California DUI laws regarding alcohol or other drugs are extensive and harsh. Whether you have been arrested for DUI for the first time or have been down this road before, you want an experienced criminal defense attorney that’s well versed in California DUI laws protecting your legal rights and freedom.

Our DUI attorneys at California Criminal Lawyer Group have extensive experience representing persons facing DUI charges in Santa Ana, CA, and the neighboring cities. We apply all our knowledge and skills to obtain the best possible outcome for our clients, including a charge dismissal, reduction, or minimizing the offense’s penalties. If you have been arrested, are under investigation, or facing charges, please don’t hesitate to contact us any time for our help.

DUI Laws Overview

In California, adult drivers are primarily governed by two DUI laws— VC (Vehicle Code) 23152(a), which criminalizes driving under the influence of alcohol, and VC 23152(b), which illegalizes driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher. Under subsection (a), you could be placed under arrest and charged even if your BAC is below 0.08% if the police believe you are alcohol-impaired. Subsection (b) is the per se part of the DUI law. Here, you don’t have to show any signs of impairment for you to face DUI charges. The mere fact that your BAC level is 0.08% automatically makes you legally liable for drunk driving, and thus the prosecutor will press charges.

Most drivers placed under arrest for drunk driving are usually prosecuted under both of these laws. Driving under the influence is also referred to as driving while intoxicated or intoxicated driving. The need to have a per se law is evident. Without it, motorists would be subject to the officer’s subjective determination. The inconsistencies in arrests and convictions would pose a problem. Additionally, having a per se law establishes a cut-off point where a motorist is subject to arrest.

Note that the 0.08% per se limit applies only to adult non-commercial drivers. For adult commercial drivers, the per se limit is .04% (VC 23152d). California also has zero-tolerance laws that make it illegal for underage drivers (those below 21 years) and motorists on DUI probation to drive with a BAC of as low as 0.01% (VC 23136 and VC 23600, respectively). Minors can also face charges when they drive with a BAC of .05% BAC (VC 23140). This means underage drivers can be convicted of both VC 233136 and VC 23140 violations if their BAC is high enough to warrant the charges.

Apart from DUI of alcohol, California law also prohibits driving under the influence of drugs (DUID), driving under the combined intoxication of drugs and alcohol, and driving while addicted to drugs. DUID is criminalized under VC 23152(f), DUI of both drugs and alcohol is illegalized under VC 23152(g), and driving while addicted to drugs is prohibited under VC 23152(c).

Generally, when the police pull you over, they will need to determine whether you’re intoxicated with alcohol or drugs by administering a PAS (preliminary alcohol screening) test and conducting one or several field sobriety tests (FSTs). If you decline to take the tests or if the test results are positive, you’ll most likely be placed under arrest immediately, and the officer will conduct a more extensive chemical analysis of your breath, blood, and in some cases, urine. These are generally known as chemical tests.

A DUI conviction will subject you to severe consequences that’ll impact your future life. You could go to jail, lose your privilege to drive, obtain a criminal record, be required to pay hefty fines, lose your job or be prevented from being hired by an employer, have points added on your DMV record, or lose your professional license.

What Happens After a DUI Arrest?

When you are arrested for DUI, expect to undergo two legal proceedings— the criminal court process and the DMV administrative hearing. A DMV hearing is held at a DMV office and not a criminal court. The purpose of this hearing is to determine whether or not your driver’s license will be suspended due to your DUI arrest. 

The DMV won’t impose any fines, jail time, or any other penalty if you lose the hearing— it will only suspend your license. You have to request the hearing within ten days of your arrest; otherwise, you will lose the right to it. You must also have your lawyer represent you at this hearing to stand a chance of winning.

The criminal court process is where the prosecution and defense lawyer battle it out to determine whether you are guilty or innocent. This process is independent of the DMV hearing, meaning you must undergo it whether you win or lose your DMV hearing. If the court finds you guilty, you will face penalties, including fines, license suspension, jail term, probation, etc. And if you are innocent, you will be acquitted of all charges.

