Redondo Beach DUI, Inglewood Avenue, 0.10% AC, Wet Reckless

Our client, age 39, was driving home at about 8:45 p.m. from Redondo Beach to Palos Verdes.  He was late and he knew his wife would not be happy with his tardiness, so he was speeding a bit on south Inglewood Avenue, through the dips in the stretch south of Artesia Boulevard to 190th Street.

He barely slowed down for each dip, which caught the eye of a Redondo Beach Police officer on patrol and turning right from Grant Avenue onto southbound Inglewood Avenue.  She decided to follow our client and realized his speed was close to 45 miles per hour through the dips, a violation of Vehicle Code § 22350, excessive speed for conditions. 

As our client neared 190th Street, he allegedly failed to put on his left turn blinker for his Lexus IS 250 until he was only about 50 feet from the red light facing him.  This late activation of his turn signal, less than the 100 feet minimum required by Vehicle Code § 22108.

The officer then decided to make a traffic stop of our client and activated her vehicle’s overhead blue and pink lights.

This shocked our client, as he had never even received a traffic ticket.  He had no record otherwise.  He worked in the aerospace industry and had two young children.

Our client pulled over and the officer explained the reasons for her stop.  She then ordered our client out of the car and wrote in her report that our client staggered while exiting the vehicle.  She also described our client as having slurred speech and emitting the strong odor of alcohol.

It was true that our client had consumed two IPA beers in large cans, but he did not regard himself as being too drunk to drive or unsafe. 

 

The officer asked our client to submit to a Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) test device and he declined, as is his right under Vehicle Code § 23612(i).  He was then promptly handcuffed, arrested and taken to the Redondo Beach Police Station.

Once at the station, he was booked and asked to submit to a blood or breath test.  Our client chose a breath test and his ethanol content was measured at 0.10% twice. 

The client spent about ten hours at the station before being released after signing a promise to appear in the Torrance Police Station in about three months.

After a few days, the client called Greg Hill & Associates and discussed his case with Greg Hill.  The client described what had happened and asked Greg about having his driver’s license suspended and possible jail time.  Greg explained how the DMV would act, most likely in evaluating whether to suspend his license and for how long, as well as how the client could obtain a restricted license immediately after the DMV hearing (if the DMV ruled to suspend his driving privileges) with installation of an Ignition Interlock Device (IID).  Greg also explained how the court proceedings would take place and how the case could be resolved.

Greg told the client that while a case with a first-time DUI and a BAC of 0.10% used to regularly resolve as a wet reckless, that now such facts were usually not enough to support such a reduction in the charges.  Greg also explained how informal probation worked and what the terms of probation most likely would be.

The client then retained Greg Hill & Associates and our office immediately wrote letters to the DMV and the Redondo Beach Police Department demanding copies of the police report, any MVARS (mobile video audio recording system, also known as a “Dash-Cam”), the arresting officer’s body-cam video, the calibration records for the breath test machine used in this case and any supplemental reports.

Greg then appeared in the Torrance Superior Court for the client’s arraignment and discussed the case facts with the Redondo Beach City Prosecutor present in court.  The client remained at work.  Greg discussed the client’s age, the lack of any prior criminal case, the low BAC and the client’s employment situation.

Quite to Greg’s surprise, when Greg asked to resolve the case for a “wet reckless,” the Redondo Beach City Prosecutor agreed, specifying that our client would only have one year of informal probation, an obligation to take the 12-hour SB 1176 alcohol awareness class, get full credit for time served to negate any court fines and an obligation to attend the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) victim impact panel.

The client was pleasantly surprised by this outcome, as was Greg.