California Aggravated DUI Guide

California DUI

Each year, countless California drivers are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, or DUI. Unfortunately, if you are one of these individuals, you face a number of severe criminal penalties if you are convicted of the offense. In fact, with the state’s tough sentencing guidelines, California DUI penalties are some of the strictest in the nation.

Like every other state, it is against the law to operate a motor vehicle on California roads if you have a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08% or higher. As a result, any person caught driving with a BAC above this percentage is considered legally impaired—regardless of his or her ability to drive. However, state law also prohibits underage motorists (those under 21) from driving with any amount of alcohol in their system at all (a BAC above 0.00%), while commercial drivers are deemed impaired with a BAC of 0.04% or higher.

It is important to know that, due to the state’s Implied Consent Law, you can also be arrested for DUI if you refuse to submit a breath, blood, or urine sample to a law enforcement officer so that he or she can determine your exact BAC—a process known as chemical testing. If you do not submit to these tests, you can expect to be arrested for driving under the influence.

Regardless of the reason for your arrest, a drunk driving conviction carries a number of penalties, including a fine, license suspension, and jail sentence. Assuming it’s your first offense, the court may impose a fine ranging from $390 to $1,000, as well as suspend your driver’s license for up to four months. Depending on the circumstances, you may also have to spend anywhere from four days to six months behind bars, attend DUI school, perform community service, and/or have a vehicle ignition interlock device installed in your vehicle (a mechanism that requires you to perform a breathalyzer each time you attempt to start your automobile).

If you think the penalties for a first-time DUI offender are tough, consider this: if you have a prior conviction on your record, a second offense carries up to a one-year jail sentence, $1,000 fine, one-year license suspension, and a three to five years of probation—and these penalties only increase with each subsequent DUI conviction. You can also expect harsher punishment if you had an extremely high BAC (above 0.15%), were traveling with a passenger under the age of 14 or were driving 20 miles or more above the speed limit at the time of your arrest.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways to challenge a drunk driving arrest. If the officer who stopped you lacked probable cause for pulling you over, for example, your charges may be dismissed. You may even be able to challenge your chemical test results if you suffer from acid reflux disease or used breath mints, mouthwash, or gum shortly before the test was administered.

What Happens to First-Time DUI Offenders in California?

The statute of litigation for DUI charges in the state of California can vary greatly per county. There are many variables to consider in the prosecution of a DUI case, depending on where a DUI offender was charged, arrested, and prosecuted the sentencing and fines associated with a DUI charge can vary. There is however a general framework for a DUI arrest for any county or city in the state.

First-time offenders who are convicted of a DUI charge will receive a fine of up to $1300, a three-year informal probation for DUI, and a court-mandated community service order of three to five days. Convicted DUI offenders will also be required to take a First Offender School, accounting for 12, 32, and 45 hours worth of enrollment depending on the BAC charges and most importantly, a standard 6 months license suspension as a DMV administrative sanction, aside from additional suspension as dictated by the APS.

First-time offenders may find their DUI charges reduced to a wet reckless charge which will change the fine and lower their alcohol education course requirement to 12 hours. You will still get your license suspended, and will still need to finish a completion certificate for alcohol education to qualify for a restricted license. Getting a minor charge will actually count for more education hours, garnering you up to three months of alcohol education to comply with licensing requirements. Do not confuse this with the automatic four-month suspension that the DMV initiates with is non-remarkable.

The difficulty in DUI convictions in the state of California is that the DMV and court rulings have separate administrative sentences and are not influenced by one another. You can get your license back from the DMV only to be revoked in a court of law after sentencing. You may expedite the licensure if you request a DMV hearing but with a 7% acquittal rate, there is a slim chance that your license will be returned after the DMV reviews your DUI case. You may request a hardship license after the first 30 days of the four-month suspension takes effect. The restricted license is a mandatory 5 months of use.

