There are far more than four reasons to hire a DWI lawyer. DWI (driving while intoxicated) is a term with a variety of uses. New York, for example, uses the term DWI for general drinking and driving cases,while many other states use the same penalties for DUI. We’ll focus on the drinking and driving usage of DWI by New York and other states.
All that really matters is they both involve drinking and driving. If you drink, you shouldn’t drive. If you do drink alcohol and then get behind the wheel of a car, you may think it’s not a big deal until the officer arrests you, your license is suspended, you get fines, and potentially jail time.
How do you avoid those penalties? Hiring a DWI lawyer is perhaps the biggest step. There are hundreds of DWI cases across the country every day. Officers know how to catch you, and judges know how to punish you. However, there are ways to lessen penalties. Here are fours things a DWI lawyer can do and reasons to hire one.
How do you plead after a DWI?
Should you plead guilty or not guilty? An experienced DWI attorney can lessen charges correctly by helping you decide how to plea. You may plead not guilty based on how the officer arrested you–perhaps he/she did not read you your rights or was improper. These are things you need a lawyer for.
Pre-Trial Work
Before the trial even begins, you typically have conferences between the prosecution and defense. You may make a deal before you even go into a court room. But how do you do that? What do you say? What do you fight for and bargain with? These topics can be technical, and require experience in handling DWI court cases. A lawyer can help.
Motions in the Defense
An experienced DWI lawyer does more than talk or negotiate. They also, you could say, attack the prosecutions charges with motions on your behalf. You might want certain statements suppressed, or see any evidence the prosecution does not want you to see.
Handling Trial
Finally, the trial begins. You were received a DWI. The first step, you may think, is the trial. But as you can see, there is much that goes on before the trial even begins. The case may in fact be completed the moment you walk in after making a deal with the prosecution.
However, in many cases you face a judge and/or jury in court. An experienced DWI lawyer will know how to handle witnesses, experts, and testimonies from the officer. The lawyer should be able to lessen the charges against you in some way; he/she directly fights for your rights and tries to sway the judge or jury in your favor.
Once you get done with it, the important thing is to never drink and drive again so you can keep your license, avoid fines, and never worry about court case again. louisiana criminal lawyer
