Long Beach, 0.10% BAC, Client Age 51, Wet Reckless

Our client, age 51, had just lost his dad unexpectedly and was confused by the mix of emotions that the death caused.  Our client had his own family, including teenagers, and a great wife.  But he struggled to make sense of the loss.  At times he felt no sorrow, which bothered him because it seemed defiant and disrespectful, and other times, sadness for the fact his kids would not get to know their grandfather. 

Our client was an engineer who traveled a lot for work.  He had no criminal history.

So, one evening, he told his wife he would go out alone and watch a live band at a local bar.  He promised her he would only have two beers.  Our client ended up having more than two beers and was driving home about midnight through some residential areas in the east Long Beach area near Cal State Long Beach. 

A Long Beach Police Officer was on patrol in the area and spotted our client in his Ford Edge returning home.  The officer claimed in his report that our client was speeding and ran several stop signs, so the officer pulled him over.

Our client stopped immediately and was respectful to the police, but did decline to submit to a breath test at the scene.  He was then arrested. 

Once at the Long Beach Police Station, he submitted to a breath test that measured the alcohol content in his breath at 0.10%.

Our client was released several hours later to his wife with a signed promise to appear for his arraignment at the Long Beach Courthouse in about two months.

The client called up Greg Hill & Associates based on a recommendation from a friend who was an attorney.  The client spoke with Greg Hill and described what happened.  He had many questions about how the case might resolve and Greg explained that his case would be handled by the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s Office, based on where he was arrested.  Greg further explained how the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s Office generally had younger prosecutors who could be tough on DUI’s, perhaps because it was their first job after law school and they were not experienced enough to have suffered a loss or two at trial to understand how juries interpret the evidence.

Greg explained that the first thing to do would be to reserve a DMV Hearing for the client and so our office did so.

Remarkably, the police report was sent to our office from the DMV and there were significant errors in the report, which allowed Greg to make a few arguments at the DMV Hearing and our client’s driver’s license suspension from the arrest for DUI, stayed by reserving the hearing, was set aside.  In other words, our client “won” at the DMV Hearing.

Greg then brought the DMV ruling that reinstated our client’s driving privileges to the arraignment in court and gave it to the Long Beach City Prosecutor to consider.

The initial offer from the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s office to resolve the case was a plea by our client to DUI, with an obligation that he be placed on three years of informal, or summary, probation, along with an obligation to enroll in and complete the three-month outpatient DUI program called AB 541 and pay a court fine of $390, plus penalties and assessments (total of about $1,950).

Greg explained the offer to the client but expressed optimism that the Long Beach City Prosecutor would consider the DMV ruling and agree to amend the complaint to allege reckless driving under Vehicle Code § 23103, pursuant to Vehicle Code § 23103.5 (a “wet reckless”), and then allow our client to enter a plea instead to the amended charge.

At the second hearing in the client’s case, there was a new Long Beach City Prosecutor on the case who did agree to such an amendment.  The new plea bargain terms would be just one year of informal, or summary, probation, also with an obligation to enroll in and attend the AB 541 program and pay the same court fine of $390, plus penalties and assessments. 

Greg explained the new offer to the client, who was very happy with this resolution because with a “wet reckless,” he would avoid the driver’s license suspension that otherwise would be imposed by the DMV after a conviction for DUI, which this resolution for our client avoided.

For more information about the DUI and DMV issues in this case, please click on the following articles: