You have been apprehended for drinking and driving. You are likely to feel overwhelmed and confused, and the question that is now in your mind is, “what should I do next?”. How do you avoid a conviction if charges are filed? Will you automatically lose your driver’s license? If you or someone you know has been arrested for driving under the influence, familiarizing yourself with what is required of you can help relieve the uncertainty associated with this complex process.
1. Submit to Chemical Testing
After the police have conducted their investigations and found probable cause to make an apprehension, you will be moved to the nearest police station, hospital, or jail. Here, you will undertake a blood, urine, or breath test to determine your blood alcohol weight. A breath test results will be obtained right away, while a blood sample must be sent to a laboratory for analysis, which takes days.
If the test results indicate your BAC is .08% or more, you will face additional VC 23152(b) violation charges.
Take note that although taking a chemical test is voluntary, you will face harsher penalties if you refuse to submit a test. The reason for the increased penalties is because you face two separate charges for DUI and a refusal charge. A conviction for a refusal charge results in a mandatory 48 hours in county jail and a license suspension for no more than twelve months. These penalties are awarded on top of the DUI conviction charges.
After you have submitted a sample for testing, you might be released based on your criminal record and the facts surrounding your case. Still, police officers often prefer holding people for hours or even overnight to ensure they are sober before being released. Before release, you will be notified that your driver’s license will be automatically suspended after 30 days if you don’t request a DMV hearing.
Your state-issued driver’s licenses will be confiscated, and you will be issued with a pink form that will act as your temporary licenses until the DMV hearing is over. The arresting officer will also give a citation requiring you to appear in court at a future date.
The law enforcement officers will then compile a DUI arrest file that contains all the information about your arrest, including the evidence gathered during the investigations. Once the file is ready, the officers submit it to the prosecutor, who evaluates it and decides whether to file charges or return the file to law enforcement for further investigations.
2. Contact a California DUI Attorney
The most important step after a DUI arrest is seeking an attorney who extensively understands DUI cases. This phase of hiring an attorney can be intimidating and confusing, especially if it’s your first offense. When hiring an attorney, the rule of the thumb is never to pick a general attorney for your DUI case. California DUI laws are very complex and require an in-depth understanding of the legal process in detail. While a general attorney can efficiently represent you in court, they might not understand DUI cases’ legal strategies to obtain a favorable outcome.
You have the option to pick a public defender for your case, represent yourself, or hire a private DUI attorney. It’s recommended not to self-represent in these cases, although hiring an attorney might seem costly considering the penalties at stake. However, self-representation without knowledge of the California DUI laws and court process increases the chances of an unfavorable outcome which would result in a criminal record. Therefore, if you can afford private counsel, hire one, but you can request the court for a public defender if you cannot afford to pay for their services.
Not everybody is eligible for a public defender. You must provide proof to show you are unable to afford a private attorney, and after the court is convinced, that is when they can appoint a public defender for your case. The advantage of having a public defender represent you in court is these individuals are always in court fighting DUI charges day in day out, giving them the knowledge and skills you need to avoid a sentence.
Unfortunately, these legal experts represent multiple defendants simultaneously, making them less dedicated to your case. They have limited time to devise solid defense strategies, and worst of all, the court appoints an attorney for you, meaning you don’t have the opportunity to work with the public defender of your choice.
When hiring private counsel, you must understand that not all DUI attorneys out there are equal. Take your time and explore the available option to pick an attorney worth your time and money. You need an attorney who will thoroughly investigate the facts of your case, negotiate with the prosecutor and fight the charges in court to avoid a conviction or reduce the consequences of a sentence.
A profound and experienced attorney will do the following:
- Examine the legality of the initial traffic stop
- Evaluate field sobriety tests to know if they were administered properly
- Find out if the arresting officer read the Miranda warning
- Find out if a confession was legal
- Examine if the breath tests were performed as per the guidelines
A legal expert with DUI experience utilizes the records and videos to subpoena, investigate police misconduct in the case, and find weaknesses in the prosecutor’s evidence.
