Court

My court date was scheduled for mid-May.  I arrived early and dressed semi-professionally.  I had consulted a lawyer about 2 weeks before court.  After speaking with him at length I decided not to hire a lawyer.  It was nothing against him personally, but I had been reading a lot of first hand accounts online, and it seemed to me that most people accused of a DUI ended up with the same, or VERY similar, punishments with or without a lawyer.  Even my lawyer-hopeful told me that much of the outcome of my case would come down to my BAC (which at this point, I did not know).

I went into court that day and there were several people in the courtroom where I was assigned- all there on miscellaneous non-violent charges.  The prosecutor told us that she would be calling people up one by one and telling them if they had a plea offer from the prosecutor's office.  I waited and finally my name was called.  When I sat down next to her she informed me that there was an addendum to my complaint- that I was being charged with an Extreme DUI; that my BAC had been .19.  I wanted to vomit.  She said that the prosecutor's office was going to offer me 30-90 days in jail, around $3500 in fines, and an alcohol screening.  The MVD would likely suspend my license, require me to take traffic survival school, and would require me to install an ignition interlock device in my vehicle- but those items would be decided by MVD, not the court.

I was in a fluster and in shock.  My choices were to plead guilty or to plead not guilty- at which point a new court date would be set to review my case.  I could hire a lawyer if I wanted to or get a court appointed lawyer if I was broke enough.  I weighed all of these decisions in about 30 seconds and decided to plead guilty.  Honestly, I can say I think I made the right decision.  I've spoken to quite a few people who got arrested in Scottsdale who DID get a lawyer and their punishments and fees have been the same as mine (except they also had to pay for a lawyer).