Aggravated DUI Lawyer in Chandler, AZ

Start with the statute. A.R.S. 28-1383 takes a DUI or an extreme DUI and attaches one of five circumstances. The license or driving privilege was under a suspension, cancellation, revocation or refusal, or was restricted on account of a prior DUI or a suspension under 28-1385. The violation was a third or later one inside 84 months. Someone under fifteen was in the vehicle. An ignition interlock had been ordered by a court or required by MVD. Or the driving was the wrong way on a highway. With a young passenger the offense is a class 6 felony. In the other four forms it is class 4.

The city's prosecutors do not go that far. The Chandler City Prosecutor's Office defines its work as prosecuting criminal misdemeanor cases in City Court. A felony DUI is a matter for state prosecutors, which in most cases means the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Certain felonies are prosecuted by the Arizona Attorney General's Office, often when conduct crosses county lines, when a state agency investigated, or when the matter came by referral from the county attorney. We handle these matters whichever office brought the charge.

The building changes as well. Once a grand jury indicts, or a judge rules after a preliminary hearing, the case sits in Maricopa County Superior Court, in the downtown Phoenix criminal complex: the Central Court Building, 201 W. Jefferson St., or the South Court Tower, 175 W. Madison St. Confirm the building on your current notice. A felony here does not pass through a justice court on the way, so the county building at 201 E. Chicago Street is not on this route.

Many of these cases open quietly, with a citation and an arraignment date at Chandler Municipal Court. The court's attorney guidance notes that arraignments are frequently reset while the Prosecutor's office obtains the defendant's motor vehicle record. That record is where a suspension, a revocation, an interlock requirement or prior DUI convictions surface. When one does, the report can be forwarded so the County Attorney decides whether to charge a felony. Until a court or your lawyer tells you differently, keep every city court date you were given, and treat the newest charging document as the one that names your court.

When a felony arrest leads to booking at the county jail, the person first sees a judge in the county's Initial Appearance Court. According to the Sheriff's Office it sits at 2670 S. 28th Dr., Phoenix, in the Intake, Transfer and Release facility, and runs every day, holidays included. Under Rule 4.1 that hearing has to happen within 24 hours after the arrest. Release conditions and any bond are set there.

Because this is a felony, the right to counsel attaches; someone who qualifies and has no lawyer yet will have one appointed by the court. Use the time before the first Superior Court setting: the driving record, the old judgments and the test data can be gathered then without a deadline pressing.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. Under A.R.S. 13-904(A), a felony conviction suspends the right to vote, to hold public office, to serve as a juror and to possess a firearm. On an aggravated DUI conviction, MVD revokes the driving privilege and may not issue a new license within one year. Work, professional licenses, housing and immigration status can be affected too.

None of this pauses the license case. If you were served with an administrative suspension notice, A.R.S. 28-1385(G)(2)(c) still says the request "must be received by the department within thirty days after the date of the notice," and a Superior Court calendar does not stretch that window.

The vehicle is a separate matter with a Chandler address. Chandler Police publish a vehicle impounds page with a hold of 20 days, and the grounds it lists include a revoked license, an interlock violation and an arrest for aggravated DUI. Impound hearings are taken without appointment at the Downtown Precinct address, 250 E. Chicago St.