DUI

Bay Area | San Jose DUI Lawyer

When someone is arrested for a DUI they feel uncertainty, shame and confusion.  Many individuals arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) often believe their case is unwinnable due to seemingly strong evidence against them. However, this is frequently a misconception. Police officers may make mistakes, improperly administer tests, or mishandle investigations, which can significantly impact the validity of the charges.  Learn more about the Law Office of Mark Blair | Bay Area DUI Law a San Jose DUI Lawyer.

It is crucial to act now and secure legal representation to safeguard your rights.

Mark Blair gets great DUI RESULTS today for a better tomorrow!

Why Hire Mark Blair | Bay Area | San Jose DUI Lawyer

A DUI charge can have long-lasting consequences, burdening the driver with hefty fines and potential jail time. Losing one’s driver’s license disrupts daily life, creates significant challenges, and may even harm personal and professional reputation.  Mark Blair inspires his clients, creates hope, builds confidence and gets great DUI results allowing clients to have a brighter future.  Mark listens to his clients’ story and builds a solid strategy to defend their DUI cases.

DUIs are complicated because they involve both civil and criminal law and procedure. Civil law and its rules apply to the DMV hearings called administrative per se hearings. Criminal law applies to the court case because the charges may be infractions, misdemeanors or felonies, or a combination thereof. Infractions have only a fine and no jail time. Misdemeanors are crimes punishable by up to one year in jail and $1000 fine (plus assessments). Felonies are more serious and carry possible lengthy state prison sentences.

The DMV hearings have several other unique features. First, the hearings are “administrative,” meaning that there are relaxed rules of evidence (the legislature’s intent to make it easier to prove the case against the driver and suspend their license). Normally in law, for example, witnesses must testify in court and be subject to cross examination by the other side before what they say becomes “evidence.” But in DMV hearings, the DMV can use police reports without having the officer actually testify (“hearsay,” meaning an out of court statement offered for the truth of the matter). Second, DMV hearings are different because the hearings are conducted by hearing officers, not judges, who are DMV employees, are paid by the DMV and are both judge and prosecutor of the case. As shocking as this obvious conflict of interest and bias are, reviewing courts have ruled the DMV hearing system as lawful.

DUI Defense

Despite the shortcomings of DMV hearings and the severe consequences, there are ways to win. The DMV must prove three things to suspend a license.We, however, only have to refute one of the three issues to win.

Did the officer have reasonable cause to believe that the driver was driving a motor vehicle in violation of CVC 23152?

Was the driver lawfully arrested?

Was the driver’s BAC .08% or more at the time of driving?

Winning the DMV Hearing | San Jose DUI Lawyer

Winning the hearing requires a meticulous review of the evidence.  The hearing officers can “set aside,” meaning not suspend a license, based on errors/omissions by police in the documents submitted and/or in the video submitted by police.

The DUI court case, because it involves criminal law, is very different from the DMV hearing. The US and California constitutions guarantee procedural and substantive rights that must be respected, or the case could possibly be dismissed. The procedural guarantees include due process, receiving all the evidence against an accused, as well as any exculpatory information that shows that possibly the person accused is not guilty of the crimes charged. Substantive protections offer the opportunity of getting the case dismissed if the police lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause in detaining or arresting an individual.

Arraignments

The criminal case begins with the arraignment, the formal notice of the criminal charges lodged against the accused. Many persons mistakenly think that the police officer, when writing down the actual offense or offenses for which they are arrested, determines what the charges are.

On the contrary, the district attorney has the sole discretion to bring all charges, whether or not they are listed on the police officer’s citation. That is why it is often critical, especially with low blood level alcohol results, to have an attorney get involved well before the court date, with the goal of persuading the filing deputy at the district attorney not to file charges.

First Court Appearance

Arraignments, the first court appearance, are important. At times, district attorneys do not appear at them. After reviewing the complaint, if the attorney notices that the case is “under charged,” meaning there are significant other charges that could have been filed but were not, the attorney may recommend to try to resolve the case at arraignment for a disposition that could be better at the arraignment stage than later on in the case.

In misdemeanor cases, following the arraignment, the attorney may file motions (such as suppression of evidence because of constitutional violations). Then the case proceeds to pretrial conference (a meeting between the judge, district attorney, and defense attorney to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the case with the goal of trying to resolve the case). The judge makes an offer to settle the case that does not have to be accepted. If the offer is rejected, then the case is set for trial. Felonies, because of the serious consequences, have additional safeguards for the accused called “preliminary hearings,” a review by a judge to determine if the evidence is sufficient to keep the case filed as a felony and send the case to superior court for trial.

Hiring a San Jose DUI Lawyer 

How can one find the right attorney?   Here is a suggested approach.

Please DO NOT ask an attorney if he/she “does” or “handles” DUIs.  That is too ambiguous of a question and almost every attorney who has done only a few DUI cases would answer affirmatively to that question.

Instead, ask THREE simple questions:

What PERCENTAGE of the attorney’s caseload is DUIs?

How many DUIs has the attorney handled in the county were the DUI occurred?

How many years has the attorney practiced DUI law?

Think about things in a practical way.  If a person has a heart problem, would  they consult with a family physician or seek the advice of a cardiologist, someone who only does heart cases, 100% of his/her practice devoted to heart cases?  The answer is simple.

Question One: What Percentage of the Attorney’s cases Are DUIs?

There may be “interesting” answers to Question One, such as “I don’t keep records” or “I do a large number of DUIs.”  These kinds of answers are avoiding the obvious.  The  best answer is “100% of my cases are DUIs.”  This approach finds an attorney who, by sheer time and practice, has seen a  wide range of DUI related cases and facts.

The answer to Question One may also be found by going to the attorney’s website.  IF the website is solely DUI related, it will be obvious that the attorney only practices DUI defense.

Question Two: How Many DUI Cases Has the Attorney Handled in the County Where the DUI Happened?

The second question also makes sense.  A person can hire the greatest DUI lawyer BUT if he/she is not familiar with the way the particular county handles DUI cases, the client may miss out on getting the best result.

Question Three: How Long Has the Attorney Practiced DUI Law?

Lastly, the third question is reasonable.  An attorney with a lot of experience should get the best result.

This is why it is clear you should call Mark Blair.  Mark’s cases are 100% DUI related; he only handles DUIs in counties where he has experience and he has practiced DUI law for over 39 years.

DISCLAIMER: The results of any person’s DUI case described on this web site and/or in the Bay Area DUI Law newsletter depend on factual and legal circumstances that are unique to a specific person. Information provided by this web site and/or the Bay Area DUI Law newsletter does NOT constitute a guarantee, warranty or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter. Any reference to laws, procedures, punishment or license consequences at court or the DMV in this web site and/or Bay Area DUI Law newsletter is NOT intended to be complete description of what can and will happen in any or every DUI case but instead is a simplified summary to facilitate the reader’s understanding of general issues involving DUI law. The law is in constant change; penalties and consequences change; as such, the reader should not and cannot rely upon anything mentioned in this web site and/or Bay Area DUI Law newsletter. The reader is strongly advised to seek competent legal counsel to ascertain the law, penalties and consequences that apply to his/her unique circumstances.