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THE “RISING BLOOD ALCOHOL” DEFENSE

If you are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and your blood alcohol level is only slightly above the legal threshold of 0.08%, your attorney might consider what is called the “rising blood alcohol” defense. Without getting into the scientific details, this defense asserts that at the time you were driving, your blood alcohol level was lower than the level you registered at the time of your arrest.

Depending on a number of circumstances including your weight, whether you were drinking on an empty or full stomach, and other factors, the alcohol you imbibe can take 30 minutes to an hour or more to rise to its peak blood alcohol level in your body.

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California DMV Administrative Per Se Hearings

As previously discussed on this website (here and here), a DUI arrest results in two separate proceedings: The Administrative Per Se Hearing and a criminal court hearing. Even if the criminal case is dismissed, the driver can still find his or her California driver license suspended by the DMV and be subjected to other administrative orders. How is this? In a nutshell, California law provides that the DMV can suspend the license of a driver who is arrested for a blood alcohol level over the legal limit regardless of any criminal (DUI) proceedings. The process is separate from any criminal court case and essentially gives the DMV as much or more power than a superior court judge. In fact, every year the DMV suspends or revokes the licenses of drivers whose DUI arrest never resulted in criminal charges or whose criminal cases were dismissed for lack of evidence.

Several appellate cases have challenged this process but, for the most part, the DMV hearing regime remains intact. Last year, the California DUI Lawyers Association decided to take another approach. They filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of California taxpayers against the California Department of Motor Vehicles. The lawsuit alleges that DMV Administrative Per Se Hearing Officers have a conflict of interest because not only are these hearing officers the decision maker regarding the suspension (or revocation) of the DUI arrestee’s license but the hearing officer also represents the DMV, in effect, as the DMV’s prosecutor. A fair analogy would be allowing the district attorney to also be the judge in a criminal case. This, the lawsuit contends, is a violation of due process.

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HOW LIKELY IS IT THAT I WILL GO TO JAIL IF I AM ARRESTED FOR DUI?

Even a first-time DUI carries a potential sentence in California of up to six months in county jail but such a sentence is rarely, if ever, handed down. A driver who is arrested for a first-time DUI may end up in the “drunk tank” after booking but that is usually the only time he or she will spend behind bars for the offense.   Most often, a driver convicted on a first-time DUI (within a ten year period) will be sentenced to a period of probation and ordered to attend DUI classes. Some counties in California will also sentence a first-time DUI offender to complete community service. But a jail sentence? In 99.9% of the cases, the offender will not receive a jail sentence.

However, spending time between three walls and the fourth wall of bars becomes increasingly likely with subsequent DUI convictions (if the convictions occurred within a ten-year period of time). In fact, a third DUI carries mandatory minimum jail time of 120 days although some counties will allow the offender to serve the sentence under a work-release program or house arrest, or sometimes even by serving the sentence by “volunteering” in a community service program.

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A BETTER WAY TO TREAT DUIs

You have probably heard that the so-called “War on Drugs” has been lost. Increasingly law enforcement and the courts are recognizing that punishment does not resolve the offender’s drug addictions. New sentencing schemes are being developed that focus less on punishing the chronic drug offender than addressing the underlying cause of his or her arrest, i.e., drug addiction.

Although many people don’t put alcohol in the same category as drugs because alcohol is legal, it is actually one of the most potent drugs available. Some individuals are addicted to alcohol and it is a drug addiction even though we call it “alcoholism.”

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THE ONE DRINK AN HOUR RULE

Have you ever heard of the “One Drink an Hour Rule?” According to this rule, if have only drink per hour, your blood alcohol level (BAC) will remain under the legal DUI limit of .08%. (One drink is roughly defined as 1 1/4 ounce of hard liquor, one beer or one glass of wine.) Is this true?

Well, it depends. There is actually no hard and fast rule and a variety of factors can affect your BAC. Things such as your weight, whether you’re eating while you are drinking, and whether you are male or female will influence your blood alcohol level. For example, a female who weighs 110 pounds and has only two drinks in two hours will almost certainly have a BAC of over .08%, while a man weighing over 210 pounds might not register a BAC of over .08% until he has had four drinks during those two hours. Different body types process alcohol differently for several reasons, including body fat content and the concentration of the liver enzyme that breaks down the alcohol. Hormones may also be a factor.

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california supreme court holds that circumstantial evidence of intoxication may be considered in dui hearings

A driver was pulled over in Orange County by the CHP when the officer observed her car swerving erratically. Upon contacting the driver, the officer observed indications that she had been drinking alcohol. The officer performed various field sobriety tests on the driver, the result of which further indicated to the officer that the driver was under the influence of alcohol. The driver was placed under arrest and it was determined by a breath test that she had a blood alcohol level near the threshold legal limit of .08%. A later blood draw indicated a blood alcohol level slightly over the limit at .096%.

