Attorneys

As mentioned above, if you refuse the breath test after your OUI arrest, your license can be suspended for 120 days. If you submit to and fail the breath test by registering a reading of .08 percent (BAC), your license will suspended for 90 days. If either of these suspensions occurs, your license will be confiscated by the arresting police department and you will be provided with a temporary 15­ day license. On the expiration of the 15th day, your right to operate a motor vehicle will be suspended until the conclusion of the applicable suspension.

Your first appearance in court is for arraignment. At this time, the court advises each defendant exactly what is the nature of the charge and enters a plea of not guilty to that charge. Unless you've got a criminal history, with prior court defaults or some egregious activity in your arrest, it is more than likely that you will be released on your own personal recognizance to appear back at court for pre­trial conference. If the District Attorney's Office is requesting a bail be posted to ensure your return to court, you will be entitled to a bail hearing. If you do not have an attorney with you at your arraignment, the court will provide an attorney for you for the limited purposes of that bail hearing.

The pre­trial conference is typically the next court date after your arraignment. It is designed as the first opportunity for a defendant and attorney to meet with the prosecutor and conduct a meaningful discussion of the case. By the time of the pre­trial conference, the parties have had an opportunity to review relevant police reports and to identify if there is additional outstanding material available, pertinent to the case. The court encourages that the parties attempt to identify by the time of the pre­trial conference whether a trial will be necessary for this case or if there is some possibility of resolving the case short of trial by way of a disposition. Under the current Massachusetts Criminal Court Procedures, every defendant now has a right to tender an admission or plea to the charges and request a disposition be imposed. If the court accepts this disposition, then the case can be resolved upon terms which the defendant has suggested. If the court is not inclined to accept that disposition and suggests a greater penalty, the defendant has the option of accepting that counter offer or rejecting the disposition and preserving their trial rights. If the case is not disposed of at pre­trial conference, then a motion hearing date or a trial date is scheduled.

In a drunk driving case, just as any other criminal case, there are oftentimes many pre­trial motions that can be filed and argued that may be dispositive of the charges against you. Motions to suppress evidence are regularly used to attempt to exclude damaging evidence against you that may have been secured by some improper action of the arresting police department. Motions to dismiss may also be filed in certain instances to achieve a dismissal of the charges against you, based on some technical violation.

Drunk driving trials are typically held in the courthouse where the pre­trial dates have been conducted. In some instances if a jury trial is elected by the defendant, the case may be transferred to another courthouse, within that county, that has the facilities and jurisdiction to conduct a jury trial. A defendant in an OUI charge, pending in the district court has a right to a trial before a judge or a jury of six persons. The decision of whether to try the case before a judge or a jury is typically not made until the day of trial.

In the event that your case proceeds to trial and there is a verdict against you, sentencing is conducted immediately following the trial. After the jury reports their verdict and have been excused, the judge then proceeds to the sentencing phase if there is a guilty finding. The Commonwealth proceeds first and requests a specific disposition and offers reasons in support of that recommendation. Your attorney is then allowed to make a recommendation on your behalf and to provide pertinent personal and factual argument in support of that recommendation. The judge will typically enter the disposition at that time.