There are many people who make the costly mistake of driving after drinking and then are faced with decisions they never thought they would have to make. There are countless people who simply showed up on the court date and wanted to put the incident behind them, so they pleaded guilty and took the harsh punishment. Today we look at a few of the reasons why it will be beneficial both financially and mentally to hire a local DUI lawyer Virginia Beach VA to represent you in court.
Looking at the Arrest Video
Even if you were able to obtain the copy of the dash camera video during your arrest, you may not have a clue if your rights were violated or not. Your DUI attorney is looking very closely at a number of things that are taking place that doesn’t seem out of the ordinary to the average person. Your attorney wants to see what the officer pulled you over, why they administered certain field tests, and how they treated you during the arrest.
If you were not read your rights or those rights were violated at any point, your DUI attorney will make the move to get the charges either lessened or dismissed.
Speaking with the Arresting Officer
During the DUI hearing, the arresting officer will be on hand, but does not have to say anything. In order to get inside the head of the officer, your Virginia Beach DUI attorney is going to make them appear at the license hearing, and then ask them questions. Although nothing will be done at that hearing, your attorney can get a feel for what was on the mind of the officer and then use their words against them at the DUI hearing.
If the officer contradicts themselves or says something that violates your rights, it will be exposed at the DUI hearing and a move will be made to have the case dismissed.
Working with the Prosecution Team
Regardless what the decision at the court, your DUI attorney has grown their professional business by upholding their reputation in court. If the ruling does not appear to be going in our favor, your DUI attorney can still sit with the prosecution and try to work out a plea deal. If you have never been in trouble before or this is your first DUI, your attorney could make the move to have the charges lessened to a reckless driving instead.
The reckless driving carries less in the way of fines and you won’t lose your license. If your BAC number was barely over the limit, your attorney may argue the device recording the number has a history of being off, and this could convince the judge to drop the charges to the lesser of the two.
As you can see, your Virginia Beach DUI attorney is carefully analyzing the case to make certain your rights were upheld throughout this process. There simply is no reason why you should be punished more than a person with an attorney who secured a more beneficial sentence.