A Prior Felony DUI Will Make A New DUI Charge A Felony

DUI Lawyer in Orange County

If you have a felony conviction on your record for a prior DUI offense, including DUI with injury, then it behooves you to be extra careful about driving with ANY alcohol in your system. Any skilled Orange County DUI Attorney will tell you that California Vehicle Code section 23550.5 says that if you have a prior felony violation for DUI  within the past ten years, then any DUI charge, even a DUI where there is no accident or injury, can be charged as a felony and you could be sentenced to serve time in the California state prison.

So, for example, Dan had a DUI in 2004 where he had an accident and somebody was hurt. Because of the injury to another person, Dan was convicted of a felony DUI under California Vehicle Code section 23153. Because this was a first offense, Dan’s  DUI Attorney in Orange County  was able to get him probation and Dan never actually served any time in Orange County jail. However, the conviction was still for a felony DUI. Then, nine years later in 2013, Dan was long past probation and the felony DUI seemed to be in the distant past. Dan was driving home from a party and was stopped because his taillight was not working properly. The officer smelled alcohol on Dan and noticed his red, watery eyes and a slight slur of his speech.  After submitting to field sobriety tests and a preliminary alcohol screening test (voluntary breath test), Dan was arrested for DUI. His blood test showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.09 percent. Although there was no accident, no injury, and no other circumstances of the DUI to justify enhancing the penalties such as a child in the car or excessive speed, Dan was charged with a felony DUI and faced a prison sentence of up to three years. This is the impact of California Vehicle Code section 23550.5.

Another example is found in the recent case of People v. Barclay decided by the 6^th District court of appeal on 7/11/2013. In that case, Barclay was arrested for a DUI and his blood alcohol level was measured at 0.15 percent. However, Barclay had a prior felony DUI violation as a juvenile within the past ten years. Although Barclay’s DUI Attorney skillfully argued that juvenile charges shouldn’t count because they are technically not “convictions”, the court held that even a juvenile violation of the DUI laws counts under section 23550.5 and Barclay was therefore convicted of a felony DUI. Moreover, a conviction under section 23550.5 requires revocation of the defendants driving privileges and designation as a habitual traffic offender for three years.

If you face charges for DUI or DUI with injury, call The Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500 and speak to one of our skilled and experienced DUI Attorneys in Orange County.

We have office locations at 1901 Newport Blvd., Suite 350, Costa Mesa, CA 92627 and at 32072 Camino Capistrano, 2^nd floor, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675. You can also visit our website at www.EJEsquire.com.

DUI Attorneys in Orange County