DUI Penalties in California

A DUI offense in California can be charged as a misdemeanor (California Vehicle Code section 23152) or a felony DUI (California Vehicle Code section 23153). Most cases are misdemeanor DUI but if somebody else was injured or killed as a result of your drunk driving then it will be escalated to a felony DUI.

First DUI Offense

96 hours to 6 months in jail and a fine of $390-$1000. DMV imposes a 6-month driver’s license suspension.

First DUI Offense With Probation

If the court grants you probation then the judge can substitute the fine or jail time with attendance at a mandated DUI program. You may also be granted a restricted driver’s license which allows you to drive to and from work at specific times and also allows you to drive to attend the DUI program.

Second DUI Offense

90 days to 1 year in jail and a fine of $390-$1000. This fine can be increased significantly by other penalty assessments. You may also have an Ignition Interlock Device (IID) fitted for up to 3 years. DMV imposes a 2-year driver’s license suspension.

Second DUI Offense With Probation

If the court grants you probation then you’re fine or jail time can be reduced in return for attendance at an 18-30 month DUI program. After 1 year of license suspension and completion of the DUI program, you may be granted a restricted driver’s license which allows you to drive to and from work.

Third DUI Offense

120 days to 1 year in jail and a fine of $390-$1000 with the potential for additional fines. DMV imposes a 3-year driver’s license suspension.

Third DUI Offense With Probation

Attendance at an 18-month DUI program may reduce your jail time or fines but you won’t get a restricted driver’s license.

Fourth DUI Offense

16 months to 3 years in state prison, or 180 days to 1 year in county jail, and a fine of $390-$1000 with the potential for additional fines. DMV imposes a 4-year driver’s license suspension.

Fourth DUI Offense With Probation

Attendance at an 18-month DUI program may reduce your jail time and fines but no chance of a restricted driver’s license.

Probation Violations

Whilst on probation for a DUI offense in San Diego you are not allowed to have any alcohol whatsoever in your bloodstream. If you are pulled over by a police officer and found to have 0.01% Blood Alcohol Content BAC then you will immediately lose all driving privileges, such as the restricted driver’s license that allows you to travel to and from work.

Driving With a Suspended License

There is a mandatory jail sentence of 10 days to 6 months and a fine of $300-$1000 for driving when your license has been suspended or revoked for drunk driving in California.

DUI Enhancements

There are certain enhancements to a DUI charge in California that increase your punishment. This extra punishment, including jail time, will be imposed whether or not probation is granted and is additional to the sentence imposed for the standard DUI charge.

  • Minor Passenger Under Age of 14 – 1st offense 48 hours in jail, 2nd offense 10 days in jail, 3rd offense 30 days in jail, 4th offense 90 days in jail
  • Alcohol Test Refusal – 1st offense 48 hours in jail plus 1-year license suspension, 2nd offense 96 hours in jail plus 2-year license suspension, 3rd offense 10 days in jail plus 3-year license suspension, 4th offense 18 days in jail plus 3-year license suspension.
  • BAC 0.15% or Above – Additional fines and jail time possible, as well as jeopardizing the chance of probation.
  • Multiple DUIs – See DUI Penalties
  • Reckless Driving – Driving a vehicle 30 mph or more over the speed limit whilst driving under the influence in San Diego results in a mandatory 60 days in jail.
  • Driving on Suspended License -Mandatory jail sentence of 10 days to 6 months and a fine of $300-$1000 for driving on a license that was suspended for drunk driving in San Diego.
  • Prior Felony – Prior felony conviction within the last 10 years enhances a San Diego DUI charge to a felony DUI charge, resulting in extra jail time and fines.
  • Construction Zone – San Diego DUI offense committed in a highway construction or maintenance zone results in the fine being doubled.
  • Safety Zone – San Diego DUI offense that is committed in a safety zone, such as Coronado Bridge, results in the fine being doubled.
  • Bodily Injury to Another – Add 1 year of jail time for each victim in a DUI accident, up to a maximum of 3 years.

