DUI Defense Attorney

DUIs range from wet reckless, which usually result in reduced fines and typically no jail time or work program, to the more serious felony DUI.

The base level first time DUI is anywhere from .08% BAC to .14%. Once you get above the .15% or higher level, there is an enhancement added that increases the punishment. Many times that enhancement can be dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

A DUI can be charged as a felony in one of three circumstances. The first is if the person receives a 4th non-injury DUI within a 10 year period. That charge, if convicted is a felony. The second type is a DUI with injury. That injury has to be to a passenger in your car, a pedestrian, or a person in another car. It does not include an injury to yourself for being under the influence. The third type of felony DUI is any DUI that occurs within 10 years of another felony DUI.

If anyone other than the intoxicated driver claims great bodily injury, that can make a first time DUI a strike offense. It also make the person ineligible for probation (unless there are “unusual circumstances” or defined by statute) and can greatly increase the amount of prison time the person receives as punishment. Great bodily injury can be something as minor as stitches, a broken bone, or a concussion. Our firm has had many cases where the client is initially charged with a felony DUI with injury and we are able to get it reduced to a misdemeanor. That can have huge consequences for employment and other aspects of life. Any time we can, we try to get the charge reduced to a misdemeanor before the plea is entered.