Q: My fiance had a DUI in 2012 but he was arrested last night for failure to appear
- but his lawyer had told him it was all cleared up. What do we do?
A: What likely happened is this was a refile. The DUI first time around was probably dismissed pending blood results. Then once the blood results came back positive for drugs or alcohol above .08, the State refiled the DUI charges. A summons and complaint was likely mailed to his last known address. Now, he'll need to take care of the warrant and underlying DUI charges. Highly recommend he schedule a free consultation with an attorney.
Ryan McPhie agrees with this answer
A: There are a number of reasons that could have delayed the charging process such as a re-file or a "long form" complaint that allows for the state to wait to charge the case until they have the blood results or other evidence. The State generally has 1 year to charge a misdemeanor DUI, but that clock can stop running. If they filed charges and the Court sent a summons, even if you did not receive it, a warrant issued and stopped the 1 year statute of limitations. However, the State much show that it used due diligence to find you to justify such a long delay. Your best course of action at this point is to hire an attorney to deal with the warrant and the underlying case. I would NOT recommend going in to try to quash the warrant on your own. Many of us on Justia offer free consultations. Best of luck.
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