DUI In California

Reader’s Question:

Is pleading guilty to my DUI charge here in Bellflower, California a good option for me? If so, how would I handle a DUI with a guilty plea?

Charlie

Bellflower, CA

Pleading guilty to your DUI charge in Bellflower, California may be a wise choice if you can get the judge to understand that you truly want to work on never getting another DUI charge. Now, if you are already decided to plead guilty, you have to show up in court during your arraignment. When your name is called at the arraignment, you have to tell the prosecutor or judge that you want to plead guilty to your DUI. You also might want to meet with the prosecutor before your arraignment to plead guilty to your DUI charge. This would allow you to privately discuss your options with the prosecutor or assistant prosecutor. By doing this, you can negotiate down your charge in exchange for the guilty plea.

The judge or prosecutor would give you important information about what would be expected of you next, so listen. You would likely be sentenced to a choice of a DUI class or jail time if your DUI is a misdemeanor charge. You have to tell the judge right then and there which one you would choose. In the course of deciding on pleading guilty to your DUI charge, you may also want to get an affordable yet car reliable insurance for you after your DUI so get a free quote now from this website.

Reader’s Question:

I’m afraid I may just be caught drunk driving here in West Covina, California because I don’t have anyone to drive me home everytime I go out to have some drink. Anyways, my question is, is it true that I can refuse to take the handheld breath test if I am stopped for DUI?

Rebecca

West Covina, CA

Before I go and answer your question, let me just tell you that you can definitely avoid to be caught drunk driving in West Covina, California. The safest way to do that is not to drink at all, but if you really can’t avoid it and you don’t have anyone to drive you home, you can take a cab to get home safe and sound and avoiding a criminal charge. Now, to answer your question, yes you can refuse the handheld breath test if you are stopped for DUI. Unless you are under 21 years old, submission to the Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) is not legally required.

A lot of police agencies are now using the roadside hand held breath-testing device, PAS or more recently, Evidential Portable Alcohol System (EPAS) as an additional field sobriety test (FST). These devices are supposed to give a very rough indication of the driver’s blood alcohol concentration. The PAS units are very unreliable and primitive and are supposed to be used only to aid the officer in making a decision after he has given the other FST’s. But unfortunately, a lot of judges are permitting the results into evidence at DUI trial.

The cost of DUI in California is enough to give you a heart attack. After you have forked over the money for your bail, your attorney fees, your car insurance premiums, your fines, your fees for reinstating your license, your court charges; after you have possibly lost your job or in any case lost a certain amount of time at work while you were in court or in jail; the cost comes out to around $20,000 for the typical person. Of course, this can be higher or lower depending on the severity of your case, your sentence, your job, and the state where you live in.

One of the things about the cost of DUI in California which you can control is the insurance and the attorney. The most important thing to do if you want to save money on these is for you to shop around. Ask several CA attorneys for quotes on their services and compare them, while comparing the quality of the attorney as well.

You can compare rates for DUI car insurance as well, and you can also drive less, get discounts, cut coverage, raise your deductibles, among many other things you can do to save some money.