Felony DUI in California

Although most California DUI cases get charged as misdemeanors–involving fines, DUI school, and sometimes a short jail sentence–in certain instances prosecutors can charge a California felony DUI.

The consequences for a person convicted of a felony DUI are significantly more serious. First, a misdemeanor DUI carries only a maximum sentence of six months to a year of county jail–though most offenders do little or no jail time. By contrast, a felony DUI can land a person in California state prison for 3 years or longer. Second, a felony DUI conviction resulting in probation will require felony probation and formal supervision by a probation officer.

Prosecutors may charge felony DUI in only three instances. First, a California DUI causing injury or death may be filed as a felony (or in more serious death cases, vehicular manslaughter). Second, a Fourth Time DUI may be charged as a felony. Finally, if a person has a prior felony DUI conviction for any reason, any subsequent DUI charge may be filed as a felony.

Like with all criminal cases, felony DUI often gets plea-bargained down. A prosecutor may start a case by filing the charge as a felony. But after recognizing weaknesses in the evidence, and negotiating with defense counsel, he/she often will agree to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor in exchange for a guilty or “no contest” plea.

California Vehicular Manslaughter Laws

A person has a few drinks with dinner and gets in a crash on the way home. Tragically, someone is injured or killed.

The CHP rushes to the conclusion that the party who had been drinking must be at fault. The DA responds by charging very serious crimes: DUI with injury, vehicular manslaughter, and sometimes even murder.

If you or a loved one faces this situation, you came to the right place for help. Our criminal defense lawyers are former DUI enforcement officers and former DUI prosecutors. We know firsthand how cops and District Attorneys put vehicular manslaughter cases together. We know how to fight these cases effectively.

The evidence is rarely cut and dry. Often times the accused had been drinking, but really wasn’t “drunk” or too impaired to drive. Often times the other driver, road conditions or weather, or external factors are really to blame for the accident. In building defenses like these, we work with some of the leading toxicologists and accident reconstructionists in the country.

With the case properly defended, it may be possible to get the charges reduced or even dismissed…and to avoid jail or prison.

Child Endangerment – A California DUI Penalty Enhancement

Last Thursday in New York, a 41-year-old middle school assistant principal was arrested for DUI. Not only was it 6:40 in the morning, but she was on her way to work and had her 10-month-old son in the backseat. In addition, the Lender reportedly has two prior alcohol-related driving convictions.

In California, if you are caught driving under the influence and have a child under the age of 14 in your car, you will likely be charged with Penal Code 273 (a) child endangerment in addition to the underlying DUI.

Depending on the circumstances surrounding your California DUI arrest, such as your driving pattern, whether you were involved in an accident, your blood alcohol concentration (BAC), and your prior criminal history, you may face up to one year in the county jail or up to six years in the California State Prison…and you could also potentially lose custody of your child(ren). Keep in mind these are just the penalties for the child endangerment charge. In addition to these penalties, you still face sentencing for your DUI.

Lender, like so many others, has an alcohol addiction, or at least an alcohol problem, which is revealed by her actions. If any of her conduct sounds all too familiar…or like the life of someone you care about…know that help is available.

Get DUI Help: Repeat Offenses for DUI Arrests

The state of California has complicated laws that mandate the prosecution and severity of sentencing when it comes to DUI. Depending on previous arrest record and conviction, a reckless charge can be tried for a DUI and is afforded the maximum sentencing parameters both criminally and administratively. The acquittal rate for permanent revocation of a driver’s license in California is near impossible and may be a result of a reckless history of continuous DUI arrests and convictions.

You may also be denied a restricted license if your current DUI arrest presents as an endangering circumstance to your well-being and to others. Manifold DUI convictions put down an ineffaceable stain on your legal record. If you are convicted of DUI you can expect long-term effects with employment and governmental records. The amount of DUI convictions will also affect sentencing both criminally and administratively. Since the State of California practices a looking window policy, previous arrests and convictions of DUI-related charges from your parent or California neighboring states are taken into contemplation when charging you with a misdemeanor or felony charge for DUI.

