If you are convicted for a DUI within 10 years of your first DUI, you face fines, the suspension of your license, jail, mandatory alcohol safety school, and the installation of an ignition interlock device. The penalties for repeat DUI compound each time you are convicted, increasing the cost or loss of your car insurance and potentially the loss of your job if your employer refuses to let you take a leave of absence to serve your jail sentence.
If you have been arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in Pennsylvania, we encourage you to contact a DUI defense attorney at Cro & Rue.
Do You Have Priors? Protect Your Rights by Contacting a Lawyer!
Whether this is your first DUI charge or you are facing charges for a second, third, or other subsequent DUI offense, it’s important to consider whether there are grounds for challenging your arrest or if a plea bargain is necessary. There are a number of issues that can arise regarding how a field sobriety test was conducted and whether a breathalyzer, blood, or urine test is always accurate. Our attorneys carefully scrutinize how field sobriety tests are conducted and whether there are reasons to believe a blood alcohol test was tainted. We have more than 20 years of combined criminal defense experience. Collectively, our firm has provided traffic and criminal defense services to thousands of clients throughout the state of Pennsylvania.
The Importance of a Preliminary Hearing
At a preliminary hearing, the prosecution must answer two questions: was a crime committed and is it more likely than not that the person arrested committed the alleged crime. In order to determine the answer to these two questions, a District Judge will listen to the testimony provided by the prosecution witnesses. Due to procedural issues, the judge is required to believe the testimony of the prosecution’s witnesses. In DUI cases, witnesses are almost always arresting police officers. As a result, a preliminary hearing allows us to cross-examine the officer that arrested you or conducted your field sobriety test. If we can expose inconsistencies and mistakes on the part of the police, you case may be dismissed.
For people facing allegations of a repeat DUI offense, the range of criminal penalties is more divergent and the potential consequences more severe. Although a criminal defense attorney is important in any DUI case, including a first time DUI, it is critical to have experienced criminal defense counsel when facing a charge for a repeat DUI offense.
In addition to our focus on protecting our clients’ driver’s licenses and privileges, we are absolutely committed to challenging the very real possibility of incarceration. We will seek to avoid or minimize any jail time that a client may face when charged with a second, third, or subsequent DUI offense.
Although no attorney can guarantee a particular result in any given case, our firm can and does guarantee that each client we represent receives a zealous defense. We will work actively and aggressively on your behalf, gathering the facts, sifting through evidence, and exploring all the options that may be available to you.
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If you have been charged with a drunk driving offense and are facing the possibility of incarceration and a suspended license, contact a DUI defense attorney at Cro & Rue.
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