3. Find a Bail Bondsman
As mentioned earlier, some individuals are released after booking without requiring them to post bail. However, based on the DUI offender’s criminal records and severity of the offense, you might be required to post bail to secure pretrial release. The law requires that you are presented in court within 24 hours after arrest if it’s not a holiday or weekend for a mention of your case and bail hearing.
If the judge grants a release on bail and can’t raise the bail amount, you should contact a bondsman. These professionals will require a fee upfront to post bail on your behalf and guarantee that you will appear in court at a future date. Failure to appear in court makes it the bond agent’s responsibility to look for you and ensure you show up at your hearing.
4. Request For a California Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) Hearing
Time is of great essence when it comes to DUI cases because after your license has been confiscated, it is sent to the DMV, where you have only ten days, holidays, and weekends included, to request a hearing. Failure to do so within the provided timeline will see your driving privileges automatically suspended within 30 days after your temporary license expires. You have the option to appear in the hearing over the phone or in person, based on your situation.
You are encouraged to hire an attorney earliest possible to request the hearing before the ten days lapse. By asking for a DMV hearing, you put on hold the license suspension until the case is heard and determined. A win in your DMV hearing means you retain your license until the DUI court case is completed. Even if you win the DMV hearing but lose the court case, the DMV will still suspend your license.
You will be asked if your apprehension was lawful in the DMV hearing, whether your BAC level your .08% or more and whether the arresting officer had probable cause for the drunk or drugged driving arrest.
Although the hearing is separate from the court process, you can still have your attorney represent you in the hearing to increase the chances of a positive outcome at the end of the hearing. However, if you opt to defend yourself in the DUI court case, you must do the same in the DMV hearing. Furthermore, public defenders are not allowed to represent defendants in DMV hearings.
If you lose the hearing, you will face a driving privilege suspension for three to thirty-six months depending on the number of prior DUIs in the last ten years and whether or not you submitted to chemical testing.
With the help of your private attorney, you can increase the chances of a positive outcome in the DMV hearing. An attorney will expose police misconduct during DUI investigations and find weaknesses in the prosecutor’s discovery, which is instrumental in winning the hearing. Additionally, your private counsel will cross-examine witnesses and gather ample information that can be used in your DUI court case.
Note that beginning 2019, DUI arrestees can now immediately apply for a restricted license if they install an ignition interlock device. The restricted license allows you to drive without any restrictions. You must complete several steps to be issued with a restricted license. These steps include:
- Serve at least 30 days of license suspension
- Enroll in a DUI school
- Pay a fee of one hundred and twenty-five dollars ($125) to any local DMV field office.
- Obtain an SR-22 form from a licensed insurance agent
The purpose of the SR-22 Form is to demonstrate to the DMV that you are adequately insured.
Remember that not everyone is eligible for a restricted license. If you were driving on a suspended or revoked license when you were stopped for the DUI or refused to submit to chemical testing, you could not be issued with an IID restricted license.
As mentioned earlier, after an arrest, the arresting officer confiscates your license, and the DMV might suspend your license. For a first-time offender, the suspension may last for no more than four months or up to twelve months for a second or subsequent DUI.
Remember, you can challenge the suspension by reaching out to a Driver’s Safety Office located in your county and requesting a stay and DMV hearing.
5. Prepare for Your DUI Arraignment
After the DMV hearing, the court process for your DUI case begins. The persons present in the court process include your DUI attorney, the prosecutor, the judge, and the jury. The process starts with an arraignment where you obtain the opportunity to appear before a judge. At this stage, you are required to plead guilty, not guilty, or no contest for the charges against you. The prosecuting team also acquires an opportunity to offer you a plea deal in exchange for pleading guilty to the DUI charges.
