Know what to expect when you head to trail. Here are the seven steps of a DWI / DUI trial explained.

1. Seven Steps of the Trial Process
explained by an El Paso DWI
Attorney
The basic framework of an El Paso DWI case is the pre-trial motions and
trial. The majority of DWI cases will never get to a trial because the person
going to trial for DWI will agree to a plea bargain where they admit guilt in
exchange for being charged with a lesser offense. The DWI case will go to
trial if a plea bargain cannot be reached between the defense and the
prosecutor. Most people understand the trial phase of a case based on their
experiences on watching them on TV. A jury of your peers will listen to all of
the evidence against you and decide to convict you or not based on the
evidence and whether or not they believe you are guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt. If your DWI case goes all the way to the trial there will be a sequence
of seven steps: pre-trial motions, selecting jury members, opening statements,
witness testimony, a cross examination, closing arguments, jury instruction
and lastly jury deliberation and verdict.
Pre-Trial Motions
These motions typically are made by your El Paso DWI attorney demanding
that the judge suppress evidence or prevent the prosecution from doing
something during the trial. Pre-trial motions can also include trying to
prevent the prosecution from using expert witnesses or quite possibly to try to
dismiss your case completely. Some of the possible motions or arguments
that your El Paso DWI attorney could argue are that the police officers may
have questioned you without informing you of your Miranda rights, the
breathalyzer test was not administered correctly or that the arresting officer
may have searched you illegally. If the police conducted them unlawfully or
inappropriately it is during the pre-trial motions that your DWI attorney will

2. use those mistakes against the police to exclude evidence and or witnesses.
Jury Selection
Jury pools are typically assembled from varying lists of local residents. These
lists are pulled from DMV records, utility billing or voting registrations. The
court is aiming to assemble a fair and equitable cross section of local people
when they create the jury pool. Based on this, if 25% percent of the
population is African- American then the goal is for 25% of the jury pool to
be African-American as well. Do not be confused with this percentage as the
Constitution only requires that the jury pool be a fair representation of the
local population not the actual jury that is selected. Once the jury pool is
grouped together all of the potential jurors go before the judge, your El Paso
DWI attorney and the prosecutor to answer questions to determine if they are
fit enough for the trial. The reason this is done is to ensure that the jurors are
not biased towards the defense of the prosecution. If one of the people in the
jury pool has lost a spouse in a DWI accident your El Paso DWI attorney
would move to dismiss them form the jury pool believing they would most
likely biased against you.
Opening Statements
The DWI trial can start immediately after the jury has selected. The attorneys
are allowed to speak to the jurors about your case for the first time during
opening statements.
Witness Testimony and Cross Examinations
This is the part of the trial where both your El Paso DWI attorney and the
prosecution are allowed to call the witnesses to discuss the incident in front
of the jury and the judge. Once a witness is brought into court by either the
defense or the prosecution the opposing sides can cross examine them if they
desire to do so. Cross examination defined is that the attorney for the
prosecution is questioning a defense witness or your DWI attorney is asking
questions of a witness brought by the prosecution.

3. Closing Arguments
This typically happen nearly end of the case when your El Paso DWI
attorney and the prosecuting attorney are allowed to summarize their case
and evidence brought forth attempting to convince the jury that their side of
the case should be victorious.
Jury Instructions
The Judge will give instructions to the jury explaining applicable laws that
they will need to understand in order to review the facts of the case and make
an informed decision. The judge typically will read the DWI statutes to the
jury in plain English to eliminate any confusion from the legal jargon.
Jury Deliberation and Verdict
This is the last portion of the DWI trial where the jury will be excused to
chambers where they can discuss your case without being interrupted by the
judge, the DWI attorney or the prosecuting attorney. Once the jury has made
a final decision, everyone will return to the court room where the jury
foreman will read the verdict out loud in court.
For more information, please visit http://www.dwielpaso.com or call (915)
317-1933 to schedule a free consultation.