In California, it is illegal to drive a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or with a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.08 percent. Due to the risk a drunk motorist poses to other road users, the state has strict driving under the influence laws. The severity of potential penalties depends on case facts, evidence against you, whether the DUI caused injuries to another person, your BAC level, and whether you have prior convictions. Some common penalties include paying fines, serving time, a driver’s license suspension, installing an ignition interlock device (IID), and engaging in community service. At San Diego DUI Attorney, we believe in the right to legal assistance. Once you consult us, our tenacious Borrego DUI defense lawyers can start by listening to you and reviewing your case facts before developing the best legal strategy. We can also help you understand the potential penalties and legal defenses and answer your questions.
Define Driving Under the Influence
Most defendants arrested for driving under the influence face two criminal charges, namely:
- Driving under the influence of alcohol under VC 23152(a)
- Driving with a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.08 percent under VC 23152(b)
Even when you violate both laws, the court will only sentence you to one offense.
The driving under the influence law applies when alcohol has impaired your mental or physical abilities to a degree that you cannot operate a vehicle as a careful, sober motorist.
How Blood Alcohol Concentration is Measured
Also known as blood alcohol level or blood alcohol content, BAC is the measure of the amount of alcohol in your system. It is expressed as a percentage. A high percentage means you have more alcohol content in the bloodstream.
Typically, police measure BAC when conducting DUI investigations and after your arrest.
The police require reasonable suspicion to start a DUI investigation that happens following a sobriety checkpoint or traffic stop. The investigation involves:
- Questioning you about the quantity of alcohol you have drunk, where you have been, and whether you have been drinking
- Conducting field sobriety tests
- Performing preliminary alcohol screening using a breathalyzer
If your BAC is above 0.08 percent, taking the PAS test might not be advisable. You have the right to refuse to take the test. The law enforcers can arrest you anyway.
However, you cannot refuse to take a PAS test without legal repercussions if you are on DUI probation or below 21.
BAC testing after your arrest is evidentiary, and the prosecution team can use the chemical test results in court as proof of drunk driving. Refusing to take this chemical test can result in legal consequences. The police will allow you to choose your preferred type of chemical test.
The Difference Between Various Types of Chemical Tests
Breath tests measure the alcohol level in deep lung air, and the breathalyzer converts it to an equivalent BAC. On the other hand, blood tests measure the quantity of alcohol in your system.
The main benefit of a blood chemical test is that police can save a portion of your blood for a year following its collection. The police laboratory should make it available if you want to retest it independently. To exercise the legal entitlement, your Borrego DUI attorney can file a blood split motion to have your preferred private lab analyze the sample.
Police can also use urine tests for determining your BAC, but it is less reliable than breath and blood tests for determining a particular amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. They use a urine test in a DUI case when any of the following apply:
- Both breath and blood tests are unavailable.
- You cannot take one of the tests, and the other one is unavailable.
Some of the reasons you might be unable to take a breath or blood test could include the following:
- A disease like a blood-clotting or breathing disease
- A high degree of inebriation makes it challenging to complete a breath chemical test
Ultimately, what is essential is not the chemical test of your choice but whether law enforcers abide by the Title 17 procedures.
Criminal Penalties and Consequences of Violating DUI Laws
Once you are found guilty of driving under the influence, the punishment can include the following:
A First-Time DUI
A first drunk driving criminal charge is a misdemeanor that attracts the following penalties:
- A fine ranging from $390 to $1,000
- An incarceration of six months in jail (however, the judge can place you on probation).
- The Department of Motor Vehicles can suspend your driver’s license for six months. (Nevertheless, you may be permitted to continue operating your car after installing an ignition interlock device).
- The court could also order you to attend a mandatory three- to nine-month DUI education program.
Second DUI Offense
A second DUI conviction within ten years of the first conviction is a misdemeanor. It carries the following criminal penalties:
- Paying a fine of $390 to $1000 and other court fees
- Spending 96 hours to 12 months in jail
- The DMV will suspend your driver’s license for two years. However, you can continue operating your car after installing an IID in your motor vehicle for a year.
- Attending and completing DUI school for 18 to thirty months.
A Third DUI Offense
A third offense within ten years of the initial DUI conviction is a misdemeanor that is punishable by the following:
- 120 days to one year in county jail
- A fine not exceeding $1000, plus other court fees
- Attending DUI school, a 30-month alcohol and drug education program
- A three-year license suspension (The DMV can reinstate your driver’s license after installing an IID for two years).
