DUI Process – A Roadmap of How The Court & DMV Work

California’s DUI court process proceeds from your arrest to the arraignment to pretrial conferences to finally a trial. At the same time, you are entitled to a DMV hearing to contest your license suspension.

Many defendants plead to DUI with no jail time or – if given the option – to a lesser offense like wet reckless or dry reckless. Even if you lose your DMV hearing, you should be able to continue driving with an ignition interlock device in your vehicle.

The following flowchart illustrates the life of a California drunk driving case.

Our California DUI defense lawyers will highlight the following in this article:

• 1. The DUI Investigation
• 2. Post-Arrest Process
• 3. Legal Representation
• 4. The DMV Case
• 5. The Criminal Case
• 6. Defenses
• 7. Penalties

1. The DUI Investigation

An investigation is the first step in the California DUI court process. It typically begins after you are pulled over by the authorities for a traffic violation.

If the police suspect that you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, they will ask you to perform:

• field sobriety tests (FSTs) and
• an on-the-spot breath test called the Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS).

If the officer believes they have probable cause that you are driving under the influence, the officer will arrest you.¹

2. Post-Arrest Process

After you are arrested for drunk driving in California, you must then submit to a blood or breath test to see if your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is illegal at 0.08% or higher.² If the officer suspects drug use, you are required to submit to a blood test (or urine test in some cases).³

If you refuse to submit to a chemical test, you will also face a “refusal” allegation. This carries additional DUI penalties, including a one-year driver’s license suspension and a mandatory two days in county jail.⁴

Eventually you should get released if you post bail. Alternatively, the judge may grant you O.R. release where you pay nothing as long as you promise to make future court appearances.

The arresting officer then completes their police report and submits it to the local prosecuting agency for review. A prosecutor will then either:

1. decline to file charges, or
2. formally charge you with driving under the influence.

3. Legal Representation

When it comes to legal representation, you have three options when it comes to navigating the California DUI court process. These include:

1. representing yourself,
2. being assigned a public defender, or
3. hiring a private criminal defense attorney.

Representing yourself is not advised because prosecutors tend to offer better deals to defendants who have legal counsel.

As for public defenders, the court will appoint one only if you are indigent. Even then, public defenders do not have the time or resources to zealously fight for the best possible outcome for you.

The surest bet is to hire a private attorney who:

• keeps abreast of changes and developments in the law, and
• has excellent negotiating skills so you can avoid a trial.

4. The DMV Case

Shortly after your arrest, the officer will notify you that your driver’s license will be suspended in 30 days. The officer then issues you a temporary license (the pink form) that is valid until the suspension goes into effect.

You have 10 days from the arrest to request a hearing with the California DMV. If you do, you can continue driving pending the hearing results. If you do not request a hearing, the suspension takes effect on the 30th day.

A DMV hearing is an administrative trial held at a DMV office where you and your attorney have the opportunity to challenge the suspension of your driver’s license.

If you “win” a DMV DUI hearing, the DMV will not suspend your license. If you “lose” the hearing, the DMV will suspend your license for four months to three years depending on:

• how many prior drunk driving cases you have, and
• whether you took or refused the chemical test.⁵

5. The Criminal Case

There are three major court proceedings once a case enters the court system. These include:

1. an arraignment,
2. pretrial conferences, and
3. a jury trial.

Arraignment

Once a prosecutor files DUI charges against you, the court will hold your DUI arraignment. This is a short proceeding where you make your first official court appearance and (in most cases) are formally charged with:

• Vehicle Code 23152a VC (driving under the influence) and
• Vehicle Code 23152b VC (driving with a BAC of .08 or higher).

The judge is supposed to read the charges you are facing, though if we are there, we ask to waive this reading to save time. The judge will also inform you of your constitutional rights against self-incrimination and to have legal counsel, etc.

If you are still in custody during your arraignment, we would also ask the judge to lower your bail or to grant O.R.

You then enter an initial plea of “not guilty.” You can always change your plea later to guilty or no contest (“nolo contendere”) after we have negotiated the best plea deal we can get.

It is during the arraignment the prosecutors hand over the “discovery,” which is their evidence in your case. Finally, the court sets a date for the first pretrial conference a couple weeks later.

Pretrial Conferences

Like it sounds, pretrial conferences are where we meet with the prosecutors to discuss plea bargains and any other issues associated with your case. In the meantime, we conduct our own investigation to compile all the available evidence in your favor.

Depending on what we find, we file pretrial motions, such as:

• a probable cause motion to contest the validity of the officer’s initial stop and/or arrest,
• a motion to dismiss your charges for insufficient evidence,
• a motion to suppress evidence to ask the court to exclude any evidence that was illegally obtained or will unjustly prejudice you,
• a discovery motion demanding more evidence from the prosecution,
• a motion to split blood or urine samples so we can get them independently tested, and/or
• a “Pitchess” motion to learn more about the officer’s complaint history in an effort to discredit their report and testimony.

Throughout this pretrial phase, we negotiate with the prosecutor in an effort to resolve your case short of going to trial. For example, we may be able to convince them to reduce your charge to “wet reckless” under Vehicle Code 23103.5 VC: This is just a reckless driving violation with a note on your record that it was alcohol-related.

In the rare event negotiation stall, your case goes to trial. We will discuss with you all the pros and cons of taking your chances at trial versus settling for a plea bargain.

Jury Trial

California DUI trials include several phases, including:

• jury selection,
• opening statements,
• the prosecution’s case,
• your case (which usually includes cross-examining the arresting officer),
• closing statements,
• verdict, and
• sentencing (if you are found guilty).

In order to convict you of driving under the influence, the prosecutor must convince all jurors beyond a reasonable doubt of your guilt. This is a very high burden, and in many cases we can present enough “reasonable doubt” to prosecutors to compel them to offer a favorable plea bargain without a trial.

6. Defenses

Here at Shouse Law Group, we have presented literally thousands of DUI defendants in California. In our experience, the following defenses have proven very effective with prosecutors, judges, and juries at getting these charges reduced or dismissed.

• The police stopped or arrested you without probable cause,
• The police did not administer your field sobriety tests, breath test or blood test correctly,
• You had a medical condition that tricked the breathalyzer into returning false results,
• You were not impaired or “under the influence,”
• You were not driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle, and/or
• The authorities engaged in some type of official misconduct.

7. Penalties

Drunk driving carries several punishments in California. For example, a first-time drunk driving conviction is a misdemeanor punishable by:

• three to five years of informal misdemeanor probation (typically three years),⁶
• DUI school ranging from three to nine months (typically three months),⁷
• fines and penalty assessments totaling between $1,500 and $2,000 (depending on the county),⁸
• a six-month driver’s license suspension,
• installation of an ignition interlock device for six months (unless you choose not to drive),
• up to six months in jail (depending on the county), and⁹
• attending a victim impact panel.

There are also indirect consequences, such as increased car insurance premiums and harsher penalties if you get convicted of a subsequent DUI.

Note that the only way to keep your driver’s license is to win both your DMV hearing and the criminal trial. Even if you win one, losing the other will trigger a license suspension.

Additional Resources

For more information, refer to the following:

1. Alcoholics Anonymous – 12-step program for overcoming alcoholism.
2. Drunk Driving Overview – NHTSA page on drunk driving statistics and prevention.
3. Impaired Driving: Get the Facts – CDC fact sheet on impaired driving.
4. Driving Under the Influence (DUI) – California DMV page on driver license suspension for drunk driving cases
5. MADD – Non-profit organization devoted to stopping drunk driving.

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