Oftentimes, universities have their own internal policies about their students picking up DUIs while they’re attending the school. That means that if a student gets convicted of a DUI offense, the school can take its own actions or impose certain punishments, which might include suspension or expulsion from the school. Even if your DUI happened off campus, ultimately, the school often does find out about these offenses and there can be a negative impact on your status as a student in addition to any criminal penalties you may face. For these reasons, it is important an Alexandria DUI lawyer is contacted as soon as possible so they prepare you for the legal process and build you the strongest defense possible.
The way a university handles a student’s DUI depends on the university, the student and the facts of each case. Every university has its own policy, so to give a blanket policy for every school in America is impossible. If you’re a student or you have a child in college, you should learn about that school’s specific policy. Typically schools will hold some type of hearing process where the student’s offenses will be taken into account. With that said, every school handles hearing processes differently.
Universities use different methods to determine whether somebody has been convicted of DUI, but it’s safe to assume that if you’re arrested on school grounds, the university will know about it. Most schools have their own university police that patrol the grounds, and if they run a criminal check and become aware of your conviction, school administrators can take whatever action they deem appropriate. Your enrollment at the school can be terminated by either party for any reason, so you must be very careful.
In the case of a student who is charged with DUI, a good attorney will always get the circumstances and facts of the case right away, so that they have a good understanding of what the allegations are going to be. This may include asking the student to try to recollect everything and write down a narrative of what happened and finding out any background information such as whether they’ve ever been convicted an offenses before. This may also include more personal information such as what the defendant’s goals are and how they’d like to be employed in the future. By going through these motions an attorney can give them a realistic assessment of what effect this type of case will have on their life.
Based on that conversation, an attorney can then put together a defense strategy and a mitigation package that puts the client in the best possible position in court, whether we ultimately go to trial or work out some type of agreement with the prosecution. With a younger person in particular, an attorney should be concerned with protecting the client’s future the best that they can and painting a picture of a bright future for the judge and the prosecution.