If you were arrested by the California Highway Patrol for and charged with a DUI, DUI with injury, or DUI drugs in Orange County, you and your DUI Attorney will make several court appearances during court proceedings at the Harbor Justice Center, West Justice Center, Central Justice Center or the North Justice Center depending on where you were arrested. If you have a winnable case then you may want to go to trial. Often, when the District Attorney knows that your DUI lawyer has a good track record at trial, the DA will make a very good offer to avoid trial. But sometimes they simply refuse to make a good offer on a weak case. When this happens and you want to avoid time in the Orange County jail it is time to go to trial. At trial, you cannot be convicted of a DUI unless all twelve jurors (ordinary people) agree that the DA has proven their case beyond all reasonable doubt.
Once you and your DUI Lawyer in Orange County
answer “ready” for trial, the calendar judge will send you to a particular
courtroom to have your trial conducted by a particular judge. You and your DUI
lawyer have ONE opportunity to object to any particular judge who you or your DUI Lawyer feel is “biased”
against you. (California
Code of Civil Procedure Section 170.6)
Once you settle on a judge, The next stage of your DUI trial
is jury selection. During jury selection, a panel of jurors (around 50) are
brought into the courtroom. The judge gives preliminary remarks about their
obligation and the procedures of a DUI trial. The judge then begins the process
known as “voir dire” which means “to tell the truth”. The judge will usually
bring the jurors up to the jury box 12 or 18 at a time. The judge will have a
list of standard questions for each juror to answer: Name? Occupation? Ever
been arrested? Ever been the victim of a crime? Are you or any family members
associated with law enforcement? These types of questions.
When the judge is finished asking the jurors questions, your
DUI Attorney in Orange County
and the DA will have a chance to ask each prospective juror specific questions.
(CCP Section 223) In a DUI trial, an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Orange County
will ask the jurors if they drive, if they drink, and if they drink and
drive. Your DUI lawyer should repeatedly make it perfectly clear that it is
legal to drink and drive. If marijuana is also involved, your DUI Attorney in Orange Countyshould
question the jurors on their opinion of medical marijuana and make sure they
understand it is also legal to drive after having consumed medical marijuana.
Voir dire is also the time to figure out if the prospective juror is
sympathetic to or biased in favor of law enforcement. An experienced DUI lawyer
will also explore whether each juror is willing to stick to their opinion and
not side with the group. This is especially important because in order to
convict you of a DUI the DA must convince ALL 12 jurors to vote guilty.
Once voir dire is over (the judge usually sets a time limit) both the DA and your Orange County DUI lawyers have 10 chances to remove any of the prospective jurors for no reason at all. Other prospective jurors can be removed/excused if the judge agrees that they are biased and couldn’t be fair. The DA and your DUI attorney will take turns excusing jurors (exercising their ten challenges) until the ten challenges are used up or until neither side want to excuse any more jurors. At that point, you will have a jury.
If you have been arrested for felony DUI, DUI with injury, Dui
drugs, or DUI with priors, call The Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500
for a free telephonic consultation. You will speak with an experienced Orange County DUI Lawyer who
will evaluate your case and explain your options. Or visit our website at www.EJEsquire.com. We have office
locations at 1901 Newport Blvd., Suite 350, Costa Mesa, CA 92627 and at 32072
Camino Capistrano, 2nd floor, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675.
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