Elements of DUI

Elements of the crime are the facts the prosecuting attorney must prove beyond a reasonable doubt for a judge to convict a defendant. Most offenses involve numerous elements, which the prosecution must substantiate for the government to win the case against an accused. For DUI, the elements aren’t as many. They are as follows:

DUI Elements Under VC 23152(a)

VC 23152 subdivision (a) is the first way the government can prove you broke the law criminalizing DUI alcohol. The elements the prosecution must demonstrate under this section include:

  • You drove a vehicle. For the prosecution to prove this element, it must show the auto moved from one place to another. The prosecutor is required to show the volitional movement of the vehicle you allegedly drove. Courts have established that even a slight movement is enough to meet this element. Additionally, the prosecutor can prove vehicle movement using circumstantial proof, which, by implication, shows you were driving.
  • While intoxicated. The prosecution also needs to show that you were intoxicated with alcohol at the exact time you were driving. You are intoxicated with an alcoholic beverage when your mental or physical abilities are alcohol-impaired in that you can’t drive with caution as a sober person would do under similar circumstances. The prosecution often depends on the arresting officer’s subjective, personal observations to prove alcohol impairment. The officer could testify in line with their observation of your physical appearance, erratic driving maneuvers, failed FSTs, and other factors that reveal your mental or physical state.

Thus, as we mentioned, you could still be convicted even if your BAC is unknown or lower than 0.08% if, depending on the above subjective factors, a jury or judge rules that your physical or mental capabilities were impaired because of alcohol consumption.

DUI Elements Under VC 23152(b)

Under VC 23152(b), the prosecuting attorney needs to prove that:

  • You drove a vehicle. This element is proven the same way as in subdivision (a). That is, you caused volitional movement of the auto. You can’t be convicted unless the prosecutor meets the driving element.
  • When you were driving, you had a .08% or more Subdivision (b) gives the prosecution an objective test by which to substantiate the DUI crime. For the judge to convict you, the DA has to prove that your BAC was .08% or more when you were driving. Under subdivision (b), the law presumes that if your BAC level is .08% or more by the time you take a breath or blood test, you’re guilty of drunk-driving irrespective of whether you were indeed experiencing the mental or physical effects of alcohol.

One individual can be impaired with a blood alcohol content level below .08%. Alternatively, it’s also possible that another individual can be above the.08% level while still maintaining normal physical or mental abilities. However, once the prosecution proves a .08% level, a jury/judge may (but isn’t required) deduce that the individual’s mental or physical faculties were impaired as needed for a drunk-driving conviction.

Often a toxicology report is used to prove that your BAC was .08% or more when you were driving— not when you took the test. Your lawyer may have an expert testify about the calculation techniques that can usually establish the BAC level when driving, irrespective of the level present when you took the test.

DUID Elements

Unlike in DUI of alcohol, California doesn’t have a specific legal limit for drugs. That’s because experts can’t agree on what concentration of drugs in the blood makes a person too impaired to drive. Thus, when it comes to proving a DUID case, the prosecutor only needs to show that you drove an automobile and, at the time, your driving abilities were drug-impaired. Any detectable drug quantity in your blood could subject you to a DUID charge.

Chemical Testing and Implied Consent

An accused’s BAC is determined by undergoing a chemical test. If you hold a California driver’s license, you are considered to have consented to chemical testing for purposes of establishing your blood alcohol concentration (implied consent law). Therefore, you can’t refuse to take the chemical test once you’re lawfully arrested for DUI without facing the consequences.

Before your legal arrest, taking a chemical test is optional. But after you have been arrested, refusing to undergo the test will subject you to license suspension, fines, and even incarceration upon conviction.

