Reader’s Question:

My teenage daughter has been charged with DUI here in Central Contra Costa, California and this is actually already her second arrest. The first charges were actually dropped but we know that it’s not always gonna be the case. If she gets convicted, what are the possible penalties that she could have?

Izza
Central Contra Costa, CA

The penalties for minors (under the age of 21) who are convicted for DUI are stiffer. The State of California strictly implements its zero tolerance law wherein a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.01% for a minor would get him/her arrested for DUI. Because of your daughter’s DUI in Central Contra Costa, California, if she gets convicted, her driver’s license would be suspended for a period of one year and this would be before the court penalties would be imposed upon conviction, but she could get a temporary license for 30 days. She is entitled to request for a hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to see if the evidence would confirm that her BAC has been at least 0.01% at the time of driving.

Since this would still be considered as her first DUI if she gets convicted, she would have a mandatory alcohol education that would be ordered by the court. If she gets enrolled with the program, she could apply for a restricted license that would allow her to drive to and from work and to and from her DUI program classes.

Tags: DUI, DUI lawyer, DUI penalties, teen DUI, underage DUI

Reader’s Question:

A friend of mine got arrested in Palmdale, California because of DUI. He had a slurred speech according to the police report. Can a slurred speech be used as evidence in a DUI trial?

Alonzo

Palmdale, CA

Just like the odor of alcohol on the breath of a person arrested for DUI, a very few police reports would fail to include an observation by the police officer that the person arrested exhibited “slurred speech” during the DUI arrest. The police officer usually expects to hear slurred speech in a person whom he/she suspects as intoxicated or driving under the influence, particularly after smelling alcohol on the breath. Also, it would be a psychological fact that we tend to “hear” what we expect to hear. And upon hearing a slurred speech, it supplies the police officer with a proof of his suspicions that the person was indeed intoxicated, and thus driving under the influence.

Assuming that the police officer was honest that your friend who was arrested for DUI in Palmdale, California had a slurred speech during the DUI arrest, there is little evidence that this is a symptom of intoxication. For example, impairment of speech, even when sober, is a common reaction to the stress, fear and nervousness that a police investigation would be expected to happen. Fatigue is also a well-known cause of having a slurred speech. A study of phonetician showed that even self-proclaimed experts are not good at estimating people’s alcohol levels by the way they talk.

Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer

Reader’s Question:

I did a little research about alcohol because my daughter has been arrested for DUI here in Buena Park, California. One of the reasons my daughter was asked to do the field sobriety tests is because the officer said that he smelled strong odor of alcohol on my daughter’s breath. I found out that alcohol really does not have an odor, so could she use this as a defense on her DUI case?

Piper

Buena Park, CA

Yes, your daughter can definitely use that as a defense on her DUI case in Buena Park, California. I bet you can never see a DUI case where the police officer doesn’t report an odor of alcohol on the DUI suspect’s breath. The officer actually expects to smell it and it is a psychological fact that we see, hear and smell what we expect to see, hear and smell. As a matter of fact, most DUI police reports are formatted for the usual symptoms: there would be a box for “odor of alcohol”, which the officer checks off. There are three boxes labelled as “strong”, “moderate” and “weak.” The “strong” box is usually checked because presumably, the stronger the odor of alcohol, the more intoxicated the person arrested; and the problem with that is alcohol has no odor. Even a non-alcoholic drink can smell like the “odor of alcohol,” when in fact, what the officer smells is not ethyl alcohol but the flavoring in the beverage.

And, of course, there could be a number of causes of an “odor of alcohol” on a person’s breath such as mouth wash, throat spray and cough syrup. Indigestion, illness or simple bad breath has been the cause of more than one officer’s trigger-quick conclusion that the suspect has an “odor of alcohol on his breath.” The main point is that the odor of alcohol has very little relevance in a DUI case. It could or could not indicate that the person has consumed alcohol. It has no evidentiary value as to how much the person has consumed, what he had to drink and when.

Tags: DUI, DUI advice, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer

Reader’s Question:

It may not be a very good idea to represent myself in my DUI case in Costa Mesa, California but I’m still thinking twice in hiring one because of the fees. What could a lawyer actually do in my DUI case?

Zeke

Costa Mesa, CA

You are right, Zeke, it may not be a very good idea to represent yourself in your DUI case in Costa Mesa, California. You could actually do that but you would have to think it over a million times because a lot of things are on the line. California DUI laws are very much complicated and you need someone to help you understand the intricacies of California DUI laws and a DUI lawyer has experience in trials as well as constitutional rights and sentencing issues.

A qualified DUI lawyer could review the case for defects, subpoena field sobriety training manuals and cross-examine the officer on his failure to follow his training, suppress evidence, compel discovery of such things as calibration and maintenance records for the breath machine, obtain expert witnesses, have blood samples independently analyzed, negotiate for a lesser charge or reduced sentence and may be able to win your DUI case at trial. A California DUI lawyer who primarily handles DUI cases would know the best strategies to employ to give you the best possible defense.

Tags: DUI, DUI advice, DUI lawyer

Reader’s Question:

My brother was arrested for DUI sometime last week here in Arden-Arcade, California. We believe that he was arrested at an illegal roadblock. Can the evidence be excluded because of an illegal search? If so, how can the evidence be excluded from the case?

Macey

Arden-Arcade, CA

Motion to suppress could be an extremely valuable tool in your brother’s DUI case. Some potentially harmful evidence could be excluded when a motion to suppress is successful, therefore weakening the prosecutor’s case. Suppressible evidence is evidence secured by illegal means and in bad faith and it cannot be introduced in a criminal trial.

