meant to get on here earlier. i've got court tomorrow ("pre-trial conference") i plead not guilty at my first appearance but i was influenced by the fact that 95% of people i talked to told me to plead not guilty (pulled over sat night, spent night in jail, out all sunday...in time for colts game...and had court tues morn. so i only got to talk to a few people...including parents, all said pretty much the same). now, i know i was in the wrong and i want to believe the judge will take notice of the fact that i'm wanting to cop to what i did...but 1. why does everyone say always plead not guilty? and 2. how would it look if i decided to change my plea tomorrow morning? i've never had a dui before.
Oh my, swearing on the board in Spanish... how interlingual. Anyhow, you have several options. Do you have any prior offences on your record, at all? If not, you can play the penitent card and maybe expect some leniency from the judge. That being said, from what I understand judges tend to be pretty hard on DUI's, so it's definitely risky to admit it. Of course, if you were tested at the police station and found to be intoxicated (roadside breathalizers aren't admissible in courts in some states), there's no point to pleading not guilty because you'll be proven a liar right away. The reason that you're being told to plead not guilty is because you could theoretically beat the charge and not have to deal with any consequences. If you really want to cop to what happened though, you're going to have to be prepared for consequences, and you might as well be prepared for the worst because once you've pled guilty you're going to be subject to whatever the judge decides to do with you. As for changing your plea, I would worry less about that than the fact that you're pleading guilty now; you'd really get in trouble for changing it from guilty to not guilty after. Sorry to ramble (it's late), but to sum up: pleading guilty is irrevocable, so make sure you're fully prepared for the consequences of doing so. The judge may be impressed by your honesty, but he's not going to just let you go for free and you're going to be stuck with whatever sentence you're given. Best of luck, whatever you decide to do. P.S. If you watch News Radio, you could always just say "Toubal Cain" (no idea how it's really spelled), and then you'll beat all charges and walk out punishment-free
I think you plead not guilty at first so that way you could end up getting a plea deal later on. I'm not sure though as I've never been arrested/charged with anything before. My uncle got a DUI before and with lawyer fees, court costs, etc. he ended up having to pay about $6000, most of that was lawyer fees so you're gonna want to use a public defender.
probi....that's all i could really hope for...and some alcohol class :roll eyes: welp....here's to a one year tolerance break
When I was younger I was arrested for having several cases of beer in my (underage) possession. At my "pre-trial" I was also told to plead not guilty initially in order to get a plea deal from the DA. I was given an alcohol education program to complete and once I did that I returned to court and was cleared of all charges. This is a pretty common avenue so you should be fine, best of luck man.