Generally, you have the right to choose between breath and blood testing, and the officer has to inform you of this right. If a breath or blood test can’t be administered, you’re also considered to have agreed to urine testing and must submit to this test.

DUI Penalties

DUI penalties vary based on two primary factors:

  • Whether anybody was injured due to your DUI
  • Whether you have any past DUI on your record

Most DUIs are misdemeanors, but you may face felony charges if it's your fourth or subsequent offense or someone was injured. Additionally, DUI is a priorable offense, meaning the penalties increase for every DUI crime you are convicted of within ten years of the first offense. The consequences for drunk- or drugged-driving are as follows:

First Offense

  • Six months in jail
  • Three to five years informal probation
  • A fine not exceeding $1,000
  • Drug/alcohol education program for three or nine months
  • License suspension for up to ten months or IID installation for six months

Second Offense

  • A fine that doesn’t go beyond $1,000
  • Up to a year in jail
  • Summary probation for three-five years
  • DUI School for 18 or 30 months
  • IID installation for a year or license suspension for two years

Third Offense

  • Between three and five years summary probation
  • A fine of up to $1,000
  • Up to a year in jail
  • DUI school program for 30 months
  • Installation of IID for up to two years or three years’ license suspension
  • Designation as a habitual traffic offender by the DMV

Fourth Offense/Felony DUI

  • Three or two years, or sixteen months in prison
  • A fine not exceeding $1,000
  • IID installation for a year or license suspension for four years
  • Habitual traffic offender title

DUI Causing Injury

DUI causing injury per VC 23153 is prosecuted as a wobbler, meaning the DA can press either a felony or misdemeanor charge based on your criminal record and the facts surrounding your case. Misdemeanor consequences include:

  • A fine of up to $5,000
  • Up to a year in jail
  • Summary probation for three-five years
  • Alcohol program for three, eighteen, or thirty months
  • IID installation for up to six months or license suspension for one year
  • Restitution to the injured parties

Felony consequences include:

  • A fine of up to $5,000
  • Between sixteen months and ten years in prison and an additional and consecutive one to a six-year prison term, based on the number of people injured and the degree of their injuries
  • Eighteen or thirty months of drug/alcohol program
  • Habitual Traffic offender title for three years
  • IID installation for three years or license suspension
  • Restitution to the injured parties
  • A possible strike on your record per the Three Strikes Law

DUIs that cause death are penalized very differently. The punishment for these crimes may result in a strike on your criminal record per the Three Strikes law and life in prison.

Mitigating and Aggravating Factors for DUI Sentencing

Mitigating factors are circumstances and facts that reduce an accused's guilt or warrant lenient sentencing. For instance, if you were impaired due to taking legally prescribed medication, your BAC was barely past the lawful limit, and you completed voluntary drug substance abuse treatment after your arrest, the judge is likely to reduce your sentence. Prosecutors and judges may also consider factors such as whether you are a good student or gainfully employed when deciding on the appropriate plea bargain or sentence to offer.

On the other hand, aggravating factors are circumstances or facts that increase the severity of a criminal act or the accused’s guilt and warrant harsher penalties. General aggravating factors for a California DUI include:

  • DUI with a minor passenger in the vehicle
  • DUI causing an accident
  • Having a BAC of .15% or more
  • Refusing to undergo chemical testing
  • DUI at excessive speed
  • Being underage when DUI
  • DUI in construction and safety enhancement zones

Legal Defenses for a DUI Charge

A DUI arrest doesn’t have to mean a DUI conviction. Your DUI criminal defense can help you avoid the life-changing DUI penalties by fighting the charges against you with a strong defense strategy. The most common legal defenses your attorney can argue are:

