Many people are under the belief, that the cops must always read people their rights any time they make a DUI arrest. There is no automatic requirement that the DUI officer read you your rights as part of the DUI arrest. The Miranda rights are only required when both (1) you’ve been placed under arrest for DUI (handcuffs you and takes you into custody) and (2) the DUI officer continues to interrogate you (ask you questions)

If you plead guilty to one of the offenses as part of a DUI plea bargain, the other is almost always dismissed as part of the deal. If you go to trial, you go to trial on both DUI charges. The jury could find you guilty of either, neither or both. Even if the jury found you guilty of both DUI offenses, you would really only be sentenced and punished as to one of them. Keep in mind the distinction between the two charges. In theory, someone could be guilty of Vehicle Code 23152(a) driving under the influence's and not guilty of 23152(b), driving with a BAC .08 or greater.

This is the case because different people become influenced at different BAC levels. Someone could be a .06 BAC, well within the legal limit, but because of his/her sensitivity to alcohol, nevertheless be under the influence. On the flip side, someone could be guilty of Vehicle Code 2315 2(b), but not 23152(a). For example, someone with a higher tolerance could be driving at a .09 BAC, above the legal limit, but still not be under the influence. This person is less sensitive to alcohol.

Therefore, he or she can sustain higher blood alcohol content without suffering the mental and physical impairment that compromises his ability to drive a car safely. Different experts hold different opinions as to the BAC level at which everyone in the population becomes under the influence, regardless of individual tolerance levels. Traditionally, most prosecution experts (usually police department criminalists) who testify at DUI trials give the opinion that the threshold level is a .08 BAC.

If you get arrested for a California DUI charge, the officer takes away your California drivers license and mails it to the DMV for suspension consideration. In place of your physical driver’s license, the DUI officer gives you a pink paper that functions as a temporary license.

Generally not. If your DUI charge is a misdemeanor (rather than a felony), then usually your attorney can go to court on your behalf. This is allowed under California Penal Code Section 977. Penal Code 977 allows DUI attorneys to appear without their clients in California misdemeanor cases.

Sometimes you can obtain the DUI police report simply by going to the police department and requesting a copy. Sometimes the police agency will provide it to you. Most often, however, the police will only provide the DUI police report to the district attorney and to the DMV. They refuse to release it directly to the person who got arrested or even to the person's California DUI attorney.

In this case, there are two avenues for getting a copy of the DUI police report. First is from the DMV. When you request a DMV hearing to contest the drivers’ license suspension, tell the DMV you want a copy of the discovery. The DMV will then send you and your attorney a packet of materials. Included in these materials will be the police report and BAC lab reports.

There is no need immediately to notify your car insurance company of the DUI arrest. Wait to see what happens with the case. If you can get the DUI charges dismissed (or reduced), and win the DMV hearing, which many of our clients do, you most likely will avoid hikes in your auto insurance premiums or cancellation of the policy.

How? In general, nobody automatically notifies your auto insurance company of the DUI arrest. But if you are convicted, the insurer will almost certainly find out, and will do so one of two ways. The first is periodic review. Most car insurance companies check DMV records every few years, or when you apply for (or seek renewal of) a policy. When they do a periodic check, they will see a DUI conviction or DMV license suspension (if they don't know already), and take action. The second way the car insurance company will discover a DUI conviction is if you have to ask them for an SR22.

If your California drivers license is suspended (either because of a DUI conviction in court, or because of losing your DMV hearing), the DMV will require you to provide an SR22 before reinstatement of your license. Moreover, you will have to keep a valid SR22 on file with the DMV for 3 years as a condition of maintaining your California driver’s license. Where do you get an SR22? From your car insurance company. When you go to= the insurance company asking for an SR22, they will demand to know why you need it. Moreover, this will trigger them to do a DMV records check. They will discover that you suffered a license suspension because of a DUI, and take whatever action they deem appropriate.

An SR-22 is essentially a document, provided by your auto insurance company, verifying that you carry car insurance with at least the California state minimum liability coverage. The SR-22 indicates the expiration date of the policy, and a pledge by the insurance company to notify the DMV immediately if the policy gets canceled before the expiration date. Because he is required to file an SR- 22 for 3 years, and because the policy expires in 10 months

Different attorneys feel differently about this issue. The breath test is less accurate than the blood, and more things can go wrong. The breath can generate more falsely high readings. The blood test is more accurate. With the blood test the officer does not know the results prior to writing his report, because the blood test takes days to come back. The officer cannot “tailor” the facts to fit the predictable symptoms of the particular BAC level.

It is possible to the entire DUI case dismissed, more often however the two DUI charges are reduced to lesser offenses. These lesser offenses may be a wet reckless, a dry reckless, an exhibition of speed, or a traffic infraction.