Prosecutors in Los Angeles take driving under the influence seriously to deter drunk driving. If you have been arrested for DUI, do not hesitate to seek skilled legal representation. Even a first-time arrest can be devastating and result in a conviction that attracts life-altering penalties like incarceration, fines, and probation. Below is a guide to laws, sentences, and penalties for DUI crimes.
Defining Driving Under the Influence in California
Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) bans driving under the influence of alcohol. The law allows intoxicated motorists to be charged with drunk driving even when there is no proof that their blood alcohol concentration is at or above the legal limit of 0.08%.
VC 23152(b) is the “per se” drunk driving law. The law makes it automatically unlawful to operate a car with a blood alcohol concentration greater than the limit of 0.08%, irrespective of whether you are intoxicated or whether alcohol has impaired your driving capability.
If a person is arrested for VC 23152(b), the prosecution will charge them with VC 23152(a). Although these crimes are separate, they have similar penalties, and if a defendant is found guilty of them, it will count as a single DUI on their criminal record.
DUI is a priorable crime. The consequences and penalties of a conviction become more severe with every subsequent drunk driving conviction within ten (10) years. Also referred to as the lookback or washout period, the 10-year timeframe includes out-of-state and wet reckless convictions.
DUI and Driver’s License Suspension
If arrested for drunk driving, the police officers will cease your license and give you a pink “Notice of Suspension.” The notice advises you of your right to a driver safety administrative per Se “APS” DMV hearing that prevents your license suspension, provided you request a hearing within ten days of your arrest.
If you fail to request the hearing within the ten-day window, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will automatically suspend the driver’s license after 30 days.
To schedule a hearing, you should contact your nearby DMV driver safety branch office, where your hearing will be held. Your defense attorney can request and schedule the DMV hearing for you.
During the hearing, you can present DUI defenses to the hearing officer.
If you prevail in the hearing, the Department of Motor Vehicles hearing officer will set aside the move, and you will maintain your driving privileges. Since the DMV hearing and court proceedings differ, winning your DMV administrative hearing will not automatically carry over to your court proceeding.
The license suspension or revocation will be effective if a defendant loses the DMV hearing. The circumstances and length of the limitation will depend on whether it is their first or subsequent crime.
First DUI Offense
If this is your first DUI conviction, you will face the following potential penalties:
- Summary (informal) probation that ranges between three and five years.
- Six (6) months in jail.
- Fine between $390 and $1,000.
- Enrolling in a court-approved DUI school (AB 541 class) for three or nine months.
The judge can order you to install an ignition interlock device in your motor vehicle for up to six months to continue enjoying your driving privileges without limitations. Otherwise, the DMV will suspend your driver’s license for ten months. The DMV can convert the license to a restricted license that permits you to operate your car to work, DUI school, and school.
Second-Time DUI Crime
When found guilty of a second DUI in Los Angeles, the court-imposed penalties are as follows:
- Ninety-six minimum hours to one maximum year in jail.
- A five-year maximum summary probation.
- Completing an eighteen-month or thirty-month DUI school.
- A fine that ranges between $390 and $1,000 on top of one thousand dollars in penalty assessments.
- Installing an ignition interlock device for a year.
- A two-year withdrawal of driving privileges that the DMV can convert to a restricted driver’s license after 12 months (Alternatively, you can immediately obtain an IID-restricted driver’s license that allows you to operate your car anywhere, provided you have installed an IID).
Third-Time DUI
Per California DUI laws, a third-time crime without injuries is a misdemeanor. It is punishable by the following penalties and consequences:
- Up to five (5) years of informal probation.
- One hundred and twenty days to a year in jail.
- Installing an IID for two (2) years.
- Completing DUI school.
- Three thousand dollars in penalty assessments and fines.
- Three-year driver’s license revocation, which can become a restricted license following eighteen months (you can operate your motor vehicle immediately with an IID).
- The Department of Motor Vehicles will also designate you as a “habitual traffic offender.”.
Probation has the following terms and conditions:
- Driving without alcohol in your system.
- Agreeing to take to chemical tests if re-arrested for DUI.
- Committing no other crime.
- Paying restitution.
- Attending Narcotics Anonymous (NA) or Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
Felony DUI
You will face a felony charge if you have at least four convictions within the look-back period. Its penalties include the following:
- Sixteen months, two years, or three years in state prison.
- Fines that range from $390 to $1,000.
- Attending DUI school for thirty months.
- Three (3) to five (5) years of felony probation.
- Compulsory ignition interlock device installation for a year (otherwise, the Department of Motor Vehicles will withdraw your driving privileges for four years).
- The DMV will designate you as an HTO.”.
DUI Causing Injury
DUI causing injury per VC 23153 is a California wobbler. The prosecutor can charge the defendant with a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on their criminal history and the facts of the case. They are subject to this law if the DUI injures someone other than them.
A misdemeanor DUI with injury is punishable by:
- Up to five (5) years of informal or misdemeanor probation.
- Up to a year in jail.
- A fine that is between $390 and $5,000.
- Attending and completing DUI school.
- Installing an ignition interlock device for six (6) months (otherwise, the DMV will suspend your driver’s license for a year).
- Paying restitution to every injured party.
On the other hand, a felony DUI with injury attracts the following potential penalties:
- Paying restitution to every injured party.
- A three-year HTO status.
- Fines that range between $1,015 and $5,000.
