Who knows how to deal with DUI's???

[Got Sileighty?]

i googled around for about 30-45mins today and i still came out confused.

anyway, last night my buddy got arrested for DUI (driving under influence, for those who dont know). he was bailed out this morning. cops held on to his license, issued him a temporary one, and made him a court date next month. we read that temporary license over and over since it had some info on his case, but we're still not sure on what he should do now.

does anyone here have any experience on DUI's, specifically in California?? what should my friend do now? is there a way or method he should follow to get the least possible punishment? thanks for any help.

[RoNiN240sx]

depends on how old he is, but either way his license will be suspended for some time. if he is under 21, then his license will be suspended for a year FOR SURE. if he is 21+, then he'll probably get about a 3-4 month suspension. now here's how that slip that he got works.

that pink thing that he's holding onto right now, basically that's his license for the next 30 days. he has 10 days, TEN days, from the day that he was arrested to schedule a hearing with the DMV over his DUI. there's 3 questions on the back of the pink slip that will be addressed in the hearing, and they're basically asking if the cop pulled you over for a just reason or not. 9 times out of 10 he did. the only advantage to requesting a DMV hearing is that they'll schedule it for 2 or 3 months later, which means that you'll get a "stay" until that time, meaning you can drive until you're DMV hearing. so after your 30 day pink license is up, if you have a "stay" until your DMV hearing, you can drive until then, even if the 30 day license expired. after your DMV hearing, they'll most likely suspend your license, but it won't be officially suspended until they send you a letter in the mail, which will buy another week or two. if you get a lawyer, he'll attend the DMV hearing and the initial arraignment in court. but you have to appear for the sentencing. personally, i don't think that a lawyer does that much more than a public defender except for let you know what's going on and charge you for it. i saw people representing themselves in the court getting the same punishments that my cousin did (he had a lawyer).

what was his BAC? if he's under 21, and it's more than .05%, then he's screwed, no license for a year GUARANTEED, i.e. not even a restrictive license. if he's over 21, and it's more than .08% then it's more like a 3-4 month suspension.

my cousin got caught in july and his court date wasn't until october, your friend has a court date in a month, so i guess the "stay" that one can attain from a DMV hearing might not be as long as my cousin's was. he's 19 btw. he got caught july 2nd, so his pink license paper lasted until august 2nd, but he scheduled a DMV hearing for sept 2nd, so he got a "stay" on his temp license until december, but the DMV officially suspended his license on the 10th, so the stay officially ended. that's how it works.

just to give you a head's up on what your friend might be facing if he's under 21 (btw my cousin got caught in LA county):

at least 2-3 thousand in fines total, they say it's like a 400 dollar crime, but trust me there are soooo many more fees.

3 years probation.

26 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings

a First Offenders program, 2 hours a week for 15 weeks.

a Drugs and Alcohol program 90 hours.

10 days of Tree Farm (in place of 10 days in jail) which is basically 7am-3pm of labor, planting trees, pickinup up trash etc.

and worst of all, 1 year license suspension with no driving at all. if he's caught driving, it's an automatic 10 days in jail, with violation of probation.

btw, his BAC was .11% so yah that's what happened with him. hope your friend has better luck

[240_keyy]

please beat the ever-living piss out of your friend for me. There is NO excuse for driving under the influence EVER!! PERIOD! Just be glad your friend didn't kill anyone while he was being an utter fucktard.

BTW, here are some nice facts about drunk driving..

17,970 people killed last year in the united states due to alcohol related accidents. That is seventeen thousand, nine hundred and seventy people that were fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons daughters and friends that will NEVER be back because some idiots were too stupid to give someone else the keys, ride home with someone else, or just stay where they were until they sobered up.

17,970 preventable deaths

17,970 out of roughly 40k total deaths, all because of alcohol. that is like 30%

I HATE drunk drivers, if I was in charge, your friend would get a year in jail mandatory, a mandatory 10K fine, and a mandatory loss of license for 3 years. Plus 6 months of weekly counseling.

[fastpace]

hey keith, that is your speech, pretty cool, but very true. drunk drivers suck. i am sure your friend is still learning his lesson.
I would check out caranddriver forums because they have alot of topics about this.

[Got Sileighty?]

wow thanks for the informative reply Ronin. my friend is 24, and his BAC was 0.2% (legal limit is 0.08).

so that 3-4 month suspension, does that mean he can't even drive to work? 'cause that pink slip said something about a restricted license where you're allowed to drive to work OR AA meetings only.

when requesting that hearing in 10days, all it does is buy another 2-3 months?? is that all it does? if he does request it, then do they issue him another temp license then?

yea im totally against drunk driving (ive only done it once for a 10min. drive home, i know it was stupid, and i wont do it again). the funny thing is, well not really funny, this friend of mine always drives drunk and last week i was telling him "i think you need something bad to happen for you to learn a lesson"....a week later, this whole thing happens.

so anyway, should my friend go and request that hearing thing before 10 days is up? and are there any tips/tricks to get the lowest possible sentence?? thanks again guys.

[RoNiN240sx]

yah requesting that hearing in 10 days, all it does is delay the suspension until the hearing, or until the DMV confirms that your friend was pulled over with reason. so it's just a delay, it won't stop a suspension unless the officer pulled you over for no reason, which barely ever happens. if you don't request a hearing, then at the end of the 30 day period that the pink paper gives you, you're license is supsended there and then.

since your friend is over 21, he's got it much easier, but it is my understanding that his license will be suspended without a restrictive license for 3 months, in which he goes through the first offender's program, after he completes that, i believe the program helps him get his restrictive license, and he'll have that for at least a year i think, let's you drive to work, school, etc. the 3 month suspension is given to him from the court, not the DMV, so i believe the DMV can't/won't give a restrictive license until those 3 months. again, my cousin was 19 so it was different for him, but after sitting in the court watching the other cases go first, this is what seems to happen.

California is really cracking down on drunk drivers, so the lowest possible punishment is still pretty bad. from what my cousin tells me from his counseling classes, they pretty much give everyone the same punishment, the only way one could get some slack was if they were in a real real bad situation, one kid did get a 3 month probation because he was gonna be a marine however.

[chokudoriS13]

Like I already told you yesterday, he deserves every bit of his punishment and then some :hammer: :hammer: :bash: :bash: :bash:. What a moron that guy is... And you let him drive you around to City Walk after you guys got trashed. :hammer: on you.

[Got Sileighty?]

thanks again ronin, hehehe u shouldve charged me a consultation fee or something, o well too late for u buddy :D . i just let my friend read the responses a few mins ago, and i guess now he knows what he has to do.

there is one good thing that came out of all this, i think he's done with driving drunk.

anyway, thanks again for the help. :)