Successfully navigating a criminal prosecution for driving under the influence in Washington state requires a clear understanding of the DUI court process. In other words, knowing what’s coming up will greatly reduce the amount of stress you feel when fighting a DUI charge.

Although each judicial system in Washington varies somewhat in how it handles the initial stages of a criminal process, the basic outline below will help you understand the judicial process as a whole:

When you are arrested for a crime, you will have to go through several court dates. His first time in court is called an arraignment. Your next short date is called a Pretrial or Status Conference. You may also have short dates for Motions or Trial.

arrangement

This is your first time in court and is where you are formally informed of the charges against you. In the case of DUI, he may already know what the charge is before he even walks into the courtroom. However, there may be additional charges that you were not aware of, such as bad driving offenses or additional criminal charges that the prosecution filed after your DUI arrest.

Depending on the jurisdiction, a Notice of Hearing will be mailed to you or you will need to look on your summons (about 1/3 from the bottom) where it says Mandatory Court Appearance for your hearing date and time. If you are not sure of the date or time, call the Court Clerk’s Office (numbers are available online). The court you are in is listed at the top of the citation, for example, a citation marked “District Court” and the crime occurred in Snohomish County, you would do an internet search for “Snohomish County District Court”.

Arrive a few minutes early. Most courts will have a computer printout of everyone scheduled for court that day, called a docket. These tracks are generally visible near patios. Next to your name will be a courtroom number. That’s where you have to go. If you get confused or can’t find the courtroom, ask at the court clerk’s office; they are generally very helpful.

Once you arrive at the correct courtroom, be prepared to wait. Most courts will have a video or document explaining your rights at the arraignment. If it is a piece of paper, they will want you to sign your name, saying that you understand your rights.

Eventually, you will be called to appear before the judge. Do not panic. This is not his time to explain what happened; there will be time enough for that later. All the judge wants to know at the arraignment is whether he understands the charges against him and whether he wants to plead guilty or not guilty. That’s all.

Common sense would tell you that if you did something wrong, you should take it easy with the court system by pleading guilty and the court system will take it easy by not sentencing you as harshly as if you had fought the charges. Unfortunately, the judicial system is not always based on common sense. In fact, he will most likely receive a worse punishment if he pleads guilty at the arraignment instead of fighting the charges. In other words, DO NOT PLEAD GUILTY!

Once you have pleaded not guilty, the court will ask if you would like a lawyer. The old cliché of “The man who represents himself has a fool for a client” is very true. If he doesn’t understand the rules of the court and the law regarding DUI (or any other crime), he doesn’t stand a chance against a well-trained prosecutor.

Lawyers come in two flavors: public and private defenders. You do not need to have a lawyer with you at the arraignment. If you are planning to hire a private lawyer, you just need to tell the judge and he or she will be satisfied, but will warn you not to wait too long to hire him or her. If you cannot afford a lawyer of your choice, then you may qualify for a Public Defender. The Court will have a series of questions for you to determine whether or not you qualify based on your income, dependents, etc. The disadvantage of a Public Defender is that you have no control over who is appointed to your case. Even if you qualify and have a Public Defender representing you, you can always have a private attorney take over at any time. It is very common for people with a Public Defender to hire a private attorney, so don’t worry, your Public Defender won’t be upset if you replace him with a private attorney; You may even be relieved, as it means one less case to handle.

After the judge addresses the issue of your attorney, the court will address the status of your release. If he has a clean record, he will probably be released on his promise to return. If he has a criminal record, the judge may set a bond or bail amount to make sure he comes back.

The Court will assign a date for you to return for your pre-trial hearing. If you cannot attend on that date, be sure to tell the judge about your dispute so that another date can be chosen. If a dispute arises later, contact your attorney immediately so that he or she can file a motion to continue the hearing date.

You will leave court with a paper that tells you the date and time of your next court date. Don’t be surprised if this is two to three months from the date of your arraignment. This may seem like a long time, but don’t wait; If you need to find a lawyer, start right away, as it can take a long time to find the one you want and raise the money to hire one.

