I Have Been Arrested For A DUI! What Do I Do Now? :

Being arrested for a DUI can be an extremely confusing situation. It is important to understand that, after an arrest, you have two completely separate departments of the government to deal with, to wit: (1) the Criminal Court as to all aspects of the criminal case which is about to be brought against you and (2) the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as to the suspension of your driver’s license. Having represented thousands of people arrested for a DUI, we understand how you are presently feeling and what you need to do immediately. In most cases, a person who has been arrested for a DUI has suffered the indignity of being taken to jail, being “booked” including photographs and fingerprints, and has had to stay in jail at least four to six hours before being released. Although this situation may initially appear to be hopeless, it is extremely important for you to gain as much knowledge as you can about your present situation and to contact a lawyer who is a DUI expert. This will put you in the position of being able to acquire the most successful resolution of both your criminal and DMV cases. Generally, these cases are very technical and involve a wide variety of legal issues, encompassing not only the legal field, but also toxicology, pharmacology, etc. There are many things that can be done by you and your attorney to minimize, mitigate or outright eliminate a criminal conviction and/or a suspension of your license.

Criminal Case - What's Going On? :

At the present time, there are a number of processes that are happening without your involvement. The police officer who arrested you is completing the arrest/investigation report and submitting it to a supervisor for review and approval. Soon thereafter, the report will be taken to the District Attorney’s Office. The District Attorney assigned to incoming cases will review the police officer’s report to determine (1) whether the charges should be filed as suggested by the police officer, (2) whether certain charges should be added or deleted and, (3) whether or not certain charges will be filed as misdemeanors or felonies. Regardless of what is charged by the District Attorney, we may ultimately be able to negotiate your case from different points of view, including reducing felonies to misdemeanors, dismissal of various charges, etc.

At the present time, there are a number of processes that are happening without your involvement. The police officer who arrested you is completing the arrest/investigation report and submitting it to a supervisor for review and approval. Soon thereafter, the report will be taken to the District Attorney’s Office. The District Attorney assigned to incoming cases will review the police officer’s report to determine (1) whether the charges should be filed as suggested by the police officer, (2) whether certain charges should be added or deleted and, (3) whether or not certain charges will be filed as misdemeanors or felonies. Regardless of what is charged by the District Attorney, we may ultimately be able to negotiate your case from different points of view, including reducing felonies to misdemeanors, dismissal of various charges, etc.

FIRST APPEARANCE IN CRIMINAL COURT - ARRAIGNMENT. Shortly after you were arrested, you were either released on your own behalf (commonly referred to as being “released on your own recognizance”) or bail was set by the arresting officer. Bail at this level is set according to a predetermined schedule. If you were not able to arrange your release initially, you were probably brought to court within four days of the arrest date. At that particular court date, either arrangements were made for your release or a new date was probably set for bail review. As a result of the above, a court date eventually has been set for your arraignment.

The arraignment is generally the first required appearance in criminal court. The date for the arraignment is usually given to you by either jail personnel or a bondsman when you were released from jail. One of the most common mistakes made by those who do not have an attorney is their failure to accomplish a number of tasks prior to the arraignment. It is foolhardy to wait for the date of the arraignment to begin working on your case. A great deal can be accomplished by both you and your attorney prior to the arraignment date which can be extremely helpful in the defense of your case. Foremost of these tasks is having your attorney make contact immediately with DMV to satisfy the 10 Day Rule (discussed in the DMV section of this information). If all of the charges are misdemeanors (no felonies included whatsoever), the attorney may appear in court for you eliminating the necessity of your having to leave work or your family to go to court. At this hearing, the court is informed by your attorney that you are represented by a lawyer. Secondly, other decisions are made such as the issuance of time waivers, setting of future court dates, etc. The attorney will get the arrest/investigation report and the criminal complaint which states all of the charges that have been brought against you. The attorney will then begin the process of comparing factual recollections, acquiring further discovery, formulating strategy, ordering retests of alcohol samples, researching and drafting Motions to Suppress, Motions to Dismiss, etc., and negotiating with the District Attorney’s office, etc.

