Lately, I have been seeing a lot of articles on Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charges. I’m sure you have noticed them as well. However, without being the criminal justice system day in and day out, like a criminal defense attorney, one may not understand the far reaching implications of these articles. These articles are both harsh and unfair. The harshly characterize people charges with DUI as career criminals with little to no regard for human life. They are unfair because they lump everyone that gets a DUI or even multiple DUI’s into the same category. Anyone who spends anytime with a large number of people charged with DUI’s quickly learns that they cannot all simply be placed into any category. People charged with DUI come from all walks of life and have a myriad of issues that have brought them to be charged. In some cases, people are charged with a DUI unjustly.
All people charged with DUI’s should be concerned about these articles that are routinely appearing in the Denver Post now. We are a one paper town, for better or worse, in Denver and the Post’s reports are seen as gospel throughout the state at this point. Myself and my clients are not the only people reading these articles. District Attorneys and Judges are reading them as well. As recently as a week ago, I was informed that a Denver Metro Area District Attorney’s office was not going to be seen as weak on DUI’s after those articles were published. Thus office policy in that office has become harsher towards those with high blood alcohol contents or prior offenses. These are all things would have normally given a District Attorney pause in the past, but now even more so with these troubling Denver Post article out there.
Thus, it is even more true today than at any time in the past, that one needs help when charged with a DUI. The cards are stacked against you, from the District Attorney and Judge to the court of public opinion. The heat is certainly on in Denver this summer.
While we hope you benefit from the information we posted above, it is important to note that we always suggest you contact an attorney to advise you and walk you through the legal process so that you can achieve the best possible result.
This blog was posted by Jeffrey A. Wolf, a senior associate attorney at Shazam Kianpour & Associates, P.C. You may contact him directly at our law firm at 720-407-2582 or at http://www.shazamlaw.com/