California studies previous conviction and arrest records with DUI, so you can expect increasing penalties and more jail time if you are repeatedly convicted for both DUI categories. Conviction circumstances such as BAC level results will put you in modified sentencing if you were convicted with a result in the “extremely intoxicated” classification. The court may also order you to install ignition interlock devices on all your vehicles. The court will appoint mandatory drug testing and enforced completion of an alcohol treatment program as part of sentencing and increase the number of Education hours you will need to attend and graduate from.

Repeat offenders, be subject to heavier criminal and administrative penalties and are discretionary to the judgment of the court and may not be clearly stated in this document because each case is affected by a different circumstance and degree of DUI arrest such as if a person convicted is of interest to the state and may be better off a serving sentence in a treatment facility instead of jail. As more extenuating conditions and duplicate offenses are presented, the sentencing becomes more unconstrained.

The criminal punishment for repeat DUI offenders who cause district property damage or infliction of bodily harm and casualty may be charged with the degree charge possible and if convicted, the offender to severe criminal charges such as Felony DUI which have a broader sentencing definition.

Hire an Experienced California DUI Attorney

The most important aspect of your defense is hiring a law firm that has a deep understanding of the California DUI laws that govern conviction, plea bargaining, appeal, and sentencing for California. For experienced California DUI lawyers or drunken driving defense attorneys, go to the right California DUI attorney that has a profound understanding of DUI laws in California and gain a reliable drunk driving defense. The first consultation is completely confidential and will be free of charge.

Please choose the county where your DUI in California took place:

Alameda
Alpine
Amador
Butte
Calaveras
Colusa
Contra Costa
Del Norte
El Dorado
Fresno
Glenn
Humboldt
Imperial
Inyo
Kern
Kings
Lake
Lassen

Los Angeles
Madera
Marin
Mariposa
Mendocino
Merced
Modoc
Mono
Monterey
Napa
Nevada
Orange
Placer
Plumas
Riverside
Sacramento
San Benito
San Bernardino
San Diego
San Francisco
San Joaquin
San Luis Obispo
San Mateo
Santa Barbara
Santa Clara
Santa Cruz
Shasta
Sierra
Siskiyou
Solano
Sonoma
Stanislaus
Sutter
Tehama
Trinity
Tulare
Tuolumne
Ventura
Yolo
Yuba

DUI Probation in California

Navigating DUI Probation in California: What You Need to KnowContentsNavigating DUI Probation in California: What You Need to KnowUnderstanding DUI Probation in CaliforniaRequirements and Restrictions of DUI ProbationConsequences of Violating…

California DUI Penalties

Did you know that over 200,000 drivers are arrested each year for driving under the influence (DUI) in California alone? Given these statistics, it’s easy to see why state lawmakers continue…

California DUI Testing

California DUI Field Sobriety Tests If you are pulled over by a California officer who suspects you are under the influence of alcohol, you may be asked to perform a…

California DUI Felony : DUI Causing Injury

When is DUI a Felony in California?ContentsWhen is DUI a Felony in California?What to know about California drunk driving lawsWhat is a felony DUI conviction in California?A California DUI conviction…

California DUI Misdemeanor

If you were recently arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in California, you probably have a number of questions about the charges you are facing. How will your arrest…

California DMV DUI

Did you know that, in California, a driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) arrest will lead to not one, but two, charges being filed against you? Indeed, under state…

California DUI Dry Reckless

In light of the number of California motorists who are arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) each year, you may assume drunk driving is not that serious of an…

California DUI Wet Reckless

If you were recently arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in California, you may be able to get the charge reduced to a lesser offense. In order to do…

California Implied Consent Warning

Each year, countless California residents are arrested and charged with driving under the influence (DUI) based on the results of a breathalyzer or other chemical test. In light of this,…