Los Angeles DUI Lawyer Blog

Thanks to the California Legislature, our state enacted some years ago a law commonly known as a stop and snatch law. Essentially anyone stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol whose Bac level is a .08% or more as their license taken by the police officer and forwarded to the DMV. In its place, the officer gives the driver a pink piece of paper known affectionately as an administrative per se drivers license.

Although this important piece of paper will serve as your drivers license, it hales on its face important information regarding your rights and obligations under California law. Most importantly it informs the driver that the DMV has commenced an action to suspend your license.

These suspected DUI driver with a .08 or over is put on notice that they are required to contact DMV within 10 days of their arrest, including weekends, to request a hearing to determine whether or not a suspension is appropriate based upon sufficient probable cause to stop and arrest the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. The second critical issue is whether these suspected driver was operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .08% or more.

Failure to request such a hearing and delay, or in legal terms a stay, results in a drivers license being suspended commencing on the 31st day after their arrest.

Smart and responsible drivers contacting the DMV in a timely manner within the 10 days are often caught offguard in their attempt to exercise their rights to extend their driving privileges as well as request an administrative hearing to contest the pending suspension. Our firm frequently is told by clients that representatives of the Department of Motor Vehicles have overtly told drivers not to waste their time, or it will do no good. Drivers often are dissuaded, and advised that it's better to start your suspension after the 30 days, instead of waste their time exercising their rights to such a hearing.

Seeking the advice of an attorney, who frequently deals with the DMV, and understands the value of the client and his attorney carefully reviewing all police reports for accuracy, prior to deciding how to proceed in defending their vital driving privileges against a suspension. Exercise your rights in a timely manner, to avoid the awful consequence of losing your driving privilege. Frequently, through effective defense strategies, we are able to protect our clients valuable driving privileges, regardless of the specific facts of our clients cases. None of this is possible, unless the client contacts us within the allotted time to request a DMV hearing.

Many of our DUI clients do not know that it is up to them to schedule a DMV hearing within ten days of their arrest, including weekends. If a DMV hearing is not scheduled, it can lead to automatic license suspension, without a chance to be heard.

The DMV hearing is a completely different proceeding from the Criminal court proceedings. The evidence is different, and heard by two different decision makers, and the issue that is being decided is also different.

During a criminal proceeding, the case is brought by the government, represented by a Prosecutor. The Judge is to determine whether there is enough evidence to find the driver to be driving while intoxicated. Both sides will present arguments, and evidence (usually the officer's report and the alcohol screening test reading) before the judge determines a sentence if the driver is convicted of a DUI.

A DMV hearing does not have a Judge or a Prosecutor and is an administrative hearing. The DMV hearing is with the driver and a DMV officer and can be done over the phone. The officer will review the officer's report and the Alcohol Screening test reading to determine an appropriate suspension or revocation of a person's license. The driver, or an attorney on their behalf, also has the time to present an argument and a defendant to reduce or dismiss suspension or revocation.

A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney is able to represent you in both types of hearing. An experienced Los Angeles DUI attorney has represented thousands of clients in DMV hearings as well as Criminal court proceedings. They can fight for your rights and protect your driving privileges and help keep your criminal record clean.

Many different factors come together to affect the rate of alcohol absorption, how quickly it is distributed into your blood stream and how quickly it is eliminated from your body.

Alcohol absorption is affected by the food you have ingested and the type of drink. When food is eaten along with alcohol, the alcohol absorption is a lot slower and the blood alcohol concentration peak (the point of greatest intoxication) is generally achieved anywhere between an hour to six. For people who haven't had as much to eat, and are not eating along with their alcohol, the blood alcohol concentration peak is reached faster, generally in half an hour to two. The type of food ingested; fat, proteins or carbohydrates may have an effect on the quickness of absorption, but there is no concrete evidence. There is proof however, that the bigger the meal, and the closer in time to drinking that it is eaten, there is a slowing effect on alcohol absorption.

The stronger a drink is, the faster it will be absorbed by the body. Drinks that are generally between 10% and 30% of alcohol concentration will be most rapidly absorbed. Drinks that are less than 10% will take longer to be absorbed by the body.

