Sometimes bad things happen to good people. All too often, someone will find himself or herself in a regrettable situation. Sometimes people are arrested for DUI when they are innocent. Sometimes they find that this leads to the serious event of a driver’s license suspension. A suspended driver’s license can drastically alter a person’s life. It can negatively affect them financially, emotionally and in many other ways.
When an arrest takes place for DUI, and that person refuses to undergo testing (whether guilty or innocent), a driver’s license suspension will immediately take place. The driver is given a formal notice of immediate suspension, and a temporary driver’s license that is good for 30 days. This is when the clock begins ticking, and it is time to get a good criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible.
The lawyer has only ten days from the day the suspension was issued, to schedule a hearing with the Department of Motor Vehicles, to request a hearing so that the driver’s license suspension can be contested. If the call is made on the eleventh day, it will be too late. Therefore, it is crucial to hire the services of a well-trained legal specialist who has plenty of experience in dealing with the issues surrounding driver’s license suspensions.
The hearing will increase the chances of the driver’s license suspension being thrown out, although this is not the guaranteed result. Since the temporary driver’s license is only good for 30 days, the Department of Motor Vehicles will, in most cases, be able to schedule an Administrative Hearing before the end of those 30 days.
The Administrative Hearing is very much like a trial in a court of law, only there is no jury, and the judge is a DMV employee. This person is not an attorney, therefore, the likelihood of procedural errors taking place are increased. This is where the seasoned attorney can work his magic. By being familiar with all the laws and the rules of procedure, the lawyer can catch any bureaucratic errors before they result in the license being suspended for a long period of time, and can often have the driver’s license suspension set aside altogether.
