If you have been arrested for a DUI, chances are that you received a court date. After you are bonded out of jail, you are still required to attend court on the day and time that you were issued in order to receive a sentence or start your trial. If the police and prosecution can prove that you were drinking or consuming illegal substances while behind the wheel, and in turn created a danger for those around you, then you may be charged with a DUI. The court will need to prove that you had a BAC of over 0.08 percent if you are civilian, or 0.04 percent if you are a commercial driver. If you are under the age of 21, then you can be charged with a DUI even if you have a 0.01 percent BAC under the “zero-tolerance” federal policy.

Regardless of your age and profession, you have to attend your court hearing. It doesn’t matter what you had going on the day of the trial. If you are not there, you can be arrested for skipping out. While the court is not tolerant of those who want to skip their trial or move it to a different day, they do understand that there are exceptions. For example, maybe your close family member just died and you have to attend a funeral. Maybe you have a massive business deal at work which is supposed to close the day of your trial. Or maybe the court gave you a date that is soon, and you want time to strategize with your attorney before heading to court. If you have a valid reason to push your court date back, there is nothing wrong with requesting this.

You or your attorney will need to contact the prosecuting attorney in your case and tell him or her that you want to obtain a continuance of a court date. If you haven’t abused the process of delaying your DUI, then the prosecuting attorney may lodge no objection. This means that you have the right to move your court date if you choose to. You will then need to draft a motion to continue your DUI court date. This means you will need to include a general reason why you need a new date. For example, you could say that you are still looking for the right attorney to represent you, or that you need more time to research your case before you start the trial. The clerk of the court will then review the motion and will probably give you the go-ahead to use the rest of your time to prepare and delay your court date.

You will then want to note in your motion that you spoke to the prosecuting attorney and he or she does not object to the request. This will help the court to recognize that your postponement is on good terms with all parties. As long as you have court continuance, chances are that you will be able to receive continuance. You will then want to file a motion to continue with the clerk of the court. Send a copy of the motion to continue to the prosecuting attorney, and start preparing for the new fate. During the time before your case, you will want to hire a professional and successful attorney to argue for you. This is essential if you want to try and reduce your sentence or dismiss your case based on little or no evidence. While an excellent attorney can’t guarantee that you will walk away from the case with no punishment, he or she can certainly guarantee that you will be backed by a hard-working attorney who is seeking your benefit in the case. Talk to a DUI attorney today if you need more information about postponing your case or getting the best defense you can!