After having been arrested for driving while intoxicated, the next steps will
depend on where the charge happened. But generally speaking after your arrest,
you may be searched, your car searched, your car towed away, you may be placed
in handcuffs and taken to the police station in the police vehicle. You will
most likely be fingerprinted and photographed and you may spend time in jail
awaiting bail. Then finally when you are freed, your driving privileges will be
restricted if not removed entirely until your court date.
Once you have been released, assuming you are able to make bail, the next step
is finding someone to represent you for a hearing. Most if not all states allow
a hearing after the arrest but only if the offender or the attorney file the
necessary paperwork. And time is crucial because normally the period is very
short. As short as five days in some states and as long as ten days in others
which is still not a very long time to obtain a lawyer and request the hearing.
Once the hearing is requested, in some states, the person's license may be
protected until the hearing date. Others require that the driver abstain from
driving until the hearing. And while you wait for your hearing, the lawyer will
gather facts and information to help your case. For cases of vehicular
manslaughter, the lawyer will need to start a defense for your trial.
You also have to figure out how you are going to get to and from work without
being able to drive. And if the car was impounded, how will your family manage
without the vehicle? Another problem will be your employment especially if your
job requires that you drive a vehicle. You may need to talk to your employer, as
your job may be gone if you cannot drive the company vehicle.
Just being arrested and charged with DUI is going to turn your life upside down.
It will affect your family, your job and many aspects of day-to-day living.
Depending on the city and the seriousness of the charge, the newspapers may have
reported the incident. It is not so common these days for city newspapers to
report each case but if an accident was involved, it will undoubtedly make the
papers. Because of the media coverage in manslaughter cases, you may suffer from
ostracism and abuse from strangers.
And what about your conscience if someone was hurt or killed? The continual
sleepless nights and questioning why you had not done things differently will
factor into what should be done next. Will there be a need for a counselling, is
rehabilitation required and how much time off work will you take to recover from
your ordeal? Every aspect of life will be affected and decisions will need to be
made to move on.
In states where hardship exceptions exist, you or lawyer will file the paperwork
in order to bring a little order back to your life. If your spouse drives and
you only have one vehicle, steps will be taken to get the impounded vehicle back
so the spouse can drive. Likewise if the plates are taken away, requests will be
needed to get them back for the spouse.
In summary, many things will happen after a DUI arrest. In addition to the legal
issues, many personal decisions will be made. The DUI lawyer should advise you
of many of these things in the beginning to get you back on track as quickly as
possible.
