San Francisco, CA
DUI and DWI Lawyer at San Francisco, CA
Practice Areas: DUI & DWI, Criminal Defense
OUTCOME: PETITION GRANTED & DUI CONVICTION DISMISSED
Without getting into too much detail here, this was a straightforward petition to expunge a conviction for reckless driving all because I was able to get the DUI charges dismissed for client two years ... earlier. Client rewarded my efforts by trusting me to handle his subsequent expungement petition which was granted and the entire case now dismissed.
OUTCOME: DUI CHARGES DISMISSED & CASE REDUCED TO RECKLESS DRIVING
Client was early 20's, but working full time for a technology based company in San Mateo County, when she was stopped by the California Highway Patrol for speeding on Highway 101 while driving home fro ... m a late night in San Francisco that included drinking. Although Client performed remarkably on the Field Sobriety Tests, a PAS breath sample damned her fate when it returned a result of .10% BAC. Client was arrested for DUI and submitted to a blood sample which was later tested (and retested) to be .09% BAC. San Mateo County is one of the most difficult courts to work so getting client out of DUI was not a given. Today, however, we settled the case for a dismissal of all DUI charges. Client accepted a reduced charge of reckless driving and received a substantially reduced sentence of two years informal court probation, a 12 hour DUI School (a DUI conviction usually requires a three month DUI School) and NO JAIL, SWAP OR COMMUNITY SERVICE. Client's fine was also reduced by about a $1,000. In the end, Client accepted responsibility and learned a lesson to never drink and drive again. Her license was suspended by the DMV for four months and I doubt this client will ever need a DUI lawyer again!
OUTCOME: ENHANCEMENT DISMISSED & 180 DAYS HOUSE ARREST
Client was a real mess. This sixty something year old had been though many things in life, but came to me on the brink of existence as she was suffering from a lifetime of alcohol abuse. This time, s ... he was arrested in her home after a call to the Santa Cruz Police that a woman was acting erratically after driving a vehicle until is stopped for want of gasoline. Eventually, client provided a .21% BAC breath sample, which ordinarily would be an aggravating factor, but of greater significance still was that client was still on active DUI probation for another high BAC DUI conviction in Santa Cruz County a year earlier. Indeed, client had TWO PRIOR DUI convictions in the last two years making this her third and she was also charged with driving on a suspended license pursuant to Vehicle Code Section 14601.2, the most severe offense of that section. Client had suffered from alcoholism for long time and had personal loss which only exacerbated the problem. Seeing this as the root cause of her present DUI situation, we immediately began a course of treatment which she responded to positively. Today, months later, I convinced the District Attorney to dismiss all charges except the DUI, including the high BAC enhancement. Client received five years of probation, fines of approximately $2,600, and 180 days of jail for which she's been accepted to HOUSE ARREST, which will allow her to continue with her rehabilitation. Client was referred to the 18 month Multiple Offender DUI School, but it was not ordered as a part of her probationary sentence. She'll need to complete this school to have a chance at getting her California Driver's License reinstated after all of these DUI's, but I'm optimistically hopeful that this time we've pulled the weed out from the root and there won't be any future DUI's. We've got to try!
OUTCOME: Probation Granted: 3 years, $1,900 fine, 3 Month DUI School & Community Service
Client was a recent law school graduate who was arrested by the CHP in the early morning hours as Client drove home after drinking alcohol socially with co-workers. Client submitted to Preliminary Bre ... ath Test ("PAS") which came in at .10% BAC, but a later blood test returned a .14% BAC which was later confirmed by a retest of the blood sample. Today, I resolved the case at the third Pre-Trial Conference in this case. At the first Pre-Trial Conference, the District Attorney was completely unsympathetic and in fact wanted ADDITIONAL punishment because Client was a law school graduate and should have known better than to drink and drive. We continued the case and at the second Pre-Trial Conference, a new District Attorney was on the case and actually offered us a REDUCED sentence to settle the case. Client rejected this offer and we returned to court for a final THIRD Pre-Trial Conference in which we settled the case for a DUI conviction in which Client was sentenced to the minimum three years informal court DUI probation, fines of approximately $1,950 (which we obtained a low monthly payment plan), a three month DUI School and most importantly, 160 hours of community service to be done for a non profit organization in Alameda County in lieu of any jail or SWAP. This was an agreeable concession by the District Attorney because it is typical for a DUI offender to serve FIVE DAYS with the Weekend Work Program through the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department. Santa Clara County's five day SWAP sentence for a first offense DUI charge is by far the most punitive in the entire Bay Area for similar DUI cases. Client's license suspended by DMV for thirty days with eligibility for a "restricted license" (for work purposes) for five months with the filing of an SR-22. Again, Client had NO CRIMINAL RECORD and admitted to making an mistake. It was a good thing Client didn't make the second mistake of accepting the District Attorney's first offer to settle the case.
