A neighbor’s daughter has been charged with DUI over the legal limit of .08, which carries a criminal conviction if she is convicted. They have of course, hired a lawyer and are now figuring out the best approach to take when her case comes to court. She has no prior convictions that we know of, and she has no tickets for speeding or anything like that. She is pretty clean as far as the law is concerned; however, she does have a couple of accidents that she has been involved with—none of them had to do with drinking while driving.
This time it was a simple random stop of a bunch of kids in a car, and next thing you know, she is charged with DUI and will face license suspension, time in jail, and a criminal conviction if something is not done to defend her. She is pretty worried, as she should be, and her parents are as well, in addition to being pretty upset about it. Turns out she was supposed to be the designated driver that night and did not live up to her obligations. The kids were lucky they were only stopped and not involved in an accident that could have hurt them badly or worse.
Her defense if there is one, will focus on minimizing the charges and giving a young adult a chance. No priors, history of being in trouble, and not even known to the police. A case of bad judgment, perhaps some bad influence from friends. The mercy of the court and a promise that this will not occur again might do the trick. This is the core of the story. However, the defense lawyer must work to bring out these attributes and substantiate them for the court.
Whether the judge will buy this story is any ones guess. The lawyer will know the right buttons to push with the judge. Also, those they should stay away from. The judge knows this, too, and some of the decisions will depend on how he or she feels that day, whether he or she thinks this kid needs a solid kick to get moving. Also, to follow the law when it comes to drinking and driving.
This is a first offense. There is a good chance she will get off with a fine if the lawyer does his job right. She will still need to pay the lawyer, which will be very expensive. Probably over $5000, and then there is her dad she has to deal with. She will be lucky ever to drive the family car ever again.
We wish her luck and have a pretty good idea that she will never let this happen again. It will be too bad if she is convicted. Since her parents just bought a house in Florida. She cannot visit them if she is a convicted criminal. Everyone is distraught for various reasons, none of which are good.
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I cannot believe how much it cost for a lawyer these days. It cost me upwards of $5000 and I still had to pay fines