Felony Aggravated DUI Case Progression Information
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This information is being provided to give you a general outline of how your case will proceed with DM Cantor. The first documents that are filed on your behalf are the Notice of Appearance and Request for Discovery. The Notice of Appearance informs the Courts that we will be appearing on all future court dates on your behalf and, in all cases, you must actually appear in court with us on the designated court dates. We will notify you by mail and by phone of all court dates.
If you were served with an “Administrative Per Se, Implied Consent” MVD Affidavit on the date of your arrest, we will file a Request for Hearing with the MVD. If your case involves the taking of blood during your DUI arrest, you will need to wait and see whether your results come back above or below a .08. If they are above a .08, the Officer will forward a request for Suspension to the MVD office. The MVD office will then notify you with a Notice of Suspension. The moment you receive this from the MVD, contact DM Cantor immediately, so we can request a Hearing on your behalf.
It usually takes the MVD approximately two months to send out a Hearing date notice after we send in a Request for Hearing. The Hearing is then usually held one month after the notice is received. During this two to three-month time span, if your license was valid on the date of your arrest, then you are allowed to drive. You will either have the yellow copy in your possession (if your case was a “breath” case), or it will be entered in the computer that you are okay to drive if you are a “blood” case. If you are stopped by an Officer during that period of time and he informs you that your license is Suspended, simply tell him that DM Cantor is your attorney, and we requested a Hearing on your behalf. If he cites you for driving on a Suspended license, don’t panic; simply bring in the ticket and we will take care of it.
Prior to the MVD hearing, we will have you meet with us in our office to have a “pre-MVD consultation.” At this time, we will go over the police report with you, and discuss whether it is necessary for you to be present at the hearing to testify.
Your very first court date is what is known as an “Initial Appearance.” You may have already had this completed if you saw a Judge while in jail. At this point, the Judge determines your conditions of release. Next is a “Preliminary Hearing.” We appear with you to review the State’s case and possibly challenge the Probable Cause with an actual Hearing. If no deal is reached, and the Preliminary Hearing is then “Scratched,” this just means that the prosecutor was unprepared to proceed and they have the ability to refile your case anywhere up to 7 years from the date of violation. The norm is that they will refile it within 2 to 9 months, and if it is refiled, then we start over with an Initial Appearance.
Sometimes Preliminary Hearings are “Vacated.” This means that the State is proceeding by way of Grand Jury in order to determine Probable Cause to issue an Indictment. This normally will occur within several weeks after the court date has been “Vacated,” although the prosecutor still has up to seven years from the date of violation to do this. Once an Indictment is handed down, then we will appear with you at the Initial Appearance in front of a Superior Courts Judge. Either way, DM Cantor will continue working on your case during this interim time period in order to conduct effective Discovery and attempt to work with the prosecutor in an effort to have them either not refile the case or refile it as a Lessor Offense than originally charged.
After the Initial Appearance or Preliminary Hearing stages, “Pre-Trial Conferences’ will be held approximately every thirty (30) days between ourselves and the prosecutor. The purpose of the Pre-Trial Conference is to determine whether all of the “Discovery” has been completed. Discovery includes investigation of all witnesses, all forensic evidence, documentation, consultation with experts (if necessary) and all other issues which need to be explored prior to the consideration of any type of Plea Agreement or Motion filing. All Motions and Motion Hearings will be conducted during this Discovery phase and you will be informed whether your testimony and presence will be necessary at any potential Motion Hearings.
Remember, it can take three to five (3-5) weeks before we receive the police report from the prosecutor after we submit our Request for Discovery. The main progress regarding your case will begin once the police report and other Discovery is obtained roughly three to five (3-5) weeks after you have retained DM Cantor.
After all Discovery is conducted and completed, and all Motions have been filed, you will be brought in to discuss the basis of those Motions and whether you will be required to testify at those Motion Hearings. Once the Motions are argued and ruled upon by the Judge, you will be informed of the outcome. If the case is not Dismissed during the Motion process, final Plea Negotiations will be entered into with the prosecutor. After a final Plea Officer is received, you will be brought into the DM Cantor’s office to discuss whether you choose to accept the prosecutor’s offer, or whether you wish to proceed on to Jury Trial and fight the State’s allegations.
Staff are not attorneys and they are not allowed to answer any technical, legal questions. However, they can answer procedural questions which deal with the “when” and “where” of your case’s standing. Only the Attorneys can answer the “how” and “why.” Cases are typically assigned to one Partner and one Associate (the “Primary Attorney”). Because the Partner cannot be everywhere at once, the Primary Attorney will do most of the leg work, and you will have most of your contact with them and their Paralegal.
DM Cantor maintains an open-door policy and you can call in to have questions answered at any time, or set up an appointment to meet in person. We normally attempt to return phone calls within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Please keep in mind that we are very busy and we are in court and meetings most of the day. We are not ignoring you if it does take up to 48 hours to get back to you. We normally maintain updates and contact approximately every thirty days (usually after each Pre-Trial Conference).
If you receive any mail from the Courts, police, or MVD, contact DM Cantor immediately. Do not discuss your case with the police, insurance companies or witnesses. Have them contact DM Cantor if they have questions.
Work With DM Cantor Today
For a free initial consultation, call our 24 hour DUI hotline at 602-307-0808 , or click here to contact us now.