Can They Really Take My License? :

If this is your first DUI in Court and DMV (at least in the last ten years), then, in most cases, regardless of what happens in court, the DMV will attempt to suspend your license for four months as soon as your pink 30-day temporary license expires (see below). We can convert most of this suspension into a restricted non-commercial license so you can drive to, from, and during your employment. The suspension increases to one year if you refused to take a blood or breath test, or if you were under 21 years old at the time of the arrest. If you were a commercial license holder, then you will lose your commercial privileges for one year.

In addition, a criminal court conviction will result in a separate suspension for six months. This separate suspension increases to ten months if (1) your blood alcohol concentration was at or above .20%, or (2) you refused to take a blood or breath test. The DMV and court suspensions run together, and the court suspension is avoidable if you have the information to properly accomplish the required tasks. The court suspension increases to one year if there were injuries caused by the DUI driving.

All court and DMV suspensions can be challenged. Contact your attorney as soon as possible so that he/she can begin the necessary process to restore your license and to eliminate or reduce the suspensions to the least amount of time possible.

If you have one or more prior suspensions for a DUI or alcohol-related “Wet” reckless driving in the last ten years, then the DMV will attempt to suspend your license for one year with no possibility of a hardship exception. That suspension increases to two years if you have one prior and refused to take a blood or breath test during this latest arrest, or three years if you have two priors and refused the tests. In addition a court conviction results in a two-year suspension if you have one prior, a three-year revocation if you have two priors, and a four-year revocation if you have three priors. The period of revocation is even greater if there were injuries caused by the DUI driving. If you have a commercial license then your commercial privileges would be revoked for life after your second DUI. These suspensions can and should be vigorously analyzed and litigated at a DMV hearing, if possible. Your attorney can show you how to cut most court suspensions in half and get a work license at the earliest opportunity.

DMV – Beware Of The 10-Day Rule :

During your arrest, the police officer is supposed to take your California picture license (they are not allowed to take an out-of state license) and hand you a pink 8-1/2" x 11" temporary license from DMV which is entitled:

Assuming you were validly licensed at the time of arrest, then this license is a 30-day temporary license with full driving privileges. Once you hire an attorney, the very first thing he/she should do is contact DMV to schedule a hearing in order to preserve your opportunity to challenge the DMV suspensions outlined above. The actual contacting of DMV must occur within the first ten days following your receipt of the temporary license. In some cases, we will be able to get a hearing by contacting DMV even after the ten-day period.

The DMV may not be able to give you an in-person hearing within the 30-day period following your arrest. By acting promptly, we are able to extend the thirty-day license for as long as it is necessary to acquire and litigate a DMV hearing designed to fight the taking of your license. This explanation is not clearly set forth in your temporary license although it is referred to under “HEARING INFORMATION” on the front of your temporary license.

Important Issues To Look For In your Case :

