.
On the other hand, if you’re pleading not guilty, you’ll need to do a lot more preparation work, which is why you should always have a DUI attorney by your side to assist you. This might include getting testimonies from people who were with you, recording your recollections of what happened that day, etc.
Final Thoughts
In the end, if you ever find yourself in this unfortunate situation, be grateful that the police stopped you before you were involved in or caused a severe car accident. If you follow the steps mentioned above, your DUI charge could be resolved with the best possible outcome for you and serve as a valuable learning experience.
