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APS SUSPENSION OF A CALIFORNIA COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE
posted by Criminal Defense Attorney in Los Angeles

BRIEF LAW: The DMV will suspend a commercial driver’s license if a driver had an alcohol concentration of .04% or higher while driving a commercial vehicle (Cal VC 23152(d)). Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney have handled numerous commercial driver’s license DUI and will help you defend your DUI case. If that driver drove a non-commercial vehicle while DUI, for example, his personal car, his/her commercial driver’s license will be suspended only if the blood alcohol level is .08% or above. The penalty for a commercial driver are a lot more severe not only because the alcohol levels are ½ the “usual” legal limits but also because the suspension is at least twice longer without a possibility of a restricted license (Cal VC 13352.4). Specifically, a driver with a commercial driver’s license will loose his commercial driver’s license for one year on a first offense (Cal VC 15300) and his entire life on a second offense (Cal VC 15302). If commercial license is lost, most drivers obtain a non-commercial driver’s license to qualify for the restriction. Los Angeles DUI Attorneys will help you obtain such a restricted license.

ANY DIFFERENCE WITH A REGULAR DUI: No. There are no “commercial driver license” defenses specific to a “commercial” driver. All defenses used to defend a regular DUI can be successfully used by Los Angeles Criminal Attorney to defend a “commercial” driver’s license. There are at least 15 different defenses that can be used to defend a DUI. Examples include, violation of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulation, various medical conditions including GERD and diabetes, illegal stop, illegal arrest, falsely high blood alcohol readings and a raising BAC defense.

Please contact Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney to help you defend your DUI. It is important to contact us immediately especially considering that a window to request a DMV hearing closes 10 days after the arrest.

LET’S PUT DUI PROSECUTIONS AND DUI RELATED DEATH IN PERSPECTIVE

How often do you hear that more needs to be done to fight DUIs and DUI related deaths? How terrible it is to hear that someone was injured or killed by a drunk driver! Let’s be clear, I am a Los Angeles DUI attorney, whose job is to fight for the drivers accused of a DUI and for that reason I will be biased. Often my job involves damage control where I play down the facts of a horrible DUI by explaining to the prosecution that other factors, such as depression, psychological conditions, addiction, or just bad luck, contributed to that fateful decision to drive after having some alcohol. So if you are or your loved one is arrested for a DUI, call me right now or go here and send me a quick note.

Focusing back on this article’s title, what’s up with all the media attention given to drunk drivers? Is it really that bad? Is it a national problem?

According to www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics-2007.html there were 15,387 Alcohol related Drunk Driving fatalities in the US in 2007. The footnote in the webpage explains citing NHTSA that “A motor vehicle crash is considered to be alcohol-related if at least one driver or non-occupant (such as a pedestrian or pedalcyclist) involved in the crash is determined to have had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .01 gram per deciliter (g/dL) or higher. Thus, any fatality that occurs in an alcohol-related crash is considered an alcohol-related fatality. The term ‘alcohol-related’ does not indicate that a crash or fatality was caused by the presence of alcohol.

Get it! The 15,387 includes sober drivers who accidentally ran over drunk pedestrians or colliding with drunks on bicycles. It also includes drivers who tested .01, .02, .03, .04, .05, .06 and .07. At those levels, all but truck drivers and minors are not DUI in Los Angeles. If you are arrested at this level, the chances are, you will not be prosecuted, especially if you call Los Angeles DUI attorneys. The reasons those levels are legal is because most experts think that a person is not impaired at those levels. So why does the NHTSA includes all accidents with any level of alcohol into their statistics. Why else if not to inflate it?>

Well, lets make a big assumption that the entire 15,387 death is caused by drivers who were impaired. How does it compare to the number of dead in the US.

Here are some statistics: According to the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/DataStatistics, in 2007 there are 2,423,712 deaths in the US. That is equal to 760.2 death per 100,000 people, with car accidents not making the top 15 leading causes of death but being included in No 5 most common way to die. We are not talking about more recent year, because the CDC latest year with death statistics is 2007. Here is the break down of the published official top 15 causes of death by percentage in the US.

