DUI License Suspension And The Critical Need To Drive

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
Orange County DUI Attorney
DUI lawyer in Orange County

If you were pulled over or stopped at a DUI checkpoint and arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI), or for DUIwith injury, and you lost your license at the DMV hearing or through the DUI court proceedings, one of your first priorities will probably be to get your license back. Many people believe that they can avoid a license SUSPENSION if they have a critical need to drive. For most of us however, this simply is not true. For those younger than 21-years-old, however, it IS true.

If you are OVER 21 and have lost your license, you MUST serve a minimum period of suspension. The period of MANDATORY suspension depends on many factors including; whether you have prior DUI convictions, whether you refused to take a blood test or breath test, and whether there were drugs in your system. Any Orange County DUI lawyer will tell you that for most first-offense DUIs the mandatory period of suspension is ONE month. This suspension period will be followed by a period of “restricted” driving for five to ten months where you can only drive if it is work-related, school-related or to and from the alcohol program.

A DUI lawyer in Orange County will also tell you that for those who are younger than 21, the mandatory suspension period is ONE YEAR. However, after serving 30 days of the suspension these young drivers may be granted a “critical need” exception as long as they did not refuse to take the roadside breath test and there is no form of adequate transportation. (i.e. no bus stop within a mile of the driver’s home) Also, the driver’s DUI lawyer must prove to the DMV that driving is necessary for school, work, because an ill family member relies on the driver for transportation or because the driver needs to financially support the family. It the young driver’s DUI attorney in Orange County can make this showing, the DMV may grant this driver a critical need exception provided the driver maintains an SR-22 (proof of insurance) and pays a $100.00 reissue fee.

For more information on license suspensions and DUI defense call the Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500. We offer a free and confidential consultation with an experienced DUI Attorney in Orange County about YOUR case. Or go to our website at www.EJEsquire.com.

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
Orange County DUI Lawyers
DUI Attorney in Orange County

DUI Arrest: How Accurate Is The Blood Or Breath Test?

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
Orange County DUI Lawyers
DUI Attorney in Orange County

If you’ve been arrested for a DUI or DUI with injury in Orange County, you probably took a breath test or blood test, unless you refused to do any test at all. If you are being prosecuted for an Orange County DUI, the DA’s strongest evidence is probably the result of that blood or breath test.

But just how accurate is this result? That, of course, depends on the accuracy of the machine that gave it. Virtually every expert in the field of forensic toxicology will admit that the accuracy of any machine used to measure alcohol content is dependable only within a RANGE OF ERROR. So, for example, if the range of error, (also called “inherent error”), for a blood-testing spectrometer is .005%, this means that a blood-alcohol reading of .080% means that the actual blood-alcohol content of the blood is somewhere BETWEEN .075% and .085%; the difference between guilt and innocence. So if you are facing a DUI conviction and the blood-alcohol result is CLOSE to the legal limit, it is essential that you consult with an Orange County DUI lawyer.

While the inherent error for blood-testing spectrometers is generally agreed upon as %.005, the inherent error for breath-testing devices is usually much greater. The Hawaiian courts have actually recognized an inherent error of breath-testing devices as .0165%. This means that someone with an actual blood-alcohol of .065% could produce a reading on a breath-testing machine of over .08%. In California, most experts will put the inherent error of breath-testing devices between .05% and .015%. So if the breath evidence against you is anywhere near the limit, it is in your best interest to call a DUI attorney in Orange County with years of experience and excellent case results.

For more information about blood or breath-alcohol testing call the Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500 for a free and confidential consultation with an experienced Orange County DUI attorney or go to our website at www.EJEsquire.com.

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro

Orange County DUI Lawyers
DUI Attorney in Orange County

Beating a DUI Breath Test in Court: Partition Ratio

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
Orange County DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyer in Orange County

You get pulled over after you’ve had two or three drinks with friends. You felt fine when you started driving and didn’t see a problem with driving home. But the cop smells alcohol on your breath and asks you to do some field sobriety tests. You do the tests and the cop doesn’t see any real problems. The cop then asks you to take a roadside breath test. Believing that you are not over the limit, you oblige and blow into the small handheld machine. Beeeep! Says the machine. And it’s off to jail you go with a 0.08% result on your breath test. “How can this be” you think to yourself, as you sit handcuffed in the back of a police car. “I read that card the DMV gave me when I renewed my registration and according to the card I should be UNDER the limit,” you think.

