THE FOLLOWING TIMELINE ILLUSTRATES A STANDARD PROCESSION OF A CRIMINAL CASE IN WISCONSIN. THIS TIMELINE CAN CHANGE BECAUSE EACH CASE IS DIFFERENT DEPENDING ON EACH SET OF FACTS AND STRATEGIC DECISIONS MADE BY ALL PARTIES OVER THE COURSE OF THE LIGITATION.

4th+ OWI

msa-attorneys.comIt’s New Year’s Eve and you’re closing down the bars. You’ve been stopped/approached and questioned by law enforcement. They ask, after some small talk, “Have you been drinking?”. Not wanting to lie but not wanting to further incriminate yourself, you respond, “A couple”. Then you hear the infamous words “Please step out of the car sir/miss. I’d like you to perform a few tests.” So you perform the Field Sobriety Test and are arrested. Did you do the right things? Call us and find out.

After the Field Sobriety Test and Preliminary Breath Test failures, the officer tells you while you are being taken away that you need to submit to a breath test or give a blood sample. The officer takes you to the station or hospital where they get a breath or blood sample. The guys at the bar tell of how they knew a guy who got out of it by refusing the test, but the officer said I had to do it. You listened to the police. Did you play it smart? Call us and find out for free.

After the arrest and blood/breath sample “event”, the officer gives you a whole bunch of paperwork and tries to explain it. You tell yourself, “I wasn’t the best in school with this stuff anyway so why would they expect me to fully comprehend it now at 2:30 am while I’m in the state I’m in.” One of the pieces of paper says 10 days on it. What does all of it mean? Call us and find out what it all means for free.

So you’re looking at this paperwork and all you can make out of it is that you have to do something within 10 days of the breathalyzer test when I was arrested or 10 days after I receive the blood test results when they took a blood sample at the hospital. Find out what to do for free by giving us a call.

The officer told me during the arrest that I can drive around for 30 days on this piece of paper he/she gave me. Apparently after that, my license is going to get suspended. So then what? I’ve got things to do, places to go, people to see. How am I going to get to my job or pick up the kids? I remember something about do something within 10 days. Something about an Administrative Review Hearing? I don’t know what that’s all about. Find out how it all works together for free and call us.

I filled out the request for an Administrative Review and sent it to Madison. I went down to the local DMV, met with the examiner and within 4 days got my license revoked. So what was the point of that? The DMV was going to take my license anyway. I got somet piece of paper called a Judicial Review form. How long is that going to take? Do I have a shot with a judge? Would you like to know “the point of that” and if a judge would be more sympothetic? Call us for free and find out the details.

So the ticket says I need be at the county courthouse at 9:00 am. So what do I do and say or NOT do and say. I’ve got things to do. I’m not thrilled about going to court in the first place and I don’t want to mess my case up by doing the wrong thing. Want to know your options and what each decision is going to do or not do for you for free? Call us.

So you made the right move at the Initial Appearance. You are thinking to yourself, “What did that cop put in the police report?”. He/She mentioned something about a video cam. I wonder what it looks like? When I called up the station they told me this was not the way to get all the discovery, but they really didn’t tell me how to do it. Want to find out all the evidence law enforcement has against you? Call us.

This is only my 1st OWI. A friend of mine told me I’m not allowed a jury trial. I thought everyone is entitled to a “Trial by a Jury of Their Peers”? Isn’t this true? The judge told me to do something within 10 days of the initial appearance or I’m going to waive “it”, but I was so nervous I forgot what “it” was. Want to find out before you do waive “it” unintentionally? Call us today and find out the right move.

I got my hands on some of the discovery. I don’t know if this is all of it or what. My version of what happened that night and the officers are night and day, but I was the only one out there. How do I go proving my side? Isn’t it my word against the officers? I’ve heard about this thing called a motion hearing, but what is that going to do for me. Will that win the entire case or just part of it. Call us and find out. what we can do for you.

Dkuring the Initial Appearance, the District Attorney (DA) or the Judge made mention that if you wanted a chance to tell your side of the story, work this out and possibly get a lower penalty you should talk to the DA during a Settlement Conference/Pre-Trial Conference (they’re both essentially the same thing). So what do I say or not say? What if I can’t make it? Am I going to lose my case and be defaulted? What can I expect? If you’d like a free preview, call us.

After that meeting with the DA yesterday it seemed like they really didn’t listen to my side. They wrote a “canned” offer on a piece of paper and essentially said “Take it or leave it”. I’ve got a great defense (or at least I think so). The DA told me to bring it up during a trial. I can’t do a trial by myself. This guy I knew had a defense he didn’t even know about. The judge or a jury found him not guilty. Do I have that kind of case? Call us for free and find out.

The DA mentioned to me something about enrolling in the
IDIP or Intoxicated Driver Intervention Program. This would cut some of my penalties down. Isn’t this saying I’m guilty and I should just prepare myself for the punishment? Is this something I should just do “for the worst case scenario”? Find out what’s your best move with a free phone call.

When I was in court last time, I was told to come in front of the Judge and tell him/her if I had worked out a “deal” to settle the case or not. If not the case would be set for a trial. A trial to a jury or who? I can live with some parts of the offer, but not all of it. Was that meeting I had with the DA my only opportunity? I don’t really want to go to a trial by myself, but I want my defense heard. What do I do now? Call us and find out.

I told the judge I want to take this case to trial because my side of the story has not been heard yet. However, I don’t picture myself as an accomplished trial attorney. I was actually kind of scared just being in that courtroom. I suppose I need witnesses, evidence and all the rest of that stuff you see on T.V., but how do I make it happen? Am I going to put on a good defense or just lose my case and make matters even worse. Call us for free and talk to someone who does this for a living.

So you’ve got all the evidence the State is going to use against me. Now what. My buddy hired this attorney and he got him off on this technicality. Can an attorney do the same for me?

The judge set this hearing date called a Final Status Conference and told me if I was going to “plead out” or in other words take the DA’s settlement offer, this was my last opportunity. I don’t know what to do. Is the DA and/or the Judge going to “throw the book at me” if I try the case and lose? I really need to know now. The judge mentions I can either try my case in front of a jury or to him/her. Which is better? Call us and let us help you make the “smart” move.

At the trial, the State goes first by putting the Officer on the witness stand. They proceed by putting on an expert witness if there was a blood draw and any “extra witnesses” the State or City may have. Now it is your turn……