Legal Articles

A DUI conviction can leave a lasting mark. There are penalties in the short term like:

• Jail time
• Fines
• Loss of license

But once your time is served, your fines paid and your license reinstated, your DUI may not go away. In fact, your DUI may turn up years, even decades, later if a potential employer checks your background. A DUI in years past has even kept some politician or appointees from accepting jobs.

However, you may have options to clear your record after a DUI conviction. It can be extremely beneficial to clear your record, especially if your employment depends on a clean driving record.

In order to clear a DUI conviction, you should first request a new trial. If any legal or procedural errors were made during the trial, your DUI lawyer may use them as a basis to seek a new trial. The judge must grant the request for a new DUI trial.

If you are granted a new trial, you start from square one and present your defense all over again for a new jury. If the second jury finds you not guilty of the charges, your original DUI conviction will be cleared from your record.

If the second trial results in a second conviction or the judge refuses to grant a new trial, you may appeal your DUI conviction. Grounds for an appeal may be an error of law at the trial or facts that the jury chose to disregard. Your DUI lawyer will generally need to file briefs with the courts and present an oral argument to the court. You usually will not be required to appear in court during the appeal. If the appeal is successful, your DUI record will be cleared.

Such appeals may be costly because of the extra legal worked required by your DUI lawyer.

Another option may be to have your DUI record expunged. Expungement allows your record to be cleared of DUI charges. However, expungement is not allowed in all states.

If a state allows DUI records to be expunged, there are usually some conditions:

• Waiting period after a conviction
• No further legal problems or arrests
• The DUI typically may not be a felony conviction

You may also need to have completed an alcohol treatment program. For details on whether your state’s DUI [http://www.totaldui.com/state-laws/default.aspx] laws offers expungement, and if it might be an option for you, speak with a local DUI lawyer.

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