This may seem pretty self explanatory. If you're charged with a DUI, then you want to hire an attorney that specifically and exclusively practices DUI defense. I mean if you needed open heart surgery you wouldn't go to a general practitioner would you? The same thinking applies here.
The reason I bring this up is because I have met 2 clients or potential clients I guess looking for representation on a DUI case. When I met with them, both of these individuals were completely misinformed about DUI laws, and specifically what their options are. As a Seattle DUI lawyer I practice exclusively in the area of DUI defense, so it is pretty easy for me to explain what your options are, Im up to date on the recent law changes, and Im familiar with individual courts, and prosecutors and I can probably give you a reasonable idea of what may happen with you case. If you're not a DUI lawyer than you probably cant do that. Just like I cant tell you would the recent laws are on environmental litigation.
Now going back to these two individuals. One person met with a family law attorney. This was a first offense, the individual was under 21. The family law attorney told the client about a deferred prosecution, told them that is what they should do, and then completely misinformed them about how to do it. If you know me, or read this blog at all you will know that I rarely recommend a deferred prosecution, but especially in this circumstance. As a general rule you never have someone do a deferred on a first offense, but you never do one when you're that young. You only get one per lifetime, you have to be found to be alcohol or drug dependence, and you have to agree to complete a 2 year alcohol and drug treatment program and be monitored by probation for 5 years.
The other individual I met with had previously met with a general practitioner attorney. Someone that does a little bit of everything I guess. In this case the client had actually blown under the legal limit, so there would be no need for a DOL hearing. However this attorney told them they had to have a DOL hearing, and tried telling the client it would be easy to win because they were under the legal limit. Im not sure if this was some kind of scam to overcharge the client, or if the attorney honestly thought a DOL hearing was necessary. But again, this was completely wrong advice. Nothing bad would have happened had the client paid the $200 and sent in the hearing request form, but if this attorney makes mistakes on something so simple, imagine what would happen when more complicated issues arose.
Now Im not trying to bag on these attorneys. These most likely were honest mistakes. I mean if someone came to me wanted me to draft a will, or sue some major corporation I wouldnt try it. To be honest I would screw something like that up. Even though Im a lawyer and I went to law school, I just dont know anything about these areas of the law. My philosophy on a lawyer practicing in every area of the law is that is just not feasible. There is no way that a lawyer can know everything about every area and facet of the law to be competent. It is simply impossible. This is why doctors commonly refer patients to specialists or other physicians in certain areas of medicine. Nobody knows everything, and the same things applies in Seattle DUI Defense.
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Matthew Leyba is a Seattle DUI lawyer in Western WA. His practice focuses exclusively on representing those accused of DUI and other serious traffic offenses. If you have been arrested for a DUI contact our office for a free no hassle 1 hour consultation.
Showing posts with label DUI Deferred Prosecution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DUI Deferred Prosecution. Show all posts
Friday, September 14, 2012
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
DUI Probation Review Hearing
Yesterday I appeared on behalf of a client on a DUI probation hearing. This client was not originally mine, but retained me just for the probation review hearing. When I was a public defender I literally appeared on a couple thousand of these types of hearings. They can be pretty simple or they can be very complicated, depending on the allegations and the underlying offense.
For those of you that don't know what this type of a hearing is. Basically whenever a person is sentenced in a DUI case, it usually is to a suspended sentence. A suspended sentence means that the Judge will suspend a portion of the maximum jail sentence (for a DUI its 1 year) and hold that over your head for the entire jurisdiction of the case (for a DUI its 5 years). Now during this 5 year period, conditions of the sentence are imposed. For example on a DUI case, a person will be sentenced to jail, fines, alcohol treatment, ignition interlock devices, and usually they have to stay out of trouble for the 5 years.
So whenever a person doesn't comply with the terms of the sentence or they get in trouble again. A Judge will be notified of this and will schedule a DUI probation review hearing to address these issues. And sometimes the allegations of the sentence violation are so serious the Judge will impose a portion or in some cases all of the suspended jail sentence that was hanging over the persons head. This is what recently happened to Lindsey Lohan on her Reckless Driving charge. One of the conditions of her sentence was that she had to stay out of trouble. Now there is a criminal charge of felony theft and the Judge in her Reckless driving case revoked a portion of her suspended sentence. I think it was 120 days or something like that.
Anyway the DUI probation review hearing case I was retained on, at first glance was a difficult situation. The client had been in front of the Judge many times for other Review hearings. These violations ranged from new charges, and not complying with alcohol treatment. And usually when a person appears in front of Judge so many times, the Judge just gets tired of it. They say to themselves that the defendant isn't taking this seriously, and there is nothing that can be done other than putting the person in jail. And in this particular case this was the likely outcome.