She exercised her option to have a DMV Administrative Per Se Hearing to challenge the automatic suspension of her driver license. At the hearing, an expert testified on her behalf. According to the expert, the blood alcohol tests suggested that here blood alcohol level was rising and that at the time of the stop, her blood alcohol level was not at the legal limit of .08%. The expert’s testimony is technical and not relevant for purposes here. Suffice it to say that the gist of the driver’s argument was that she introduced evidence of a fact that rebutted the presumption that she was driving under the influence but the administrative hearing officer and the trial court discounted that evidence (the expert’s testimony) in part by relying on the reports made by the CHP officers who stopped her. The Supreme Court was ultimately tasked with deciding whether the trial court erred by considering the circumstantial evidence established by the officers’ reports of their observations. On April 6, 2015, the Supreme Court issued its ruling where it held that the trial court did not err.

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Drugged Driving, A Growing Threat

 

Drugged driving is a dangerous trend on US highways. According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there is a significant increase in drivers driving with illegal, prescription and over-the-counter drugs in their system. Part of this may be due to the fact that people don’t realize that, just because you have a prescription for a drug, doesn’t mean that it is legal to drive while under it’s influence. The same holds true for some over-the-counter drugs. While they are not illegal, if you are driving while under it’s influence and it affects your driving, you are driving under the influence.   The drug showing the greatest increase is marijuana or THC, most likely due to it’s recent legalization in some states. However, the two most common prescription drugs found in fatality and serious accidents are benzodiazepines and opiates.

 

Although drug-impaired driving is evident in all age groups, the focus seems to be on teens and seniors. According to the NHTSA, two-thirds of senior drivers take five or more medications daily that may affect their driving. Also disturbing is that approximately 23 percent of all fatally injured drivers who test positive for drugs are younger than 25.

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DOUBLE JEOPARDY? DUI ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTIONS AND CRIMINAL PUNISHMENT

An arrest for DUI with a blood alcohol level (BAC) over 0.08% triggers two entirely separate proceedings: 1) a DMV administrative per se hearing/determination with possible license suspension and 2) a criminal hearing that also carries a possible license suspension. It can happen that the DMV suspends a driver’s license pursuant to the DMV administrative per se determination and then a court conviction on the DUI triggers another license suspension. Usually, these suspensions will run concurrently, but not always.

How can a driver essentially be punished twice for the same offense? Isn’t this double jeopardy? Well, according to the United States Supreme Court, it is not. (Hudson v. United States, 522 U.S. 93 (1997).) The reasoning behind the Supreme Court’s decision has to do with the nature of the “punishment.”

The DMV suspension is considered a sanction that is civil rather than criminal. The California Courts have held that the statutory provisions concerning the DMV administrative per se license suspension have the intent to protect the public rather than punish the licensee. Therefore, when a driver’s license is suspended administratively by the DMV, the driver is not being criminally punished. You might be thinking….well, if it walks like a duck…. but the courts have reasoned otherwise.

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BOATING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

California offers an abundance of outdoor activities. In the summer, we head out for the ocean, lakes and rivers with boats and jet skis in tow. Sunscreen? Check! Beach towels? Check! Beer in the cooler? Check! Designated boat driver? Ummm….

In California it is just as illegal to drive a boat while under the influence of alcohol or drugs as it is to drive a car. The laws concerning boating while under the influence are virtually the same as those for driving under the influence. You can be arrested for driving a boat, manning jet skis, or any motorized device, or, for that matter, manipulating water skis or similar equipment, if you are under the influence of any alcoholic beverage, drug, or combination of the two. In other words, the law encompasses more than just driving a boat; it’s illegal to operate or manipulate almost any equipment on the water while under the influence. Yes, you can be arrested for waterskiing or wakeboarding if you are under the influence while doing so!

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CALIFORNIA DRIVER IS ARRESTED FOR DUI/DWI IN ANOTHER STATE

Most states, including California, are members of the Interstate Driver’s License Compact (DLC), which is administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The DLC is an agreement between member states to share information about driver violations, including DUI/DWI driving convictions. Pursuant to the DLC, member states are required to report driving convictions to the state in which the driver holds a driver’s license.

Let’s say you are on vacation in Arizona, you go out for a night on the town and get stopped and arrested and eventually convicted of driving under the influence (DUI). Or let’s say you used to live in Texas but now live in California. Four years ago, you were convicted of driving while intoxicated (DWI) in Texas. In both of these cases and in almost any case where a California driver has an out-of-state DUI/DWI conviction on his or her record, it will be treated as a DUI on the California driver’s record as if the DUI conviction occurred in California.

In the case of our hypothetical California driver convicted of DUI in Arizona, the statute mandates the suspension or revocation (depending on prior DUI convictions) of the driver’s California license to drive, just as if the conviction occurred in California. In the case of the Texas driver who moved to California, the DWI conviction will remain on the driver’s California record just as if the driver had been convicted four years ago of a DUI in California . In both cases, the out-of-state DUI/DWI conviction will appear on the California driver’s record and will count as a prior DUI under California law.

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