The person charged for drunk driving, DUI, DWAI by alcohol or drugs will be given a summons (ticket) and notice of the first court date. For DUI related charges that occur in Colorado Springs or outside Colorado Springs but still in El Paso County, this first court appearance for the DUI offense will occur in the First Appearance Center located at the El Paso County Courthouse in Colorado Springs. If the suspected drunk driver, DUI or DWAI driver hires an attorney or lawyer, that attorney or lawyer may reset the court date and the defendant is not required to appear at that first hearing. Next, a pre-trial conference date will be set in a specific county court division. The DUI defendant will be required to either plead guilty to an offense or set their case for jury trial unless the District Attorney’s Office agrees to dismiss the case. However, the District Attorney is not likely to dismiss the case if there is any evidence suggesting that the driver was driving drunk, DUI or DWAI. Persons accused of driving drunk, DUI, or DWAI or any criminal offense must realize that the district attorney is there to prosecute them, and have convictions put on the defendant’s permanent criminal record. The District Attorney’s job is to get convictions against any person charged with a criminal offense. Therefore, it is important to have a confident criminal defense attorney on your side.
DUI- PLEA
If a defendant accepts a plea agreement to DUI, DWAI, any related drunk driving offense, that defendant will be required to get an alcohol and drug evaluation which will be completed by the probation department. The probation department will make recommendations regarding whether or not probation should be supervised, how many community service hours should be performed and the level of treatment that should be required. Note, DMV requires specific levels of treatment which may differ from the court’s requirement. The defendant will then appear for sentencing and the court will decide whether to accept or reject the plea agreement.
If a defendant chooses to go to trial the jury will either convict, acquit or request a mistrial. If acquitted, the case is over the defendant is free to go on with his or life without any criminal penalty. However, DMV may require treatment, driver’s license revocation and/or ignition interlock device prior to being qualified to reinstatement of your driver’s license regardless of a jury determination. If the defendant is found guilty, the court will require an alcohol evaluation as discussed above. The court may impose jail and probation.
