After a DUI Arrest

If you were recently arrested and charge with driving under the influence, or DUI, you may be worried about what comes next. The best step to take before anything else happens is to hire an experienced DUI lawyer. It may also help to know what to expect from the legal process.

The penalties for a DUI vary greatly according the circumstances surrounding the arrest as well as the number of offenses you have already had. To find out more about the legal process surrounding DUIs, contact the experienced Rhode Island DUI defense attorney James Powderly at 401-662-9006.

The Process

Once you have been arrested and charged with a DUI, you will be involved in the following steps:

• Arraignment: This is when, after hearing the charges against you, you plead guilty or innocent. At the arraignment, if you do not already have a lawyer, the judge may decide to appoint you a public defender.
• Preliminary hearings: At this hearing the judge will decide whether or not the evidence produced could convince a jury that you were indeed intoxicated at the time of the accident. Plea bargaining may occur at this stage
• Pre-trial motions: Your attorney may decide to bring motions to have damaging evidence kept out of the trial.
• Trial: While most DUI cases do not go to trial, it is a possibility that your case may escalate to trial by jury.

It is very important to be very aware of your individual rights in a DUI case.

Contact Us

If you have recently been arrested and charged with a DUI, contact the experienced Rhode Island DUI defense attorney James Powderly at 401-662-9006.