There are a lot of things that could happen after being arrested for DUI in Kansas. It is important that you known a little about the criminal court process if you have been charged with Dui.
The first criminal court hearing after you have been arrested for drunk driving in Kansas is called the Arraignment. During this process, you will appear in a court and a judge will file the charges of drunk driving against you and you will have to give a plea. A guilty plea or a plea of no contest will automatically expose you to the penalties of driving under the influence. The judge will impose a punishment on you unless this is postponed for another time. A plea of not guilty will cause the process to continue and a trial date will be set for you to appear back in court. If applicable bail and the appointment of a lawyer could also be handled at the arraignment.
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Be aware, it is extremely important that you hire a DUI attorney before your arraignment. This will help you in making a decision on what to plea during the arraignment of your case.
The pretrial hearing is an update on the progress of the case before a judge in court. Things like the admissibility of evidence and conflicts in scheduling future trial dates are handled at this time. This is also a time for the prosecutor and the DUI defense attorney to get together and discuss any possible plea bargain agreements. Any agreement that your DUI attorney and the prosecutor came up with at this time would be brought up before the judge and be recorded in the court records. When the two lawyers cannot come up with an agreement the judge will give the date for your court trial.
After your case has been given a date, a DUI lawyer will most likely want to file defense motions to get some types of evidence thrown out. If your attorney does this another hearing is held. At this hearing, the DUI lawyer will interview witnesses and law enforcement officials. If your attorney has experts on your side they will be heard at this hearing also.
In Kansas you can be tired two ways for DUI; a jury trial made up of your peers or before a state judge called a bench trial. Usually, DUI defense lawyers will choose a bench trial because most juries do not understand the technical matters involved in difficult DUI cases. No matter which types of trial you have, your guilt or innocence will be decided at the end of the trial. If you are found guilty a sentence will be imposed if the opposite verdict is found your ordeal will be over.