• Did the police officer actually see you driving? Did you consume alcohol after driving, but before the officer contacted you? Did the police officer have a good or valid reason to stop your car or make contact with you?
• Did the police officer tell you why he/she was stopping you? Do you agree with his/her reasons?
• When the police officer attempted to stop you i.e. using flashing lights, etc., did you respond immediately? Did you respond in a manner that is consistent with someone who is driving in a sober condition? Did you pull off the road in a safe manner, i.e. not striking any objects, no erratic movements, etc.?
• Did the police officer tell you or ask you to do field sobriety tests (FST's)? Did the police officer tell you that there is absolutely no legal requirement whatsoever for you to do field sobriety tests (with the exception of the PAS - Portable Alcohol Test for those under twenty-one). Did he tell you that you could refuse to take these tests? Did he/she tell you that if you did not perform these tests satisfactorily, he/she could later testify against you in a court or DMV hearing? Did the police officer tell you that if you refused to take any field sobriety tests that he/she may not have enough information to arrest you and may have to let you go on your way? Did he/she fully explain and demonstrate each test?
• Did you pass your FST’s, e.g., recite the alphabet, walk the line, stand on one foot, finger count, finger to nose, hand slap, follow the pen with your eyes?
• Did the police officer give you your Miranda Rights, e.g., ”You have the right to remain silent. You have a right to speak to an attorney before answering any questions” once you were in custody?
• Did you take a portable alcohol test (commonly referred to as a P.A.S. test)? Did the police officer tell you that, unless you were under 21 years of age, you are under no legal requirement whatsoever to take a P.A.S. test? Did the police officer tell you that if the P.A.S. test was .08% or more that he/she could use that test against you in court and at a DMV hearing?
• How much time occurred between (1) when you initially were pulled over by the police officer and (2) when you actually took a breath, blood or urine test at a police station/hospital? Did your alcohol level increase from the time of the driving to the time of the test?
• If you took a breath test, did the police officer constantly observe you for 15 minutes immediately preceding the actual test (to insure that there was no burping, coughing etc.)? After taking the breath test, were you told that you also had a right to take a confirming blood test (because the breath test does not save a sample for later testing by your attorney)?

What can an expert DUI lawyer do for me? :

Unfortunately, sometimes a person who has been arrested for a DUI receives well intentioned but bad advice from friends and family. The advice generally goes something like this: “why get a lawyer, you know you must be guilty since you were arrested”, “my friend got a lawyer and he didn’t do much for her”, etc. It is crucial to get an expert DUI lawyer to handle your criminal and DMV case even though you may have been legally “drinking and driving”. In most cases, we can get all or some of the charges dismissed or reduced, acquire a reduction in various aspects of the final sentence and/ or often reduce or mitigate the length of the suspension of a driver’s license.

Whenever you are dealing with a charge which is more than an infraction (i.e. a speeding ticket, running a stop sign, etc.) there are severe consequences. A DUI is a criminal case -not a traffic case. If you are poor or unemployed you should seek the services of the public defender’s office. Even if you are represented by the public defender, you may still want to hire a private lawyer to handle your DMV matter (which cannot be handled by the public defender). Only an expert DUI lawyer is equipped to handle the variety of issues that are involved in the defense of a DUI case. These include proof problems involving establishing the driver’s identity, elimination of drinking subsequent to driving, search and seizure issues i.e., probable cause, articulable suspicion, etc.; pharmacology/chemistry defenses such as rising blood alcohol concentrations, retrograde extrapolation, chemical test errors and retesting of blood/urine samples.

An experienced DUI attorney can provide as successful and complete a defense as is possible under the circumstances of each case. Most defenses apply to both the criminal case and DMV and include some or all of the following work by a DUI expert:

• Handling all aspects of your case with the District Attorney, Judges and DMV Hearing Officers;
• Appear in court for you to eliminate interference with your job and normal daily routine;
• Use state of the art computer software to analyze your blood alcohol concentration during every 10 minute period of the evening in question. Remember! It is not your blood alcohol level at the time of the test which is most important but rather your earlier blood alcohol level at the time of driving;
• Utilize private forensic laboratories to retest blood samples to uncover errors in blood alcohol concentration tests, insufficient preservative or anti-coagulant levels, etc. ;
• Provide expert analysis of all aspects of your case;
• Consult and/or retain leading experts, to assist in your case, if necessary, e.g., toxicologists, pharmacologists, accident reconstruction experts;
• Reduce the status of the charges i.e. felony reduced to misdemeanor, misdemeanor reduced to infraction;
• Acquire a reduction or dismissal of one or more of the charges against you;
• Formulate a plan to have you directly involved in your case, in a manner which will be helpful in generating the best possible resolution;
• Negotiate a sentence which can include no time spent in jail whatsoever; preclude a jail sentence from interfering with your job/employment; acquiring alternatives to jail sentences such as work release, work furlough, or electronic home confinement; reduce fines and other costs that are assessed by the court and acquire long payment schedules to minimize the amount paid monthly.