1. Heart Disease (25.4 %)

2. Malignant Neoplasms (cancer) (23.2 %)

3. Cerebrovascular Disease (stroke) (5.6 %)

4. Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease (5.3%)

5. Accidents (Unintentional) (5.1 %) or 123,706 – includes car accidents death of 43,985

6. Alzheimer’s Disease (3.1 %)

7. Diabetes mellitus (2.9 %)

8. Influenza and Pneumonia (2.2 %)

9. Nephritis (kidney disease) (1.9 %)

10. Septicemia (blood infection) (1.4 %)

11. Intentional Harm (suicide) (1.4 %) 34,598

12. Chronic Liver Disease and cirrhosis (1.2%)

13. Essential Hypertension and Hypertensive Renal Disease (high blood pressure) (1.0 %)

14. Parkinson’s Disease ( 0.8 %)

15. Assault (Homicide) (0.8 %) 18,361

That leaves 18.6% or 451,034 people who died from all the other causes.

Based on CDC number of 2,423,712, only half of a one percent or 4.82 persons per 100,000 people died in 2007 as a result of an alcohol related death. So let us make another assumption that the number of death in Los Angeles is proportionate to the number of death in the US. That would mean that in Los Angeles (2006 census estimate 3.85 million people) there would be 185 deaths from alcohol related car accident, or about 15 each month. While it seems like an unacceptable number, comparing it to the other categories makes it seems less significant. For example, since there are 22,631 death from falls, it would mean that 273 people fell to death in Los Angeles same year or 22 people each month (much bigger number then 15 who died in alcohol related accidents). Or how about, there are 2,439 people death each month in Los Angeles from all causes – that’s 81 person per day with ¼ or 600 persons each month to die from heart decease. Or how about, there are twice as many suicides as death caused by alcohol related accidents, which means every day, there is 1 person who kills himself. Why isn’t the media focuses on mental health – trying to save the poor souls who take their own lives! How is it less significant then DUI related death?

THE POINT: statistically, alcohol related death is one of the least important causes of death

How much tougher we as society need to be to fight something that is less common then the Parkinson’s disease? Should we focus on something more common? Intentional killing (murder) will most likely result in a life in prison for the defendant. Yet, focusing media attention on murder will have minimal deterrent effect because it is already a crime with the highest penalty under the law.

My argument here is that Drunk Driving in Los Angeles as well as Nationwide is mostly a political issue, used by Los Angeles Prosecutors to get elected. A perpetrator of a DUI is an easy target, because 1) most DUI prosecutions result from the police pulling over someone who was never arrested before and who gives full cooperation to the law enforcement 2) majority of the suspects plea guilty making the courts a few thousand dollars in the process 3) DUI investigation is a low stress – high pay assignment for a DUI cop.

BOTTOM LINE: we live in a scary world, with overly aggressive prosecution of DUIs, where a victimless crime, such as a DUI, is blown out of the proportion by politics and media. Unless you hire a professional, such as Los Angeles DUI attorneys, a person suspected of a DUI in Los Angles will not get much sympathy from the prosecutors and judges. Call Los Angeles DUI Attorneys right now for a free consultation. Let us help you save your license and avoid jail.

HOW CAN MY CASE END UP IN A BETTER LOS ANGELES COURT ROOM?
posted by Criminal Defense Attorney in Los Angeles

THE LAW: An arraignment is typically the first part of a DUI prosecution in Los Angeles Superior Court. At the arraignment, a plea is entered and, in the case of “a not guilty plea”, a pretrial and jury trial dates are chosen. New court-dates are usually and depending on the courthouse will be chosen in a different court-room.

There are many reasons why a defendant would want his case to end up in a particular courtroom. For example, a judge assigned to that courtroom can be more sympathetic to his case. Although a defendant can not just pick a courtroom that he likes, he or she can try to avoid any given courtroom by not stipulating to a commissioner or by using a peremptory challenge. It is not a good idea to use a peremptory challenge on a commissioner because that one opportunity to disqualify a judge will be gone. At arraignment, the right not to stipulate is limited by GC 72190.1 which permits a commissioner to conduct arraignments. Also, the bail or conditions for OR are decided at arraignment. Arguably, since the amount of the bail is based on factual issues, a commissioner is not allowed to decide it without a stipulation by both parties (67 Ops Atty Gen 162, 166-167). Thus, there exists a legal argument to force a commissioner to hand over the case to someone else when there is an issue with the bail.

THE POINT: Los Angeles DUI Attorneys know when to continue arraignment, when to plead not guilty, when to stipulate to a commissioner and when to file a peremptory challenge. Years of experience in Los Angeles DUI Courts allows us to make strategic decisions that will impact your case favorably by trying to steer it to a courtroom where you will receive the most lenient sentence.

