What To Expect From An Underage DUI Case in Salisbury
In the District Court, the process of a DUI case is going to be the same whether or not the driver is over or under the age of 21. If someone under the age of 21 received a ticket they will get a court date, and they will be expected to appear in District Court to face trial on those citations. The only difference from an ordinary DUI is that an underage driver may potentially get an additional charge of violating the alcohol restriction on their license, because they are not supposed to have any alcohol in their system whatsoever.
Where the consequences are greater for an under-21 driver is at the MVA, because the MVA has the ability to suspend their driving privilege beyond that of a driver over 21. If it is determined that the under-21 driver has a blood test with a BAC result of 0.02, then the driver faces a separate six month suspension of their driver’s license simply because they had alcohol in their system and they are underage. To help minimize these penalties and make sure you are doing everything you can to minimize the amount of harm, it is important you consult with a Salisbury underage DUI lawyer today.
What Parents Should Expect For Their Child
If a parent has a child attending school such as Salisbury University, they should expect consequences from the University itself, having nothing to do with what happens in the court system. They are completely separate and apart from anything else.
The University becomes aware of when students are charged with crimes or traffic offenses like DUI. The University will then potentially impose consequences on the student. It is also important to note that this is true regardless of whether the student is living in on-campus housing or resides off campus. The University makes no distinction between the two.
It is very possible that Salisbury University will decide to punish the student independently. The punishment could be anything from a probationary period with the University all the way up to being expelled and not invited to return. A Salisbury DUI lawyer can provide needed guidance and support through the entire process.
Impact of a DUI Charge on College Students
Salisbury University can choose to have a hearing through the Dean of Students and their whole administrative process. They can make a determination to place the student on a period of probation. If that student has already been on probation or has had other issues in the community, then it is possible that the student will be expelled or at least removed for the rest of that semester. They may be able to reapply for the following semester or following year.
A DUI can certainly impact students’ status on campus and whether they are even allowed to continue attending the school. It is crucial to a your case to hire a Salisbury DUI lawyer as soon as possible to help fight your charges.
Will The University Find Out About a DUI?
Yes, it is very possible the University will find out, and At that point, it is certainly up to the University as to how they want to handle the situation.
There is not a great deal of due process in those hearings. The student will have the opportunity to be present and to speak, but they are not allowed to have legal representation in the same way as they would for court. The University can determine the sanction and there is no appellate process giving the student the opportunity to be heard about an appeal. Those hearings take place at the University. As I said, they may be able to have an attorney present in the room, but the attorney is not allowed to advocate in the same way they would in a courtroom.
DUI Charges and Minors
If you are charged with a DUI while under the age 18 you are still facing a normal DUI charge as an adult would but the process is very different. In a DUI case involving a minor, all of the paperwork is provided directly to the State Attorney’s office of that county. The State Attorney’s office has a juvenile prosecutor who makes a determination whether to file the charges in the juvenile court for that county. In the juvenile system, they are not referred to as charges; they are called petitions. So, juveniles do not receive charging documents, but instead are charged by way of a petition.
The documents are provided to the State Attorney’s office, who has 30 days from the date they receive those materials to file the formal petition in juvenile court. So although the laws are technically the same regarding those who drive while impaired, how an individual is charged and the process that they go through is extremely different.
Minimum BAC For Minors
Juveniles are expected to have no alcohol in their system because they are under the age of 21. So, if a juvenile is pulled over and is under the age 18, they are expected to have absolutely no alcohol in their system. They can suffer an entirely different set of consequences if they take a breath test and there is alcohol in their system.
If an individual under the age of 21 is stopped by a police officer and that officer has reason to believe that they have been drinking, that officer can ask them to take a breath test. If the breath test result is a 0.02 or higher, the officer can submit paperwork to the MVA, and that individual can receive a six-month suspension just for having alcohol in their system regardless of whether or not it is enough to convict on a DUI.
This is also true of some minors as well. Anyone under the age of 21 has an alcohol restriction on their license which makes it clear that they are not supposed to consume any alcohol.