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DUI Pre-Trial Motions

A good DUI attorney will file pre-trial motions before your DUI trial to raise specific concerns and questions to the assigned judge.  The answers the judge gives to these questions, or “rulings,” often determine whether or not your case even goes to trial, and how much negotiating room your DUI attorney has with the prosecutor to get your drunk driving charges reduced. 


DUI Motion to Quash

A “motion to quash”, or “demurrer”, is an attack by your defense team on the form or content of the prosecution’s accusatory document against you. The traffic citations you received after leaving jail can be used as accusatory or “charging documents”, and they must inform you adequately of the DUI charges against you. Deficiencies in the form of the charging document or in its contents can be used by your DUI attorney to either cause the documents to be redrawn, or possibly to completely prevent your prosecution in the event that “jeopardy” has attached, and the State did not correct the flawed charges before jeopardy attached.


A special demurrer(or special motion to quash) is an attack on the FORM of the document.  One such attack might be that the crime with which you are charged cannot be specified on this kind of document.  Another could be that it lacked a key signature by the prosecutor or the grand jury foreperson. 


A general demurrer (or general motion to quash) is a challenge to the SUBSTANCE or content of what is written in the document.  In other words, the accusatory document must be drawn correctly, in unambiguous language.  It must contain the correct information and your correct legal name, or your DUI attorney can ask the judge to grant a complete “discharge and acquittal” of DUI criminal charges against you.


The timing for asserting and filing this kind of legal challenge is very important, and requires an extensive knowledge of state law and criminal trial practice to succeed.  That is why you MUST talk to a leading DUI attorney in your area RIGHT NOW. Call 888-8DWI-DUI (888 839 4384) 24 hours a day. Your initial consultation is FREE.


Motion for Discharge

Your DUI lawyer can ask the judge to grant a complete “discharge and acquittal” of all criminal DUI charges against you if a general motion to quash a charging document is granted. Another situation that can lead to a motion to discharge is when the State unreasonably delays charging you with a crime. This may occur because the process to bring your case to trial has been too slow. Your DUI attorney might be able to get the charges dropped because the prosecution has waited an unreasonable length of time to bring your case to trial.  However, these situations are very rare. DUI pre-trial motions are critical to obtaining a favorable outcome in your case. Call us at 888-839-4384 anytime day or night.