Extreme DUI Lawyer in Chandler, AZ

The name sounds like a felony charge. It is not one. A.R.S. 28-1382 has two paragraphs, one for a reading from .15 up to but not including .20 and one for .20 and above, each measured within two hours of driving or being in actual physical control. A conviction under either paragraph is a class 1 misdemeanor. The Chandler City Prosecutor's Office, 250 E. Chicago St., says on its own page that prosecuting criminal misdemeanor cases in City Court is its job, which is why Chandler Police extreme DUI cases generally end up at Chandler Municipal Court, 200 E. Chicago St.

Two Chandler Police groups do most of this work, by the department's own description. The DUI Enforcement Unit's stated task is investigating and enforcing Arizona's roadway impairment laws, and the Traffic Team's Motorcycle Unit handles DUI investigations along with enforcement and collisions.

The officer's agency can change the room. When a state trooper or one of the Sheriff's deputies made the arrest, a Maricopa County justice court may get the case, and four of those courts sit at 201 E. Chicago Street. Nothing about the charge changes there. The tiers are the same, the jury right is the same and the MVD deadline is the same. Your citation tells you which court to walk into.

Your car answers to a different rule. The department's vehicle impounds page sets out a hold of 20 days and puts an extreme DUI arrest on its list of grounds. Hearings on a hold are walk-in only, at 250 E. Chicago St., Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the page gives 480-782-4109 for information. If you need that car to keep a job, the hearing goes on the first week's list.

Someone kept in custody after the arrest has to see a judge quickly. Under Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 4.1 the initial appearance must come within 24 hours of the arrest; if it does not, the person is released. The Sheriff's Office counts Chandler among the cities holding initial appearances on their own city charges. The conditions a judge sets at that point can limit driving and drinking immediately.

A blood draw can mean no citation that night. The officer may wait for the toxicology result, and a complaint, if one follows, can come by summons. Chandler's court treats the court date on a summons as the arraignment.

Measure any offer against the tier. A plea to the .15 paragraph or to the .20 paragraph fixes the jail minimum, while MVD works out the license and interlock results under rules of its own. The court says the Pre-Trial Conference is where you or your lawyer can meet with a prosecutor and review the evidence. That prosecutor works for the State, not for you.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. An extreme DUI conviction counts as a prior for 84 months, brings license and interlock consequences, and can matter to an employer with driving rules, to a licensing board or in an immigration review. Setting the conviction aside later under A.R.S. 13-905 does not keep it from being used as a prior or by MVD.

The license keeps its own deadline. A.R.S. 28-1385(G)(2)(c) says a request for a hearing or summary review "must be received by the department within thirty days after the date of the notice," and a request made in time stays the suspension until the hearing is held.