No Two Drunk Driving Arrests Are Alike – Understanding California DUI Charges

When you get pulled over by California police for erratic driving, and they suspect you may be drunk or under the influence of a drug, you could end up facing very serious criminal charges, even if you are 100% innocent.

What you say, how you act, and what happens next will determine what charges you face (if any) and the consequences of an arrest if the police decide to book you and charge you with a DUI.

What Is A DUI? Is There Any Difference Between DUIs And DWIs?

In my jurisdiction, which is Northern California, the criminal charge associated with drunk driving, or driving on drugs, is called DUI for Driving Under the Influence (of alcohol or drugs). In some other states, laws refer to DWI for Driving While Intoxicated, though generally speaking, it means the same thing.

That said, a DUI is not the only charge you can end up facing in California. You can also be charged with “driving with a blood alcohol limit at or above .08%. In fact, if you get arrested for drunk driving here, you would typically be charged with two different crimes: driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol level at or above .08%.

These two different crimes would require that you were driving and either a) that your driving was affected by your consumption of alcohol, or b) you had a .08% or greater blood alcohol level at the time. These might sound the same, but there are technical and legal differences, and the prosecution would only need to prove one charge in order to convict you.

Most of the time, these DUI charges are misdemeanor charges, which means you will not be facing more than a year in jail (along with fines and other consequences), but under some circumstances, Driving Under the Influence can be charged as a felony. In either case, you can fight the charges with the help of a skilled and specialized DUI defense lawyer.

When Can I Be Charged With A Felony DUI In California?

There are two main ways to get a felony DUI in California, though they are not the only ways.

1. If the arrest is your fourth DUI within ten years of three other DUI arrests, you will almost always be charged with a felony.
2. If someone was injured in an accident, regardless of whether you actually caused the accident, you will most likely face felony DUI charges. Any injury, regardless of how serious it is, is severe enough for the DA’s office and the prosecution to charge you with a felony. The more serious the injury or accident, the higher the chances of a felony charge.

Felony charges come with even greater legal penalties, in terms of prison time, fines, license suspensions and consequences on your career. If you or someone you love is facing a felony DUI charge, you need to contact our office immediately to speak with an experienced California DUI lawyer.

What About Driving Under The Influence Of Illegal Or Prescription Drugs?

Driving with drugs in your system can get you charged with DUI, though not with a BAC level of over .08%. These can be more complicated cases, however, since there are a lot of different drugs out there which can adversely impact your driving, including some legal prescription medicines.

In San Francisco, I am starting to see more DUI cases involving either illegal or prescription drugs, though they are always subject to the latest set of laws on the subject. For example, while the laws on drugs have changed so that possession of a number of illegal drugs is now considered a misdemeanor instead of a felony, I have not actually seen that much of an increase in incidents, though they are being charged differently.

How Can I End Up With A Prescription Drug DUI Case?

Recently, I had a particularly interesting case where the DA charged someone for illegal possession of a prescription drug after a DUI stop. The client had a prescription for it, but he did not have it with him and was not given an opportunity to show it to the police officer. He had it at home, but instead of letting someone bring it down to the station to show that it was legal, they just turned the police report over to the DA’s office. They ended up charging him with both DUI and drug possession.

Cases involving prescription drugs often involve someone who had been given a prescription at a therapeutic level (a certain amount only per day) but ended up taking more than the therapeutic level. For example, if, on a blood test result, you had more Vicodin in your system than you were supposed to, you can be charged even if you had a prescription. Other times, you could get charged with a DUI for having a combination of alcohol and a prescription drug if the latter is not supposed to be mixed with alcohol.

While prescription drug DUI cases can be complex in San Francisco, there can also be many different defenses available. It is tougher for the DA’s office to prove that you had impaired driving when dealing with a prescription drug case or an illegal drug case because there is no clear .08% BAC level threshold like there would be for alcohol related DUI charges.

How Does California Address Cannabis In Your System?

Cannabis, or rather, the active ingredient THC, can stay in your system for a month or even longer. This can lead to complex negotiations after DUI stops. An officer might claim that you had cannabis in your system, and if you had smoked at all recently, or were a habitual consumer, it would show up on a test.

Fortunately, as attorneys, we can often argue that you had a lot less than even the therapeutic level recommended for treating most ailments for which cannabis is prescribed. The police will often be unable to show that you were at or over that level when you were driving.

Similarly, it can be hard for the prosecution to show that your driving was impaired. Even if you were driving badly, the DA would not necessarily be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was because of the cannabis.

How Many DUI Arrests Are Made In The Counties We Serve?

As a DUI defense law firm for the greater Bay Area, we serve quite a few counties, which have wildly different trends in DUI behavior and arrests.

The smaller counties may have closer to a few thousand a year, whereas the larger counties are more likely to have closer to 6,000 to 10,000 a year. The counties in the San Francisco Bay area that tend to have the most DUI arrests are Santa Clara County, Alameda County, San Mateo County, and Sonoma County.

The smaller counties that do not have as many arrests would be Contra Costa County, Marin County, Napa County, San Francisco, and Solano County.

Why Is The County I Got Arrested In Important?

Different Counties in California have different prosecutors, preferences and rules when it comes to DUI charges and other arrests. This means that the impact of an arrest in one county could be very different from the consequences of the same situation in another.

For example, in Marin County, prosecutors will actually negotiate on drug-related DUI cases even when they rarely offer a plea bargain or reduce charges for DUI involving alcohol. They do so because they have lost cases in trials, and they understand these charges would be harder to prove.

On the other hand, in Marin County, they feel very strongly about the .08% number, so when they get a case where your BAC is above this level, they would never negotiate down to a wet reckless or a dry reckless (lesser charges than DUI) because they know they have the evidence to convict you.

Every other county might negotiate DUIs when they were close to the legal limit for just alcohol, but not Marin.

No matter what county you are arrested or charged in, however, you will need a good DUI defense attorney.

More Information

• Common Mistakes Made When Facing A DUI Charge
• Navigating The Legal Consequences Of A DUI: What You Need To Know
• DUI Defense Strategies In The San Francisco Bay Area
• Penalties For A First DUI Offense In San Francisco County

When facing DUI Or Felony DUI Charges In California, a free initial consultation to discuss your situation and options can change the trajectory of your case. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (415) 247-0700 today.