DWI and DUI Defense Lawyer and Attorney

by Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys

BASIC FRAMEWORK Of an Dui OR Dwi CASE: Pre-Trial Motions and Trial

Most Dui or Dwi cases never get to this task since the accused requires a plea bargain, admitting guilt in exchange for a reduced offense.

But if a plea bargain is not reached, ultimately the truth go to trial. The trial phase of the criminal case is usually what many people are acquainted with from watching movies or TV. Within the criminal courts a jury of the peers will appraise the evidence against you and also decide getting in touch with convict you from the crime charged based on whether or not they think that you happen to be guilty, “beyond an acceptable doubt.”

If your Dui or Dwi case does make it to trial, it’ll probably follow a sequence of seven steps that include pre-trial motions, selecting jury members, opening statements, witness testimony and cross-examination, closing arguments, jury instruction last but not least, jury deliberation and verdict.

PRE-TRIAL MOTIONS

These motions are usually arguments created by counsel first side or other requesting the court restrict their opponent from doing something at trial. Pre-Trial motions include requests to exclude certain evidence, to stop the use of certain witnesses, or dismiss the situation completely. Your attorney could raise arguments how the breathalyzer test you took was flawed, or how the police that arrested you searched you illegally or questioned you without advising you of one’s rights under Miranda. If your police acted inappropriately or unlawfully in anyway, the time has come to utilize their mistakes against them to exclude government evidence and/or witnesses.

DUI / Dwi TRIAL

Jury Selection

On your trial date, a “jury pool” is assembled from various lists of local residents; these lists include voter registrations, DMV records and utility billing lists. The aim in creating the jury pool is always to achieve a fair cross section of the local population. Therefore, if 40% of the human population is Latino, then approximately 40% in the jury pool must be Latino too. However, the constitution only mandates that the jury pool be representative, not the jury itself. So inside the scenario above, it wouldn’t matter that only 30% of the actual jury members were Latino, that they were represented fairly inside wider jury pool.

Once the jury pool is assembled, the possible jurors are classified as prior to judge, the prosecution and the defense attorney, who each inquire further in order to evaluate if or not they are fit for trial. The ultimate goal of the is always to make sure that the juror won’t be biased towards one for reds or the other. By way of example, if your potential juror had lost a kid within an accident involving a drunk driver, your attorney would go on to dismiss them in the panel, since they could be unfairly biased against you.

Opening Statements

Once the jury is selected, the Dui / Dwi trial can begin. Opening statements is the time in the event the attorneys are first permitted to address the jurors about your case.

Witness Testimony and Cross-Examination

This will be the point when each party enhance witnesses to speak about the incident while watching judge and jury. If the witness is presented by the whites, the other side is often allowed to “cross-examine” them as long as they so choose. Cross-examination means how the attorney for the opposing party is questioning your witness: the defense cross-examines any witness brought forth by the prosecution; the prosecution cross-examines any witness brought forth by the defense.

Closing Arguments

This is where your lawyer and the prosecutor each summarize their arguments and try to convince the jury that their side should win true.

Jury Instructions

Jury instructions are from the judge towards the jury. They may be a reason from a applicable law how the jury will need to know to judge the reality and create a decision. In a Dui or Dwi case the judge will most likely browse the relevant state statutes towards the jury and explain any terms which are not easily understood by laymen (aka non-lawyers).

Jury Deliberation and Verdict

This is the final section of the Dui / Dwi trial. The jury will be excused to a private area where they will discuss your case amongst themselves without input from both sides or from the judge. After they have learned to a decision, they, the judge and also the parties will come back to legal court room where they will read their verdict aloud to the court.

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Question by JayP: law interview hypothetical question.?
hi ..please help answer its an interview question asked by the District Attorneys office on an interview.

A man is found stealing barbed wire from private property and is picked up by the police and charged with petit larceny. He has been in and out of jail his entire life for almost everything ranging from assault of a pregnant woman to possession of drugs to DUI to selling drugs, etc. He has a long rap sheet. Because of his status as a predicate the minimum the judge can sentence him to 5 years. You and the defense attorney are in front of the judge and the judge states that “the court system is jam packed, let’s just give this guy 6 months and get it over with. you and the defendant agree to 6 months in jail. The defendant serves 6 months in jail and he gets out and gets into an altercation with a police officer and then shoots and kills him. The press finds your number and states “if you had followed the guidelines and given this guy five years like he deserved, that police officer would be alive right now.” What do you say to the reporter?

Best answer:

Answer by cyanne2ak
1. Sentencing is ultimately up to the Judge.
2. He was convicted for a non-violent offense, and given a shorter sentence for policy reasons, one of them being to make room in jail for violent offenders.

I would also explain to the reporter the Sentencing Guidelines of the State in question. You should do a little research into these before your interview so that you know whether the judge has discretion to deviate or not. If he does, explain this. If he does not, state that and own up to the mistake.

What do you think? Answer below!