Resources - DUI Glossary

DUI Glossary:
Please see our glossary of DUI-related terms below.

(1) Alcohol Gaze Nystagmus: This is a jerking of the eye that is caused by ...

(2) Arraignment: This is usually the next date the court is open after your arrest. You will be formally told what charges you are facing and the court will enter ...

(3) Burn off: This is where it is determined how fast the body can eliminate alcohol from the system through the organs of our body. This varies from person to person depending on ...

(4) Disposition: This term refers to what happens if you plead guilty or are found guilty. It can include ...

(5) Driving Under the Influence (DUI): This is in reference to the state of a driver after consuming too much alcohol or drugs when they are ...

(6) Driving While Intoxicated (DWI): This is often used in drunk driving cases and is used in terms of the state of the driver operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. This can also be used in the case of ...

(7) Driving: This is the operation of a vehicle where you are in control. Law enforcement officers do not need to see you behind the wheel in order to lay charges ...

(8) Drunk Driving: This is when an operator of a vehicle has consumed enough alcohol to inhibit him from driving in a safe manner. This also relates to whatever limit a state has determined to be of legal limits ...

(9) DUBAL: Finally, two other acronyms crop up in cases occasionally. DUBAL or UBAL is a type of DUI / DWI that signifies driving with an unlawful blood alcohol level. This applies only to cases in which the person arrested has given a blood, breath or urine sample. Officers or court cases (or your attorney) may call this "per se" DUI or "per se" DWI. In short, this means ...

(10) DUI: This generally is interpreted as an abbreviation for driving under the influence. By far, the most common impairing substance is ALCOHOL. However, many states also prohibit ...

(11) DWI: The next most common acronym is DWI. Depending on the state practice, this can be interpreted as an abbreviation for driving while intoxicated or driving while impaired. Like DUI, many states proscribe impaired (or "intoxicated") driving as ...

(12) Enhancements: These are factors that can influence the punishment of a drunk driving case. They may include such things as ...

(13) Field Sobriety Test: This is a test that is given on the roadside when people are stopped and suspected of drunk driving. This test determines ...

(14) Impairment or Intoxication: Terms used by states to describe driving while intoxicated or driving while impaired ...

(15) Jerk Nystagmus: This happens when your eye can follow a point of focus and drifts slowly away from it but quickly adjusts itself with a ...

(16) Motion Hearing: There are two different kinds of motions (a request for the court to do something), motions to get the prosecutor to ...

(17) Not Guilty: This is a term used in court to state your innocence of the charges laid against you ...

(18) Open Container: The offense of having an open container inside your passenger compartment.

(19) OUI: The next most common acronym for drunk driving is OUI. This stands for operating under the influence. The word "operating" is actually more encompassing (and more accurate) than "driving" because ...

(20) OWI: Another acronym for drunk driving is OWI, or operating while intoxicated. Similar to OUI ...

(21) Per se Laws: These are laws that make it illegal to drive a vehicle under the influence of either alcohol or drugs at a certain level. This law is based only on the body's chemistry ...

(22) Pre-trial Conference or Pre-trial Hearing: This is when a pre-trial conference report is filled out by your lawyer and the prosecutor. This report sets out what information and evidence is ...

(23) Rising Alcohol Defense: This defense is based on the changes of alcohol in the system and how the levels change over time such as from the time you drink alcohol then when it peaks in your system and when the body starts to eliminate it. This can make a difference ...

(24) Trial: A trial is the determination of a person's guilt or innocence by due process of law. In many states DUI defendants are permitted a trial by jury. However, the Nevada Surpreme Court in Blanton v. City of North Las Vegas held that "there is no Sixth Amendment right to a trial by jury for persons charged under Nevada law with DUI.", based primarily on the interpretation that ...

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