DUI Attorney City

What happens if the City Attorney doesn’t file DUI charges?

SD_driver asked:

I had my DUI court date scheduled few days ago (in CA) and I was told that the CA hasn’t filed the charges yet, but they have up to 1 year to file. Is it common to have charges filed months after the incident? and what happens if they never file?

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 6:48 am and is filed under DUI Attorney. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “What happens if the City Attorney doesn’t file DUI charges?”

1. mexbabe08 on March 17th, 2008 at 9:07 am

   Then i’m assuming you don’t get charged with a DUI…?

2. CGIV76 on March 20th, 2008 at 2:57 pm

   The arresting Officer is the one who files the DUI charges, unless you are being charged with a felony DUI. Then it will be up to the state to file, not the city.

   Edit. DUI is a state charge where I worked. The Officer files the charges, and would be approved by the States Attorney.

3. John S on March 22nd, 2008 at 3:32 am

   CGIV76 is usually dependable, but he fell off the track on this one. Police officers do not file criminal charges in California. If a misdemeanor charge is to be filed in a jurisdiction with a City Prosecutor or City Attorney then it will be up to that prosecutor to file the charge. Otherwise it would be the county District Attorney. Whether it is a misdemeanor or a felony, the violation is of state law, but the local prosecutor is responsible for filing the charge, and city prosecutors where they exist file misdemeanors.

   Delays like this are not uncommon, and often result when there was a blood test which has not yet been analyzed. If a charge is not filed within a year, then the statute of limitations will bar a prosecution.

   ADD: I do not doubt that CGIV76’s answer is correct for his jurisdiction. However, it is NOT correct for California, which is where these events occurred.

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