California DUI Basics

Dri­ving Under the Influ­ence also referred to as a DUI, is a criminal charge pursuant to Vehi­cle Code Sec­tion 23152(a) and is a mis­de­meanor. To be con­victed of this charge, the Dis­trict Attor­ney must show that you oper­ated a motor vehi­cle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A con­vic­tion for a first DUI can carry a penalty of six months jail, heavy court fines, pro­ba­tion, as well as an order that you par­tic­i­pate in an alco­hol treat­ment pro­gram. In addi­tion to crim­i­nal penal­ties, the Depart­ment of Motor Vehi­cle (DMV) will sus­pend your driver’s license and your car insur­ance will be neg­a­tively impacted. Many indi­vid­u­als charged with a DUI are also charged with vio­lat­ing Vehi­cle Code Sec­tion 23152(b), Dri­ving with Exces­sive BAC. A charge under 23152(b) requires that you have a BAC of .08 or greater and car­ries greater penal­ties than a con­vic­tion under Sec­tion 23152(a).

When you are pulled over for a sus­pected DUI, the police offi­cer takes your driver’s license and you are given a tem­po­rary license which will expire within 30 days auto­mat­i­cally and an Order of Sus­pen­sion of your Driver’s License. Though, you have 10 days from the date the police con­fis­cated your license to request a DMV Admin­is­tra­tive Review of the sus­pen­sion. If you do not make the request for hear­ing within 10 days, your driver’s license will auto­mat­i­cally be sus­pended at the end of the 30 days. This admin­is­tra­tive review hear­ing allows you the oppor­tu­nity to show that the sus­pen­sion was not jus­ti­fied.  The DMV Admin­is­tra­tive Review is inde­pen­dent from any court pro­ceed­ing. You may be rep­re­sented by an attor­ney at the DMV Admin­is­tra­tive Review but you will only have an attor­ney fight­ing for you at this hear­ing if you hire an attor­ney. No attor­ney will be pro­vided for you to defend your case.

An arrest for DUI should be han­dled imme­di­ately by an attor­ney. You do not have time to wait. You have only 10 days from your arrest to request a DMV Admin­is­tra­tive Review of your driver’s license sus­pen­sion. If you fail to make this request, your license will be sus­pended. On top of the DMV process, you also will need a lawyer to fight the court case. Can you imag­ine how your life will change if your driver’s license is sus­pended and you have to go to jail? Let our attor­neys develop a sound legal strat­egy for your DUI case.

Ben­e­fits of Hir­ing Our Law Firm to Defend You for your DUI

1. Rep­re­sent you at the DMV Admin­is­tra­tive Review Hearing

2. Try and Pre­vent your Driver’s License from being Suspended

3. Explain the Court Process to you

4. Work to Min­i­mize the Neg­a­tive Impact that a DUI can have on your Life

5. Enforce all of your Rights in Court includ­ing seek­ing a dis­missal of all charges