DUI is a serious charge in Southern California that can carry severe, life-altering consequences. Sentences include fines reaching thousands of dollars, driver’s license suspension spanning months or years, mandatory DUI school, and potential jail time—even for a first offense.
With so much at stake, if you’re facing criminal charges for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, taking action to protect yourself is crucial. The best defense is hiring a Los Angeles DUI lawyer without delay. A La Puente DUI attorney can provide guidance and may even be able to help you win your case without the need for a trial.
These knowledgeable criminal defense attorneys can fight to keep you out of jail and save you from bearing the full financial burden by negotiating reduced fees and penalties. With a DUI lawyer’s defense strategy, you increase your chances of the most favorable resolution possible.
Costs of a DUI
DUI carries extremely severe penalties in California that can devastate your finances and freedom. Fines are rising statewide and are increasingly seen as a revenue source by municipalities like the City of La Puente.
Law enforcement in La Puente has cracked down aggressively, setting up controversial DUI checkpoints aimed at catching as many drivers as possible. The total costs from a DUI in Southern California can easily amount to over $15,649.
Having a previously clean criminal record does little to lessen the stringent punishments. California DUI penalties can be harsh even for first-time offenders, including:
- Jail Time: All DUI convictions carry the possibility of incarceration. Sentences can range anywhere from a minimum of two days up to six months in county jail. Judges have wide discretion, and many show little leniency toward DUI offenders.
- Driver’s License Suspension: Your driving privileges will be suspended for any DUI charge. Suspension periods span from several months up to one year or longer for repeat offenses.
- DUI School: If convicted, you must complete a court-ordered DUI education program at your own expense. Costs can start around $500, and even the basic 3-month course represents a significant financial burden.
- Fines and Fees: The base fine for a DUI is $390, but additional penalty assessments are tacked on. The lowest total you’ll likely pay is roughly $1,800 in fines and fees. For aggravated offenses, the costs can skyrocket into the tens of thousands of dollars.
Those with prior DUI convictions within the previous 10 years face even harsher consequences. You may be forced to pay for the installation of an ignition interlock device in your vehicle. Potential jail sentences increase to up to one year or up to 16 months in state prison.
DUI Costs at A Glance
For a basic first-offense DUI in Southern California with no aggravating factors, the total estimated costs can reach a minimum of around $15,649. This breaks down to fines, court fees, DMV charges, impound costs, mandatory DUI education programs, skyrocketing insurance rates, and more. Some key expenses include:
- A minimum base fine of $390
- Court penalties up to $1,245
- Booking/fingerprinting fees of $170
- Towing/impound charges around $350
- 3-month DUI school costing $575
- $125 DMV license reissue fee
- Up to $10,154 in car insurance hikes over 10 years
License suspensions drag on for years, and in egregious cases involving injury or repeated offenses, a DUI conviction can rise to the level of a felony.
The costs and long-term impacts of a DUI are simply staggering in California. Having a trusted La Puente DUI lawyer providing an aggressive defense is critical to avoid these overly punitive penalties that can derail your life and finances.
What Can a Lawyer Do to Help Me With My Case?
A skilled DUI lawyer can provide invaluable assistance in several key ways to help defend against DUI charges:
Investigate the Circumstances
An experienced DUI attorney will thoroughly investigate all aspects of your arrest, including reviewing the police reports, any dashcam/bodycam footage, administering of field sobriety and chemical tests, your Miranda rights being read properly, and more.
They will look for any irregularities or violations of protocols that could potentially get evidence suppressed or the case dismissed.
Challenge the Evidence
Your lawyer knows all the latest DUI laws and can analyze the evidence against you, such as breath, blood or urine test results. They may be able to challenge the accuracy of testing equipment/procedures or find issues with how the evidence was obtained and handled.
Negotiate for a Better Plea Deal
If the evidence seems stacked against you, a DUI lawyer can negotiate with the prosecutor for reduced charges or minimized penalties as part of a plea bargain. This could mean avoiding jail time, lesser fines, a shorter license suspension, and preventing a permanent criminal record in some cases.
Represent You Skillfully at DMV Hearings/Trial
Should your case proceed, an attorney will vigorously advocate for you at arraignment, DMV license suspension hearings, pretrial motions, and any criminal court trial. They know the legal system inside and out, including how to effectively cross-examine officers and present a strong defense case.
Ensure Your Rights are Protected
Having a DUI lawyer from the start ensures you understand your rights, all proper procedures are followed, and you do not accidentally make statements or admissions that could jeopardize your defense. Your lawyer is there to safeguard your interests.
Overall, working with an experienced DUI attorney gives you the best chance at a positive outcome by having expertise in this complex area of law on your side from start to finish. The stakes are too high to face DUI charges alone.
What Happens After a DUI Arrest?
The Los Angeles County Sheriff conducts most DUI arrests in the La Puente area out of the nearby Industry Station, but you may also have been taken into custody by the California Highway Patrol out of their Baldwin Park office.
No matter which law enforcement agency handled your arrest, you now face a rapidly unfolding legal process filled with a series of critical deadlines that will significantly impact the outcome of your case.
Each of these deadlines carries immense consequences for your future, so being fully prepared and knowing how to properly address them is vital. The key deadlines include:
The DMV Hearing
Immediately after your arrest, the DMV will automatically suspend your driver’s license through an “administrative suspension” – even before you’ve had a court trial. Requesting a DMV hearing within the strict 10-day window after arrest is the only avenue to try to avoid this suspension and maintain your driving privileges.
An experienced La Puente DUI lawyer can ensure you meet this crucial deadline, file the proper request, and provide skilled representation at the hearing itself, armed with the evidence and legal arguments needed to potentially keep your license valid until your case goes to trial.
The Arraignment
This first official court date is not the actual trial, but rather a brief preliminary hearing before a judge where you must enter your plea of guilty or not guilty. However, it also represents your first opportunity to directly confront the prosecution’s case against you in court.
Prosecutors have busy caseloads, so if you appear with a reputable DUI defense attorney by your side, they may decide avoiding a potentially lengthy legal battle is preferable to taking their chances against your lawyer at trial.
As a result, they become much more open to offering favorable plea deals at this stage – deals that are usually far better than anything proposed when you were first arrested.
Trial Preparation
While your trial at the West Covina Courthouse will likely be scheduled just 30-45 days after your arrest, having a skilled La Puente DUI lawyer may mean you never even need to go to trial.
In the lead-up time, your attorney will thoroughly investigate every aspect of your case, challenge the admissibility of evidence the prosecution is relying on, and apply mounting pressure driving them to offer a positive resolution to avoid trial altogether.
The sooner you take action to engage legal counsel after a DUI arrest, the more time and opportunity they have to build the strongest possible defense strategy on your behalf.
How a La Puente DUI Lawyer Improves Your Odds
Speaking to a criminal defense lawyer may be the single best thing you can do for your case. The ideal lawyer devotes their entire practice to drunk driving cases and has an extensive track record of DUI victories. They should be able to provide examples of similar cases they’ve handled successfully and the strategies they employed.
An experienced La Puente DUI attorney utilizes a multitude of tactics to aggressively challenge the prosecution’s case and push for the most positive resolution possible. Common defenses include:
Questioning the Validity of Chemical Tests
Most DUI charges hinge on the results of breath, blood alcohol concentration, or urine tests administered during the arrest. However, these blood alcohol content tests are far from infallible.
Your criminal lawyer will thoroughly analyze all data, procedures and administrative processes involved to identify any potential deficiencies or violations that could call the accuracy of the blood alcohol test results into question.
Challenging the Legality of the Arrest
Police officers do not have carte blanche authority to pull over any driver they wish. There must be probable cause, such as a traffic violation or irregularity in driving behavior, that provides reasonable suspicion of impairment.
Your attorney will scrutinize every aspect of the stop and arrest for any missteps or overreaches by law enforcement that violated your constitutional rights. If the arrest is deemed unlawful, it could result in the entire case being thrown out.
Protecting Your Civil Rights
Even after a legal arrest, strict protocols must be followed regarding your Miranda rights, the questioning process, and procedures for conducting searches of your vehicle or person.
Missteps that infringe on your civil liberties can provide grounds for suppressing evidence or witness testimony that the prosecution is relying upon. Your DUI lawyer will be well-versed in all applicable rights and mandated formalities.
Skilled Negotiation and Bargaining
In some circumstances, the most pragmatic path may be resolving the case through negotiating a plea bargain.
Your attorney’s extensive experience, combined with a thorough dismantling of the prosecution’s case, can create leverage for getting charges reduced or potentially even dismissed entirely. DUI lawyers are adept at identifying opportunities to work out favorable settlements.
The bottom line is that no DUI charge is indisputable when you have a knowledgeable criminal attorney providing an aggressive defense custom-tailored to the specifics of your situation. With so much at stake, securing top-tier legal representation is an invaluable investment that could make all the difference in the outcome you face.
Talk to a La Puente Criminal Defense Law Firm for a Free Case Evaluation
The bottom line is that a DUI conviction of any kind in Southern California will likely impact you financially for years to come in ways you may not even foresee yet. You may face additional costs like installation of an ignition interlock device in your vehicle, which runs $1,000+ annually.
You could lose wages from missed work due to a suspended license or potential jail time. Your ability to get approved for loans, financial aid for college, and more can also take a major hit. Rather than attempting to handle your case alone, your best move is to enlist the services of a trusted, experienced DUI attorney.
We want you to have the best defense possible in your DUI case. We can match you with a top criminal defense team. We work only with the most experienced and reputable DUI lawyers in the area. Your lawyer will offer you a FREE consultation to discuss their recommendations for your case.
Don’t wait until it’s too late.