OUTCOME: ENHANCEMENTS, PROBATION VIOLATION & SUSPENDED LICENSE DISMISSED
Client was a younger guy who had made the boneheaded mistake of driving after drinking. He was previously convicted of a DUI in Santa Clara County and was still serving a three year informal probation ... sentence when he was stopped by the CHP again in Santa Clara County for texting behind the wheel. Client submitted to Field Sobriety Tests and then blew into a Preliminary Breath Test ("PAS") which had difficulty obtaining a singular reading of .17% BAC, this in spite of numerous attempts by the Client to provide a breath sample. Client was shocked by the number and subsequently REFUSED the required implied consent breath test. Thinking better of it, Client changes his mind and submits to a station house breath test with a dramatic decrease to .09% BAC. Client is nevertheless charged with a second offense DUI with high BAC enhancement, probation violation and separate misdemeanor offense of driving on a suspended license. Client was originally represented by the Public Defender's Office who had actually assigned a law student to represent him. He decided to go with me and I arrived at the courthouse to substitute in as attorney of record for the law student who had the misdemeanor plea form in hand awaiting my clients signature and plea to both the DUI and suspended license misdemeanors. After substituting in as attorney, I continued the case to today's Pre-Trial Conference calendar where I pushed and pushed and pushed the reluctant but ultimately very fair, District Attorney to resolve the case for a plea to the DUI and admit his prior with a DISMISSAL of all other charges. This resulted in client receiving three years of informal probation, fines of approximately $2,100, an 18 month multiple offender DUI School, and 10 days of SWAP in lieu of actual jail time. By continuing client's case for new Pre-Trial Conference, I was able to get the expensive suspended license misdemeanor dismissed and his total SWAP reduced from 15 to 10 days. Client failed to request DMV hearing and was determined to have REFUSED. NEVER REFUSE A BREATH OR BLOOD TEST, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'VE SUFFERED A PRIOR DUI CONVICTION OR SUSPENSION. If so, you'll be like this client and lose your license in California for TWO YEARS, period. No driving at all. I'm hopeful, however, that this mistake won't happen again.
OUTCOME: DUI CHARGES DISMISSED & CASE REDUCED TO RECKLESS DRIVING
Client was stopped by the CHP for speeding in excess of 90 mph. Complicating matters, it was late at night and he had been drinking alcohol. Arrested for DUI, his breath test came in at .09% BAC. Cl ... ient was charged by the District Attorney's Office almost one year after his DUI arrest, meaning that he had already lost his license from the DMV APS hearing. If he suffered a DUI conviction in court, his license would be suspended again. Thankfully, today we negotiated a disposition which included a dismissal of the DUI charges and a plea to the reduced charge of reckless driving (wet reckless). His sentence was greatly reduced and his license not subject to further suspension from the DMV. Client received two years of informal court probation, fines of approximately $1,200, a 12 hour DUI School and no additional jail, community service or SWAP. In the end, the client learned a lesson and wasn't overly punished for it.
