blurryice

I was arrested for DUI on Thanksgiving, was taken for blood tests and then picked up by father. Upon receiving my papers, it states that my first step in my charge is to report to the bureau of criminal identification on 1-29-13. Then it says my second step is to appear for my preliminary hearing date which is also enclosed... There was no preliminary date enclosed in both packets of papers containing the exact same thing. Then, last week I receive results for my preliminary hearing which apparently was held in my absence on 1-15-13. My charges are held for court which will be 3-5-13 and a request for bench warrant against me has been transmitted to the court of common pleas.

How is this fair, that I was never notified of the preliminary date?

Also, I never received results for my blood alcohol level. It only states what I was pulled over for. Aren't they supposed to notify me of my BAC?

I've been told a lawyer is a waste of money for your first DUI charge, which this will be my first. Is there anything here worth hiring a lawyer and fighting or should I just save the money and bite the bullet?

Along reading through, my defendant identification information, it is written that my license expires 1-1-2000 where clearly on my license it states it expires 8-15-2015. A bit confused about that?

caboblanco

If I may ask what state are you in and what was you BAC? wait you don't know your BAC? there is something wrong here

blurryice

I live in PA. No clue what my BAC was. Nowhere in any of the papers does it give me the number.

caboblanco

blurr, the only wiggle room you have is if your BAC was .08 to .1. they used to cut people breaks and give them reckless driving instead of DWI. I don't know if that comes with a short suspension in your state. If your BAC is over .1 then forget about a lawyer. Its easier to get off for murder. If you have a clean record you should try to fight it if you have a low BAC

blurryice

That's the thing though, I don't have a clue what the BAC was. It was probably above .1.

What do I really do then, just go in a plea guilty? I feel I kind of got screwed over also by not knowing my preliminary hearing.

caboblanco

I don't know how you would get your BAC but any DUI lawyer would know. they have to give it to you. I would call a lawyer

bi11fish

If you want advice on how to get sober we can help, if you need legal advice I would suggest you contact an attorney. I know I am not qualified to give a professional opinion.

BackToSquareOne

The preliminary hearing is only to decide if it should go to trial. In Pa. those things are usually before a local magistrate. Next step is a trial before a Judge at the courthouse. It probably would have went to trial if you showed up or not, magistrates rarely dismiss those things.

AlisonW

Hi Blurry. I was arrested for DWI last week and had my first court date this past Wednesday. I am in New York state. I did hire a lawyer. One thing he is able to do for me, that I don't think I would be able to do on my own, is work with the DA to hopefully get my charge reduced to a less degree. I'm not sure if they would let me do that if I did not have legal representation - I don't even know if I would have known to try that. The lawyer should also be able to get you your BAC level, it should be in the police report.
I've seen posts from several people on these boards mentioning they missed court dates because they were never notified. Certainly doesn't make it fair, but it seems to be a common occurence.
Good luck and hang in there! Someday you will look back and all this will be in the past.

sugarbear1

At this point, please get yourself an attorney!

You'll need the legal advice.

LexieCat

Let me get this straight--you got paperwork indicating there would be a preliminary hearing on "the enclosed date," there was no "enclosed date," and you decided just to IGNORE IT? Since THANKGIVING?

You have had over two months to find out when your hearing was scheduled. These things do not go away because you did not bother to pick up the phone and find out when you were due in court.

I doubt that your missing the court date makes any real difference in the outcome. I suggest you contact an attorney and find out how you can best deal with this situation. The legal one, that is. What are you doing about your drinking? This is a support forum for people with alcohol problems.

Incidentally, I was a prosecutor for 22 years. Your "they forgot to put down my court date" would not get much sympathy from me.

Texasblind

Did you go to an arraignment or were you ROR'd? That's first. Never assume the public defender is just going to show up unless you ask them to. Were you arraigned? Were you given a bench ticket? You must have an arraignment of your charges before any charges can be officially filed.

Second, the BAC does not go to the defendant, it goes to the attorney on record. Call somebody pronto. Somewhere along the line, you asked for an attorney. Figure out who.

Justfor1

I would get the advise of a lawyer. I got a "slick" downtown type DUI & traffic attorney & he was awesome. He was a lot of money but worth every dollar. You are not a bad person for getting a DUI. The first one is typically a "slap on the wrist". They did get pretty tough with me for my 3rd DUI though. I was mandated to do community service. I had to clean up garbage on the side of the highway. It was horrible.

SixStringZen

Yep...."I wasn't told" is THE number one excuse that judges hear...you need to take care of your warrant...if you so much as go through a seatbelt check, you're going to jail...I'm sorry...this is totally fixable, but not by ignoring it...

BackToSquareOne

That's the part I don't get, they could just send the cops to your house if they wanted to.

TheEnd

At this point, the best thing to do is get a lawyer. As it seem some of your paperwork is out of whack, they might even be able to get this thrown out on a tecnhicality. There are rules for how things are supposed to be handeled. The fact they don't even have the right expiration date on your license is puzzling. Might be worth looking into, especially if this is your first DUI.

Db1105

As others have said, get an attorney. Let us know if you want to stop drinking.

MadameX

Ohhh Blurry Ice Welcome to my world. I was arrested on Sept 4th labor day for a DWI while I was visiting family in New York City. The only reason I still have my licesnse is because I am an out of state resident. They still have my truck impounded trying to get me to plea. I work in the legal field AND it is ABSOLUTELY worth it to get a lawyer. They are going to try and give you the higest charge and fines possible. A good lawyer will investigate. In my case the Breathalyzer wasnt calibrated properly and they made ime blow into it 3 times before it worked. Details like this is what a lawyer can use to reduce your charges. ... Its a financial and legal nightmare I know. But you need to fight for your record.

LexieCat

Looks to me like the OP is here strictly for legal advice, since he or she has not posted a single thing about being concerned about his or her drinking.

Windancer

Lawyer!!! Id get one for sure.
Best of luck with it.