The fact is, you may very well be below the legal limit and still produce a reading on a breath-testing device that is at or over the limit. Why? Because the breath-testing device has made an assumption about your physiology that may just be flat wrong. A skilled Orange County DUI attorney will tell you that a breath test does not directly measure the amount of alcohol in your blood. It only measures the alcohol in your breath. A breath testing device is programmed to ASSUME that the ration between the alcohol vapor deep in your lungs (alveolar air) and the alcohol in your blood is fixed at 1:2100.

This ration is called a partition ratio. In other words, the machine is programmed to assume that every 2.1 liters of your deep lung air contains the same amount of alcohol as 1 cubic centimeter of your blood. The machine measures the amount of alcohol in the air you expel and computes a result based on the assumption that YOUR partition ratio is 1:2100. But YOUR partition ratio may very well be something other than 1:2100. In fact, partition ratios vary from person to person. Partition ratios among people vary from 1:1100 to 1:3000. For example, if your actual partition ration is 1:1500 and your actual blood-alcohol is .07%, the breath test will give a reading of .10% and falsely identify YOU as being over the legal limit.

Not only that, but YOUR partition ratio also varies from time to time—it’s not fixed. For example, when your body is absorbing alcohol—moving it from your stomach to your blood—your partition ration will be higher. This will result in a breath test result that is higher than your actual blood alcohol.

For more information on partition ratios or any aspect of DUI defense call the Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500 for a free and confidential consultation or go to our website at www.EJEsquire.com.

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
Orange County DUI Lawyer
DUI Attorneys in Orange County

Driving Under The Influence (DUI) Requires Proof Of Driving

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
Orange County DUILawyer
DUI Attorneys in Orange County

Sure, everyone knows that it’s illegal to drive when you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but what does it mean to “drive”. So, for example, Dan drank heavily at home until he became quite impaired—too impaired to operate a vehicle with the same care and caution customary of a sober person. Dan then decided to listen to some music on his new car stereo. So Dan went to his car, which was parked on the street, and sat in the driver’s seat. Dan put the keys in the ignition and turned his radio on. Is Dan “driving” under the meaning of the DUI statute? Can Dan be prosecuted for DUI on these facts?

What if Dan, now sitting in his car listening to the radio, gets cold and wants to turn on the heater. So Dan now starts the engine of his car but leaves the car in park. Is he now “driving” within the meaning of the law?  Can Dan NOW be convicted of a DUI in Orange County? Can any Orange County DUI lawyer successfully represent Dan?

Lets take it one step further. Dan now decides to go get some food from a local fast food restaurant. So Dan puts his foot on the brake, puts his seatbelt on, and puts the car in drive. But at that point, Dan falls asleep. A passing police officer sees Dan and comes to check on him. The cop finds Dan asleep at the wheel, the car in drive, and Dan’s foot on the brake. The officer smells alcohol and decides to do a DUI investigation. The officer puts Dan’s car in park, wakes Dan up, has Dan exit the car and perform field sobriety tests. Dan fails the tests and the officer arrests Dan for DUI. Dan takes both a blood test and a breath test and is way over the legal limit. Can Dan be prosecuted for DUI? 

You might be surprised to learn that up to this point Dan cannot be convicted of DUI; providing that Dan’s DUI attorney in Orange County makes the appropriate motion. You see, “driving”, as the word is used in the DUI statutes--California Vehicle Code Sections 23152 and 23153 (DUI with injury)—requires some volitional movement of the vehicle. Just starting the car and even putting the car in gear is not enough to prove “driving”.

