Initial Action Plan After a DUI Arrest
If you or a loved one was recently arrested for driving under the influence, time may seem like it has come to a halt. You can likely feel lost with so many unanswered questions. Are you wondering where you should turn to first? Teague Law has handled hundreds of DUI cases and knows the ins and outs of the action plan that needs to be completed.
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Scan or Make Copies of Your Documents.
You may have been given several documents by the arresting officer or the jail; however, it is also possible that you may not have been given many documents at all. If you were given documents, these documents are very important and can be very difficult to obtain quickly if they are lost. An officer will usually provide you copies of the citations he issued as well as a DDS-1205 form, also known as a temporary license. You may also have paperwork from the jail or bonding company with important information regarding your court date. If you have any of these documents, please take pictures or scans of these documents as soon as possible. Immediately taking pictures or scans of your documents will ensure they are saved away in a safe place in the event you lose the originals. This information will be vital in submitting a letter of appeal to the Department of Driver Services regarding your driving privileges within 30 days. These documents will also aid your attorney in submitting an initial open records request to obtain evidence pertaining to your defense. Remember: just because you were arrested doesn’t mean you are guilty.
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Research and Hire a DUI Attorney – not just an attorney.
When a DUI arrest is made in Georgia, a 30-day deadline is triggered to protect your driving privileges. As of July 1, 2017, Georgia law now allows for certain qualifying individual to choose between submitting an appeal to Department of Driver Services and requesting an administrative license hearing (ALS) or installing an interlock device and driving on a limited permit for 12-months. Not every person is eligible to choose the interlock option. More importantly, the decision between choosing the ALS hearing route versus interlock option is extremely important and will likely have an impact on the remainder of your DUI case and possible defenses found by your attorney. You only have 30 days from the date of the arrest to make this important decision.
In the meantime, it is vital to research and hire a lawyer quickly to ensure your attorney can provide the best advice as to which option to choose. Case strategy, facts regarding the DUI arrest, and overall goals for the case will all effect this decision. Your attorney needs to know what goals are most important to you and file open record requests immediately. Obtaining initial reports is not always possible due to government processing time. However, filing these requests early in the process puts your attorney in the best position to obtain these reports before the important 30-day deadline expires for your license decision must be made.
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Discuss Strategy with Your DUI Lawyer.
Very little information pertaining to your case will be available in the early stages of your case. As a firm with extensive experience in DUI cases, we request ALL evidence concerning one’s DUI case. This includes an incident report, accident report (if applicable), arrest video, intoxilyzer result sheets, intoxilyzer inspection records, and officer personnel file. This list is certainly not exhaustive and must be tailored for each individual case. What is also important to us as Attorneys who devote a large portion of our practice to DUI cases is to discuss your recollection of the facts of your arrest as soon as possible. Reciting the facts as you remember them to your attorney can help guide your attorney as to what initial issues and defenses may be involved in your case. This is the exact reason why we offer a free consultation.
No matter how bad you think your case may be – a charge is not a conviction. The DUI Attorneys at Teague Law are intimately familiar with the charges of DUI and are ready to guide you through the process of defending yourself against these charges. Contact one of the experienced DUI Attorneys at Teague Law in Ellijay, GA today and let us begin fighting for you today.
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