Drunk Driving Conviction Penalties, Fines, Punishment and Consequences of a DUI Arrest

California DUI Laws and Drunk Driving Laws

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Courts in Orange County, Ventura County, Los Angeles County, and throughout Southern California take DUI charges and misdemeanor or felony dui convictions very seriously. Because the stakes are so high, even your freedom could be at risk in some cases, make sure you have an experienced California DUI lawyer on your side.

At Takakjian, Sowers & Sitkoff LLP, our DUI lawyers are also former deputy district attorneys. We have extensive courtroom trial experience. We know how to examine the evidence, investigate the arrest, and interview witnesses. Our attorneys are strong advocates for our clients in California courtrooms and in resolving the case in the best possible manner. If you are convicted our DUI lawyers from Takakjian, Sowers & Sitkoff LLP will aggressively push for a much lesser DUI sentence, penalty or punishment.

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Your California DUI Attorney will be a Partner in our Firm who is a Former Prosecutor!

Summary of New California Laws for 2010

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California DUI Laws and Drunk Driving Laws

Contact the California DUI attorneys at Takakjian, Sowers & Sitkoff LLP. Tell us about your arrest and all the circumstances surrounding that arrest. It is often in the details that we find the key to your defense. The consequences of a DUI conviction can be serious, DUI Fines and DUI Penalties include:

• A first-time misdemeanor DUI, 23152 California Vehicle Code, carries jail timea 48-hour minimum in some courts. A felony DUI can mean up to three years in state prison and an additional 3-5 years for an injury accident. When your freedom is in jeopardy, you need a DUI lawyer.
• A California DUI conviction can result in formal or informal probation. Mitigating circumstances and other factors may determine the amount of supervision and length of probation. Talk to your DUI lawyer about your options.
• Under California Drunk Driving laws, a misdemeanor or felony dui conviction in California can mean mandatory attendance at drinking driver alcohol programs. The attendance depending on circumstances and the alcohol level can be required for 90 days, or six months, nine months, 18 months, or 30 months. See the www.dui-help.com/fopnumbers.html provider list. You could be ordered to mandatory NA Narcotics Anonymous or AA meetings.Alcoholics Anonymous - en Español  AlaNon/AlaTeen
• You may be required to install an Ignition Interlock Device (IID) to your car's ignition system. To start your car, you would first have to blow into a handheld device to check your breath for alcohol. The cost of an IID varies with the manufacturer and the service provider.
• For information on IID installation and costs, contact AutoSense (866) 352-7224 or (800)-325-2656; Consumers Safety Technology (866) 352-7224 or (877) 777-5020; Guardian Systems (866) 352-7224 or (800) 499-0994, Life Saver (866) 352-7224 or (800) 210-8087 and Smart Start, Inc. (800) 880-3394.
• With a conviction under California Drunk Driving laws, you may be subject to thousands of dollars in penalties including significant DUI fines, penalty assessments, and victim restitution fund payments.
• If you refused a chemical test (breath or blood test) in California, you could face additional penalties, even jail time. This must be challenged, for even a first offense may result in a one-year license suspension. A second chemical test refusal offense within ten years will result in a two-year DMV license revocation. An additional offense in a ten-year period will result in a three-year license revocation.
• Under California DUI laws and California Drunk Driving laws, your vehicle can be impounded or even permanently forfeited and sold, leaving you with a car payment for a car you no longer own.
• The DMV can suspend your driver's license. You need to request a DMV hearing within ten days of your arrest in order to get a restricted license.
• You could face significant auto insurance rate increases or even car insurance cancellations. Proof of insurance (form SR-22) must be filed with the DMV.
• You may be required to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) victim impact panel. Orange County MADD information (949) 224-9000

Medical treatment for alcohol dependence

If you have had multiple DUI convictions or recognize that you are severely dependent on alcohol, consider medical treatment for alcohol dependence. 

There are medications available such as

1) Disulfiram (Antabuse), for people who are in recovery, who are abstinent and are going in to a higher risk situation.  If you drink alcohol, antabuse can make you sick.

2) Acamprosate (Campral) works on protracted abstinence syndrome for a year or two after drinking is stopped

3) Naltrexone (Revia) if you are abstinent and have a slip and take a drink, this drug makes it easier to stop drinking before you go an a full-fledged relapse.

Obviously we are lawyers, and we are not recommending these drugs to you.  But we can make referrals to medical professionals and alcohol treatment programs who can diagnose and treat your specific condition.  All of our clients have to understand that medication alone will not do that much for them.  They have to work hard in order to change.  Prescriptions make it easier to achieve goals.  But to control these extreme compulsions to consume alocohol, it ususually requires long term treatment.

Make sure you have a DUI drunk driving attorney who knows California DUI laws and California Drunk Driving laws, knows how to protect your rights, and knows how to get you through this with as little impact as possible. Seeking a California DUI lawyer's advice can make a difference in your case. You can call our law firm 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at (866) 352-7224.

If you have been arrested for drunk driving in Southern California, and would like more information about California Drunk Driving laws and California DUI laws, DUI fines and DUI Penalties, please contact the DUI attorneys at Takakjian, Sowers & Sitkoff LLP. As former deputy district attorneys, we know the courts, including DUI, from every perspective. We represent clients in communities that include: Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Ana, Long Beach, California, Anaheim, Torrance, Pasadena, Glendale, Santa Clarita, Ventura, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Newport Beach, Fullerton, Rancho Cucamonga, Orange, Ontario, Riverside, Burbank, West Covina, Norwalk, Oxnard, Pomona, Westminster, Alhambra, Whittier, Laguna Niguel, Thousand Oaks, Mission Viejo, Simi Valley, and Bellflower.

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