How To Beat A DUI Case Without A Lawyer

First off, once you are home, write down what you remember happening before you forget details. Think through all that happened before, during, and after being arrested. Things like where you were, what you ate, what you drank, when you drank, what medications you were taking and any passengers or witnesses you had with you. Details can help especially if what the police say was the reason for the stop can be shown to be wrong, proper procedures were not followed, or other facts you might not think is important that turns out to be.

Second, if it was an alcohol related DUI, make sure that a call is made to DMV Drivers Safety to request a hearing. If you decide to hire a DUI lawyer, let him or her make the call since experienced DUI lawyers know where to call and how things work with DMV.

Setting a DMV hearing is a great way to obtain discovery such as patrol car videos, body camera videos, maintenance and calibration records for chemical test devices, and know more about your case even before the first court date in the criminal case.

DMV is only looking at three things when considering a suspension for an alcohol related DUI. If the arrest was for drug only or a combination of drugs and alcohol where the alcohol level was under a .08 BAC, there is no administrative per se action.

First, was the licensee driving? Second, was the blood alcohol level .08 or higher at the time of driving? Third, was the arrest lawful?

If you were pulled over, then it is probably a no brainer that you were driving. On the other hand, if you were not seen driving by the arresting officer, then it really turns to what evidence of driving is there? Even if there is, when was the driving? Is there a witness that can say what time the driving was? Did you admit to driving at a specific time? All of this can make a difference.

On an alcohol related DUI, if your blood alcohol level was under a .08, then DMV will set aside the administrative suspension. If it was .08 or higher, then it gets more complicated. There may be a way to show that the alcohol level was rising so at the time of driving, your blood alcohol was less than a .08. There may also be a way to show that the time of driving cannot be established because the officer responded to an accident scene or didn’t see the driving.

Issues relating to an unlawful arrest gets even more complicated at a DMV hearing but can include whether there was reasonable suspicion to pull the car over or to make an arrest.

In some cases, the evidence obtained by law enforcement may not have been constitutional and violated an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. Maybe it was an illegal stop or the arrest was made even though the driver did not exhibit signs of impairment.

Maybe the officer thought someone was impaired and the blood test results came up negative.

Maybe the blood alcohol level results were borderline and at the time of driving, the blood alcohol level was less than a .08 BAC.

It isn’t always easy to get a DUI case thrown out and you have to know what to look for to have a chance at getting your DUI case dismissed.

Not necessarily. If DMV suspended your license administratively due to an alcohol related DUI arrest, your privilege to drive is still suspended and as far as DMV is concerned, you have a DUI on your driving record. If you had a DMV administrative hearing and you lost, even if a criminal case is not filed, you have a suspension. If a criminal case was filed and it was dismissed, there may be a way to get your privilege to drive back from DMV depending on why it was dismissed.

Also, if a case was not filed or a criminal case was filed but dismissed, there is a way of sealing the arrest records and changing the label of “arrest” to “detention only” so that is something that should be done. Starting July 1, 2022, this is supposed to happen automatically pursuant to Penal Code section 851.93.