An arrest for driving under the influence or impaired driving is only the beginning. Preparing for your day in court requires securing the services of a lawyer who can mount a defence. You must do your part to help build that defence. Here are four points to keep in mind as you and your lawyer work out the specifics.
Recount the Events in Proper Sequence
To the best of your ability, try to tell your lawyer what happened using a proper sequence of events. That sounds simple, but many people find that times, places and the actual timeline before and during the arrest seem to run together. Your job is to sort through what happened, arrange things in the order they occurred, and recount them to your lawyer. Doing so will provide the foundation for preparing the defense.
Be as Detailed as Possible
This may require some additional effort on your part. Even when you go through the series of events leading up to the arrest, it’s easy to omit a detail that has slipped your mind. That process of remembering everything is even more difficult once you are taken to the police station. Owing to your anxiety about the arrest, you may notice things as they occur but find it hard to remember them later.
Most call DUI lawyers understand that overlooking details while under so much pressure is natural. That’s one reason the lawyer will want to go over the chain of events several times. As you walk through them again, there’s a good chance that something you didn’t remember last time will come to mind and provide a more complete picture of what took place.
Tell the Embarrassing Parts
At times, it’s not about not remembering details. Perhaps there were some activities that you would rather other people never know. Maybe you said or did something in the events leading up to being noticed by the police that you would not like your employer or a spouse to know. It could be that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.
While you may find it embarrassing to tell your lawyer about those events, remember that your legal counsel is focused on making sure your rights are observed. That is easier to do if you don’t try to hide things that you would rather others never know.
Let Your Lawyer Decide What’s Relevant
It’s not up to you to determine if some detail is not relevant to the case. If you had the background to know all the laws and how they apply to your case, it would be different. Since you don’t, it’s best to assume some minor detail is relevant until your legal counsel has a chance to consider what bearing, if any, it has on your case.
The bottom line is that the best way to build a defence for a Toronto DUI charge is to provide full and complete disclosure to your lawyer. Assume nothing but tell all. Once your lawyer knows all there is to know about your case, the process of building a defence can begin in earnest.
