Understanding The Legal Process

Three Ways To Stay Out Of Jail After A Consecutive DUI Charge

by Eli Gregory

Not every choice is a good choice. Sometimes getting behind the wheel after drinking or taking drugs or medications results in an arrest. If you have had more than one consecutive DUI charge, you could be facing prison time, and that is definitely something you want to avoid. Here are three ways to stay out of jail after a consecutive DUI charge and possible pending conviction:

Hire a Really Good DUI Attorney

You do not have a wing and a prayer of avoiding jail time if you do not have a lawyer with this recent DUI charge. Your lawyer can do all kinds of things in court and behind the scenes that you alone cannot. Additionally, a really good lawyer can make or break your case, and file appeals if things do not go well in your favor.

Agree to Do Anything Other Than Jail Time

Your lawyer may be able to get you off with a lighter sentence, but that sentence may include a wide range of requirements. It could include higher fines, community service in the hundreds of hours range, drug rehab programs (including DUI cases where alcohol was the drug of choice), volunteer work with local charities, serving as a guest speaker on public speaking programs to keep kids off of drugs, agree to license revocation and/or suspension of your vehicle's registration, agree to breathalyzer locks on your vehicle's steering wheel, etc., etc.. Be prepared to do practically anything if you want to stay out of jail, and then your lawyer can find a reasonable plea bargain to manage just that. 

Agree to Weekly Urine, Blood, and Hair Tests for Drugs and Alcohol

Probation for cases like yours are not without their restrictions. In most similar cases, people charged with a consecutive DUI who do not want to go to jail/prison have to agree to weekly urine, blood, and hair tests for drugs and alcohol. Each of these tests is used to confirm that you have kept your word and that you are clean and/or sober. If trace amounts of anything are found within your weekly samples, probation is up and jail is the next step. 

Request the Right to a Lawyer

Unless you start looking for a lawyer right away, you might not like how swift justice can be. Demand your right to an attorney. Then begin looking for a suitable DUI attorney you can hire.

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