With a population that doubled in under ten years, Murrieta is a bedroom city located in southwestern Riverside County. The increase in population has led to an increase of people on the roads and as a consequence an increase in drunk drivers. Being arrested for drinking and driving can affect all aspects of your life. Both personally and professionally you could face consequences following an arrest for drunk driving. Because of the severity of these consequences, you should hire a Murrieta DUI lawyer as soon as possible if you have been arrested for drunk driving. Our criminal defense attorneys could guide you throughout your case and work to minimize any penalties.
DMV Hearing in a Murrieta DUI case
It is vital to understand that there are two different stages to a DUI case. The stages are completely independent of one another and success at one in no way guarantees success at the other. The DMV hearing is a civil procedure conducted by a hearing officer who acts as judge and jury in the hearing. You must contact the San Bernardino Driver’s Safety Branch within ten calendar days of your DUI arrest in order to obtain a stay on the automatic suspension of your license. Failure to contact the DMV within ten calendar days will result in the automatic suspension of your license once the temporary license issued to you upon release expires (30 days from the date of arrest). If you hire a leading Murrieta attorney within the first ten days they can contact the DMV on your behalf for your DUI case.
Finding a Murrieta DUI Attorney
There are a number of things to take into consideration when deciding which criminal defense attorney to hire. The first is location. Hiring an attorney who is not from the area and is unfamiliar with the Southwest Justice Center can be detrimental to your case. You also want to make sure that the Murrieta DUI lawyer you hire dedicates their practice to drunk driving defense. A general criminal defense attorney may not have the time or resources to dedicate to understanding the intricacies of these cases that you need to have a successful outcome. The DMV hearing alone presents a unique process that is not common to any other type of criminal case.