To learn more about DUI defense in Orange County visit our website at www.EJEsquire.com. If you would like to talk directly with an experienced DUI lawyer in Orange County, call us at (949) 559-5500. The consultation is FREE and completely confidential.

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro

Orange County DUILawyer
DUI Attorneys in Orange County

DUI Blood Test: Do They Need A Warrant?

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro Orange County DUILawyer
DUI Attorneys in Orange County

It’s Friday night. You meet some friends after work for some food, drinks and relaxation. At the end of the night you drive home. But all the sudden, traffic slows to a crawl. Wouldn’t you know it, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department is running a DUI checkpoint. Oh oh! You run a count in your head of how many drinks you had and when you had them. “I should be ok” you think. “I’m sure I’m not driving drunk” you think.

The cop has you roll your window down and when he smells the alcohol on your breath he asks you to do some field sobriety tests at the side of the road. You are sure you passed with flying colors—so why is the cop putting handcuffs on you and arresting you for DUI. He asks which test you want to take; blood or breath? “Get a warrant” you say. “And I want to talk to my DUIdefense lawyer”, you add. “Surely you cannot conduct a highly invasive search of my blood or breath without a warrant”, you say. But you are wrong. The United States Supreme Court ruled long ago that the police CAN search your blood WITHOUT A WARRANT!

In the case of Schmerber v. California (1966) 384 U.S. 757, the Supreme Court made an EXCEPTION to the warrant requirement in DUI cases. The Court held that because the blood evidence of the crime of DUI is so fleeting and because the time to preserve the evidence (by extracting it from you) is so short, that the police CAN take your blood even against your consent and even without a warrant. However, the Court also held that if the police do take your blood without a warrant, the burden is on the government to show that the test was performed in a reasonable manner, that the blood was taken by medical personnel in a hospital environment according to accepted medical practices.

The Schmerber case is the foundation of the doctrine of IMPLIED CONSENT, which is codified in the California Vehicle Code Section 23612. This law states that anyone who drives on the roadway has given their “implied consent” to a breath or blood test if arrested for DUI by a police officer. However, if you are arrested for a DUI and your blood is taken as evidence of drunk driving, with or without your consent, your DUI attorney in Orange County can challenge this evidence. The District Attorney still must show that the test was performed in a reasonable manner by medical personnel according to accepted medical practices. If the DA fails to make this showing, either at trial or at a suppression motion before trial, then the blood evidence cannot be used against you. This often leads to a complete dismissal of the case against you.

For learn more about DUI defense call the Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500 for a free and confidential consultation with an experienced Orange County DUI attorney or go to our website at www.EJEsquire.com.

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro

Orange County DUILawyer
DUI Attorneys in Orange County

How Much Does A DUI Cost In Orange County?

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro Orange County DUILawyer
DUI Attorneys in Orange County

This article addresses the financial costs or a DUI arrestin Orange County and the list of costs is not exhaustive. California Vehicle Code Sections 23152(a) and 23152(b) are the controlling sections for a driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol when there is no injury. Sections 23153(a) and (b) control when there is injury. If you are convicted of a DUI under any of these DUI statutes, the law will require a whole bunch of minimum monetary fines and fees. To make matters worse, a “penalty assessment” will be placed on any court fine. A penalty assessment is essentially a tax—a tax of about 200%.

Court Fines And Fees

For a typical DUI conviction in Orange County, you can expect to pay the minimum fines and fees, including penalty assessment, totaling about $2,100.00. If there are aggravating circumstances in your case you can expect to pay up to $3,500.00. But this is just the beginning.

Restitution

If you were in an accident or caused any type of property damage or injury, you will be ordered by the court to pay for it. If you don’t have the money to pay all at once the court will put you on a payment plan.

