Rancho Palos Verdes, Age 21, DUI, 0.17% BAC, 70 m.p.h.
Our client, age 21, was returning home to San Pedro from Hermosa Beach. He was heading southbound on Western Avenue, past Green Hills cemetery, going down the long straight downhill. It was about 2:20 a.m. Without realizing how fast he was going, he allegedly reached 70 miles per hour just as a Lomita Sheriff’s officer observed him nearing the traffic light to the cemetery entrance.
The officer pulled over our client and allegedly detected the odor of alcohol immediately. Our client had no passengers that could have otherwise contributed to this smell. The officer also observed an open bottle of Corona in the front seat cupholder.
Our client, when asked, stated he had consumed two or three beers. The officer then asked our client to exit his car. Our client allegedly failed all the field sobriety tests (FST’s) administered and declined the roadside breath test, as is his right under Vehicle Code § 23612.
He was then arrested and taken to the Lomita Sheriff’s Station off Narbonne Avenue, where he provided another breath sample, measured at 0.17% BAC. He was then held for eight hours, after which time his parents picked him up. Before he was picked up and allowed to leave the station, he signed a promise to appear in the Torrance Courthouse in about three months.
About a week later, our client called Greg Hill & Associates and discussed the case facts with Greg Hill. He explained that he was pulled over for speeding. He said the officer told him he was going 70 miles per hour. He also explained that he had an open Corona bottle in the front seat area.
Our client had graduated from El Camino College and started work immediately. While he was living at home, he was saving money for a place of his own.
Greg then explained how such a case was handled in the Torrance Courthouse. Greg explained that the District Attorney’s office handled such cases arising in Rancho Palos Verdes and that the new Deputy District Attorney assigned to Department 3 for arraignments often had rather tough plea bargain offers.
Greg also explained how Western Avenue a 40 mile per hour speed limit had, so our client’s speed was more than 25 miles per hour about the posted speed limit. This meant our client could be sentenced to a minimum of 60 days in county jail for speeding while DUI under Vehicle Code § 23582, regardless of the traffic being almost nonexistent.
Furthermore, a 0.17% BAC meant an “excessive BAC” sentence enhancement under Vehicle Code § 23578 could be sought by the prosecution, meaning the client would have to attend a nine-month outpatient alcohol awareness program at a minimum.
Greg then explained how our office would reserve a DMV hearing for our client to try to preserve his driving privileges. Greg then explained the consequences of losing at the DMV and how the client could continue driving if he immediately installed an ignition interlock device (IID) before the DMV ruling, but even after the DMV hearing.
The client then retained Greg Hill & Associates and Greg thereafter appeared in the Torrance Courthouse for the client’s arraignment and two pre-trial hearings before the “tough” new DA inexplicably was not in court one day and another District Attorney stood in.
The other district attorney was not familiar with misdemeanor cases, as he had been assigned to a felony courtroom for many years. While he may have known at one time the various sentence enhancements that applied to DUI cases, he certainly did not seem to know them when Greg asked him for an offer to resolve the case.
The replacement DA said he would agree to offer a plea bargain with just a three-month DUI program, no jail, a minimum court fine ($390, plus penalties and assessments (or about $2,050 total)) and a requirement that our client attend the two-hour Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) victim impact panel. Greg asked the prosecutor to put the proposed deal in writing, which the DA did.
Greg then asked the judge to continue the pre-trial hearing for about 30 days so Greg could discuss the plea bargain offered with the client. The judge agreed.
Greg recommended that the client accept the terms of the plea bargain because it avoided the sentence enhancements that the newer, younger DA who normally handled the case would insist upon including. The client agreed to accept the deal, happy that his luck allowed this and appreciative that Greg recognized the good deal when it was offered.
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