If you or a loved one have been charged with a DUI – driving under the influence, you should immediately contact an experienced Santa Monica DUI Lawyer. The consequences of being convicted of a DUI in Santa Monica, CA, are severe as a convicted individual must pay hefty court fines and fees, face possible jail time, deal with a suspended driver’s license, enroll in a DUI education program, and complete three (3) to five (5) years of probation.
That said, other consequences include a suspended driver’s license and difficulty obtaining a job as employers will see a DUI conviction on your record. We often take for granted our driver’s license, from the clients we’ve represented, we know how difficult it is for them to get from one place to another without a license. So, if you’ve been charged with a DUI in Santa Monica or elsewhere in California, please contact an experienced DUI lawyer at The H Law Group. Our attorneys have the knowledge and experience necessary to obtain the best possible outcome for you. This outcome may include allowing you to keep your license and staying out of jail. Schedule your free consultation today by filling out the contact form below or by calling us at 1 (213) 370-0404.
At The H Law Group, we handle simple DUI cases, as well as more complicated cases that involve an accident, injury, or death. Our DUI attorneys aggressively defend their clients both at court and at the DMV hearing. The first thing we do is examine the facts of the police stop; if we find that the initial stop was improper, we will challenge the stop to have any evidence obtained as a result of the stop excluded so that the prosecution will not be able to use it against.
Our attorneys then move on to examine the results of the field sobriety tests to determine whether the police officer correctly conveyed the results of the tests. We do whatever we can to weaken the prosecution’s case, to convince them to drop the charges against or to negotiate a favorable plea deal for you. In many cases, we’ve successfully been able to have the charges against our clients dropped, if they weren’t dropped, we were able to negotiate outstanding plea deals for them, allowing them to stay out jail and to drive on a restricted driver’s license. So, if you’ve been charged with drunk driving, please contact an experienced drunk driving attorney at The H Law to represent you throughout the process.
If you’ve been arrested for a DUI, DWI, or marijuana DUI in Santa Monica, CA, the arresting police officer may have confiscated your driver’s license and issued you a temporary pink license that is good for 30 days from the date of your arrest. For an individual to keep his license, he must schedule a DMV hearing within 10 days of being arrested for drunk driving or a DUI. Failure to schedule a hearing within the ten (10) days period will result in you losing your license within 30 days of your arrest. To keep your license, you or your attorney must schedule a hearing and prevail at the hearing within 10 days of your arrest.
Hiring and having an attorney at your side to assist you with the hearing could mean the difference between you losing your license and you keeping it. For first time offenders, if you fail to schedule your DMV hearing, your license will be suspended for four months, however, if you have a refusal, meaning you refused to perform a chemical test at the police station or the hospital, your license will be suspended for twelve (12) months. Also, if you’re convicted for drunk driving, the DMV will add two (2) points to your DMV record, making it very costly for you to obtain automobile insurance.
As such, if you’ve been charged with drunk driving, or driving while under the influence of drugs and/or marijuana, you should immediately contact an experienced Santa Monica DUI Lawyer to fight the charges against you, and possibly have your driving privileges restored.
Usually, DUI charges are brought against an individual under the California Vehicle Code (CVC) Section 23152(a), which prohibits individuals from operating a motor vehicle while he or she is under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. In addition to charging an individual with CVC 23152(a), the prosecution can also bring charges under CVC 23152(b) for driving an automobile with a blood alcohol (BAC) level of above 0.08%. The same consequences that apply to a DUI apply to driving with a BAC of 0.08% or above.
Having a DUI conviction on one’s record is a terrible thing for a variety of reasons. The most significant consequences of being convicted of a DUI is the loss of an individual’s driving privileges, having to spend time in jail, paying hefty court fees and fines, enrolling in an alcohol or drug education program, and having to complete a formal or informal probation term that ranges between three (3) to five (5) years.
So, if you’ve been charged with a DUI in Santa Monica, CA, you should not take the charges against you lightly as they will have an impact on your future. To lessen the impact, you should hire an experienced Santa Monica DUI attorney to represent you in court and fight the DUI charges against you. Our attorneys have plenty of experience handling DUI cases, so they will do all that they can to achieve the best possible outcome for you.
In Santa Monica, a DUI arrest first starts with a police officer either patrolling an area or a DUI checkpoint. Most stops occur once a police officer spots a driver committing a simple traffic infraction, such as speeding, running a red light, or driving with a broken tail light. Once stopped, a police officer will use the stop to determine whether you’re driving while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. If the observes things such as bloodshot eyes, the odor of alcohol, or impaired movement.
If the officer observes any of these things, he may ask you to perform a roadside sobriety test. You should know that you’re not required to perform these tests, and you probably shouldn’t. You shouldn’t perform them because the prosecution will only use the results against you. That said, if you’re arrested, and you’re taken to the police station, you should perform any chemical tests that the police officer orders you to perform. Failing to perform the tests will be used against you by the prosecution to impose harsher penalties, and the DMV, for first-time offenders, will suspend your license for 12 months instead of the usual four months.
To avoid having to deal with devastating consequences, you should immediately hire an experienced lawyer for DUI in Santa Monica. At The H Law Group, we have great DUI lawyers who are here to help you fight the charges against you and get your life back on track. Schedule your free consultation today by filling out the contact form below or by contacting us at 1 (213) 370-0404.
