Motion Hearings in Darien DUI Cases

As defined by law, a motion hearing is not in the presence of a jury. It is where a judge hears either the defense or prosecution’s motion and makes a decision on it. Typically once a motion is filed, the court will set a hearing date.

The other side will have the opportunity to respond in writing if they want or they can respond orally at the motion hearing. For more information on what motions to file during your case, contact a distinguished DUI attorney.

Defining a Motion to Suppress Evidence

There might be motion hearings in Darien DUI cases to preserve evidence or the motion to suppress it. Those are probably the two most common two ones that might come up.

That would be alleging that the defendant’s constitutional rights were violated, so that any evidence deemed under that search, seizure, or statement should be suppressed and not usable in the trial.

Filing a Motion to Compel Discovery

Motion hearings in Darien DUI cases include discovery in a criminal case. In those cases, they are usually looking for anything exculpatory and relevant to the case, like pictures, recordings, documents, and statements of witnesses, so the defense attorney can file a request for discovery.

The State of Connecticut has to produce anything that is in their possession or in the possession of other state entities. If they do not, the court will usually order them to produce anything in their possession.

In DUI cases, filing a motion to compel discovery occur with statements of witnesses and recordings. This is especially likely in the booking area of the person performing the field sobriety test in cases where they are arguing that the person was not intoxicated.

Additional DUI Motions

Motion hearings in Darien DUI cases can include what is called a motion in limine. This motion excludes certain evidence from a trial that they was being requested. A lot of defense attorneys try to attack the field sobriety tests, especially if they were not done properly to try to get them to be excluded from the trial. That is the motion that usually comes up at the time of trial and not in a pre-trial motion.