Darien DUI Arraignment Lawyer
As defined by law, an arraignment in Darien is the initial court appearance the first time after the person is arrested.
If the individual is not able to post bond, they are going to be kept in custody at the Darien Police Department and brought to court on the next business day. If they are not locked up or if they are able to post bond, then they are released and are assigned a court date.
To best understand the legal process associated with a DUI arraignment in Darien, it is important that an individual consult with a lawyer immediately. An experienced DUI attorney in Darien can assist an individual in preparing an effective defense against their charge.
Arraignment Process
If a person is in custody, they are going to be brought before the judge, from the Darien Police Department to the court for the Darien DUI arraignment process. At that time, if they are still locked up, the bail commissioner will make a recommendation as to how high the bond should be.
The prosecutor will get an opportunity to be heard by the judge about bond during the Darien DUI arraignment, and then the defense attorney will be able to argue for a lower bond or no bond at all.
In that case, the person needs to be there to either post a bond or remain incarcerated, and then even if the person is out, they also need to be there as they need to be at every court date. Additionally, it is especially important to be present at the DUI arraignment in Darien because that is when the judge will set any potential conditions of release.
This means that the person can be released into the community but will need to follow certain conditions, such as following all of Connecticut’s laws.
Setting Bail
During the Darien DUI arraignment, the judge could set bond relatively low, especially if there are no exacerbating factors that make the DUI more serious. For example, for a routine DUI where the person has an elevated BAC but there is no serious accident and no serious injuries, the bail amount could be relatively low.
Usually, there is some bond that is set around a few hundred dollars. If the person has ever fled before, failed to appear, or has any outstanding warrants for other arrests, then those are all things that could make the bond much higher.
Role of an Attorney
If someone is still locked up, the attorney’s job is to talk to the person and get their background information to be able to show the judge during the Darien DUI arraignment why someone can be released on a promise to appear or with minimal bond.
The attorney will talk to the individual and see factors like whether they are working in the area, whether they have family ties to the area, whether they are involved in the community, whether they are a resident of Connecticut, and those kinds of things.
They will be able to articulate those to the judge and argue as to why the person should have a low bond.
Even if the person is not locked up and they are already out at that first court date when the judge is issuing conditions of release, if those conditions are overly burdensome or if there is some issue with any of them, the attorney can argue as to why the person should not have those conditions of release put on them.