Did you know that you have just ten (10) days from the date of your DUI arrest to call the DMV to try and save your license? The Law Offices of Stephen R. Brodsky can help, call us for a free consultation 951-600-9993.Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs is a serious offense. It can affect your profession, transportation, automobile insurance, lifestyle and relationships with others, and, in some cases, could result in jail or prison. If you are charged with a DUI, it will be important for you to retain an attorney like STEPHEN R. BRODSKY who has 20+ years of experience defending and preparing WINNING DUI strategies for his clients!
DUI arrests, or any arrest for that matter, are frightening experiences. The lack of control, the uncertainty of your situation, and the prospect of spending countless hours behind bars are all factors that contribute to the stress and fear of the situation.
DUI Arrests typically begin when a driver is pulled over because they performed some form of traffic violation or there was something wrong with their automobile (a broken taillight for example).
A DUI Officer will claim that during your traffic stop, you exhibit signs of intoxication. Be they physical signs like slurred speech or bloodshot eyes, or olfactory signs like the odor of alcohol emanating from your breath or auto.
Once an officer suspects you are under the influence of alcohol, they may choose to perform roadside Field Sobriety Tests.
FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS: SHOULD I SUBMIT TO THEM?
In the state of California, you have the legal right to refuse to take any kind of sobriety test prior to your arrest. California law, however, does require you to take the breath or blood test for alcohol concentration after you have been arrested.
As most police officers making an arrest in the field for a DUI tend to greatly exaggerate a suspect’s performance on field sobriety tests, Riverside County Drunk Driving Defense Attorney Stephen R. Brodsky recommends that you decline to take any kind of sobriety test.
Attorney Stephen R. Brodsky first urges you not to drive any motor vehicle after you have had any amount of an alcoholic beverage or mind altering medication. Second, if you have made this mistake, attorney Stephen R. Brodsky advises you in the strongest possible terms to NOT perform any field sobriety tests, including the preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) test!
Always treat the investigating officer with respect, politeness and courtesy, because this will encourage the officer to give you the benefit of a doubt.
BREATH TEST OR BLOOD TEST?
If you are placed under arrest for a DUI in Riverside County, you are required under California law to give a chemical test of your blood alcohol concentration. As a practical matter, this means that you will either have to submit to a breath or blood test after you are placed under arrest for a DUI.
As between breath alcohol and blood alcohol tests, the blood test rather than a breath test, will benefit you in the long run. Unlike a breath sample which is not preserved, your blood sample can be kept for a long period of time and tested later to help determine the following:
- Whether police followed the proper chain of custody when handling your blood specimen.
- Whether the proper procedures required by California law were in fact followed by police in obtaining and testing the blood specimen.
- In a retest of the blood specimen, whether a cross-match of the specimen and a specimen you gave to a forensic alcohol specialist shows that the blood tested was in fact your blood, and not someone else’s blood. Big reason to get your blood re-tested by a private laboratory. If the police were sloppy and tested someone else’s blood, we can expose this error and shut down the prosecution’s case before it gets off the ground!
If you choose to give a breath test, remember that the breath specimen you blow into the breath testing machine evaporates and is lost forever! It cannot be retested. Many of my clients come in for a free consultation with breath alcohol test results much higher than the quantity of alcoholic beverages would have caused them to have.
Your Murrieta criminal defense lawyer will need the assistance of a forensic alcohol analyst—a special expert trained in breath and blood alcohol testing—to carefully examine the breath testing machine’s calibration and maintenance records, as well as the documentation of the officer who administered the breath test—to see if that machine was not operating in accordance with California law or the officer did not administer the test in accordance with the law.
More DUI Arrest & Field Sobriety Test Resources
DUI PROCESS: THE DMV HEARING
If you are placed under arrest and charged with a DUI, your license will be suspended in 30 days. The arresting officer will confiscate your license and give you a temporary one. This temporary license is valid until that suspension goes into effect.
In the State of California, if you score a .08% blood alcohol concentration or higher, your license will be suspended for a period of four months for a first time DUI or for a year or longer for multiple DUI’s.
Remember you have only ten (10) days from the date of your arrest to request a hearing with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
Requesting a DMV hearing within the 10 day window will automatically delay the DMV License Suspension until the hearing has been completed. If you win your hearing, no suspension is imposed (although you could still get a separate suspension if you get convicted of DUI in court).
The DMV Hearing is an excellent opportunity to save your driving privileges. It also gives your DUI attorney an opportunity to craft a strong defense. Hearings allow DUI defense attorneys to question arresting officers and fully review all of the facts of an arrest. If a defense attorney is able to win your DMV hearing, they are going to have a much better chance of negotiating a favorable plea in court, if not get your charges dismissed outright.
DUI PUNISHMENTS & PENALTIES
The fines and penalties associated with a DUI can be stringent. Depending on the amount of prior convictions you have and your arrest record, a qualified defense attorney can negotiate with the district attorney to lessen some of these penalties, in some cases removing the DUI label from the crime altogether.
If you are convicted on a first offense and are granted probation, you will face fines of up to $1,600, be required to attend an alcohol program for 3 months or more, 96 hours to 6 months in jail and have your license suspended for 6 to 10 months. You may also be required to have an ignition interlock device installed on your car, and be required to obtain California SR22 insurance for restricted license.
The more prior convictions you have, the more severe the Riverside DUI penalties become. On a second offense conviction that is within a 10 year time period of the first, you will face fines from $1,000 to $1,900 or more, 2 years driver’s license suspension and you will be required to complete a drunk driving program. You may apply for a restricted license, which will require a California SR22 certificate.
More DUI Punishment, Penalty, & DMV License Suspension Info
TYPES OF DUIs
There are many different types of DUIs crimes, many of them more serious then your garden variety DUI. For instance, DUI Accidents carry with them special laws and penalties.
Additionally, charges of Misdemeanor DUI and Felony DUI exist, as do charges for Under 21 DUIs and the very serious crimes of Involuntary Manslaughter (DUI).
Click on the link below to learn more about the many different types of DUIs that you may be charged with. Regardless of the type of DUI you are dealing with, Riverside DUI attorney Stephen R. Brodsky can help you. Contact him today at 951-600-9993 for a free consultation of your situation.
More Types OF DUIs
RIVERSIDE DUI ATTORNEYS PROTECTING YOUR RIGHTS. . .
DUI charges are some of the most serious and common of all arrests today. What many don’t realize is that the investigation and arrest processes for countless DUIs are performed improperly. As DUI defense attorneys, it is staggering to see how many individuals we work with that are arrested and charged based on questionable evidence.
There are things you can do to help your case that start as soon as you are pulled over for the traffic stop:
- Be courteous and cooperative with the officer
- If asked to take a Field Sobriety Test, politely decline
- If asked to take a breathalyzer test, politely decline
- If arrested, choose to have blood taken as opposed to taking the breathalyzer test at the police station
- Contact your attorney as soon as possible
Stephen R. Brodsky, Attorney At Law, is one of the most experienced criminal defense lawyers in the Greater Los Angeles area. He has devoted more than 20 years of his life to practicing criminal law and has put on WINNING DEFENSE STRATEGIES for hundreds of his clients who have been charged with misdemeanor or felony DUI cases. Your record and your freedom are too important to entrust to an inexperienced lawyer. Immediately contact Stephen R. Brodsky, an experienced DUI attorney with a proven track record of WINNING DUI cases for his clients, so he can put his WINNING ATTITUDE AND EXPERIENCE to work for you!
CALL US TODAY TOLL FREE AT 1-800-GOOD ADVICE OR CONTACT US ONLINE.