JONATHAN BURGE
Attorney at Law
JONATHAN BURGEAttorney at Law
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In Hawaii, persons
who are arrested for DUI have to go through two separate proceedings.
The administrative license revocation process and court. Here, you will
find out what to expect at court.
Initial AppearanceWhen you bailed
out, or were released the next day by a judge, you were given a court date.
Generally speaking, that is your arraignment date.
Arraignment is where you enter an appearance and say whether you are
guilty or not guilty. You do not have the
right to a jury trial unless charged with Habitual DUI. If you decide
to hire this firm, you will not have to go to the arraignment, since I can go
for you and plead you not
guilty.
TrialYour next court
date will be about 6 weeks after the arraignment date.
That is when the State, through the Prosecutor’s Office, must present
evidence to show beyond a reasonable doubt that you were driving while impaired
at the time of arrest. For blood alcohol cases, a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher is
enough to secure a conviction.
If the State’s
witnesses aren’t there at the first court appearance, they will generally be
allowed to continue the case for about one month to try and get their witnesses
into court. The State may get a
number of continuances, but if they don’t bring you to trial within 6 months
of arrest, your case can get dismissed because you have a right to a
speedy trial.
Often,
the blood alcohol evidence may be kept out of your case, either because of
technically deficient results, or because the State is unable to get their
witnesses on the blood alcohol level into court.
If the blood alcohol level is knocked out of your case, you may have a fighting chance to win. However, the State can still prove you were DUI by showing that your driving and physical condition indicates, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you were driving while impaired.Although
there is no guarantee of success, you would be surprised at the number of seemingly impossible
cases that result in a win.
Therefore, you never know what will happen in your case until you try to
win it.
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