If you have been arrested for
driving under the influence (DUI), you need to act
quickly to maintain your driving privileges. If you, or
your attorney, do not request a hearing with the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) within 10 days from
the date of your arrest, your license automatically will
be suspended after 30 days.
Consistent with the trend, the penalties against DUI
offenses are getting more and more severe. However, it is
not unlawful to drive with alcohol in one's system; in
order to be found guilty of DUI, the level of alcohol (or
drugs) must be sufficient to impair one's ability to
operate a motor vehicle safely, or, it must be above 0.08
percent or more in one's blood. The standard instructions
to California juries read as follows:
Any person who while [under the influence of any
alcoholic beverage] [or] [under the influence of any
drug] [or] [under the combined influence of any alcoholic
beverage and drug] [or] [addicted to the use of any drug]
drives a vehicle is guilty of a violation of Vehicle Code
section 23152, subdivision [(a)][(c)], a
misdemeanor.
[The term "drug," as used in this instruction,
means any substance or combination of substances, other
than alcohol, which could so affect the nervous system,
brain, or muscles of a person as to impair, to an
appreciable degree, [his] [her] ability to drive a
vehicle in the manner that an ordinarily prudent and
cautious person, in full possession of [his] [her]
faculties, using reasonable care, would drive a similar
vehicle under like conditions.] (CALJIC 16.830)
A person is [under the influence of an alcoholic
beverage] [under the influence of a drug] [under the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage and a drug] when as a
result of [drinking such alcoholic beverage] [and] [using
a drug] [his] [her] physical or mental abilities are
impaired to such a degree that [he ] [she] no longer has
the ability to drive a vehicle with the caution characteristic of a sober person of ordinary prudence
under the same or similar circumstances. (CALJIC 16.831)
And, with respect to driving with a blood
alcohol level above 0.08 percent:
Every person who drives a vehicle with 0.08 percent or
more, by weight, of alcohol in [his] [her] blood is
guilty of a violation of Vehicle Code section 23152,
subdivision (b), a misdemeanor.
In order to prove this crime, each of the following
elements must be proved:
1. A person drove a vehicle;
and
2. At the time, the driver had 0.08 percent or more, by
weight, of alcohol in [his] [her] blood. (CALJIC 16.830.1)
You may have a defense to a DUI charge of which you are
not aware. You should contact an experienced DUI attorney
to discuss your case.
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