Albuquerque Dui Lawyer Explains What To Expect With The Arrest, Booking And Bail

This article will offer you an explanation of three steps that occur very early in the process of your DUI case, right after the officer establishes probable cause. We'll examine your arrest, booking, and bail.

ARREST

If you examine the letter of the law and determine the legal terms, an arrest occurs when you are in police custody and have relinquished your freedom to leave the area. Basically, the arresting officer has authority over you after an arrest. If you've been placed in handcuffs or are put in the back of a police car, you've been arrested. If the officer has observed you in the act of committing a crime or has concluded that there is a probable cause to think that you have committed one, he may place you under arrest. If a warrant has been issued for your arrest and the cop decides to act on that, you will be arrested. You can get pulled over for a variety of reasons, like a busted light, excessive speed, or expired stickers. At a traffic stop, the officer will be on the lookout for probable cause for DUI. Other situations that might lead to an individual being arrested for DUI include when there has been a traffic accident or when police have set up a sobriety checkpoint.

After you have been pulled over for DUI and the officers check your license and registration, they will usually have you do a field sobriety test or submit to a portable breathalyzer test to give them an idea of your blood alcohol content. It would be a good idea for you to contact an Albuquerque DUI lawyer at this very moment. You can expect the officers to test your coordination and its effects on your driving ability. A field sobriety test is given on site initially. If the breathalyzer test as part of your field sobriety test comes back 0.08% or higher, that can be enough of a reason for an officer to arrest you. However, if the results of the portable breathalyzer test are below 0.08%, the officers can still arrest you if they think you are under the influence enough that it affects your ability to drive safely. Any sense that your field sobriety test or the arrest leading up to it was done improperly or without warrant should be conveyed to your Albuquerque DUI lawyer.

BOOKING

After you have been arrested for DUI, the cop will transport you to police headquarters or another central site to get you booked. The procedure involved in being booked is administrative. At this point, the police officer gathers detailed information about you and the arrest and takes care of other administrative tasks. These tasks involve recording your private information and the circumstances and facts pertaining to your DUI arrest. A criminal background check will also be conducted. Your photograph and your fingerprints will be taken. You will be searched and the police officer will take your personal possessions and make a list of them so that, when the items are returned to you following your release, there is a record of what personal possessions you had. Finally, you will be placed in a holding cell either at the police station or the local jail where you will stay unless you get out on bail.

BAIL

This is an amount of money required to allow you to become released from custody. As a stipulation of this release, you swear to show up for all of your scheduled court hearings, including arraignment, preliminary hearings, pre-trial motions, the trial and the sentencing.

You can usually get bail right after you are booked, but if there is any delay, the judge will decide whether to release you on bail or not. The amount of bail will either be a predetermined amount or the judge might factor in your previous criminal history, including prior DUI offenses, the severity of them, and if anyone was hurt or if there were accidents because of them. And finally, the judge will also take into account your involvement in the community, in your family and your work, which (if positive) will work to your benefit and might reduce the monetary amount of bail.

If you dont have enough money for bail, a bail bond company can be hired, and they will post a bond on your behalf with the pledge that the whole amount will be paid if you fail to show up at your court hearings as you promised. The service with the bail bond company usually costs 10% of the bail amount. Sometimes the judge will let you go on your own recognizance, and you wont need bail. There are normally restrictions with this. For example, the judge may order you to stay in the area while your case is being tried. Certain things are examined such as community ties, your family and your job when the judge decides whether to release you on your own recognizance. If you don't show up for court, the judge can put out an immediate warrant for your arrest. You must absolutely attend all of your court dates with your Albuquerque DUI lawyer.