Driving Under The Influence

Following an arrest for driving under the influence (DUI) there are two separate and distinct procedures. The first is the court hearing, to determine guilt or innocence of the accused, and the second is the DMV administrative hearing, to suspend the driving privileges of the DUI driver.

Criminal Prosecution
A proper defense in a DUI case includes an analysis of the law, the evidence (blood alcohol test, breath test and field sobriety tests) and the facts to determine whether the defendant's constitutional rights were respected.

An officer can arrest a driver for simply being under the influence of alcohol without any reference to the blood alcohol level at all. The consequences of a DUI conviction are severe. The conviction is on your record for ten years, and a conviction is "priorable" which means an additional offense within ten years has increased penalties (jail, lengthy alcohol programs, loss of license, large fines, etc.)

There is a considerable amount of research that an attorney needs to do to defend against a DUI case and an administrative hearing. For instance, if someone takes a breath test, counsel should check the machine maintenance and calibration records to assure the machine was working properly. The officer's dispatch logs may be requested to determine whether the officer spent the required 15 minutes of observation time prior to taking the breath sample (required by Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations). If someone took a blood test, the attorney should request a "blood split", in order to have the sample sent to an independent lab for testing to confirm the blood alcohol level. Also, if it was only a short time since the last drink was consumed (usually within 30 minutes of the traffic stop or accident), then some of the recently consumed alcohol may still have been in the stomach and not yet digested, which means the blood alcohol sample obtained by law enforcement may actually be higher than it was at the time of driving. This is called a "Rising Blood Alcohol Defense" and is very persuasive in a low blood alcohol level cases. There are many other defenses that may apply to your case.

We are happy to discuss your case with you. Please contact us. DUI penalties are severe. Don't simply plead guilty without seeing what an experienced lawyer can do for you. The initial consultation is free and our fees are reasonable.