Feb
First-Time DUI Offense Gets Trial by Jury Once Again
Posted on behalf of the firm.Arizona DUI law will possibly be going through another change soon, with the adoption of a bill currently being considered. The bill will restore the right to jury trial for all first-time DUI defendants.
Since the early part of the year, certain specific drivers that were charged with DUI lost their legal right to a trial by jury in Arizona. The bill, which was signed into law on April 29 by Governor Jan Brewer, rewrote DUI law, stating that only hardcore DUI offenders with previous convictions or extreme DUI defendants had the right to trial by jury of their peers. She signed that in regardless of the fact that even without a trial by jury, first-time DUI offenders still can face up to 6 months in jail.
The law signed in by Governor Brewer took effect on December 31, 2011, but on Thursday the state House Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to nullify that provision. Many lawmakers were surprised to find out that they had voted for this language, which local prosecutors had pushed for years.
The current Arizona Code Section 28-1381 states “At the arraignment, the court shall inform the defendant that if the state alleges a prior conviction the defendant may request a trial by jury and that the request, if made, shall be granted.”
The addition of the phrase “if the state alleges a prior conviction” effectively meant that all first-time minor offenders had their rights to a jury trial erased. At the hearing, state Representative David Burnell Smith stated “It has caused a lot of problems because if you have an extreme DUI and a first-time DUI, the judge hears the DUI case, the jury hears the extreme case. If you file a motion, you get the extreme dismissed, you’d still not get a jury trial. It’s confusing out there. There’s constitutional issues, back and forth motions.”
This new bill, House Bill 2284, will be retroactively applied to all cases from December 31 on, must be passed by the full House and Senate, and then must be sent to the governor for her approval.
