Vehicular homicide is a serious crime with severe legal repercussions. We can help you defend against harsh penalties by employing proven legal defense strategies like challenging the legality of your arrest and field sobriety and chemical tests administered on you.
Participating in community service, alcohol treatment programs and using ignition interlock devices can demonstrate your commitment to rehabilitation and change, leading the court to grant more lenient penalties.
1. Probation
An arrest for DUI can have lasting repercussions even for first time offenders in Roswell GA, from possible jail time and fines to an administrative license suspension action that may impact employment opportunities or other aspects of life.
Probation may be granted as an alternative to jail time by your judge in certain instances. Probation often includes requirements like attending alcohol education programs or paying fines by certain dates; and performing community service hours within certain time frames. Violating probation could result in arrest and jail time being applied – that’s why having an experienced DUI attorney on your side is crucial; we have successfully negotiated alternatives to imprisonment in thousands of DUI cases at our office!
2. Treatment
If this is your first DUI charge, your attorney may be able to arrange for you to enter a pretrial diversion program that allows you to avoid jail time, community service hours, fines and license suspension if certain requirements of the court are fulfilled.
An alcohol DUI conviction on your record can have lasting detrimental repercussions for both employment and school attendance, so it is vital that you secure the services of an experienced Roswell DUI lawyer to represent your best interests in court and fight to achieve either not guilty verdicts or reduced penalties for you.
All traffic stops are recorded, and your Roswell DUI attorney will be able to access these recordings of any field sobriety tests conducted by officers on your behalf. These tests vary in terms of details but generally involve physical tasks that officers ask suspect drivers to perform in order to assess whether alcohol or drugs have impaired them.
3. Community Service
As part of a DUI conviction sentence, community service may be ordered as a way of mitigating its effects. An offender typically commits a certain number of work hours each week or month that are split among work sites around town; typically this punishment comes with alcohol/drug education classes to make this punishment all the more impactful.
As soon as police suspect that you may be under the influence of alcohol, they will require one or more field sobriety tests to assess your physical abilities and mental acuity. These physical exams often include extending your arms, touching your nose, reciting ABCs aloud, or walking in a straight line – with most police cars having in-dash video cameras recording these tests for evidence against you in your DUI criminal case.
4. Restitution
Roswell DUI charges can carry severe repercussions, including jail time, probation and community service requirements; furthermore a criminal record will prevent future employment and educational opportunities from opening up to you. Furthermore if an accident that caused death occurred while under the influence of alcohol or drugs was being driven at that time then vehicular homicide charges may also apply.
Roswell DUI lawyers take great care in reviewing any footage connected with your traffic stop and sobriety testing, in order to ascertain whether any rights were violated by police officers. Furthermore, our firm will file a request for an Administrative License Hearing (ALS) within 30 days of your arrest; failing which you risk losing your driving privileges permanently. Our office is available day or night to answer calls from clients and provide guidance throughout this process.
5. Sentencing
Many DUI cases in Roswell include both criminal proceedings and what’s known as an administrative license suspension action, the latter taking place at an independent court but having a significant bearing on the outcome of the criminal trial.
An experienced Roswell DUI attorney can help to defend you during the hearing for license suspension and avoid automatic convictions. At these proceedings, your lawyer will look closely at any records created during your traffic stop and sobriety tests; determine whether any rights were violated; and present an effective defense on your behalf.
Jim Yeargan and his team can also assist if you were arrested at a DUI roadblock, which must follow specific rules and be announced correctly. You can rely on them 24/7 for support, advice and representation services.
