What to Do When Your Child is Arrested for DUI

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As parents, we all like the best for our children. However, there are terrible situations that cannot be, for the most part, avoided. For instance, when our child gets arrested for a DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs) charge.

Let’s face it. Teenagers and youngsters, more often than not, do bad judgment and if that includes driving and alcohol, the repercussions can be very severe. Not like us adults, youngsters are more willing to take a risk. However, the problem is that they don’t know the consequence of alcohol that can take effect on them.

We, as parents, must protect and guide them when this situation happens. We need to make sure that they know the severity of this charge. For a little help, here’s what you can do when your child gets arrested for a DUI charge.

Stay Calm

First things first, stay calm and keep things on track. In this way, you can think rationally to help your child get through the process. If you happen to be on the actual arrest, follow these steps:

  • Ask the officer for the name of the charges calmly and politely.
  • Ask the officer where your child will be taken.
  • Don’t argue or try to fight with the officer because it won’t change the situation of your child. Instead, it might make the situation worse.

On the other hand, if you’re not present on the actual arrest, try calming your child on the phone. Use this time to ask what really happened, what charges they’ll be facing, and where they are exactly. Take advantage of the time you have with them on the phone. Remind them to not talk about anything that happened until you have hired a DUI Attorney.

Communicate With a Bail Bondsman

Once you have calmed your child, contact or reach out to a bail bondsman right away. Without a doubt, getting a person out of jail takes lots of time. Even if you have paid for the bail, you still need to wait for that person to get arraigned and processed before you can bring them home.

The sad truth is that it can take days to take someone out of jail, depending on where and when your child was arrested. Fortunately, there’s a way to hasten the process. That is to contact a bail bondsman right away before you contact a lawyer.

A bail bondsman has access to data that you do not. As long as the bail bondsman knows who and where your child is, rest assured that you can get your child out of jail as humanly and as soon as possible.

But you need to give the bail bondsman at least 10 percent of the entire bail amount to speed up the process. Furthermore, you can even speed up the process even more by letting the bail bondsman to give the bail to have your child released.

Call a Lawyer

After contacting a bail bondsman, the next thing to do is to contact a lawyer. Get the best legal defense for your child that can help you make the process for your child as simple as possible. Make sure that the lawyer you get fully understands DUI cases.

Takeaway

What should you do when your child gets arrested for a DUI case? For sure, it’s a situation every parent would never wish to face. Taking the appropriate steps is the only way you can ensure that your child gets out of jail safely and quickly. Follow the steps above to be able to deal with this situation accordingly.

Mike

Find top rated attorneys and law firms profiles with Find Attorneys Directory, the best and free online attorney directory. Guest bloggers can also publish their articles here as other bloggers are doing.

Underage Drinking and Driving Charges in Ohio

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Ohio, like every other state, makes it illegal for anyone younger than 21 to purchase alcohol. Consuming and possessing alcohol in public before reaching the age of 21 are also criminal offenses.

It only makes sense, then, that police, prosecutors, and judges in Ohio take charges of operating a vehicle after underage alcohol consumption very seriously. A first-time conviction for driving under the influence while below the legal drinking age can bring all of the following penalties: Read more

Mike

Find top rated attorneys and law firms profiles with Find Attorneys Directory, the best and free online attorney directory. Guest bloggers can also publish their articles here as other bloggers are doing.

5 Kinds of Attorneys You Need at Some time in Your Life

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Are you looking for an attorney that can be of great help in solving your legal issues? However, what type of attorney you are searching for. Now, there are several kinds of attorneys. The legal field is really very complex as well as large. You will discover that different attorneys specialize in different areas. That’s the reason why there are different attorneys, and whatever may be your legal issue, there’s an attorney who is an expert in dealing with a particular issue. Read more

John Barrett

John Barret is a blogger with the Elder Law Center of Wisconsin from the past four years. He is a law graduate in the US and enjoys writing about different legal processes, aspects of the laws, and the significance of having an attorney.

Drawbacks to Getting Your License Suspended

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Losing your license is more than an inconvenience. Being unable to drive legally can make it impossible to keep a job or meet all your personal and family obligations.

Unfortunately, Ohio courts and statutes recognize more than 30 reasons to suspend a driver’s license. The punishment can apply to everything from leaving the scene of an accident, letting your auto insurance policy expire, failing to pay child support, getting convicted of operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OVI), which is what state officials call driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and much more. AVOID AN OVI CONVICTION ON YOUR RECORD

The drawbacks to getting your license suspended fall into four broad categories:

 

Limited to No Driving Privileges

Depending on many different factors ranging from the charge and defendant’s history to the quality of the defense or plea deal, an Ohio driver’s license suspension may be partial or total. A partial suspension grants the driver restricted driving privileges, which are usually limited to trips to and from work, medical appointments, and court dates or meetings with a lawyer.

