“I was arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants in Oregon. What happens now?”
Your DUII citation includes your first court date, where you will appear and when. The court will want to know:
- Do you have or need an Oregon criminal defense attorney?
- What direction do you want your case to take — “guilty”, “not guilty”, DUII Diversion?
The step above applies more or less to everyone. The NEXT steps depend on you and your criminal attorney’s advice about these 3 factors:
(1) whether there is evidence of your intoxication level;
Evidence of your intoxication level may include Field Sobriety Tests, alcohol breath test, blood alcohol test, witness accounts, your own statements and police observations.
(2) whether there was a car accident which caused property damage or personal injury; and
In general, property damage is much less difficult to resolve than passenger or defendant injury. The less serious the injury, the better for obvious reasons; but we have seen defendants be helpful to our defense, so every case is unique. Oregon law limits the options you have to resolve a first-time DUII in this scenario, but an experienced Portland DUI defense attorney can often help resolve a DUII of this type with reduced consequences and penalties.
(3) whether your driver’s license was valid at the time of arrest or you are a commercial driver’s license carrier.
When DUII cases involve related charges like Driving While Suspended, Driving Uninsured or others concerning the status of your driving privileges, other legal considerations and strategies may come into play. The same is true for any additional charges such as Hit & Run, Reckless Driving, Assault and Criminal Mischief.
