DUI Lawyer in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

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DUI Lawyer in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Get a Free Consultation

Give Us Your Problems.
We’ll Give You Solutions.

DUI Lawyers in Mt Pleasant, South Carolina

Our DUI Attorneys Have Over 55 Combined Years of Experience

Get a Free, Confidential DUI Case Review

Getting arrested for DUI in Mount Pleasant can have serious consequences including losing your license and your job. Stephan Futeral and Thomas Nelson have over 55 years of combined experience representing clients in Mount Pleasant for DUI. Get a FREE consultation with one of our top-rated Mount Pleasant DUI defense lawyers today. We’ll cover what you need to know about the process, how we can help you, and how we can keep you on the road and keep the DUI off of your criminal and driving records.

Highly Rated DUI Defense Services

Our law firm is top-rated (AV) by Martindale-Hubbell, Mt. Pleasant DUI lawyer Stephan Futeral is rated 10 (Superb) by AVVO, Mt. Pleasant DUI attorney Thomas Nelson is one of Super Lawyers Rising Stars. He is also a member of the National College of DUI Defense. Stephan and Thomas are both members of the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Criminal Trial Lawyers. Also, clients endorse us with 5 stars ★★★★★ on Google Reviews for cases including:

We Have Affordable Payment Plans

At Futeral & Nelson, we know how financially devastating a DUI can be, so we have flexible payment plans and discounts for law enforcement, military, and firefighters. Call a Mt. Pleasant DUI lawyer from Futeral & Nelson to learn more.

How Our Mt. Pleasant DUI Attorneys Can Defend You

After a person is arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in South Carolina, the court process often takes many months if not longer. If you’re fortunate, the prosecutor may dismiss or “nolle prosse” the DUI charge. Perhaps the prosecutor agrees to let you plead guilty to a lesser charge such as reckless driving. Otherwise, if you don’t plead guilty to the DUI, and the prosecutor doesn’t offer a deal, then your case will be decided in a trial.

Implied Consent Hearings for a Mt. Pleasant DUI

Separate from dealing with the DUI charge, the person may have an immediate license suspension because the person either refused to submit a breath sample or gave a sample of 0.15% blood alcohol content (BAC) or higher. Click here for a more detailed description of the Implied Consent Hearing process in South Carolina and how the initial suspension can be challenged. We know how to handle Implied Consent Hears. In fact, based on our experience, Thomas Nelson wrote a book that was edited by Stephan Futeral and published by the South Carolina Bar Association to educate South Carolina lawyers about Implied consent hearings.

Bench Trial for a DUI in Mt. Pleasant

After your arrest for a DUI, you’ll be scheduled for a bench trial, which means you’ll go before a judge and you’ll either plead guilty or have the judge decide the case. A person accused of a crime, including a DUI, has a constitutional right to a jury trial. We rarely suggest to our clients that they let a judge decide their case. Instead, we prefer to have six jurors make the decision of whether you’re guilty. So, in most cases, it’s best to request a jury trial. After doing so, the initial court date goes away, and the case is put on the court’s jury roster. Click here if you’d like more information about what happens immediately after your arrest for DUI such as license suspension, vehicle impoundment, bond hearings, and so on.

Preparing to Defend Your DUI in Mt. Pleasant

Defending a DUI charge in South Carolina requires preparation that includes a complete investigation of all aspects of the arrest. For example, there is a “Brady Motion” that forces the prosecution to turn over to a DUI defense lawyer all the evidence the prosecution intends to use against you. When we defend DUI’s, we obtain the police report, the in-car video from the police cruiser, and the video from the breathalyzer room. Even if you didn’t submit to a breath test, law enforcement’s words and actions in the breathalyzer room can give us valuable evidence. There are various other pieces of information we like to review, including subpoenaing the dispatch records from the time of the arrest and the officers’ training records.

In cases with BAC readings, we challenge the credentials of the breathalyzer, called the DataMaster (DMT) in South Carolina. We obtain and review all of the machine’s records to uncover whether the DataMaster malfunctioned during the test. Click here to learn some of the ways that a DMT Datamaster test results in South Carolina can be wrong.

In cases involving blood draws, we investigate the circumstances to uncover whether the police followed improper procedures to test your blood. Click here to learn more about blood tests in DUI cases.

In accident cases, we investigate the circumstances the led to the accident because just because an accident occurred, it is not automatically the fault of the person charged with DUI.

In cases where the person was stopped because of a roadblock, we challenge the constitutionality of the roadblock and whether law enforcement lawfully stopped you. There are numerous other scenarios unique to DUI cases, and we will leave no defense “stone” unturned.

The Pending DUI Charge

For most DUI cases, there’s little the client can do while we do our job to defend you except to stay out of trouble. Worrying about the DUI charge has no benefit. After we complete our investigation, we make all of the information and evidence available to you and we’re in a better position to tell you the best defenses to your DUI charge.

Every court has a different procedure. Some courts conduct a “pre-trial” hearing for the purposes of scheduling the trial. At the pre-trial, we have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the prosecutor to negotiate on our client’s behalf. For courts that don’t schedule pre-trials, we call the prosecutor to negotiate. In the meantime, there’s little benefit to rushing your case forward. Sometimes officers or witnesses move away, which means the prosecutor may not be able to prove the case against you. Also, it allows us time to complete our investigation. However, if the charge is having an immediate impact on the client, such as resulting in discipline from an employer or if the client is in the military, we may try to speed the process up. It all depends on the client’s situation and the facts of the case.

Jury Trial for a DUI Charge in Mt. Pleasant

If the prosecutor doesn’t negotiate on the DUI charge, then the case will be set for a jury trial. Our trials usually take one full day. We begin with a combination of motions to dismiss, motions to exclude evidence, and selection of the jury. Sometimes, a favorable ruling on one of our motions will be just enough leverage to convince the prosecutor the offer a better deal. If not, we try the case. We make opening statements to the jury. We cross-examine the police officer and any other witnesses the state calls. We may present our own case, and we help you decide whether you wish to testify. After all of the witnesses have been called, we make closing arguments, the judge instructs the jury on the law, and then the jury deliberates until they reach a verdict.

Selecting a DUI Defense Attorney in Mount Pleasant

The lawyers at Futeral & Nelson have successfully handled many DUI cases in Mount Pleasant. We’ve negotiated many cases with the Town Prosecutor to our client’s satisfaction, but if the prosecution doesn’t offer a deal that is acceptable to our client, then we are more than prepared to take the case to trial. If you’re charged with DUI or DUAC in Mount Pleasant, call the lawyers at Futeral & Nelson for a free consultation and case review.

Get Our Free Book on DUI Defense in South Carolina

Based on over 50 years of their combined experience defending DUI’s in Charleston and elsewhere in South Carolina, Stephan Futeral and Thomas Nelson wrote this free ebook – DUI in South Carolina – Piecing It All Together. In the book, Stephan and Thomas help you understand more about the laws and defense against DUI and to explain your rights in easy-to-understand terms.

In this informative and insightful guide for drivers, you’ll find information covering DUI and Driving with an Unlawful Alcohol Concentration (DUAC) law; your rights before, during, and after arrest; administrative implied consent hearings; license suspension; field sobriety tests; the DMT DataMaster breath test machine; blood tests; penalties & costs for a DUI; preparing for court; how to be an effective witness; and much more. If you are charged with a DUI, then this book is a “must-read.”