You are encouraged not to plead guilty by all means. Instead, you should have an experienced attorney by your corner to help you fight the charges. If there is an offer on the table, the attorney examines it thoroughly to determine whether it’s favorable or not.
When you choose to plead not guilty, your legal counsel must be prepared to thoroughly examine the case’s facts and find weaknesses in the evidence presented by the prosecution to avoid a conviction. The primary evidence in DUI cases is the police report and chemical test results, meaning your attorney should request a copy of this report and maintenance records of the chemical test devices. A thorough evaluation of these records helps the attorney develop good defenses to contest the charges.
6. Identify Legal Defenses that Apply in Your Case
Several legal defenses can be mounted to contest DUI charges. You could argue that faulty testing equipment led to falsely high BAC test results, inaccurate scientific calculations, or police misconduct.
7. Prepare for DUI Pretrial Motions and Plea Bargaining
A prosecutor will want you to believe that the best deals or offers are made in the arraignment stage as an early incentive for accepting the responsibility of your actions, but this is untrue. Remember, you acquire the opportunity to examine the evidence against you after arraignment. Once you know the prosecutor’s evidence against you, its strengths and weaknesses, that is the best time for you to start bargaining.
You and your defense attorney should work together to investigate the facts of the case. You can visit the arrest scene together if possible and request to see maintenance records of the equipment used to conduct the chemical tests. This is the stage where your attorney’s experience and negotiation skills come in handy. They will need to dedicate considerable time to investigate all the case details and find evidence in your favor that could be used to convince the judge or prosecutor to drop or reduce the charges and negotiate a plea deal.
The more evidence you collect in your favor, the higher the prosecutor’s chances or judge will reduce or dismiss the DUI charges. You can do this by running a pretrial motion that affects witness testimonies, courtroom, trial, evidence, and defendants.
One of these pretrial motions is the probable cause hearing, where you question the validity of the initial traffic stop and investigation by the arresting officer. The other motion is the Pitchess hearing which allows you to learn more about an officer’s complaint history to discredit their report or testimony, thus weakening the case. You could also run a DUI motion to suppress to request the court to remove evidence obtained illegally from the case or one that will unjustly prejudice you.
After your attorney has collected all the relevant evidence, consulted expert witnesses, and ran pretrial motions, the next step is to enter into plea bargaining. You already have the information you need to have the upper hand in negotiation, so it’s time to sit at the negotiation table.
During plea bargaining, the prosecutor will highlight the flaws in the prosecution’s evidence, forcing them to feel less confident and afraid of proceeding to trial, where they are likely to walk free. Because of this, they might be forced to lower the DUI charges and charge you with wet reckless or dry reckless. Sometimes they might even be forced to drop the charges entirely.
It’s worth noting that if your attorney doesn’t obtain a favorable resolution during plea bargaining and negotiations, the case will proceed to trial.
8. Prepare for Your DUI Court Trial
If your case is not settled at the plea bargaining stage, you must begin to prepare for trial. Many DUI cases end before the jury trial stage, but the trial is part of the process for a few others. Proceeding to trial has both pros and cons that depend on the facts and circumstances of your case.
The Punishment for a DUI Conviction
If you plead guilty or the court convicts you of driving under the influence, you will face California DUI penalties. The penalties vary based on the case’s facts and prior DUI sentences within the previous ten years. The expected consequences of a conviction include:
- Court-imposed fines
- Formal or informal probation
- Court approved drug or alcohol rehabilitation program
- Incarceration in a state prison or county jail
Find a DUI Defense Attorney Near Me
Submitting a sample for chemical testing, retaining a criminal attorney’s services, requesting a DMV hearing, and preparing for arraignment and trial can save your driver’s license from suspension and prevent other consequences associated with a DUI conviction. Most DUI arrestees don’t know what to do after an arrest, meaning you need an experienced attorney to guide you on what to do. At California Criminal Lawyer Group, we are available to walk you through this complex process. Contact us today at 408-622-0204 for a zero-obligation consultation.