Once you have retained your attorney, that person will need to submit a Notice to Appear, telling the court and the prosecutor that they represent you. They will also need time to obtain all Police Reports and other documents the Prosecution intends to use against you (collectively referred to as Discovery). After your attorney has all of the Discovery, they will need to sit down with you face to face and discuss your case. One of the weird rules in Washington state is CrRLJ 4.7, the rule that allows your lawyer to get discovery in your case. same rule actually prevents avoid being given a copy of the discovery, even if it is your case! This rule is even stranger considering the fact that if you were to fire your attorney and represent yourself, the State would be REQUIRED to give you a copy of Discovery. However, nothing prevents your attorney from giving you access to Discovery whenever you want, as often as you want; they just can’t send you home with a copy.

Pretrial hearings

These hearings are held in court and in front of a judge. Their purpose is to make sure that no case “slips through the cracks” by making sure that the case is systematically reviewed. During a pretrial, the judge wants to know what the status of the case is: do the parties (prosecutor or defense) want to plead guilty to something, do they want to set a time for a petition hearing, do they want to have a trial, or do they not know what they want and just ask for more time?

These hearings are of an administrative nature. That means they have a relatively low stress level because nothing will happen in a pretrial phase unless the defendant makes it happen. In most cases, the Defendant does not need to say anything other than respond to the Judge when the Judge asks if the Defendant agrees with what is happening, for example, requesting a continuance or setting a Motion Hearing. You and your attorney will have discussed what will happen at the pretrial long before you get there.

Most criminal cases have multiple pre-trial dates. There are many reasons why you do not want to settle your case during the first pretrial: you may have legal issues that need to be decided by a judge (during a motion hearing), your lawyer may need more time to negotiate with the prosecution, or you may simply not have decided which way you want to go with your case.

If you are asking the judge to continue your case, the issue of speedy trial will come up. If you are out of custody, your case must be resolved within ninety days (sixty if you are in custody). When a defendant requests a continuance, the judge will either not want that extra time to count against the 90 days or will request a new 90 days, from the date of the continuance request, before granting the continuance request. Although this speedy trial rule is an important right, as a practical matter, it very rarely determines the outcome of a case. In other words, if your lawyer thinks it’s a good idea to waive the speedy trial rule, giving the state more time to take you to trial, then it’s probably in your best interest.

motion hearings

Motions are written legal arguments about why the evidence in your case (sometimes the entire case) should be thrown out. There are potentially hundreds of motions that could be filed in a criminal case. Your attorney will know which ones (if any) apply to your specific facts.

Motions serve two purposes: First, if you can suppress the evidence, then you may have a better chance of winning if you go to trial. Second, motions are a wonderful way to change the strength of your case, making it more likely that the prosecution will want to make a settlement offer that you really want to accept.

A motion hearing is similar to a bench trial: it takes place in court and in front of a judge, there may be witnesses, both the defense and the prosecution will present arguments to the judge, and eventually the judge will issue a legal decision on the issue. This is where the similarity to a trial ends. The burden of proof at a motion hearing is substantially less than at trial, and the judge must view the evidence at a motion hearing “from the point of view most favorable to the State.” These two elements combine to make a motion hearing easier for the State to win than for the Defense. The reason behind this unfair advantage is actually a good one: the heart of our legal system is Trial by Jury. If you win at a motion hearing, then you can skip the jury trial entirely.

essays

Trials come in two flavors: Court and Jury. A bench trial is one in which the judge decides everything. A jury trial is one in which six people (twelve in the case of a felony) decide what the facts are and the judge decides what the law is.

You can waive (give up) your right to a jury trial at any time, but if you do, you generally won’t be able to get it back. If you are ever asked to decide whether you want a court or jury trial, you always choose Jury (since you can always change your mind) because if you choose Bench Trial, that’s what you have to do.

At trial, the prosecution must prove each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Your lawyer will discuss the elements (what the state has to prove in your case) with you. Your job as Defendant is to decide whether or not the State can prove each of those items. Can any of the elements become unprovable if I win at a motion hearing?

The outcome of a trial is easy: either you win or you lose. If you win, go home, you’re finished. If you lose, you will usually (but not always) end up with slightly more jail time and slightly more fines than if you had pleaded guilty. Is it worth the risk? That is something for you and your lawyer to decide.

Conclusion

Being able to mentally prepare for the types of court dates you will encounter while fighting a DUI charge may not eliminate the stress you feel, but it will reduce it to a manageable level.

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