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What can I expect from a DUI? (Fixed)
Jayvoh
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I got pulled over on St. Patrick’s Day for drunk driving. Spent the night in the drunk tank and walked home at 6am. Now that my court date is coming up I was wondering what I can expect in terms of punishment. I realize there will be fines and/or community service and a suspended license. I live in California and have, except for the DUI, a perfect driving record. No tickets, no accidents and I’ve been driving for 8 years legally.
I’m pretty set on not getting a lawyer as well as resigned to the fact that I fucked up. Any advice or specific knowledge of the fines ill be getting, and whether I can negate some of it with community service, is greatly appreciated.
Hella
I’m pretty set on not getting a lawyer as well as resigned to the fact that I fucked up. Any advice or specific knowledge of the fines ill be getting, and whether I can negate some of it with community service, is greatly appreciated.
Hella
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Things will go much, much better for you if you have one. A DUI in California can cost you upwards of $10,000. A good lawyer to handle a DUI will probably cost you $2000, at the outside.
I got a lawyer and he basically did all the work for me. We met a couple of times to talk about the incident, and then I saw him again on my court date. I ended up getting only a failing to yield to a stop sign if I didn't get any drinking related offenses (of any kind) within the next year. Even though I did yield to the stop sign, and it was a that I got pulled over in the first place, I'll gladly take that over whatever I would have received.
tl,dr; Get a lawyer!
water spirals the wrong way out the sink
Mine, who knew what the F he was doing, ran me about $2k I think. He got my charge from a DUI down to Public Intoxication. This was obviously a huge difference in what happened to me. Insurance never went up, didn't need to tell my employer about it, etc.
You can expect PAIN!!!
1 to 5 years of Court Probation - No probation officer to report to, but absolutely no other crimes of any nature during that time period or you'll be subject to additional punishment.
A fine, including court fees and costs - Cost of about $1600. This can be paid over time for an additional charge, or in full within 45 days. In some courts people can work off part of the fine through community service.
6 month loss of California Driver License
DUI (Driving Under the Influence) School - Depending on your Blood Alcohol Level DUI school may be as low as 12 hours or as much as 45. Think sitting in a classroom watching bad movies and listening to people tell you how stupid you are. If you couldn't figure it out for yourself.
MANDATORY JAIL TIME!!! - There is a required 48 hours of jail time on a first offense DUI in CA. It is possible to have this time converted to work service.
You want an attorney. No, serious, you want an attorney.
EDIT: The above is just based on some quickie research done on Westlaw. Your mileage may vary.
For all the doom and gloom this part atleast made me laugh..
So should i just pick a lawyer randomly from the shit ton of letters I got in the mail or is there a more reliable source?
It's worth noting that a lawyer is a good thing even if you plan on pleading "guilty." In fact, a lawyer is probably more useful if you plan on pleading "guilty" than if you plan on pleading "not guilty."
If your BAC was .09 to .14 expect 3 months of DUI class (3 hour meetings once a week, AA once a week, and one MADD meeting) which will run you around $500. If it was .15 or higher it is 6 months of classes and I believe there is one last limit which has 9 months of class.
The court fees come out to around $2100 to $2200 and they usually let you pay installments. If you want you can ask the judge for community service but be prepared to spend most of your weekends with CalTrans.
If you are over 21 and this is your first offense you can get a restricted license one month from your DMV conviction once you provide an SR 22 and proof of enrollment in the aforementioned DUI class plus $140 to get the license.
I have heard both sides about lawyers. My friend had the same BAC as me .15 and all his $2000 in lawyer fees bought him was 3 months of DUI class instead of 6. I opted not to get a lawyer (as the evidence was clear cut and not in my favor) and I was able to get the judge to offer me the same deal. But your situation may vary.
First things first, if you can afford it, get a lawyer. They help a ton.
Second, you're looking at somewhere around 1,500 in court fines and fees.
Third, possible punishments you're looking to face; up to 90 days in jail, (It's almost always waved for time served and 3 year probation), a 3 to 6 month court ordered DUI classes. These suck, but you have to do them. 56 hours of unpaid work for someone. Up here in walnut creek, that means cal trans. Possible breathalyzer.
As for my experiences, my lawyer helped a ton. Reduced my class time from 6 to 3 months, avoided a week in jail and work experience by pleading no contest and accepting a breathalyzer in favor of working and jail.
My lawyer fees were something like 3,000 bucks though.
So over all, I spent about 4,600 on this.
You'll most likely lose your liscense for 6 months, starting from your conviction. I lost mine for roughly 9 months, it took three months to get convicted, and in those three months I assumed my license was suspended even though it was not. During those nine months, I did 3 months of dui school which is boring, but needed. They cost something like $170 a month. You'll be on probation for 3 years, meaning that if you get pulled over for any reason, they will automatically breath test you. If you have anything abouve .01, you'll lose your license for a year. After 3 years you can have it removed from your record, but that doesn't really mean much of anything. I think most people can still see your offense. You are pretty much banned from canada.