However in the end I was able to convince the Judge to impose 14 community service hours, in lieu of the remaining suspended sentence. How did I do that, you might ask? Like I said, when I was a public defender I regularly appeared on these types of hearings. And learned early on from another Attorney how to handle the Judges in these particular cases. This particular attorney is a good talker and knows how to smooze. I'll refer to him as Brabazon.
Anyway Brabazon taught me two things with these review hearings. First he taught me how to highlight all the positives the defendant is doing, but at the same time not minimize the current allegations. For example if a person hasn't been going to treatment. I might say "its important for the court to note that my client hasn't been in trouble since this incident, and they haven't relapsed." "Although treatment is important, my client is not drinking and driving, my client is not committing new crimes, my client is not falling back into their old ways." Etc, and etc.
The second and probably greatest thing I learned was how to "land on the grenade" for the client. And yes this term was coined way before the Jersey Shore. What this means is as an attorney you have to know when to take the heat for your client. Lots of times in these Review hearings, the Judges are really pissed off and mad at your clients. And you don't want them feeling that way when they decide what type of sanction to impose. So right before a Judge is going to impose a sanction, and right when they are at their maddest. I was taught to diffuse them. For example in this latest case, the Judge started to say how my client only does things her way, and how the Judge told her at the last hearing that this was her last chance, and how she was going to put in her jail for a year. I then politely interrupted the Judge. Made a small joke by saying, "I appreciate everything the court is saying, and I know that Im coming into this pretty late in the game." I then went on to tell the Judge that putting my client in jail wouldn't benefit anybody. That she was doing everything she could, and etc. The Judge then kind of turned her anger towards me, and told me how big the clients case file was, and how many times she has come before her. I just politely said I know, and continued to smooze the Judge. By the time the Judge got back to me client, I had taken all the heat. And 14 community service hours were imposed.
Long story short, if you're facing a probation violation on a DUI charge. Its important you hire an attorney that knows how to handle these types of cases. Lots of times, private attorneys don't have very much experience with probation violations, because all their clients do what they are supposed to do. And thus they never learned these tricks and strategies in representing someone on a probation case. Because I was once a public defender, I have tons of experience handling these types of situations. If you have an upcoming DUI probation hearing, please contact my office for a free 60 minute case consultation.
Leyba Defense PLLC
For those of you that don't know what this type of a hearing is. Basically whenever a person is sentenced in a DUI case, it usually is to a suspended sentence. A suspended sentence means that the Judge will suspend a portion of the maximum jail sentence (for a DUI its 1 year) and hold that over your head for the entire jurisdiction of the case (for a DUI its 5 years). Now during this 5 year period, conditions of the sentence are imposed. For example on a DUI case, a person will be sentenced to jail, fines, alcohol treatment, ignition interlock devices, and usually they have to stay out of trouble for the 5 years.
So whenever a person doesn't comply with the terms of the sentence or they get in trouble again. A Judge will be notified of this and will schedule a DUI probation review hearing to address these issues. And sometimes the allegations of the sentence violation are so serious the Judge will impose a portion or in some cases all of the suspended jail sentence that was hanging over the persons head. This is what recently happened to Lindsey Lohan on her Reckless Driving charge. One of the conditions of her sentence was that she had to stay out of trouble. Now there is a criminal charge of felony theft and the Judge in her Reckless driving case revoked a portion of her suspended sentence. I think it was 120 days or something like that.
Anyway the DUI probation review hearing case I was retained on, at first glance was a difficult situation. The client had been in front of the Judge many times for other Review hearings. These violations ranged from new charges, and not complying with alcohol treatment. And usually when a person appears in front of Judge so many times, the Judge just gets tired of it. They say to themselves that the defendant isn't taking this seriously, and there is nothing that can be done other than putting the person in jail. And in this particular case this was the likely outcome.
However in the end I was able to convince the Judge to impose 14 community service hours, in lieu of the remaining suspended sentence. How did I do that, you might ask? Like I said, when I was a public defender I regularly appeared on these types of hearings. And learned early on from another Attorney how to handle the Judges in these particular cases. This particular attorney is a good talker and knows how to smooze. I'll refer to him as Brabazon.
