Pretrial conference for first time dui?

When you it was contemplated that you might qualify for DUI PTD, the court put your case on hold while the State Attorney's Office made the decision on whether or not to let you in. The court didn't actually refer you into the program. Only the State Attorney's Office can refer you in. Now that your referral into the PTD program has been rejected by the State, your case is sent back to the judge for the normal administration, and you will be set for a Pretrial date and a Trial date. The court likely will not put your case on hold again, and the State rarely reconsiders its decision to reject someone from DUI PTD. You need to get a lawyer ASAP to review your case and go over your options. Being an MBA student, you have a lot more to lose than most people.

I thought i had answered this question yesterday but Jed is absolutely correct. You are going to be a professional and you have a lot to lose compared to the average person. try to see if you can find someone you trust (a lawyer) who can advise you what your options are, contact the prosecutor to see if they will change their mind or look at other ways of trying to help you such as reduction of charges, filing motions attacking the governement's evidence etc. Good luck!

At the bottom of the page is the exact language for the DUI pre-trial diversion in Orange County Florida. If they decided to go forward with your case that is unfortunate. Many counties in Florida do not have diversion programs for DUIs. This does not mean you are guilty but it would be a good time for you to look into an attorney. The state controls the charge and the diversion. The Judge probably read that you waived your right to speedy trial and were requesting a continuance to have your case reviewed for diversion. The State reviewed it and have decided to go forward with prosecuting you for DUI. That means at this point they have decided you don't qualify for a diversion and/or they feel that they can successfully move forward with your case. The state probably spent 5-10 minutes reviewing your case. I say that to let you know that just because they decided to go forward doesn't mean they have an air tight case. If you hire a defense attorney that can point out issues that the state overlooked or suppress evidence then you could still achieve a favorable resolution to your case. • Misdemeanor/DUI charges only. Felony cases are supervised by the Department of Corrections. • No prior sentence or conviction for a similar charge, no prior deferred prosecution program, no prior felony sentence. • Legal residence in the United States. • Approval by the Office of the State Attorney. • For DUls: BAL of .159 or less, no refusals, no crash/accident, no minors in the car, no prior arrests for DUI or similar charge.