- A habitual traffic offender designation for three years
Fourth DUI Offense
A fourth DUI crime within ten years is a wobbler. A wobbler is a crime that the prosecutor can charge as a felony or misdemeanor, depending on the case facts. It is punishable by the following:
- A misdemeanor carries six months to a year in jail, while a felony attracts sixteen months to three years.
- A fine that does not exceed $1,000.
- A habitual traffic offender designation for three years
- Attending DUI school for 30 months
- A four-year driver’s license suspension (The DMV can reinstate your driver’s license after installing an IID for three years).
Legal Defenses
After consulting a qualified Borrego DUI attorney, they can collect and analyze evidence to develop the most effective legal strategies to fight your criminal charges. Some of the valid legal defenses they can use, depending on your case facts include the following:
Absence of Probable Cause (Reasonable Cause
If the police stopped you at a DUI sobriety checkpoint without probable cause, then the arrest is illegal, and any proof derived from the stop must be suppressed. In other words, if the police officer stopped you without a legitimate reason, like a vehicle code breach, the judge could dismiss your DUI charges because the prosecution team will face a substantial burden in securing a conviction without this proof.
Your Borrego DUI defense attorney can file a motion to suppress evidence resulting from the traffic stop to assist you in fighting your criminal charges.
Intoxication Signs Do Not Indicate a DUI
How you physically looked during the DUI investigation plays a significant role in your criminal case’s outcome. The police officer who apprehended you will provide testimony that you were intoxicated based on the following:
- Slurred speech
- Red, watery eyes
- A flushed face
- An unstable gait
- The strong smell of alcohol on your breath
Your defense lawyer can argue that innocent explanations like fatigue, eye irritation, a cold, and allergic reactions could cause these signs.
Challenging the Accuracy of the Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs)
The prosecution team, which consists of a criminalist, an arresting police officer, and a prosecutor, depends on FSTs to assert that your dismal performance results were due to driving under the influence.
Under these circumstances, your Borrego DUI attorney will explain how coordination and balance when conducting FSTs could be impacted by:
- Nerves
- Clothing
- Fatigue
- Flat feet
- Neurological disorders
- Bad weather conditions
Since these factors vary, your lawyer can persuade the court that the FST results are unreliable, which is a valid defense.
Health Conditions
Some conditions could result in incorrect BAC readings following a breathalyzer test. They include the following:
- Diabetes may cause your body to generate acetone, which some types of breathalyzers confuse with alcohol. A person who has diabetes has challenges producing insulin. Insulin assists the body in burning glucose for fuel. Therefore, a diabetic burns stored fat for energy, creating ketones.
- Acid reflux, heartburn, or gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD) could create false high BAC readings when stomach contents flow back into your mouth. The breathalyzer could read the stomach acid in this backwash as alcohol.
- Fasting or ketogenic diets —They force your body to use stored fat instead of glucose as an energy source, creating a byproduct called ketones. Most breathalyzers do not differentiate between ethyl alcohol and acetone. Some foods that produce this byproduct include Whole 30, Zone, South Beach, and Atkins.
If you suffer from one of these health conditions, your lawyer can use it as a valid legal defense.
You Can Claim the Police Violated Title 17 Code of Regulations
Title 17 outlines the procedures that the labs and the prosecution team should comply with when collecting and processing chemical tests. Otherwise, your BAC readings will be compromised.
Your Borrego DUI defense attorney can use the mistakes to beat your criminal charges. They should first file a motion to exclude evidence per PC 1538.5. If the court grants the motion, the chemical test result will be inadmissible in court and could lead to a reduction of criminal charges or even a dismissal.
Some of the Title 17 requirements include the following:
- The police should observe you for fifteen minutes before requesting you to submit to a breath test.
- The technician should not use an alcohol-based cleansing agent to sterilize the blood draw site
- The appropriate training of professionals performing the chemical tests
- Your blood sample should be stored properly
- Routine maintenance and calibration of the breathalyzer
- A defendant who submits to the urine test should first void their bladder and later provide a urine sample after twenty minutes
- The law requires law enforcers to retain a urine sample for a year so that an independent lab of your choice can retest it.
