Understanding plea deals in West Palm Beach DUI cases can be critical. Individuals facing DUI charges should speak with a distinguished criminal attorney about how to appropriately proceed with their case.
Pleading no contest is also an option for those facing DUI charges. Typically, where attorneys see no contest pleas are where there are accident cases involved where a person is impaired or over the legal limit and they have an accident and the accident results in property damage or even bodily injury to the other party.
Admitting they caused damage is considered the same as a guilty plea but not equivalent to an admission of guilt. This means it cannot be used against the person in a civil proceeding. It is typically not an option but it is sometimes that is done.
Various Pleas to Make in a DUI Case
West Palm Beach DUI lawyers are important in helping those charged understand the various types of plea deals. What an attorney typically sees at an arraignment on a DUI case is a plea of not guilty. The plea of not guilty will move the case from the satellite courthouse to the main courthouse and get the case rolling towards a trial.
Pleading not guilty does not necessarily mean it is going to go to trial but it is the next step of the process and discovery is going to be exchanged between lawyers, negotiations will be held, perhaps some depositions need to be taken, perhaps some motions filed. Not guilty says a person is going to fight the case if the case proceeds.
The other two things a person could do is they can plead guilty or no contest depending on the situation. If someone wants to negotiate a resolution with the prosecutor, they have to plead guilty. If the person wants to plead up to the judge and throw themselves upon the mercy of the court, they can plead no contest.
Following a Guilty Plea
The only aspect of the case that they can argue after pleading guilty is more mitigating circumstances rather than excuses. When the person is pleading guilty, they are admitting to the crime. What the person can fight is the type of sentence. They can request to be heard on sentencing after submitting a guilty plea. However, most cases include a negotiated sentence.
Attorney Plea Advice
Attorneys can advise individuals to plead guilty at their West Palm Beach DUI arraignment, depending on situations such as if maybe the individual has a prior record somewhere and the state does not have that information at the time of the arraignment and they are willing to proceed with the case without that information.
Sometimes, they want to resolve a case quickly before the state could find out that the person has any criminal history or extensive criminal history because that would affect the resolution of the case, obviously, the more history they have.
If a person has a history and they fear that that might be used against them and enhance the penalty and arraignment, they would get a relatively minor penalty or a minimum penalty, it might be advisable to just plead guilty.
