Recently an article came out from the San Atnonio Express discussing the delayed filing of DUI charges in Bexar County when compared to other jurisdictions in Texas State. The reporter suggested the delayed filing of DUI charges was bad, and called your Bexar County Prosecutors office correctly. Within the article a sample is used on the guy who had previously been arrested for DWI however the charge hasn't been filed for a few months. During those months he was arrested again for DWI. And the question was asked why would he outside of custody?
This article got me thinking. Should it really matter if the Prosecutor files a DWI charge. Obviously by any means . coming from a Defense Attorney standpoint, however in my personal opinion the filing of an DWI charge this might has very little effect on a DWI case. However there are actually certain times when a delayed filing may gain advantage the Defense. For instance:
Shall we say that you have been arrested for a DWI Attorney Your case gets known as the Bexar County Prosecutors office. Almost 3 months following the arrest you need to arraignment. At that arraignment the Prosecutors office demands bail or simply a element ignition interlock whilst the case is pending. The Prosecutors argue there is a community safety risk if these extra the weather is not imposed and there is a substantial likelihood another dwi arrest will occur.
Well i think to be a Dallas DWI Attorney the Prosecutors would stand an enhanced likelihood of getting those above conditions imposed in case the DUI charge had been filed sooner. It can be type of challenging to convince the court someone can be a community safety risk once the Prosecutor were worried about them within the past A couple of months. Meaning when they thought there was clearly a large risk they'd drive after drinking again then the DUI charge needs to have been filed sooner. Typically this 's what a Judge says that is why sometimes the Prosecutors cannot get those conditions imposed.
The second reason idea advantageous to the Defense any time a DUI charge will not be filed immediately would be the degree of investigation that can get done prior to a arraignment. In case your DUI charge doesn't declared 2-3 months. Than that is 2-3 months a Defense Lawyer is working away at the truth. Interviewing the arresting officer. Requesting and reviewing video evidence. Investigating the breath test records and maintenance logs of the breath test machine. Essentially this delayed filing has provided the Defense Attorney a head start on preparing a defense. An issue that comes in handy than the time frame a Prosecutor sports the truth.
Last but not least for me any time a DWI charge gets filed far better the statue of limitations as opposed to sooner. So i mean right on the 2 year limit then usually by that time true is actually stale. Witnesses are gone. Law enforcement do not remember as well or might not be around anymore. And often as a result of timeframe and period of the way it is, Prosecutors tend to be more ready to negotiate and offer a plea deal then normally would n't have.
So those are three occasions when a delayed filing may benefit a Defendant. But generally a delayed filing of two months is certainly not big of your deal on the first offense DWI and a lot times should have virtually no impact on the actual end result from the case.