How to succeed before ever setting foot in court “mitigating a dui”

Author: Joseph Franks

In the instant wake of a DUI charge, time is of the essence. An elite Dui attorney Baltimore, MD can and will make use of every second they have to defend you. That means the early hours, days and weeks that follow your arrest must be used wisely to set up for an effective outcome when the court date finally arrives. There is a limited amount of time between the incident and the trial date, however, if used appropriately, this time can be used to create considerable positive influence. This collection of useful steps to be taken by the client leading up to court is usually referred to as "mitigation."

Every new DUI client at first calls their lawyer anxious, frightened and insecure of the steps that must be taken leading up to court. These feelings are natural and expected to a certain amount, but they achieve nothing if simply left to fester. An expert Dui attorney should know how to connect these emotions within the context of a comprehensive mitigation plan, funneling this energy into productive steps that eventually allow the client to be viewed in the most promising light by the court.

Setting a Firm Case Foundation

From the start of a DUI case, the lawyer must have a solid knowledge of what matters the most. On the first phone call with the client, the lawyer must ask the exact questions and gain the right information, to optimally set up the chessboard in a given circumstance. Every single DUI case is different from other. The lawyer should never have an easy going attitude to DUI cases. Each client needs and deserves a custom-tailored plan to attack their particular set of evidences and conditions.

Differentiating features in DUI cases may include, but are not partial to:
  • Given jurisdiction in a case
  • If there was an accident
  • The level of any such accident
  • Score of the breath or blood sample
  • The details of the field sobriety test
  • The kind of driving exhibited by the client as detected by the officer
  • Whether there were passengers or other eyewitnesses to the occasion
  • if the stop was audio/video recorded by the officer appointed
  • if the client had any related health problems at the time of the incident

A lawyer cannot improve a plan for you without knowing the answers to all of these questions.

Understanding Change by Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is particularly significant when attempting to craft a tailored approach to mitigation in the state of Maryland. This is an area where the lawyer’s localized knowledge is rather acute to the fate of the client in court. The prosecution of DUI cases is not uniform through our state. Every county has its own prosecutor’s office with distinct strategies and procedures as to how they treat DUI offenders.

The same perception relates to the judges in each county. The expectations and leniency of the judges differ greatly from county to county. An excellent Dui attorney Baltimore, MD will have their fingers on the pulse of each court system and guide their client through the procedure with these particulars in mind. As a client you cannot afford to hire a lawyer that does not have deep knowledge of the legal system in the county where you have been charged, because the costs of not accounting for the particularities can be very painful and costly.