A total suspension usually precedes the reinstatement of restricted driving privileges. For an OVI conviction, the period of total suspension can last anywhere from 15 days to more than a year. While under total or “hard” suspension, a driver is not allowed to drive at all without risking rearrest, jail time, and a new or lengthier suspension. Violating the restrictions on when and where you can drive with a partially suspended license also risks those new and enhanced penalties.

Surrendering your CDL

Suspensions related to criminal charges or convictions usually apply to both your own driver’s license and any commercial driving licenses you hold. This is always true for drunk or drugged driving suspensions.

Under Ohio law, getting a CDL suspended means you cannot legally drive a commercial vehicle until the term of suspension expires and the CDL is fully reinstated. In other words, getting a CDL suspended often means losing a job that requires driving a truck, bus, or taxi. The lesson? Hiring an experienced Columbus, OH, DUI attorney to fight an OVI charge is a must if you drive for a living.

 

Increased Risk for Future Suspensions

Suffering through one Ohio driver’s license suspension greatly increases your chances for losing your license again. This is especially true if the suspension comes as part of a sentence for driving under the influence.

Not only do periods of total suspension tend to last longer for people under penalty for driving while drunk or stoned, mandated penalties for second and subsequent OVI convictions include automatic suspensions. The longer a total suspension remains in effect, the more likely you will be to have an absolute need to drive somewhere to respond to an emergency. A dedicated Columbus OVI license suspension can negotiate with prosecutors to minimize the harshest sanctions.

 

Reinstatement Hassles and Expenses

Once a suspension expires, you must jump through several hoops and pay fees to get your license reinstated. You must present the Bureau of Motor Vehicles proof that you have completed your sentence or paid off the debts that cost you your license. If you went through a lack of insurance suspension, you will also need to present a certificate of insurability called an SR-22. On top of that, the BMV will demand a special reinstatement fee and may require you take portions of the CDL test.

Then, when you get your license back, it will carry whatever points your offense merits. For instance, an OVI conviction brings a six-point penalty. Rack up 12 points on a reinstated license, and it will get suspended again.

Colin Maher

Hiring an experienced Columbus DUI attorney to fight an OVI charge is a must if you drive for a living.

Infographics: Probation Sentences You Can Expect for a DUI Conviction

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Mike

Find top rated attorneys and law firms profiles with Find Attorneys Directory, the best and free online attorney directory. Guest bloggers can also publish their articles here as other bloggers are doing.

Avoid an OVI Conviction on Your Record

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OVI, or operating a vehicle while intoxicated, is what Ohio law enforcement officials, courts, and statutes call driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Avoiding an OVI conviction is the only way to keep the charge off your permanent record because, unlike most other misdemeanors or low-level felonies, an OVI conviction cannot be expunged with the completion of a sentence and proof of continued good behavior.

The Columbus, Ohio, OVI defense attorneys with The Maher Law Firm discuss the three basic ways to avoid a drunk or drugged driving conviction here. To briefly recap:

  • The person accused of OVI can work with his or her lawyer to prove the arresting officer made mistakes when stopping the driver, conducting field sobriety tests, or interpreting field sobriety test performance. Dashboard and body camera footage from the police can be invaluable for this, and bystanders are also allowed to record traffic stops.
  • Evidence showing that the police officer, laboratory personnel, or court system made mistakes while collecting, analyzing, storing, and presenting breath, blood, and urine samples and test results can be presented by the defense. Procedural errors can make evidence inadmissible, meaning the prosecution may not have a case to make to a judge.
  • A Columbus, Ohio, OVI defense lawyer can negotiate a plea agreement with the prosecutor, meaning the defendant accepts a sentence for a lesser charge.

The plea deal option deserves special attention. Prosecutors in Columbus and Franklin County are most likely to offer pleas to reckless operation or physical control. Either might be acceptable, but no one accused of OVI should automatically plead guilty to any criminal or traffic offense without first consulting with an experienced Columbus Ohio defense attorney.

Reckless operation, which most states call reckless driving, indicates that a person was operating in a way that demonstrated lack of concern for consequences. The charge can apply to exceeding a posted speed limit by more than 25 mph, causing a crash that inflicts injuries, or putting other people on the road at risk by, for instance, crossing a double yellow line, jumping a curb, or going the wrong way on the interstate.

A physical control charge indicates that a law enforcement official found the accused driver in the driver’s seat of a vehicle and in possession of the keys to the vehicle’s ignition. The vehicle can be parked, and even on private property like a driveway.

Penalties for reckless operation and physical control can mirror those for OVI, including a license suspension that extends to the defendant’s commercial driver’s license, hundreds of dollars in fines and court costs, and multiple points on your driving record. The consequences can also be similar, ranging from a sharp increase in insurance premiums to losing a job that requires holding a valid CDL and keeping a clean driving record. A dedicated lawyer will do all he or she can to protect his client from the most severe penalties.

To find out if a DUI attorney from the Columbus offices of The Maher Law Firm can help you avoid a drunk or drugged driving conviction

Mike

Find top rated attorneys and law firms profiles with Find Attorneys Directory, the best and free online attorney directory. Guest bloggers can also publish their articles here as other bloggers are doing.