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| If You are Charged with DUI, You Will Need An Aggressive and Experienced Legal Defense Team |
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| In California, police have the authority to pull you over for any driving violation. At a traffic stop, all it takes is some indicia of intoxication, which can be as little as a whiff of alcohol on your breath, for the police to conduct field sobriety tests leading to an arrest for DUI. Field sobriety tests, however, are standardized under certain conditions, conditions that are frequently compromised when the tests are conducted on the side of the road. Although the prosecution will present the results of the field sobriety tests as conclusive evidence of intoxication, the truth is that there are many challenges to these tests that our office can successfully make at trial. |
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| DUIs also have important consequences for your driving privileges. If arrested for a DUI, your license will be automatically suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles unless you request a stay of those parallel administrative proceedings within 10 days of your arrest. You cannot delay retaining counsel or you will lose valuable rights. |
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| If you or someone in your family has been charged with DUI, don't assume that the problem will go away by quickly pleading guilty. A thoughtless plea bargain can result in a misdemeanor criminal conviction that may cost you more than the prosecutor tells you in court. Insurance costs and penalties alone can wind up costing you thousands of dollars. |
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| At the Law Offices of James W. Spertus, we will never advise you to plead guilty without thoroughly reviewing all of the prosecution’s evidence and determining if there is a legitimate defense to the charges. We have created compelling defenses even in the face of what initially appeared to be overwhelming evidence of guilt. |
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| From the moment you are pulled over, there are so many variables that prosecutors often get wrong. We have created significant issues for the prosecution by exploring key areas. For example, |
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| Probable Cause: On what legal grounds did the police make the initial traffic stop? |
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| The Field Sobriety Test: Did the police officer follow the required protocols? Were the conditions for taking the test compromised? Is there any other explanation for poor performance other than intoxication, such as exhaustion or stress? |
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| The Breath Test Or Blood Test: Was the test equipment calibrated correctly? Were the samples handled according to strict regulations? Was the analyst properly qualified under Title 17? |
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| Your Constitutional Rights: Were your constitutional rights respected throughout the process? |
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| We can challenge everything about the People’s case and force the prosecutor to prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt. Although accepting a plea agreement may seem like the easy thing to do, the fact is that the consequences of a plea can be very expensive. You could face license suspension hearings, fines, costs associated with required classes and additional insurance. The prosecution counts on most people just pleading guilty and many lawyers make their living handling routine DUI guilty pleas. Our office, however, is not a DUI mill. We will carefully analyze the discovery and will test the strength of the prosecution’s case before advising you of your options. |
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| We provide aggressive, experienced DUI defense representation for people charged with driving under the influence in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and communities throughout Southern California. |
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