Legal Representation

In Orange County you can hire a DUI lawyer to handle a first-offense DUI for between $1,500.00 and $4,000.00. This is a “pretrial” fee and does not include a trial if one should be necessary. (Usually necessary only in about one out of ten cases) A trial fee, (including expert witness fee), can run between $4,000.00 and $8,000.00. The cost for an Orange County DUI attorney to handle a second-offense DUI usually runs between $2,000.00 and $5,000.00 pretrial

Alcohol Program

If you are convicted of drunk driving in Orange County you MUST enroll in an alcohol program in order to get your license back. A first-offender program typically costs around $450.00 for the three-month class and $800.00 for the six month class. For a first-offense DUI the higher your blood-alcohol on the blood test or breath test, the longer the class you must take. A second-offense DUI in Orange County will require you to attend an 18-month alcohol program with a cost of around $2,000.00.

Proof Of Insurance

A DUI conviction will also mean that the DMV will require you to keep an SR-22 (proof of insurance) on file for three years. This is something that your insurance company must electronically provide to the DMV. It typically costs around $25-$50 a month.

Bail

If you have a prior DUI within 10 years of being arrested for this one, you will also have to post bail in order to get out of jail while your Orange County DUI lawyer fights your case. The bail for a second-offense DUI is typically $10,000.00 which means you can hire bail bondsman to post it for you at a cost to you of about $800.00.

Ignition Interlock Device

If you have a prior DUI you may also want to install an Ignition Interlock Device in your car in order to get your driver’s license back early. You can usually can get a restricted license after three months for a second offense (instead of a full year suspension) if you have one of these installed. It costs around $500 a year.

To learn more about the consequences of a DUI or DUI defenses call the Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500 today or visit us at www.EJEsquire.com. We provide a free and confidential telephonic consultation with an experienced Orange County DUI attorney.

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro

Orange County DUIAttorneys
DUI Lawyer in Orange County

The Illegal “Pat-Down” Search; Your Ticket To A Dismissal

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
Orange County CriminalDefense Attorney
Drug Defense Lawyers in Orange County

You see it on just about every episode of Cops. And, if you are unlucky enough to be confronted by the police, you may have undergone the emasculating ordeal yourself. I’m talking about the “pat-down” search where the cop says “do you have anything on you” while he puts his hands on you and pats and grabs your clothing. Not only is this search demeaning and humiliating—this government agent is treating you and talking to you like you are a child and he or she is your irritated parent checking to see if you are bad. It is almost always ILLEGAL.

The fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees us all the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. This means that the cops cannot detain you and certainly cannot search unless they have probable cause that you have committed a crime or they have a warrant. Over the years, exceptions to the warrant requirement have emerged. For example, in a landmark case called Terry v. Ohio, the United States Supreme Court held that a police officer may conduct a limited search of a persons outer clothing by patting it down if the police have 1) reasonable suspicion; 2) based on articulable facts 3) that the person is armed and dangerous. Thus, this case gave birth to the “pat-down” search or “Terry” stop.

But the Supreme Court was careful to emphasize that a pat-down search is the exception to the general rule requiring probable cause or a warrant. If a cop pats you down, he must be able to list facts that made him believe that you were “armed and dangerous”. If the cop cannot list such facts, then the search was illegal and your Orange County Criminal Defense lawyer should file a motion to suppress any evidence found as a result of the search so that it cannot be used against you.

These days, however, cops routinely pat down people they come into contact with. When police respond to an assault or domestic violence call, a petty theft call, a disturbing the peace call or just about any other call it is common for the cops to automatically pat down the people they come into contact with. Even when they are not responding to a call they will often approach anyone they think looks peculiar and pat them down while they ask who they are and what they are doing. Most times the pat down is illegal and should be contested by your Orange Countydomestic violence attorney. But nobody ever complains about it because it has become so common that the public assume it is OK. Often, the pat-down search will lead to the police finding small quantities of drugs or drug paraphernalia. Or they will find a weapon or some other evidence of a crime. In these cases your drug defense lawyer in Orange County can get your case dismissed if he skillfully briefs and argues the issue.

To learn more about possible defenses in your case call the Law Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500 today or visit us at www.EJEsquire.com. We provide a free and confidential telephonic consultation with an experienced Orange County defense attorney.

Law Offices of EJ Stopyro

Orange County DUIDefense Lawyers
Domestic Violence Attorney in Orange County