Santa Ana, Felony DUI, Early End to Probation Denied

The following summary is offered as a bit of a cautionary tale, as well as a reminder of how one can ask a judge to change a probation condition that is problematic.

In 2022, our client was involved in a felony DUI matter arising out of the San Fernando Courthouse.  In the felony DUI, he injured four other people, caused property damage to the other car and had a 0.12% BAC.  At the time, he was 24 years old.

Our client used the public defender in the felony DUI and resolved the case with 180 days of county jail, followed by three years of formal probation to begin after he completed his county jail term.  He then had to enroll in and complete the three-month alcohol awareness program, pay a court fine of $390, plus penalties and assessments (total of about $2,000), attend and complete the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) Victim Impact Panel, attend and complete the Hospital and Morgue (HAM) program, and pay restitution to the victims. 

At the restitution hearing for the victims, no victim made a claim for damages.

As our client was an Orange County resident, supervision of his formal probation was transferred from Los Angeles County to Orange County.

After about a year, the client called Greg Hill & Associates and asked about early termination of probation because the probation condition that he remain within Orange County excluded him from many jobs as an electrical grid lineman.  In this job, he would often be asked to report to emergencies all over California and Nevada.  However, without being able to travel outside Orange County, he had to turn down a great deal of work.

He had discussed this with his probation officer, who told him that she would recommend early termination of probation if he asked the judge for this.

The client then called Greg Hill & Associates and told Greg he needed him to prepare, file, serve and then appear at a motion for early termination of probation.  Greg discussed the reason the client hoped to end his probation early and the client described his work situation.

Greg then explained that in his experience (25 years of practice), judges will regard motions for early termination of probation for a DUI with some reluctance, particularly in Orange County.  Therefore, Greg suggested that the motion request early termination of probation, or in the alternative, modification of travel restrictions associated with his probation so as to permit work-related travel to all of California and Nevada.  Greg explained that this would be prudent, so that if the judge denied the motion for early termination, he could grant the modification of the travel restrictions so that our client’s probation conditions were not economic capital punishment.

The client agreed and our office then prepared, filed and served the motion for early termination of probation, or in the alternative, modification of the probation condition restricting travel to only Orange County.  The motion explained our client’s job as an electrical grid linesman and how he often was asked to work outside Orange County on emergencies with the electrical grid, but had to decline the work because of his travel restrictions based on his probation.

The motion included a declaration from our client explaining his frustration with his travel restrictions and how he was barely surviving, given the limited income his probation conditions caused.

At the hearing for the motion, the Orange County District Attorney’s office had to comply with Marcy’s Law, which meant contacting each victim of the car accident and asking if he or she opposed early termination of probation.  In our experience, the victims usually never oppose early termination of probation.

However, in this particular case, one of the victims responded by text that she vehemently opposed early termination of probation because she was still undergoing physical therapy for her injuries suffered in the crash (22 months earlier) and had PTSD from the experience, which caused her many sleepless nights.

At the hearing on the motion, the Orange County District Attorney read the text message from the victim into the record and the judge denied the motion for early termination of probation.  

However, the judge did agree to modify the travel restrictions associated with our client’s probation and allowed a modification to permit him to travel anywhere in California or Nevada for work and that when the work ended, to return forthwith to Orange County.

The client was happy that Greg had presented the motion with an alternative for the judge to consider, which was granted, but a bit shocked that the victim was so adamantly opposed to early termination of probation.