Bucks County criminal courts do not always grant time served for inpatient rehab treatment…

October 14, 2010

A friendly warning…don’t assume you are going to get “time served” for your Bucks County DUI case if you checked yourself into an inpatient rehab facility. If you are charged with DUI in Pennsylvania, there is a chance you can avoid mandatory jail time if you spend time in an inpatient rehabilitation center.

Time served is a term commonly used in criminal court when a judge will apply time that you previously spent in a rehab center or time that you previously spent in jail to your current jail sentence. Pennsylvania law requires criminal judges to consider time spent in an inpatient rehab center as jail time. “Consider” does not mean “grant” time served!

An inpatient rehab program is a type of rehab program where you stay overnight participating in full-time rehabilitation, classes, counseling, and other recovery activities.

We had a recent case where a client was charged with DUI in Bucks County. She was charged as a first time offender, but was not eligible for the Bucks County first offender’s program known as ARD. She was facing a 72-hour minimum stay in the Bucks County prison. At the time of her Bucks County DUI arrest our client had addiction problems. Her family checked her into a 22-day inpatient rehab program. When she successfully completed the DUI rehab program she, among other things, attended 4-5 Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) classes a week.

Because our client had a prior DUI conviction many years ago, the Bucks County Common Pleas Court judge properly considered the inpatient rehab as time served, but denied her time served…just a little lesson on DUI cases in Bucks County. For this reason and many other reasons, hire a local Bucks County DUI attorney for your Bucks County DUI case.

Read more...

  © Blogger template The Professional Template II by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP