If you have been arrested for driving under the influence in Victorville, California, our DUI defense attorneys are here to help eliminate or reduce your charges, suspend the jail sentence, and fight for you to keep your driver’s license.
On this page, our San Bernardino County criminal defense attorneys give an overview of the following DUI topics and how we may help:
- 1. What happens after a DUI arrest in Victorville, California?
- 2. What is the criminal sentence?
- 3. What is Victorville DUI School?
- 4. Who makes DUI arrests in Victorville?
- 5. Where is the jail?
- 6. Where is the Victorville DUI courthouse?
- 7. Who is Victorville DUI lawyer Michael Scafiddi?
Victorville DUI charges can possibly be lessened to reckless driving or a dismissal.
1. What happens after a DUI arrest in Victorville, California?
A DUI arrest in Victorville actually triggers two separate cases: One in criminal court, and one in the Department of Motor Vehicles. Once a person gets arrested, the officer will confiscate his/her driver’s license and replace it with a temporary thirty-day one. And the arrestee has only 10 days from the date of the arrest to contact the DMV and request a hearing to contest the license suspension.
Since California DMV hearings are like mini-trials, DUI defendants should definitely hire a Victorville DUI attorney right away to request the hearing as well as to appear on their behalf, present evidence, and cross-examine witnesses. If it is the defendant’s first misdemeanor DUI, then the DMV may suspend the license for a few months. But most defendants can resume driving right away with an ignition interlock device (IID).
A Victorville misdemeanor DUI criminal case consists of two charges: 1) DUI under Vehicle Code 23152(a), and Driving with Excessive Blood Alcohol Content (.08 or higher) under Vehicle Code 2315. More serious DUI cases may be chargeable as felonies if someone was injured or killed or if the defendant had three misdemeanor DUI convictions in the past ten years.
Since DUI cases often drag out over several months, we use the time to collect evidence, keep the prosecutors busy with answering motions, and pressure them to resolve the case as positively as possible. And if the charges are for a misdemeanor DUI, we will be able to appear in court throughout most if not all of the case without the defendant having to show up him/herself.
2. What is the criminal sentence?
The usual penalties for a first-offense DUI in Victorville include the following:
- A three-to-four figure fine, but that can often be switched to community service.
- Three years of probation.
- Six-month suspension of the driver’s license, but defendants can continue driving with an IID installed.
- A few hours of DUI School.
- Two days to six months of jail time, but that can usually get suspended or switched to community service.
For subsequent DUIs, the punishments get more rigorous: Higher fines, mandatory jail, a longer DUI School program, and an ignition interlock device in the car. But in any case, a Victorville DUI lawyer may be able to negotiate with the D.A. to avoid a DUI conviction completely.
3. What is Victorville DUI School?
If a person is convicted of drunk driving in Victorville, the judge will demand that he/she completes California DUI school. The length of the program will depend on what the blood alcohol content was and whether the defendant has prior convictions for driving under the influence.
Three local Victorville DUI Schools are:
Jackson-Bibby Awareness Group, Inc.
Programs: First Offender; Eighteen Month
14420 Civic Dr. Suite 3
Victorville, CA 92392
(760) 241-3300
Dalton & Associates
Programs: First Offender; Eighteen Month
16200 Bear Valley Rd. Suite 111
Victorville, CA 92392
(760) 241-1777
Wright Education Services
Programs: First Offender
2660 Victor Avenue, Suite B
Redding, California 96002
(530) 223-5122
Defendants can contact the criminal division at the Victorville Courthouse at (760) 254-6215 for information about DUI School.
4. Who makes DUI arrests in Victorville?
The Victorville Police typically make DUI arrests. The Victorville PD is located at 14200 Amargosa Road Victorville, California 92392. The phone number is (760) 241-2911.
If the DUI allegedly occurs on a highway such as the I-15, the arrest may be made by an officer with the California Highway Patrol.
5. Where is the jail?
People arrested for DUI in Victorville are usually booked at the Victor Valley Jail, a temporary holding facility located behind the courthouse at 14455 Civic Drive. Their phone number is (760) 243-8719.
Defendants who do not bail out may be transferred to the West Valley Detention Center (WVDC) located at 9500 Etiwanda Ave., Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739. Their phone number is (909) 350-2476. Search for inmates here.
6. Where is the Victorville DUI courthouse?
DUI cases are handled in either department four or department eight of the Victorville Courthouse, located at 14455 Civic Drive. Their number is (760) 245-6215. There is free parking.
Victorville DUIs are prosecuted by the San Bernardino District Attorney. Which judge is assigned depends on the case number (even or odd) and whether the defendant has a criminal history. DUI cases rarely have Friday hearings.
7. Who is Victorville DUI lawyer Michael Scafiddi?
As a former police officer, Victorville DUI lawyer Michael Scafiddi has learned all the tricks of the trade of fighting DUIs. Michael Scafiddi meticulously researches your case to uncover every possible hole in the state’s evidence and uses them to help persuade the prosecutors to dismiss or lower your charges. And since he used to be a police officer, he knows exactly how to negotiate with them and how far they are willing to go.
A graduate of California Southern Law School, drunk driving attorney Michael Scafiddi has years of experience serving Victorville and defending every kind of DUI legal matter, from misdemeanor DUI and DUI causing injury to felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Call our criminal defense law firm for legal advice on your criminal charges.
If you are arrested for driving drunk, our Victorville CA DUI defense attorneys are on your side. We try to lessen your charges or get them thrown out while fighting to keep your driver’s license. We are also prepared to take your case all the way to trial. Phone our Victorville Attorneys DUI Defense Office at (760) 953-0163 to schedule a free consultation. Our office is located at:
15437 Anacapa Road
Victorville, CA 92392
Our criminal defense attorneys also serve DUI / DWI clients in the Victor Valley area and High Desert, including Hesperia, Apple Valley, and Adelanto. We also create attorney-client relationships in Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange County, San Bernardino County, West Covina, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside County, Corona del Mar, Long Beach, Barstow, Inland Empire, Ontario, and elsewhere in north, central, and southern California state.
Our law offices defend against all types of charges, from traffic tickets and drug crimes to sex crimes, domestic violence, and white collar crimes. Our legal team’s practice areas include personal injury and family law as well.
Go to our Victorville Criminal Defense Lawyers main page.