1. What Happens After You Are Arrested:

 

When you are arrested for any crime, including a DWI, you are not obliged to confess anything to the police or answer any questions. If the police obtain any information from you without giving you a Miranda Warning, such information cannot be used against you.

 

However, once the police cite a Miranda Warning, any information that you voluntarily provide can well be used against you. Many people feel pressured into providing information to the police because they assume it will result in an early release from custody but this is not true. It is important to remember that the police are highly skilled and can use such information against you in criminal proceedings. Please clearly state your right to be represented by an attorney (the police will usually ask you first), and do not answer any questions or provide any information to the police without the presence of an attorney. 

 

If you are arrested in Guam, you will first be taken to a detention center. You must be taken before the judge within forty-eight (48) hours after the arrest, although it is usually done within one day. At that time, the judge will decide whether to release or detain you. If the judge de

ides to release you, you will be notified of the condition of the release, including the bail amount. For simple cases, the amount of bail usually costs between $1,000.00 and $2,000.00. 

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2. Defenses:

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(1) General

 

When you are arrested and criminally charged, numerous defenses can be available to you including the following:

 

- Consent by the Victim

- Self-Defense (for protecting either a person or property from the offender’s acts)

- Infancy (the offender is under-aged)

- Insanity (the offender was not of a sound mind to form a criminal intent)

- Intoxication (the offender was under the influence of alcohol or other substance)

- Entrapment (the police made the offender do the criminal act)

- Mistake of Law (the offender thought the preformed act was legal)

- Mistake of Fact (the offender was mistaken about the fact: e.g. the offender was carrying cocaine thinking that it was milk powder)

- Duress (the offender was threatened or forced by another person to carry out the criminal act)

- Necessity (the criminal act was necessary to prevent more harmful consequences)

- Health and Welfare of Children (the criminal act was necessary to safeguard some interest of a child)

 

 

(2) For DWI

 

There are many defenses available for a DWI, including the following

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- The police officer stopped you without a “probable cause” 

- There was a problem during the DWI test given to you by the police (e.g “the alcohol testing device was malfunctioning”)

- The driving was inevitable despite intoxication (e.g. you had to urgently save someone’s life or someone threatened you into driving, etc.)

- The police did not give you a proper a Miranda Warning