Dui Arraignment Process

The DUI Arraignment

"Arraignment" literally means the reading of the charges against you, and in some states, this hearing can be attended only by your attorney. It is often a good idea, though, to attend all possible court dates. Unless your attorney advises otherwise, show up for everything. Moreover, if you are representing yourself, you must be present during each court proceeding.

During the course of the arraignment, your attorney will enter you plea with regard to the charges. If you are pleading guilty, the judge will simply sentence you in the case. There are lots of reasons, though, that you will want to plead not guilty during this hearing.

First, you can always change your plea at a later point in the process should you change your mind.

Second, in many cases, all of the evidence in your favor has not yet arrived by the time the arraignment actually occurs.

Third, pleading guilty at the outset doesn't buy you any time to plea the charge down with the prosecuting attorney. Even if you are guilty of the crime, you may still have a chance at a lesser charge just by talking with the prosecutor.

Finally, pleading not guilty (even if you later intend to plead guilty) may buy you a bit of extra time to pay the fines that will be assessed against you in the judge's sentence.

If you have a lawyer, he or she will enter your not guilty plea. He or she will also have the chance to see the police report and any lab reports with regard to your blood or urine samples.

The judge will look over your bail agreement at this point in time and decide whether or not it should be altered for any reason.

The final thing that will happen at your arraignment hearing is the case will get a pre-trial court date. In most cases, this date will be a few weeks after the initial arraignment.