- Completing an eighteen-month-to-thirty-month DUI school.
- Installing an IID for two to three years.
- Sixteen minimum months and ten maximum years in state prison and an enhanced one to six years in prison, depending on the number of people injured and the severity of their injuries.
- A strike on the criminal record under the Three Strikes law.
If you have a strike on your criminal record and are later charged with a felony, the judge will punish you as a second striker. In this case, you will face twice the maximum sentence for your underlying crime.
You become a third striker if you have two previous convictions for violent or serious felonies and are subsequently charged with another violent or serious felony. In this case, you face a prison sentence of 25 years to life for the underlying charges.
Gross Vehicular Manslaughter While Intoxicated
A violation of Penal Code 191.5(a) happens when you drive drunk and operate your car with gross negligence, and consequently cause an accident that kills a person.
Gross negligence happens when:
- An individual acts recklessly and creates a risk of great bodily injuries or death, and
- An individual would have known that acting that way would increase the risk.
Gross negligence differs from judgment errors or ordinary carelessness. It is gross negligence if you act differently from how a cautious individual would behave in a similar situation and if your conduct shows disregard for human life
If convicted of PC 191.5(a), you will be subjected to the following penalties:
- Formal/felony probation.
- Serving time in California state prison for four, six, or ten years.
- Ten thousand dollars in fine.
Aggravating Factors for Your DUI Sentence
There are circumstances and facts that, if existing during your DUI arrest, will enhance your incarceration duration. The aggravating factors will enhance the penalties, irrespective of whether it is your first or subsequent DUI charge.
BAC Above 0.15%
In 2006, California legislators added Vehicle Code Section 23578 VC with sentencing enhancements for drivers with a blood alcohol concentration greater than 0.15%.
0.15% blood alcohol concentration is double the legal limit. That means you put road users at greater risk and will face enhanced penalties. If found guilty of drunk driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 percent, you should attend:
- A nine-month AB 1353 class, and
- A six-month AB 762 counseling and alcohol education class.
You should also adhere to the following probationary terms and conditions:
- Attending programs like Hospital and Morgue (HAM) and Mothers Against Drunk Driving Victim Impact Panel.
- Incarceration.
- Participating in community service.
Chemical Testing Refusal
Refusing to take a breath or blood test after a lawful DUI arrest will attract enhanced penalties on top of California DUI penalties.
The implied consent law makes refusing to take a breath, blood, or urine test illegal. By operating a car in California, you are presumed to have consented to BAC or drug chemical testing if you are lawfully arrested for drunk driving.
There are two main penalties for refusing to take a post-arrest DUI chemical test. First, if convicted, you will face additional and consecutive penalties on top of the underlying DUI sentence. These increased penalties include:
- The first drunk driving offense will carry forty-eight more hours in jail.
- A second DUI offense attracts an additional 96 hours in county jail.
- A third drunk driving crime is punishable by ten more days in jail.
- A subsequent DUI crime carries eighteen more days in jail.
Failing to submit to the chemical test will also automatically result in losing your driving privileges. The consequences will include the following:
- A one-year driving privilege withdrawal for your first drunk driving crime.
- A two-year driver’s license revocation for your second-time DUI within the lookback period.
- A three-year driver’s license revocation for your third DUI crime within the lookback period.
Excessive Speed
VC 23582 adds at least sixty days in county jail to your underlying DUI when all the following apply:
- You are found guilty of driving under the influence.
- During the crime commission, you drove over the maximum posted speed limit by 20 miles per hour on another highway/ street or 30 miles per hour on a freeway.
- You drove recklessly.
You should also attend DUI school
Underage Drunk Driving
VC 23136 is the zero-tolerance law that makes it illegal for someone under 21 to operate a car with a BAC greater than 0.01%. The law applies to every beverage containing alcohol, including medicines. Also, it applies regardless of whether alcohol impairs your driving.
Violating Vehicle Code Section 23136 VC is not an offense. The only penalty is the compulsory suspension of your underage driver’s license. A first violation attracts a one-year license suspension. Your license will be revoked for two (2) to three (3) years if you have a history of breaking DUI laws.
However, if the defendant’s BAC was above 0.05%, they will face an infraction punishable by:
- $100 in fines.
- Loss of driving privileges for a year.
- Attending DUI school for at least three months if they are above eighteen years.
DUI with a Minor Passenger in Your Motor Vehicle
VC 23572 offers increased consequences if you operate your car while under the influence with a juvenile under 14 in the vehicle.
The violation will lead to the following sentencing enhancements:
- 1st DUI — An additional 48 hours in jail.
- 2nd DUI — Additional ten days in jail.
- 3rd DUI — 30 more days in county jail.
- 4th DUI — Ninety more days in jail.
Find an Experienced Defense Attorney Near Me
Driving with a BAC of 0.08% or higher is an offense in Los Angeles, regardless of whether alcohol impaired your driving. Since DUI offenses carry severe penalties, you are better placed to fight your DUI criminal charges when you retain a defense lawyer immediately following your arrest. Irrespective of your case’s nature, the experienced legal team at Jonathan Franklin DUI Attorney takes pride in our aggressive and thorough legal approach. We can start by listening to your side and analyzing the evidence before developing a defense strategy. We understand what is at stake and how a conviction can impact your professional and personal life. Contact us at 323-464-6700 to schedule your free initial consultation and learn how we can help you.
