Legal Question in DUI Law in Washington

Re: Statute of Limitations

RCW 46.61.50571 requires that a person arrested for DUI �shall be required to appear in person before a judicial officer within one judicial day after the arrest if the defendant is served with a citation or complaint at the time of the arrest.� However, if no citation form was given to you, the state has two years � which is the statute of limitations on DUIs - in which to make you appear for arraignment.

King County is the only court system in the state that I am aware of which uses this kind of charging system where you are arrested for DUI and then the case officially begins much later. I have one client I am now representing who was arrested in Seattle in early June and is still awaiting a citation form to be sent along in the mail. I have heard some people fall through the cracks and after two years, the state cannot prosecute them.

So my question is, did the arresting officer actually hand you a �citation form� at the time you were arrested? Were you mailed one in May 2004 or did you just receive it now in January 2005? This is a yellow carbon copy, handwritten form that would have your name, address, date of the incident, and the charges on it. It would also have a case number printed on the top and right side of the form.

If you did get the citation and were not given a formal date for a first appearance or arraignment, the state had 14 days in which to bring you before the court for one or both of these hearings. This situation, if it occurred in you case, could be grounds for an objection for an untimely arraignment and possibly a motion to dismiss for deprivation of a speedy trial. But again, it all hinges on what the cop gave you at the time of your arrest.

All of the King County law enforcement officers usually know that they are to not give out the citation form. But if that actually happened to you, then you need to retain counsel and have him or her bring up these issues I have identified above.