How DUI Cases Proceed in Doraville Georgia

Doraville is a city in DeKalb County that maintains its own police force and municipal court system.  Doraville has several highly trained officers that arrest drivers for DUI and other traffic offenses.  Most Doraville DUI cases are misdemeanors, and as a result, the driver can post a bond and get out of jail within 24 hours.  The driver is given tickets for DUI and any other traffic offenses the officer deems applicable.  These tickets have the court date and time located on the bottom.  It is important to compare the court date on the tickets with any date listed on the bond.  If the dates are different, typically the date on the bond controls.  Your Doraville DUI lawyer will check to make sure you do not miss court.

Most DUI officers also take the driver's license and give the driver a piece of paper that serves as their temporary driving permit for the next 30 days.  An appeal letter should be filed to avoid suspension of driving privileges, and the instructions for the appeal are on the back of the 30-day temporary permit.  Of course, contacting a Doraville DUI attorney is wise, as they have experience properly writing and filing these appeal letters.  The court license suspension proceeding is separate from the criminal proceeding (though the criminal case can also result in a license suspension).

In Doraville there are no actual DUI trials or motions hearings; it is merely a place to attempt to negotiate the case with the prosecuting attorney for the city, Bill Reilly (or one of his assistant prosecutors).  Mr. Reilly is known as being tough on DUI and is hesitant to reduce charges.  If a resolution via plea-bargaining with him cannot be reached, the case will be transferred to DeKalb County State Court.  This process is called a bind-over.

Basically, a person accused of DUI has constitutional rights such as a right to a jury trial and all the rights that are associated with trial – the right to be represented by an attorney, the right to remain silent (or to testify on your own behalf), the right to be presumed innocent and have the state prosecutor prove the evidence against you beyond reasonable doubt, the right to confront via cross examination the witnesses against you, and the right to use the subpoena power of the court to compel witnesses and evidence to court for your defense.

If you want to fight your DUI with a trial, DeKalb State Court is the place it is done.  It is a much more formal court than the City of Doraville Municipal court and has a large staff of full-time prosecutors and several judges.  However, the first step in the case is to try to negotiate in Doraville.  If a satisfactory agreement is reached, the case ends in Doraville, as Doraville maintains its own probation department.  If a plea-bargain cannot be reached, the case moves to DeKalb County State Court where the case will start over.  This means there will be a new arraignment date, new motions hearing dates, and potentially a trial date.  Your attorney will have a new opportunity to make an attempt to reach a reasonable settlement or to litigate the case through trial and even appeal.