If you get the breathalyzer, I suggest you do this if you're paranoid like me and are afraid of losing your license for a year because you drank a beer with dinner and had a tail light out. They're embarassing, annoying, and a pain in the ass, but if it keeps me and others safe, while allowing me the priviledge to drive, I'll take it.
The way that works is, you pay 60 dollars to any number of companies that make the devices and they send you to some where in your area that installs and services them. You pay 60 a month to rent it, and report to the install center for calibration monthly.
I have to have mine for a year.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I can relate my personal experiences with them.
I don't think this is true.
I'm pretty sure there was a guy in my class who was working IT for the feds.
O, it might just be FBI then.
Although it seems I can still be President.
It's good to hear that you can "some what" get by without a lawyer. Bad credit, a new job, and having recently moved has put a rather hefty limit on my avialable funds. I understand why the repercussions are so bad, drunk driving isn't to be fucked with, but it still sucks when you have to go through it.
There really was only one example of why getting a lawyer might only help a little bit, and there are several examples here of how lawyers can help you a LOT and are a good idea. I think maybe you should get a lawyer - paying a lawyer now may be tough on your bank account, but paying court fees and not having a license for the next year is going to suck a lot worse unless you can walk to work. This shit is pretty serious and you should do everything you can to defend yourself.
Also, tell all your friends how much it sucks to get caught drinking and driving so that hopefully they'll never do it again. It's hard enough not getting murdered by sober people on the road these days.
Well shit... You're right
In response to the question above I was pulled over in bumfuck Gilroy and I'm not entirely sure what my BAC was but I do know it was above .15 We practice drinking in Gilroy as there is little else to do. Only once was I an irresponsible driver though and it fucking bit me in the ass.
Thanks for all the advice. Helped to put things in perspective.
No offense, but one thing that you really learn and accept from the school is that nobody is ever a first time drunk driver.
It's just the first time you've been caught. That's not to say that you regularly go get hammered and drive around, but there are most likely multiple times that you've been drunk and drove and didn't fully realize it.
.08 isn't like falling over, slurring words. It's drunk, but you can still be there without knowing it.
Most drunk drivers are never caught, most don't crash and kill people, but they're still out there and they're still putting peoples lives at risk.
As aneccdotal evidence, I was drunk the other night. Woke up after 8 hours of sleep, tried to start my car and was told I had a BAC of .04. Thing is, I didn't feel drunk, and thought I was just a little hungover. Thankfully my car has the device so I knew and didn't get out there and do something stupid.
GET A LAWYER.
Like, yesterday.
If reading this thread hasn't sent you to (A) the Yellowpages (B) FindLaw.com or (C) friends/family/et cetera, get on it.
Here's a shitty analogy - would you attempt Everest without a sherpa?
Get representation.
My advice:
(1) Get a lawyer.
(2) NEVER again drink and drive. Walk home. Take public transportation. Call a taxi.
(3) Think seriously about quitting entirely.
http://www.duiblog.com/2005/05/09
he is california dui attorney lawrence taylor. I think he could get you off. The above is his blog.
They changed the law so that if you even try that defence you can be held in contempt of court. DUI laws are some of the most unconstitutional laws on the books. YOU DEF WANT A LAWYER. or you will be fucked. Hard.
The main points are:
DUI-roadblocks violate the 4th Amendment's guarantee to unreasonable searches.
Being detained, handcuffed, and questioned by law-enforcement (effectively being 'under arrest') for suspicion of DUI does not get you the right to an attorney and notification of your Miranda Rights.
The pseudo-arrest that you're now involved in requires you to breathe into a machine thereby possibly incriminating yourself. You're forced to give up your 5th Amendment right to not provide incriminating evidence against yourself.
In some states (not sure of the #) DUI cases do not provide one the right to a jury-trial.
When the goverment originally went to the AMA to get an idea of what percentage of alcohol in a human could cause impairment the AMA said 0.15%. A couple of years later they changed their original number for "being drunken" from 0.15% to 0.10% BAC because prosecutors weren't getting enough convictions with the higher number. So they were wasting time on these people that they just goddamnit *knew* were too drunk to drive. Then there were still acquittals, so further pressure drove the limit down to 0.08%. At this point, if you're in a jury trial, you still have to convince the jury that the defendant was impaired or intoxicated at the 0.08%. Again, MADD pressures the right people that acquittals==baaaad. So the law is changed so that just driving at 0.08% itself is a crime. Your impairment does not matter.
There's quite a bit more in the article. It is a little long, but it's a very informative read. I'm sure a lot of it is stuff some people don't want to hear, but I found it very interesting and a bit scary WRT what large groups with a lot of free-time can get done.
Not sure how that works in re: State v Federal laws (been awhile since pre-law).
Even though I didn't follow the advice posted here it definately helped to talk about it. Thanks.
Just out of curiosity is your probation supervised or unsupervised?