When Will I Know If I’m Being Charged With DUI?
You were arrested last night for driving under the influence, but no charges have yet to be filed against you. Why is that? Well, the police are unlikely to file charges against you until they have proof that you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time you were arrested. This is especially true in crashes that result in death or severe injury, but prosecutors will wait to file charges for one very good reason. Once they file the charges, they are on the clock to prosecute the case and provide evidence to the court. One of the most important pieces of evidence against you will be the result of blood tests conducted after an accident has occurred. Since there are no “instant blood tests” when it comes to drugs or alcohol, it takes time to process these tests. It can take months given the backlog of tests right now in the system. So, prosecutors will wait to file DUI charges against a suspect until they have the blood test in hand. This way, they don’t have to worry about the blood test not saying what they hope it says or the lab taking too long to return the test.
So, the simplest way to answer this question is that you will know you are being charged with DUI once the results of your test come back and prosecutors have enough evidence to convict you.
Three months
A Florida man is facing a DUI manslaughter charge 3 months after the initial accident occurred. This sounds a little faster than the norm, but law enforcement may expedite tests emerging from fatal accidents. Nonetheless, it took three months to get the results and file DUI manslaughter charges against the defendant.
According to the police report, the man was driving his friend’s vehicle when the accident occurred. He lost control of the vehicle, seriously injured himself, and his friend died as a result of the accident. Thus, he is facing a charge of DUI manslaughter which carries a minimum sentence of four years if the judge finds good cause to cut the defendant a break. The standard minimum sentence for DUI manslaughter is nearly 10 years. The man was traveling 65 mph in a 35 zone when he lost control of the vehicle. He was found with a BAC of more than three times the legal limit. He is also facing a second charge of driving on a suspended license resulting in death.
In other words, the court is unlikely to want to cut him a 4-year deal on the manslaughter charge since his BAC was three times the legal limit and he was not supposed to be driving at all at the time of the crash.
Talk to an Orlando DUI Attorney Today
Charged with DUI? You need a seasoned professional in your corner who will force the prosecution to prove every element of its claims. Call the Florida DUI defense lawyers at the FL DUI Group today to schedule an appointment and we can begin preparing your defense immediately.
Source:
clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/09/15/man-faces-dui-manslaughter-charge-in-crash-that-killed-deltona-woman/
