If you are arrested and released without a citation or questioned about an alleged crime, then you are currently in the "Investigatory" or a "Pre-File" stage of a criminal case. This is when it is most the important time to hire a lawyer.

For a possible misdemeanor charge the prosecutor has 1 year to file charges and for a typical felony charge 7 years in which to file charges before the Statute of Limitations runs out. However, for some serious felonies there is no Statute of Limitations.

In regards to potential criminal charges, we start off by attempting to inform the law enforcement involved in your case. Also, we will contact the prosecutor's office and will check periodically with the Court to see if charges were filed. If a Summons was not delivered and a Bench Warrant is discovered, we will call you and prepare a Motion to Quash Bench Warrant with the Court and then accompany you to Court.

Additionally, we will request a copy of the police report involved in your case, but may not receive it if the investigation is still on-going. This report could allow us to interview any witnesses during this pre-charge stage.

Now in a DUI case, many times the police office will release you as they are waiting to get a blood result and then to do a "Long Form Complaint" and route your police report to the prosecutor's office for the charging decision.

Also, in a DUI case sometimes the police officer files with MVD an "Administrative Per Se/Implied Consent" once the alcohol laboratory results are in and are above 0.08%. When you receive this from MVD, contact us immediately so we can request a hearing on your behalf. It is not unusual for MVD to take weeks or months to set a hearing date notice after we send in a request for a hearing and during this period your driver's license is valid. Prior to the MVD hearing we should meet to discuss whether it is necessary for you to be present at the hearing to testify.

By retaining an attorney, this provides you some protection against police or others who are now attempting to contact you by informing them to contact us as you are represented by an attorney.