Why you need to act within ten days of your DUI arrest
DUI charges are serious business. A conviction can get you up to a year in the county jail. Jobs, especially driving jobs, can become that much more difficult to obtain and keep. The financial ramifications are mind shattering, with court costs in fines in excess of a thousand dollars, probation costs, insurance premiums, ignition interlock devises, driving under the influence school, and impounded cars, to name a few.
However, many people consider the loss of their driving privilege to be the most serious, the most painful, and the most immediate result of a DUI arrest. Unlike the financial ramifications and the possibility of incarceration, driving penalties rear their ugly head almost immediately after a DUI arrest. If the arrested driver refused to submit to the officer’s tests, or if his blood alcohol results were over the .08 limit, then his license will be suspended ten days after the arrest. This is considered an administrative suspension by the department of motor vehicles; it has nothing to do with the criminal case. Even if the driver believes he can beat his criminal case tomorrow, he will have his license suspended today if he does not get the ball moving.
A DUI attorney can keep the driver on the road after the ten days expire. This is because even in administrative proceedings the citizen is entitled to due process of law. The DUI attorney can request a formal review hearing with the local bureau of administrative review. The formal review usually takes 3-4 weeks to be calendared and to be heard. In the meantime, the attorney can get a temporary permit to keep the driver on the road until the formal review hearing. So, at the very least, the formal review hearing can keep the driver on the road for another month to plan for alternative means of transportation.
In preparation for the formal review hearing, the attorney gets the “packet” of police reports and affidavits from the driver’s license bureau. If he discovers upon reviewing the packet that the arresting officer made a legal mistake in handling the DUI arrest, the attorney may decide not subpoena the officer, and argue the results in the “packet” at the formal review hearing. If the administrative review hearing official agrees, the attorney may be able to get the administrative drivers license suspension tossed out. In that case, the driver would immediately receive his full unrestricted license back.
However, if the officer did everything by the book, crossed his T’s and dotted his eyes, then the attorney may choose to subpoena the officer for the hearing. If the officer shows up, a Driving Under the Influence attorney in Tampa can use this valuable time to get information from the officer to build his defense on the criminal charge. If the officer does not show up, the DUI attorney can ask that the DMV reinstate his client’s driver’s license.
Of course, if the driver goes to see his attorney 11 days after his DUI arrest, a request for a formal review would be untimely, and deemed waived. That means on day 11, the drivers license suspension would be in effect.
