{"id":1396,"date":"2012-03-03T17:21:41","date_gmt":"2012-03-03T17:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/2nd-dui-offense-in-california-staying-out-of-jail\/"},"modified":"2020-10-30T20:47:28","modified_gmt":"2020-10-30T20:47:28","slug":"2nd-dui-offense-in-california-staying-out-of-jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/2nd-dui-offense-in-california-staying-out-of-jail\/","title":{"rendered":"2nd DUI offense in California Staying out of Jail"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2nd<\/a>This is a question I get A LOT. \u00a0How do I stay out of jail on my 2nd DUI offense in California? <\/a> If you have been charged with a 2nd DUI offense in California within 10 years you are subject to enhanced sentencing under the California Vehicle Code<\/a> and part of the mandatory minimum sentence on a 2nd DUI offense in California is in fact jail time. \u00a0 (From 96 hours to 1 year in county jail per the code) \u00a0You don’t want to go, but the law says you must if you are convicted of a second DUI offense in California within 10 years. \u00a0So back to our question-how do you stay out of jail on that second DUI in California? \u00a0Like most legal questions there is no blanket answer because every case is different. \u00a0But let’s look at some guidelines to help solve the riddle.<\/p>\n

The first thing to consider? The facts of your case. \u00a0 You may be reading this blog after getting your 2nd DUI offense in California in 2 months, or you may be reading this blog after getting your second California DUI 9 years and 11 months after you got the first one. \u00a0 One reader could have been in an accident causing injury to another party and therefore subject to potential felony filing pursuant to VC 23153(a)<\/a>, and another reader could have been stopped at a DUI checkpoint that didn’t comply with constitutional standards. \u00a0 So the first thing that will determine your chances of staying out of jail are the facts of your case. \u00a0 And being a lawyer, I have to point out that the facts of your case are a subject of great debate. \u00a0 There will of course be the police officer’s version of what happened, and then there is your version. \u00a0Perhaps there are other witnesses or evidence that can shed some light on the facts at a hearing or trial. \u00a0 \u00a0Maybe an expert witness or investigator can help establish favorable facts for you or eliminate or mitigate some of the less desirable ones. \u00a0 And if you exercise your right to a trial by jury, only the people in that jury deliberation room can determine the facts. \u00a0 So when we talk about the facts of your case, stay focused on what the prosecutor can PROVE to be the facts of your case. \u00a0 If the District Attorney, City Attorney, or whoever is assigned to prosecute the case in your jurisdiction can’t prove the facts of your case, you may no longer be dealing with a jail situation. \u00a0You could be looking at a dismissal or a not guilty verdict at trial.<\/p>\n

Step 2 in determining your chances of staying out of jail on your 2nd DUI offense in California is geographic. \u00a0 Where did you get this DUI? \u00a0 \u00a0California is a big state. \u00a0Were you in Los Angeles? San Francisco? \u00a0Ventura? Bakersfield? There are 58 counties in the California Court system<\/a> and each and every one of them has its own political climate. \u00a0 Some are tough on crime others are a little more liberal. \u00a0 As a practical matter it often comes down to available resources. \u00a0 If the judge sentences you to jail, how long will you actually be stuck in there? \u00a0 All county jails in California are required to award credits under California Penal Code 4019 <\/a>for good time work time so you will get some sort of early release, but that’s where the similarity ends. \u00a0 To give a local example from my practice in Southern California, let’s consider the great dividing line we call the Orange Curtain. \u00a0 If you were charged with a second DUI in Los Angeles, you may be able to obtain a sentence for the mandatory minimum of 96 hours. \u00a0 Many LA county prosecutors are well aware that they have no jail space and early release is the norm. \u00a0So in some sense it doesn’t matter if you get 96 hours, 10 days, or 90 days in Los Angeles County, you may be getting out quick regardless. \u00a0But cross that Orange Curtain into neighboring Orange County and you are actually looking at 90 days in jail on the exact same case for a 2nd time California DUI. \u00a0In Orange County there is no early release beyond standard PC 4019 credits, so you get time, you serve the time.<\/p>\n

Step 3 in determining your chances of staying out of jail on your second time DUI in California is your defense strategy. \u00a0 Are you going to represent yourself? Hire the lawyer who handled our buddies divorce? Ask for a public defender? Google your way out of jail? One of my favorite strategies that I hear from potential clients is “I’m going to go to court and see what the judge says and then determine if I need a lawyer” \u00a0 This is a sure sign of someone WITHOUT a defense strategy. \u00a0 First, most California judges will set bail at arraignment on a second time DUI. \u00a0So these people are literally walking themselves into jail when they show up “to see if they need a lawyer”. \u00a0 I am guessing they probably decide “oh crap I need a lawyer” right around the time the bailiff is slipping on the handcuffs. \u00a0 If you have been stopped on suspicion of a second time DUI in California, you need a lawyer, like yesterday. \u00a0Go find one. \u00a0 The second problem with the “wait and see” approach is that every court appearance is an opportunity for a skilled DUI lawyer to make something good happen with your case. \u00a0 The longer you wait to hire your lawyer, the less he or she can do for you. \u00a0 The first appearance just may be the right opportunity to pursue alternative sentencing<\/a>, or maybe it’s the pretrial, or the trial. \u00a0Only a local lawyer will know which Judge to talk to or which DA to avoid when seeking these kinds of alternatives to jail. \u00a0 The longer it takes you to hire a lawyer, the less opportunities he or she will have to accomplish your goal. \u00a0 I’m not saying this because I want you to hire me, go find someone else if you like, but get yourself a lawyer experienced with DUI cases<\/a> and experienced with the local court where your case is pending and your chances of staying out of jail on the 2nd DUI will greatly improve.<\/p>\n

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This is a question I get A LOT. \u00a0How do I stay out of jail on my 2nd DUI offense in California? If you have been charged with a 2nd DUI offense in California within 10 years you are subject to enhanced sentencing under the California Vehicle Code and part of the mandatory minimum sentence…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,5,20,76],"tags":[70,22,6,7,81,24,9,86,63,10,32],"class_list":["post-1396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california-criminal-law-blog","category-california-dui-law-blog","category-california-traffic-ticket-blog","category-know-your-rights-constitutional-law-blog","tag-70","tag-criminal-defense","tag-criminal-law","tag-dui","tag-felony","tag-gallagher","tag-lawyer","tag-misdemeanor","tag-sentencing","tag-traffic-court","tag-vehicle-code"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5603,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1396\/revisions\/5603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}