The rate at which the alcohol is distributed into a person's blood stream depends on their body fat, type and weight. Persons with lower body fat percentages will have a lower blood alcohol content. For people who are the same weight, the person with the higher fat will have the higher BAC. Similarly, the less a person weighs, the more they will be affected by alcohol.

The liver is the organ responsible for eliminating alcohol from the body. Studies show that women eliminate alcohol from their systems 10% on average faster than men. Additionally, if a person is consuming alcohol at a higher rate than elimination, the BAC will be higher.

These are all things to take into account when a person is charged with a DUI. Consult a Los Angeles DUI Attorney to discuss the contents of an arrest report and the reading of the sobriety test. Oftentimes, there may be errors and the BAC may not be as high as it is documented. A knowledgeable attorney can expose the errors to the court, leading to a potential reduction or dismissal of the charge!

Client always asked me at our first consultation, whether or not it is possible to get the their recent DUI case dismissed. I provide each client with an honest answer, that is, it depends. The law requires that for a driver to be convicted of a driving under the influence charge, certain legal requirements must be properly proven.

Regardless of a drivers blood alcohol level at the time that they were stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence, the police must legally justify a traffic stop by specifically identifying the vehicle code violation committed by the driver which gives rise to a lawful stop. This critical foundation is known as the principle of probable cause. Essentially, every DUI stop is required to have sufficient probable cause, or legal reason.

The absence of probable cause requires dismissals are granted, when it is determined by a prosecutor, judge, or jury that the officer lacked probable cause to justify a stop. Our firm recently represented a client who was stopped by the police for driving without his rear license plate illuminated. The driver was arrested for DUI because he had a blood alcohol reading of .18, over two times the legal limit. This case was ultimately dismissed on a defense motion when the driver and two passengers contested the police allegation regarding the light. The judge determined that the officer lacked probable cause to stop the driver because he believed that there was in fact a working license plate light as testified by the driver and his witness/passengers.

Another powerful argument for dismissal can be based upon the fact that although the breathalyzer machine that the driver was tested on appeared to be working, the maintenance and accuracy records obtained through subpoena showed a different story. A careful review showed a flawed and questionable accuracy of the machine that tested our clients breath for alcohol content. These independent maintenance and accuracy records showed an unacceptable percent of error uncovered by an independent agency trained to determine the accuracy of all tests performed by the police department.

A drivers blood alcohol level is the cornerstone of the prosecutor's case. When this essential building block, it determined to be unreliable, it creates an irreparable flaw in the states case which ultimately leads to a dismissal by the prosecutor.

The above reasons, are but a few of the challenges that are put to the prosecutors, making them prove their case by justifying that the police be held to the highest constitutional standards of law.

A driving under the influence conviction not only affects a person's criminal record, but also their driving record and auto insurance. Exactly how it affects each person's auto insurance policy will differ from person to person, and from company to company.

When a person is convicted of a DUI, the DMV is automatically notified. Along with scheduled court dates to determine the outcome of the criminal case, the DMV will hold a hearing to determine the status of the person's driving privileges. Once the sentence is determined, a person's auto insurance company is allowed to access any information they need regarding the conviction. Upon their research, the auto insurance company will make a determination regarding the status of the person's insurance policy.

Insurance policies are affected in different ways. For some people the premium will increase significantly, whereas other policies will be cancelled until further notice. The approach taken by an insurance company depends on several factors; the past driving record of the individual, the criminal record of the driver, as well as the age. After taking into consideration all factors as a whole, the company will make a determination.

Once driving privileges have been revoked, a person is required to file an SR-22 before privileges can be reinstated. An SR-22 is a form that shows proof of insurance. An insurance company issues a SR-22 to a driver so they can present it to the DMV when requested. Before insurance can be reinstated after it has been revoked or suspended, an SR-22 must be filed with the DMV to demonstrate that the driver is insured. A major insurance company does not issue SR-22s to listed drivers, only those that are the named driver on the policy. So for example, if the insurance policy has the father as the main driver, and the son is listed as a driver under the father's policy, the insurance company will not issue a SR-22 to the son. The son will have to get a separate policy where they are the named driver.

An experienced Los Angeles Criminal Defense attorney can represent a person in criminal court as well as DMV hearings. Years of practice has given them the knowledge to prepare a powerful defense on a driver's behalf. They fight hard to keep a driver's privileges intact and their auto insurance premiums low, and their policy with full coverage.