Impact Of A DUI On Student Status in DC

Although it may seem unrelated to your education, a DUI charge in DC can have an impact on your status as a student. As a result, it is important you take your offense as seriously as possible and contact a DC DUI lawyer as soon as possible to begin building a defense.

Consequences of a DUI on Campus

There can be very serious consequences with respect to someone’s status as a student depending on whether or not the DUI allegation or alleged offense occurred on campus. If it occurred on campus, there could be school board disciplinary proceedings that could result in potential suspension or expulsion from the school. It depends on the specific circumstances of a particular case, but it’s important to remember that there could be adverse consequences in that sense.

Also, some schools will ask periodically if a person is being charged or convicted of a crime and disclosing a charge could potentially have adverse consequences on a person’s student status depending on the school.

Will The University Always Find Out?

When a person is arrested as an adult for a DUI, it is a matter of public record. If a school is doing their own criminal record check on the student, they may very well find it. But, if someone applying to a school has been convicted or criminally charged with a traffic alcohol offense, we always advise that they answer this question truthfully.

Steps To Take After a Student DUI Charge

As an attorney the first thing to do is explain to the student how the process works. It is then important to talk to the parents and explain that even though they may be involved the student is the client and therefore the boss. Whatever the student says remains confidential unless they allow the attorney to disclose the information to anybody else, including the parents.

Despite what some make think, there is no parent-child confidentiality, so we encourage our clients to keep any details and facts to themselves if they don’t want to make their parents a witness to what they said. It is important to explain these confidentiality issues very carefully.

Once this is done the next step is to explain the charging process and discuss the facts of the case. These facts typically involve things about the standardized field sobriety tests, and chemical testing procedures, which are aspects that are typical to any DUI case, not just ones involving somebody under the age of twenty-one.

DUI Hearing Process

There is a disciplinary hearing process at a school if the person is charged. A disciplinary hearing process would engage when a person picks up a charge while they are on the school campus.

Importance of A DUI Attorney

It’s very important to hire an attorney for an underage DUI case because there is a potential for jail time, the consequences are very serious. There are collateral consequences such as the ability or the potential for not being admitted to certain schools, or being suspended or expelled from school. There are potential restrictions or difficulties in obtaining an internship or a job. All of these consequences potentially come from a DUI conviction. So, it’s very important that a young person understands how this could adversely affect their future.

That is one very important reason to hire an attorney, someone who is experienced in handling these types of cases in the District of Columbia.