OUTCOME: PETITION GRANTED , PROBATION TERMINATED EARLY & DUI CONVICTION DISMISSED
Wow. This case epitomizes just how difficult things are with DUI charges in San Mateo County. I was first hired by client in 2010 to fight a DUI charge as client traveled frequently to Canada for wor ... k (you can't get into Canada with a DUI conviction, btw). Anyway, the case was a garden variety .11% BAC case which the DA steadfastly refused to reduce to reckless driving so client could have a chance to save his job. As a result, we were pushed into a jury trial, the first of which ended in a mistrial. Ultimately, the law changed allowing workers with a Temporary Resident Permit ("TRP") to enter Canada for work, even though they had a DUI conviction on their record. As a result, client settled his case for a DUI conviction some three years after his original DUI arrest date. After finishing his court ordered terms of probation, I fulfilled a promise to client to petition the court for early termination of probation so his conviction could be expunged from his record. Client had only completed ONE YEAR of his three year probation term, but considering the age of his arrest, I thought we had a strong petition. I prepared, served and filed the petition which clearly stated many times that client had only completed one year of DUI probation, so I wasn't completely surprised when the judge granted our petition with no objection from the District Attorney. Days later, I get the call. It's the judge's clerk telling me that the judge and District Attorney were "unaware" that client had only finished one year of probation and the court wanted to put the case back on calendar for "reconsideration." For real??? So the court and District Attorney just admitted that neither of them actually read my petition and now they want me to drive back to Redwood City so they can now have a second chance to deny the petition? I've heard that the wheels of justice move slowly, but this was a page from the first Superman Movie when the hero flies so fast around the Earth that time goes in reverse. Gratefully, another two days pass and the clerk calls me again. Apparently, the judge has changed his mind and is going to stick with his original ruling granting the petition. For over four years we dealt with this DUI case and now finally resolution! At least for now.....I'm not going to answer anymore calls from private numbers for a while!
OUTCOME: ENHANCEMENT DISMISSED & 3 MONTH DUI SCHOOL
Client was a young man in his early 20's who was stopped by CHP for speeding with two passengers in his vehicle. He was determined to be under the influence of alcohol and arrested for DUI with a brea ... th test of .18% BAC. Today, I helped client resolve this DUI which was enhanced by his elevated BAC for a minimum sentence of three years informal court probation, fine of $1,933, a three month DUI School, one day of SWAP in lieu of jail and a license suspension of thirty days followed by five months of restriction with an Ignition Interlock Device ("IID"). The District Attorney dismissed the high BAC enhancement and I sincerely believe that this client learned the important lesson that DUI can be a life changing mistake.
OUTCOME: DUI CHARGES DISMISSED & CASE REDUCED TO RECKLESS DRIVING
Today, I settled a case for a client who was arrested for DUI by the Alameda Police Department after allegedly "rolling" a stop sign. Alameda Police didn't have a PAS device for a breath test and clie ... nt elected a blood test which ultimately came in at .11% BAC. This was a first offense DUI and client had no prior convictions of any kind, yet, at a .11% BAC by BLOOD test, his fate was very much in doubt. In the end, I succeeded in getting the District Attorney to dismiss the DUI charges in exchange for a plea to a lesser misdemeanor offense of reckless driving pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 23103.5 ("Wet Reckless"). Client received a significant reduction and was sentenced to two years of informal court probation, fine of $1,033, 3 Month DUI School and NO JAIL OR SWAP. Critically, the dismissal of the DUI meant that client would NOT be required to have a mandatory Ignition Interlock Device ("IID") as all Alameda County first offense DUI convicts are required to do. Client's license was suspended for thirty days followed by five months of restricted driving. Client accepted responsibility for his actions and the Prosecution recognized this. A "win/win" in my book and another successful case.
OUTCOME: PETITION GRANTED & DUI CONVICTION DISMISSED
Successful DUI Expungement petitions are really won at the Pre-Trial Conference or Jury Trial of the underlying DUI arrest. Case in point, Client was charged with DUI in San Mateo County with a .10% B ... AC chemical test. This case could have easily gone either way between a DUI or Reckless Driving conviction. The Pre-Trial Conference in Redwood City worked out for us, however, and we were able to settle the case for a reduction to Reckless Driving pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 20103.5. The DUI charges were dismissed and client was only sentenced to two years of DUI probation instead of the statutory three to five years DUI probation required for a California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) or (b) conviction. By getting this reduction, we were able to effectively file an expungement petition to dismiss the Reckless Driving conviction from client's criminal record a full year sooner than if he had been convicted of DUI. Moreover, we prepared our expungement petition PRIOR to his DUI probation completion so that we were able to get the petition granted and case dismissed almost immediately after his completion of the two years of probation. With the petition granted and conviction dismissed, client can now compete for employment with the prejudice of his DUI related conviction minimized or erased. This case highlights the importance of getting DUI convictions expunged, but more than that, it's also a great compliment to me as a DUI lawyer in that the client had the faith and confidence in me to handle both his DUI and his expungement petition. Indeed, this is the only type of repeat customer I ever want to have!