DUI – Driving under the influence cases are scary. Only the thought of not being able to drive in the city like Los Angeles or Pasadena Valley frights us, and so is you. But story doesn’t end here, DUI charges can lead you to lose your reputation, hefty fines, attending alcohol-education classes, lose your driver’s license (either suspended or revoked), an increment in or cancellation of your auto insurance, place an ignition interlock device in your car, and sometimes, to jail or prison.
To defend such cases, you’ve to be very quick as your driver’s license gets suspended on the 30th day of arrest. And only if you contact us within the first 10 days, we can challenge the case at DMO and request for a hearing that barely ends in driver’s favor.
A Few of Our Cases:
- DUI with refusal to take chemical test allegation dismissed in the interests of justice after client does 12 Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) meetings. Mr. Leventhal was able to show that his client suffered from Asthma and was experiencing asthmatic symptoms at the time of the breath test, thereby making it difficult to provide a powerful breath sample. Officers often submit refusal allegations to trigger increased penalties when the client, for whatever reason, does not blow hard enough.DUI with .18 blood alcohol content (BAC) reduced to simple public intoxication with no DUI school, fines or other driver license penalties; officer found client sleeping in his car, parked in the middle of the road with the engine on, and client admitted to driving after consuming alcohol. Mr. Leventhal still convinced the prosecutor that she couldn’t ascertain his client’s impairment level at the time of driving because she couldn’t prove when that driving occurred.
- DUI with two independent witnesses describing client’s driving as “swerving all over the place” reduced to a speed exhibition misdemeanor despite .09 BAC; no driver license penalties or DUI class as part of this deal.
- DUI with preliminary breath test (“PBT” or “PAS”) shortly after the straddling lanes pullover showing a .09 and a later post-arrest blood test that yielded a .08. Mr. Leventhal hired an independent toxicology lab to test his client’s blood and the result was .10. Mr. Leventhal used that higher number to prove that his client’s BAC was rising when pulled over and therefore below the .09 PAS/PBT reading. The result was a dry reckless reduction and a mere 12 hour class; no driver license suspension and expungement after 12 months.
- DUI with a weaving pull over and the following BAC line up: .154/.181 PAS and a .09 blood. Here, Mr. Leventhal provided the prosecutor with California regulations (Title 17) that require breath test readings to be within .02 of each other (known among DUI lawyers as “.02 deviation”). He argued that the readings were outside Title 17 and thus likely a product of residual mouth alcohol ( as opposed to deep breath alcohol). The result was a dry reckless reduction with no driver license penalties, a mere 12 hour class and an expungment in 12 months.
- UI with .26 breath. No dispute as to who was driving. Client was pulled over for speeding (not an impairment cue in the driving phase according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration “NHTSA”) and performed satisfactorily on the field sobriety tests (FSTs). Because client’s driving pattern and FST performance were consistent with lower BAC levels, Mr. Leventhal successfully convinced the prosecutor that her breath machine was not calibrated or otherwise maintained properly. The result was a “wet reckless” reduction which in Los Angeles, avoided an ignition interlock device, a driver’s license suspension, higher fines and a lengthier DUI course.
- DUI with .11/.12 PAS/PBT and .10 chemical breath test. Mr. Leventhal filed a pretrial motion to exclude his client’s breath test as being non compliant with California law; the motion was granted and the case was subsequently settled for a speed exhibition reduction – less fines, less class time, no driver license penalties and an expungement within 12 months.
- 4th DUI filed within 10 years; Mr. Leventhal helped his client avoid a felony conviction and jail! Mr. Leventhal set his client up with residential treatment.
- 2nd DUI within 10 years; first DUI was in New York and second of course filed here in California. Mr. Leventhal spent many hours researching his client’s New York conviction and proved that this New York case would not have been a California DUI; Mr. Leventhal filed a demurrer (penal code section 1004) to get the 2nd DUI prior allegation dismissed. The judge agreed and dismissed the prior thereby eliminating mandatory jail and mandatory 18 months of DUI school.
- 3rd DUI within 10 years, filed outside the statute of limitations – case dismissed. Client avoids 120 day minimum jail sentence and a major financial headache.
- DUI with sobriety checkpoint. Mr. Leventhal filed a brief to attack the constitutionality of the sobriety checkpoint – the prosecutor agreed to settle for a speeding ticket after he read Mr. Leventhal’s papers.