Anyway Brabazon taught me two things with these review hearings. First he taught me how to highlight all the positives the defendant is doing, but at the same time not minimize the current allegations. For example if a person hasn't been going to treatment. I might say "its important for the court to note that my client hasn't been in trouble since this incident, and they haven't relapsed." "Although treatment is important, my client is not drinking and driving, my client is not committing new crimes, my client is not falling back into their old ways." Etc, and etc.
The second and probably greatest thing I learned was how to "land on the grenade" for the client. And yes this term was coined way before the Jersey Shore. What this means is as an attorney you have to know when to take the heat for your client. Lots of times in these Review hearings, the Judges are really pissed off and mad at your clients. And you don't want them feeling that way when they decide what type of sanction to impose. So right before a Judge is going to impose a sanction, and right when they are at their maddest. I was taught to diffuse them. For example in this latest case, the Judge started to say how my client only does things her way, and how the Judge told her at the last hearing that this was her last chance, and how she was going to put in her jail for a year. I then politely interrupted the Judge. Made a small joke by saying, "I appreciate everything the court is saying, and I know that Im coming into this pretty late in the game." I then went on to tell the Judge that putting my client in jail wouldn't benefit anybody. That she was doing everything she could, and etc. The Judge then kind of turned her anger towards me, and told me how big the clients case file was, and how many times she has come before her. I just politely said I know, and continued to smooze the Judge. By the time the Judge got back to me client, I had taken all the heat. And 14 community service hours were imposed.
Long story short, if you're facing a probation violation on a DUI charge. Its important you hire an attorney that knows how to handle these types of cases. Lots of times, private attorneys don't have very much experience with probation violations, because all their clients do what they are supposed to do. And thus they never learned these tricks and strategies in representing someone on a probation case. Because I was once a public defender, I have tons of experience handling these types of situations. If you have an upcoming DUI probation hearing, please contact my office for a free 60 minute case consultation.
Leyba Defense PLLC
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Seattle DUI Deferred Prosecution
Should I consider a DUI Deferred Prosecution?
A Seattle DUI or a Washington DUI for that matter is a very serious offense. When a person is charged with this particular crime they face a mandatory amount of jail, a mandatory fine, a mandatory license suspension, a mandatory ignition interlock requirement, and period of probation. These penalties vary depending on the number a prior DUI’s a person has and what the breath or blood alcohol level was.
However despite these penalties if a person is charged with a DUI then can choose to enter into what’s called a deferred prosecution. This allows the accused to defer and potentially avoid all the mandatory jail, fines, and license suspension if they agree to certain terms that are outlined in RCW 10.05. A person can do a deferred prosecution once in their lifetime for a DUI charge.
Now this may seem like a great idea, but a deferred prosecution is very complex resolution with very strict guidelines. Essentially in order to qualify for a Deferred Prosecution on your Seattle DUI or Washington State DUI the first thing you need to do is a complete an alcohol and drug evaluation. The results of this evaluation must find that you suffer from alcohol or drug dependence, and that you will enter and complete a 2-year alcohol/drug treatment program. The cost of this type of programs depends on the individual treatment center where the program will be, whether you have insurance that might cover some of this. But plan on spending around $3000 - $6000 on this 2-year treatment plan.
In addition to the 2-year treatment plan, you will enter into a contract with the Court where you Seattle DUI or Washington State DUI is in. You will have to agree to a contract between you and the Court that will last 5 years. During those 5 years if you successfully start and complete the 2-year treatment plan, abstain from alcohol and drugs, monitored by probation, and agree to having a functioning ignition interlock device in your vehicle the Court will dismiss the Seattle DUI or Washington State DUI charge at the end of the 5 years.
However if you fail to live up to your end of the bargain, when you enter into the Deferred Prosecution you agree that there are enough facts in the police report to find you guilty, and you waive your right to have a jury trial. So if at any time during these 5 years it can be shown by a preponderance of evidence that you’re in violation of any of the agreed terms of the Deferred Prosecution the Judge can revoke your deferred and impose all the mandatory penalties allowed by law.
Many DUI Attorney’s tell people that a deferred prosecution is a good idea, because they can avoid all the jail and fines, and ultimately get the thing dismissed. However my firm is very cautious about representing people who might want to consider this option. In fact as of writing this, of the last 100 DUI’s we have defended only 4 people have entered deferred prosecutions. That is only 4%. Why? Because there are a lot of things at stake and there are certain people who might not make the best candidate for this option.
If you’re considering this option or would like more information on entering a deferred prosecution on your Seattle DUI or Washington State DUI, please contact my office immediately. An experience Seattle DUI Lawyer will be able to answer all of your questions and inform you of whether this might be a good option for you.
Matthew Leyba | Attorney
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