Plea Bargains and Criminal Charges Reduction in DUI Cases
A plea bargain involves negotiations between your Borrego DUI defense attorney and the prosecution. It aims to reach a mutual agreement to resolve the criminal charges without taking the case to trial.
Plea bargaining can start as early as the arraignment when the judge advises you of your criminal charges. However, it can last up to trial.
If you have a strong case and your Borrego DUI defense attorney knows it, the prosecution can give a favorable deal to avoid trial and a case acquittal. The prosecutor can also dismiss the charges altogether.
Deciding whether to take your case to trial or accept the plea offer can be challenging. You should decide after consulting a qualified lawyer. Factors to consider when determining include the following:
- The strength of the prosecutor’s case
- Your tolerance for risk
- Whether you have previous convictions
Common DUI charges reductions in California are as follows:
Wet Reckless
A wet reckless is the first driving under the influence reduction charge the prosecution team may consider. If the judge reduces your DUI charge to a wet reckless, your criminal history will include a note indicating that alcohol was involved in the crime.
A conviction for this offense is more advantageous than a DUI conviction. The advantages include the following:
- Less punitive fines
- Reduced incarceration, if applicable
- No mandatory driver’s license suspension (However, the Department of Motor Vehicles could still withdraw your driving privileges, but it could allow you to operate a car with an IID).
Wet reckless is priorable. The court will consider your previous DUI crime if it subsequently finds you guilty of another DUI conviction within California’s DUI lookback duration.
Dry Reckless Conviction
“Dry reckless” means a reckless driving conviction that originates from pleading guilty to DUI charges. It differs from wet reckless in that, in the former, alcohol or drug use will not be mentioned in your criminal record.
Advantages of dry reckless include the following:
- The conviction does not become a prior on your driving or criminal record
- It might not have a similar impact on your automobile insurance costs as a DUI
Nevertheless, conviction is a misdemeanor and adds points to your record. Accumulating many points within a certain period could result in a driver’s license suspension.
The reduction is a favorable plea offer in a DUI case.
Speed EX
Exhibition of speed (speed ex) is a rare DUI charge reduction. Typically, prosecutors offer it when their case against defendants is weak.
Prosecutors charge exhibition of speed as a misdemeanor punishable by:
- Fines
- Probation
- Possible jail time
Exhibition of speed also adds points to your driving record.
Nevertheless, a conviction for this offense often leads to:
- No incarceration
- The fines and duration of probation are much less than those for a DUI
Drunk in Public (DIP)
A DIP charge is another rare DUI plea deal. Prosecutors offer it when you are intoxicated, but there is no evidence whether you were driving.
A DIP offense is a misdemeanor, punishable by the following:
- Incarceration
- A less punitive fine
Since the criminal charge is a non-driving crime, it will not add any points to your driving record.
Traffic Infractions
The prosecution team can offer you traffic infractions as a DUI reduction when the prosecution team knows that DUI charges cannot stick.
Infractions are punishable by a minimal fine only.
Sometimes, the prosecution team offers a plea deal with two traffic infractions, called a pair of movers. It consists of the following:
- A moving crime that may be resolved in traffic school
- A single moving crime that adds any points to your driving record
Instances of prosecutors granting traffic infractions as a driving under the influence charge reduction measure include the following:
- The prosecution team believes that law enforcement engaged in misconduct
- The prosecution’s criminalist could not validate your chemical tests
Drinking Alcohol in an Automobile
In certain circumstances, the prosecution can reduce a charge of drinking alcohol in a car. The law prohibits a passenger from drinking alcohol in a vehicle on a public street.
The prosecution team can grant you a charge reduction if the case against you is weak.
A conviction for this charge is a good outcome in a DUI case because it carries only a fine. Furthermore, it does not add any points to your DMV record.
Find a Seasoned DUI Defense Lawyer Near Me
If you are charged with DUI, you might be feeling overwhelmed and unsure of the next steps. A lot is at stake, and working with an experienced Borrego DUI defense lawyer can help you protect your rights and build a strong case defense. At San Diego DUI Attorney, we can evaluate your case, investigate whether the police followed the appropriate procedures during your arrest and chemical tests, and develop legal tactics to obtain the most favorable case outcome. We can also negotiate plea bargains and explore alternative sentencing options to safeguard your future and rights. Please contact us at 619-535-7150 to schedule your initial free consultation.
