The DMV Hearing: Late Blood Analysis Can Save Your License

Orange County DUI Lawyer

If you are arrested for a DUI in Orange County, whether it is DUI drugs or just old fashioned drunk driving, the arresting officer will confiscate your California driver’s license. (the officer will not confiscate an out-of-state license as the officer has no authority to do so) The officer will give you a pink piece of paper 8 ½ by 11 ½ inches. This piece of paper is your temporary license and it expires 30 days after the date you were arrested. You, or your DUI Lawyer in Orange County must call the DMV within ten days of your arrest and request a  DMV hearing. If you or your DUI Attorney don’t make that call, your license will be toast after 30 days and you will have no chance to stop it.

The DMV hearing can be won, although it is very uncommon. One mistake that is sometimes made by the Orange County Crime Lab, where the blood from those arrested for DUI is tested, is that the analysts delay too long before actually testing the blood. When this happens, DUI Attorneys in Orange County can then object to the introduction of the blood report as inadmissible. Case law holds that when a sample was tested six days after it was taken in a DUI arrest, the DMV cannot rely solely on the blood report as evidence of the blood-alcohol level.

Because of the delay in testing the blood, Orange County DUI lawyers know that the blood report was not made at or near the time of the blood draw, which is a requirement of the business records exception to the hearsay rule. Thus, the delay in analyzing the blood taken in a DUI arrest will require that the DMV have the analyst come and testify personally at the DMV hearing. Since the DMV almost never does that, they will be without admissible evidence of what the blood-alcohol level was.

If you and your Orange County DUI Attorney prevail at the DMV hearing, you can avoid the APS license suspension. However, the DMV will still issue a suspension if you plead guilty to DUI in court so that battle must also be won in order to preserve your driving privileges. If your DUI Lawyer in Orange County can somehow get you a wet reckless, then you will avoid a license suspension all together and only have to attend an Alcohol program.

If you’ve been arrested for DUI and would like to consult with an experienced DUI lawyer, call The Law Offices of EJ Stopyro today at (949) 559-5500 for a free and confidential consultation.

Orange County DUI Attorneys