  • Bad driving doesn’t automatically mean you are DUI
  • Objective intoxication symptoms aren’t the same thing as driving while intoxicated
  • FSTs do not accurately measure impairment
  • Mouth alcohol caused a falsely high BAC result
  • The officer did not do a proper 15-minute observation period
  • The arresting officer did not follow the proper arresting procedure
  • The officer did not comply with Title 17 regulations on breath and blood testing
  • Your blood alcohol concentration was on the rise
  • Diabetes, a high-protein diet, or hypoglycemia falsely inflated your blood alcohol concentration.
  • You were not driving while intoxicated because you were mentally alert

Plea Bargains in DUI Cases

A plea bargain refers to a negotiated alternative to taking a case to a jury trial. Typically, it involves either a charge or sentence reduction. To have your sentence reduced, you first plead no contest or guilty to DUI. In exchange, you receive a set of agreed-upon penalties. This saves you the uncertainty of waiting to see which punishment the judge will order if you’re found guilty at trial.

On the other hand, a charge reduction involves pleading guilty to a lesser included offense. It is a result of negotiations between the prosecution and your attorney. Generally, the crime you’ll plead to will have less stigma and lighter penalties than a DUI conviction.

Common charge reductions the prosecution offers in a drunk-driving plea bargain are:

Wet Reckless

Typically, wet reckless is the first drunk-driving charge reduction a prosecutor will consider. It’s a reckless driving conviction containing a note in the conviction record that drugs or alcohol were involved in the crime. That’s what ‘wet’ means in the ‘’wet reckless’’ phrase. Being convicted of wet reckless instead of DUI is advantageous in several ways, including:

  • Lower fines
  • Reduced jail time
  • Possibly no license suspension by the court. The DMV may still suspend the license, although it might allow you to drive after installing an IID.

However, wet reckless is still priorable, meaning that if you’re convicted of DUI within ten years, you’ll be penalized as a repeat drunk-driving offender.

Exhibition of Speed

Exhibition of speed is also known as “speed ex.” It’s a less-prevalent charge reduction in drunk-driving cases. It’s generally offered as a plea deal in cases where the DA’s case is relatively weak.

Exhibition of speed is charged as a misdemeanor, with consequences that may include fines, probation, sometimes, jail time. It will also add points to your driving record. However, in many cases, an exhibition-of-speed charge doesn’t trigger any jail time, and it results in a probation period and fines that are less than those of a DUI conviction.

Dry Reckless

Dry reckless is merely a reckless driving conviction that arises after a plea bargain to drunk-driving charges. Unlike for wet reckless, there’s no mention of drugs or alcohol in a dry reckless conviction record. The advantages that dry reckless has over wet reckless are that a dry reckless:

  • Isn’t considered a prior drunk-driving offense on a driving or criminal record
  • It might not have a similar effect on auto insurance premiums as a wet reckless or DUI conviction.

The major disadvantage of dry reckless is it’s still charged as a misdemeanor crime. Additionally, it will likely add points to your driving record. Accumulating so many points in a particular period leads to license suspension on the grounds of being a negligent operator.

If the prosecution’s case is weak, your attorney may be capable of negotiating that your charges be reduced to:

  • Drinking alcohol in a vehicle
  • A traffic infraction, for instance, running a stop sign
  • Drunk in public

Find an Experienced DUI Criminal Defense Attorney Near Me

A DUI charge doesn’t have to result in a conviction. Drug- or drunk-driving are serious criminal offenses that can ruin your reputation and life. However, it is a charge defense lawyers routinely beat. Thus, as soon as you are arrested, you have to contact a skilled DUI criminal defense lawyer right away. An attorney may be able to fight proof against you, have your charges reduced, negotiate a lighter sentence, or even have you acquitted.

At California Criminal Lawyer Group, one of our specialties is DUI defense. Our several years of combined practicing experience provide our clients with an unparalleled advantage in the courtroom. Our commitment to achieving the best possible outcome in our clients’ cases has earned us respect among the judges and prosecutors. Contact us now at 714-844-4151 for a complimentary consultation to discuss your case and legal options. We serve clients facing charges in Santa Ana, CA, and the neighboring cities.