If your brother was arrested for DUI suspicion in Arden-Arcade, California but at an illegal roadblock, the evidence against your brother, including field sobriety tests and chemical tests, may be excluded, even if the evidence shows that he was indeed intoxicated above the legal limit. The evidence could be excluded by filing a motion to suppress. This is a formal and written request to the judge for the evidence be excluded from consideration by the judge or jury at trial. Your brother’s DUI lawyer can certainly look into this and file a complaint that the police procedures in the DUI arrest violated your brother’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI advice, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer

Reader’s Question:

We are so worried about our father because he was just arrested for DUI here in Corona, California. We just bailed him out and now we are figuring out what to do next. What could be the possible defenses in a DUI case?

Nelson

Corona, CA

Possible defenses in a DUI case are almost limitless due to the complexities of the offense. Your father could use a lot of defenses on his DUI case in Corona, California. But there are most common defenses in a DUI case.

First of all, the prosecution should prove that your father was driving at the time the offense was committed. If there was no witness to his driving, the prosecution should prove this essential fact using both direct and circumstantial evidence. The police officer should also have a probable cause to stop, detain and/or arrest your father because if not, evidence against him will be suppressed. When your father was already under arrest, he should have been warned about his Miranda Rights because if not, incriminating statements could be suppressed if warnings were not given during a custodial interrogation. The implied consent warnings should have also been given to your father. He should have been advised about the consequences of refusing to take a blood or breath test because if not, he could use that a defense.

Tags: DUI, DUI advice, DUI lawyer

Reader’s Question:

I have heard many times that a DUI record can be cleared. I have a DUI conviction here in Hayward, California and seems like I would have to carry that all my life. But I was brought back to life when I found out that it can be erased. How can I do that and who are eligible for this?

Ethan

Hayward, CA

You can clear your DUI record in Hayward, California by means of expungement. Expungement, sometimes referred to as DUI expunction, is the process of sealing, removing or clearing a DUI related offense from your records after conviction. This is considered as the only form of post conviction relief offered for DUI convictions. Depending on the expungement order, that could mean record clearing in the criminal court records as well as removal from police arrest records and any other agencies that have copies of the record.

Not everyone is eligible for expungement even if the state of California allows it. Expungement, in most case, is reserved for first offenders with legitimate reasons to expunge their records who also file the necessary paperwork and pay the associated fees. Therefore, it is not considered as a right, rather a privilege granted by the government. In general the people who are eligible for expungement are those who have never served time in state prison. They should also be first-time offenders, have no pending criminal cases and felony convictions.

Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI advice, DUI lawyer

Reader’s Question:

I have a history of DWI arrest in California. Recently, I was required by the court to attend a traffic school course. If I took a traffic school course online, how long will it take me to complete the course?

Megan

Concord, California

Interesting question, Megan. Though traffic school course lengths differ from state to state, typical courses are usually within 4 to 6 hours in length. Since it is an online course, you have the freedom to start and stop the course as much as you want to. It should not actually take longer to complete an online traffic school course for your DWI arrest than it would with a traditional sit-down traffic school class, which is normally 8 hours. Online program allows you to work at your own pace. You won’t have to rush or panic, since you will be informed if your court deadline is near. Otherwise, you may stay in the program for as long as you want. The best thing about online traffic school course is that you are not required to go through the course all at once, though you can do that if you want. Normally, the program is broken up into several sections to give you the convenience to move at your own pace. Since the program can keep a record of your development, you can easily go back to where you left off. Usually, there are no limitations on how often you can log on and off.

The California Traffic School Course is arranged to take 8 hours to complete. Because the program is self-paced, however, the length in which it takes to complete a course may vary from individual to individual.

Reader’s Question:

How many drinks does it take to have a 0.080 alcohol concentration and what must I do to avoid a DWI in California?

Payton

Bakersfield, CA

How many drinks do you need to have a 0.08 alcohol level in your blood? Well Payton, to tell you frankly, the response to your question is not pretty as clear cut as you may imagine. Alcohol is a very toxic substance. The moment you place alcohol into your bodily system, your body will begin to get rid of it. Alcohol levels will only go up when you drink further alcohol or at a more rapidly rate than your body can do away with it. The most excellent response is by exemplar. If a common one hundred fifty pound man drinks four typical beers in sixty minutes, his alcohol level at the end of the sixty minutes would be 0.080. This is the identical whether the drink is a twelve ounce beer, four ounce of wine or one ounce of 80 proof whiskey. This evaluation will differ from person to person and has many other factors that have an effect on it.

For your next question on how to avoid DWI in California, the best advice I can give you is not to drink and drive. If you are planning to drink, drink sensibly or plan a ride if you are not. If you will border your drinking to one drink per hour, you ought to be fine.

Reader’s Question:

My cousin is in trial now because of a DUI charge in San Diego, California. He has been charged with this before and he mentioned something like a sentence enhancement which he said he was afraid of. He was not able to explain clearly what it is. Could you tell me what does it mean when there is a sentence enhancement?

Mark

San Diego, CA

The laws in the state of California require increased consequences when certain evidence exists. A list of more common cases, which must be alleged in the complaint, is found below.The highest occurrence is a prior conviction for a DUI within 10 years.

If there was any personal injury caused by the driver, the crime will be elevated to a felony. If a death occurs, the offenses could possibly be murder or manslaughter, when special circumstances exist.

The more common cases are as follows:
-The motorist was driving above 20 or 30 miles above the speed limit
-A child was present in the car or vehicle.
-There was a personal injury or property damage.
-The driver refused any chemical testing.
-The driver’s BAC (blood-alcohol concentration) was over .20%
-The driver is under 21 years old. (Zero tolerance laws in the state of California usually charge the suspect with a much longer license suspension and require a lower BAC.)

I hope I was able to make clear to you what sentence enhancement is.