EXAMPLE: John gets arrested for a first offense DUI and is cited to appear in a Los Angeles Superior Court close to the location of the arrest. In that specific courthouse, a better plea bargain deal is often obtained at arraignment. John does not know that, enters a plea of not guilty and his case is transferred to a courtroom where the judge is extremely tough on DUI defendants. He ends up getting a harsher sentence, which includes a much longer Alcohol Education program, a MADD class, a requirement to do Hospital and Morgue program community service. John is unable to complete all requirements in time and the court sentences John to 10 days in jail as a violation of probation.

EXAMPLE: Jane gets arrested for a first offense DUI and has an arraignment in front of a commissioner who is extremely tough on the DUIs and will set bail at her first appearance per Bail Schedule at $15,000.00. If Jane does not have the money to bail out, she will be hard pressed to accept whatever deal she is offered to get out of jail right away. If she decides to fight her case, she will likely stay in jail for 30 days pending the prosecutor and her defense attorney preparing for trial. If she would hire an experienced Los Angeles DUI Attorney he would not stipulate to that commissioner and argue that, given that most persons arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles are released on their own recognizance, the issue of bail is factual enough for the judge not to decide it (67 Ops Atty Gen 162, 166-167). Jane’s case would be transferred to a more liberal judge who would release Jane OR pending the pretrial.

WHY TO REQUEST A DMV HEARING AFTER A DUI ARREST IN LOS ANGELES IF I DON’T WANT TO FIGHT MY DUI?
posted by Criminal Defense Attorney in Los Angeles

THE LAW: An arrest for a DUI in Los Angeles will results not only in a Criminal DUI Case filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, but also in a separate administrative prosecution by one of three Los Angeles Driver Safety Offices of the DMV. If the results of a blood/breath test are above .08, the DMV will prosecute that person under Admin Per Se (APS) laws. As a result of that, almost all people arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles County end up having two ongoing cases: one with the Los Angeles Superior Court and a second one with the DMV. The DMV, not the Court has an absolute control over your driver’s license and will try to take it away after a hearing. A skilled Los Angeles DUI Attorney can try to prevent that. A person arrested for a DUI has only 10 days to request such a hearing and if he or she does not, the DMV will often take the driver’s license away. So, it is very important to demand a hearing prior to the expiration of that 10-day period.

THE POINT: A request for a hearing will stop a suspension from taking effect until weeks or months later. A person who decided not to fight the DUI can use that to his advantage by making sure that both suspensions start at or near the same time. Simply, once a person decided to plea guilty to a DUI, he or she can withdraw a hearing request by speaking to the hearing officer at the Driver Safety Office that has jurisdiction over him, often even being able to select a date for a suspension. The best day for a suspension becomes the day the person pleads guilty to the DUI in Court.

EXAMPLE: John gets arrested in Los Angeles for his first DUI after being pulled over for weaving by the CHP, admitting to drinking and blowing .10 in a breathalyzer. He is released from the police station 8 hours later and is cited to appear in the Los Angeles Superior Court. He does not request a DMV hearing and his license is suspended 20 days after his arrest. His Los Angeles Superior Court DUI case can not be resolved on the initial appearance, but is resolved 80 days after the arrest, when John pleads guilty to a DUI with a “Standard First” no jail offer. John will have a second suspension entered against him by the DMV as of the date of his DUI guilty plea. His total suspension will be equal to 8 months because the Los Angeles Superior Court DUI conviction will result in a second 6-month suspension that will only partially overlap the DMV APS suspension.

EXAMPLE: Jane gets arrested in Los Angeles County for her first DUI after being pulled over for weaving by the CHP, admitting to drinking and blowing .10 in a breathalyzer. She is released from the police station 8 hours later and is cited to appear in Los Angeles Superior Court for a DUI. She does request an APS hearing at one of the Driver Safety Office of the DMV in Los Angeles, which is scheduled past her citation date in court. She pleads guilty to a DUI at her first appearance in Los Angeles Superior court, 80 days after her arrest, calls the Driver Safety Office, that has jurisdiction over her case, on the same date and withdraws the request for an APS hearing, requesting that her license be suspended as of today. Her license will be suspended only 6 months because the 2 suspensions will fully overlap.

CALL US: This article is one of many, many, many things that I or another skilled Los Angeles DUI attorney can accomplish for your. Lawyering includes the ability to continue the DMV hearing for strategic reasons and the ability convince the DMV hearing officers to suspend the license as of a specific date.