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-I'm here with top Las Vegas DUI defense lawyer Michael Becker.
And Mike, I want to talk to you today
about people from out-of-state who get a DUI in Nevada.
And, obviously, we have lots of tourists here.
Some of them drive over, sometimes they fly in
and they rent a car.
And unfortunately, sometimes they arrested for DUI.
Now, the first question that people ask a lot
is, do I have to come back?
So let's say, I flew in from New York.
I got a DUI in Nevada.
I'm home now.
Do I have to come back for these court proceedings?
-If it's a misdemeanor charge, which DUI normally is,
you can appear through council.
So if you hire an attorney, you can
avoid the expense of having to fly back to Las Vegas
to come to court.
-So your lawyer can appear for you?
-That's correct.
-And is that true at the DMV hearing as well?
-That's true at the DMV hearing.
You need not attend personally.
As a matter of fact, with the DMV hearing,
you can also appear telephonically.
-OK.
So it's often the case that I never would have to come back?
-Sometimes.
That's the objective, obviously.
If we can get a good result for our clients
that they're satisfied with and that
avoid the additional expense of having to come back
and/or the fear associated with having just to walk
into court to answer the charges, that's often
what occurs when we have clients from out-of-state
is that we resolve their cases without them ever
having to come back to Nevada.
-Now, the other question, another question people
have is, what if I just blow the whole thing off?
So I got released from the Clark County Detention Center,
and I got this citation to go to court in a couple months,
right?
And let's say, I just don't go, and I don't hire a lawyer.
Nobody goes.
What's going to happen?
-If you don't go to court, or if you've missed your court
appearance, the court will issue a warrant for your arrest.
If you have a warrant out for your arrest,
if ever you're pulled over in the state of Nevada--
and it could be in a different area.
For example, if your DUI was in Las Vegas,
and you were driving in northern Nevada,
you could be arrested there, and then held in custody
until they could come and get you from Las Vegas
to bring you back down.
Or if you're in another state, theoretically, that state
could have the option to extradite you, even
for a misdemeanor offense.
Although, most commonly, states will not
extradite for a simple misdemeanor.
More likely, they would extradite for a felony charge.
-It would show up on a background check
though that I had an active warrant?
-It could show up on a background check.
-Or what if I flew?
Let's say, I go to Europe.
And I come back, and I have this DUI warrant out of Nevada--
I mean, are they going to arrest me at the airport and take me?
-I think it's unlikely that you would
get arrested on a misdemeanor warrant at an airport
or going through customs.
But it's certainly something that
could cause you to be delayed.
It could cause you to have to answer some questions.
And it's generally never a good idea
to leave a warrant outstanding, because action could occur
on the warrant at a time when you least expect it.
-Now, let me ask you this.
In terms of a DUI conviction, if I'm from California,
I get convicted of DUI in Nevada,
is that going to go on my record?
I mean, is that a Nevada-specific thing,
or is that like a national thing?
-There is a national database where DMVs share information.
And there's every reason to believe
that if you get a DUI in Nevada that if, for example,
if you live in California, and you have a California driver's
license, the California DMV will learn of it.
And certainly, in the future, if you
were to be picked up for an additional DUI,
and a prosecutor were to run your name
and pull a rap sheet on you, the greatest likelihood
is that they would see a prior conviction out
of the state of Nevada.
-So, I mean, it's basically just as important
for me, as an out-of-state person to fight the DUI
and try to keep it off my record,
as if I was a Nevada resident?
-Yes, I would agree.
Because your driving record is generally stored and shared
as part of a national database and failure
to handle the situation-- at some point in time,
it's going to catch up with you and result
in some harmful consequence, like a suspension
to your driver's license, like a denial of a job when they see
that you have an outstanding warrant.
So it's always better to take care of this business.
-Now, as a DUI defense lawyer, have
you had success in helping out-of-state people who
get a Nevada DUI to fight their case?
-We can often obtain excellent results
for clients that live out of the state
or, sometimes, even out of the country.
We appear in court.
Often we can negotiate a reduction in the charges
to a lesser charge, such as a reckless driving.
When we do that, we can send the paperwork to the client
to execute all necessary documentations, present it
back to the court without them ever having to appear in court,
and sometimes, in fact, we can get
those cases dismissed-- if, after reviewing the police
reports and the allegations, we can show that the state
or prosecutor can't prove the charges against our client.
-So really for someone from out-of-state
who gets a DUI here in Nevada, there's
a double benefit to getting a DUI defense lawyer.
One is that the lawyer can appear for them.
They probably never have to come back to face these proceedings.
And secondly, it may be possible to get those charges reduced
or dismissed so it doesn't go down on their record.
-Absolutely.
I'm DUI defense attorney Michael Becker
with the Las Vegas Defense Group.
If you've been charged with a DUI in Las Vegas or anywhere
throughout the state of Nevada, call us at 702-DEFENSE,
and let's see what we can do to get
your charges reduced or dismissed.