If you know what to expect when you meet with your King County DUI attorney for the first time, you may feel more comfortable during your initial interview. Although it is understandable that you may feel nervous at the meeting, your lawyer will simply want to gather more information about your case, educate you regarding the charges against you, and tell you about the next steps in your case.
First, your DUI attorney will likely ask you to explain the chronology of your traffic stop, arrest, and time spent in police custody. Your attorney may ask questions about what you were doing before your arrest. For example, your attorney may ask what you had eaten that day, whether you had skipped any meals, and whether you had consumed any alcoholic beverages. Next, your lawyer will need to know what happened during the traffic stop and arrest. If the officer took you into police custody, your attorney will ask you about the events between your arrest and your release from custody. Do your best to remember and describe what happened.
Besides gathering the facts of your arrest and time in custody, your King County criminal defense lawyer will need to know if you have a prior criminal record. To review your criminal record, if any, your attorney will need to get your personal information, including your name and contact information. Your attorney might also ask about your height, weight, marital status and employment. A DUI defense lawyer uses a client’s personal information to verify previous criminal offenses and to gather other information that may become relevant to the case.
If you have a prior criminal record, be honest about this with your attorney. Previous DUI arrests, moving violations, or criminal convictions will affect your lawyer’s strategy when planning your defense. For example, if you have a previous DUI, your attorney may need to attack the validity of the prior conviction; otherwise, a prior conviction may result in a mandatory jail sentence for your current case. Your attorney might also need to know about prior convictions before negotiating a plea on your behalf. Don’t let embarrassment or pride get in the way of your lawyer preparing to defend you. If you are not completely truthful, the information likely will come up anyway during your DUI case or affect your defense in other ways. You do not want your DUI lawyer to be surprised by this information later on in your case.
