A Plea in Abeyance (or PIA) is an agreement between the defendant and the prosecutor in a criminal case. It involves the defendant and prosecutor agreeing to specific terms that the defendant will complete in order to prevent the charges from going on their criminal record.

Once, the defendant and prosecutor have come up with an agreement, the judge holds the agreement in place until all the agreed upon terms are completed.

Typical PIA terms may include:

A Plea in Abeyance’s terms is usually a combination of the two or three terms listed above. However, it is rarely just one of the terms.

The pleas for any given charge will also vary person-to-person and county-to-county. An  PIA agreement for  someone in one county may differ from the agreement given to someone in another county. However, many PIAs are held for at least 6 to 12 months.

Is a PIA a conviction?

No. A PIA does not go on your record like a flat-out guilty plea does. It allows the judge to dismiss your charges once you’ve completed your end of the agreement.

Getting a Plea in Abeyance is similar to getting a speeding ticket and then going to traffic school in order to keep the ticket from going on your driving record.

Can I expunge a PIA?

Yes. Read our information about expungements here.

Click here, to read the official definition of a Plea in Abeyance in Utah.

This kind of plea deal is one of the most ideal outcomes other than a case dismissal. Hiring an attorney is the best way to go if you want to get a deal like a Plea in Abeyance.

Call us today (801) 990-4200

During transport Bieber asked why he was arrested. The officer stated that he believed Bieber was driving impaired. After arriving at the police station Bieber submitted to field sobriety tests and a breath test. The unofficial report of the BAC was .04.

Justin Bieber is only 19 years old. In Utah, a person who is under the age of 21 is prohibited from driving with any alcohol in their body. If the minor’s BAC is below the DUI limit of .08 then the minor will be charged with Alcohol Restricted Driver (ARD). This will trigger a 1 year driver license suspension and a $1600 fine. Additionally judges usually require the minor to participate in alcohol treatment.

If this case were handled in Utah the government would encounter a few problems. The police arrested Bieber and transported him to the station before having him perform the field sobriety tests. The Worwood case states that an officer doesn’t have probable cause to arrest based only on bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and smell of alcohol. If those characteristics had been combined with failed field sobriety tests, then there probably would have been probable cause. However, the police officers in Worwood transported the suspect, which is a de facto arrest, to do the field sobriety tests, just like the officers did in Bieber’s case. So, without some other source of probable cause, the field sobriety tests, and the breath test may be thrown out. Perhaps his DUI Lawyer will be fortunate enough to find a case like that.

On-duty police officers reported that Gilhuly became belligerent as they transported him to the police station. He turned on his own and began swearing at his comrades. After he kicked out the back passenger window of the patrol car he was restrained in a “special suit.” No word on what that special suit is. Gilhuly refused to take the breath test.

Unfortunately this officer’s “training and experience” did not oblige him to submit to a breathalyzer. Also, unfortunately for him, most states, including Utah, have an implied consent law that requires a person suspected of DUI to submit to a chemical test. Refusal to submit to the test usually results in an 18 month suspension of your driving privileges. The news story did not reveal whether the police obtained a warrant to seize his blood. However, it would not surprise me if they did not get a warrant and do not have a BAC.

Most DUI Lawyers would tell you that it is probably a bad idea to refuse the intoxilyzer breath test. Most of the time the police will get a warrant to seize your blood. Also, if you refuse your license will most likely be suspended for 18 months. So you end up with an 18-month driver license suspension and the police end up with a BAC even though you refused. If you go ahead and submit to the breathalyzer, you may end up with a 120 day suspension for a first offense and the police will have the BAC.

If you have been charged with a DUI in Utah call a Salt Lake City DUI Lawyer for a free consultation. Quick action can be the difference between keeping or losing your license. Every DUI arrest is different and a criminal defense attorney can advise you about the best action to take.

This post will cover how the result of your case in court will affect your license. The previous post discussed the possible driver’s license consequences from the Driver License Division (DLD).

What if DLD already suspended my license?

If you are convicted of DUI in court the court will send notice of that conviction to DLD. When the DLD receives notice it will suspend your license for 120 days for a first offense. However, if your license was already suspended by the DLD before you went to court, your suspension will be reduced by the amount of the suspension that you have already served. In other words, if the DLD suspends your license for 120 days on a first offense, then a conviction for DUI is not going to extend that time. You will still have only a 120-day suspension.

Often in DUI cases a DUI attorney can negotiate a reduction of your DUI charge to a charge called Impaired Driving. If the DLD suspended your license for 120 days for a first offense, then pleading guilty to Impaired Driving will actually reduce your suspension to 60 days.

What if the DLD didn’t suspend my license?

In some cases the DLD will not suspend your license at the administrative hearing. If you are then convicted of a first DUI, the court will send notice of your conviction to the DLD and the DLD will suspend your license for 120 days based on your conviction.

If your attorney was able to negotiate a plea to a reduced charge of Impaired Driving, the court will send notice of this to the DLD and the DLD will not suspend your license as long as you meet one condition: You must not have committed an additional violation of the law resulting in a conviction of Impaired Driving or Reckless Driving within the past 12 months.

Contact a Utah DUI Attorney

Most cases are very complicated and almost never as simple as this post may make it seem. If you have questions about your driver license, you should contact a Utah DUI Attorney to ask questions about your case. Call Intermountain Legal at 801-990-4200 for a free consultation or contact us online here.

Over the past few months, Utah lawmakers have been urged to institute law lowering the DUI limit to .05. Earlier this year the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that all 50 states set the Blood Alcohol Limit for DUI at .05. The chairman of the board asserted that research showed that a driver with a BAC “above .05 are at a significantly greater risk of being involved in a crash where someone is killed or injured.”

More recently, Matt Schauerhamer, a career law enforcement officer, wrote an opinion article in the Deseret News opposing a lower BAC limit for DUIs. Schauerhamer has made more DUI arrests than he cares to remember. His experience is that the majority of DUI arrests made are of people with BAC of .10 or higher. He also contends that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) field sobriety tests are standardized for BAC levels of .08 and .10. This means that when a suspect is performing the field sobriety tests, the suspect will display clues that the officer can observe if the subject is over .08. The tests are not designed to detect whether a person is over .05. This is a problem because the law requires police officers to have probable cause to arrest someone for DUI. Lowering the DUI limit to .05 would cause difficulty for an officer to establish probable cause when the suspect is able to pass all of the Field Sobriety Tests because their BAC is under .08.

Schauerhamer suggests that the legislature leave the level as it is or prohibit a person from driving with any alcohol in their body. Schauerhamer is not alone in urging the legislature to leave the limit as is. Candace Lightner, the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), believes that lowering the DUI limit to .05 would be a “waste of time”. She believes that we should focus on more significant highway safety issues such as high-BAC driving, drugged driving, and distracted driving.

Contact a Utah DUI Lawyer

If you are facing DUI charges in Utah contact our DUI Attorney by calling 801-880-4200 or to email our attorney click here. A good Utah DUI Lawyer will consider all the evidence such as the Field Sobriety Tests to determine whether the officer had probable cause to arrest you.