If you have been charged with a DUI in Los Angeles County, California, you face multiple penalties if convicted. The punishment for a DUI conviction becomes more severe with each subsequent conviction that occurs within a ten year period.
In California, for a typical first time misdemeanor conviction, you face imprisonment in the county jail for up to six months and fines of not less than $390 plus court costs, fees, and assessments. The total will rise to well over $1,500 and possibly to over $4,000. Your driver’s license will also be suspended for six months, and you will have to complete a driving-under-the-influence alcohol and drug education program that could cost thousands of dollars and last three, six, or nine months.
With the right attorney you may be able to get a restricted license, which keeps you on the road and allows you to drive to and from work, drive as required by your job, and drive to and from activities required in the driving-under-the-influence program. In Los Angeles if you are convicted of even a first time DUI you will be required to install an Ignition Interlock Device in your car.
A second conviction within ten years results in mandatory imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year. You face fines, fees, and an Ignition Interlock Device on your car as well as your license being suspended for two years, and you are required to complete an expensive and time consuming 18-month driving under the influence program. The right attorney can cut down the jail time, cut down the license suspension and get you back to your normal life quickly.
A third conviction within ten years results in imprisonment in the county jail for no less than 120 days and not more than one year. The fine will be no less than $390 and no more than $1,000. Your license is also suspended for three years, you have to complete a driving under the influence program, and you may be able to apply for a restricted license sooner. Additionally, you are required to install an Ignition Interlock Device in your car, and you will be designated as a “habitual traffic offender” for three years.
A fourth conviction and all future convictions within ten years can and likely will be filed as a felony. A felony DUI charge exposes you to a State Prison sentence, as well as the typical fines, classes and drivers license suspensions.
Additional penalties can be assessed, and they vary from courthouse to courthouse. Other penalties that may be assessed include hard labor, community service, probation, house arrest, and court-ordered alcohol treatment.
If you have been charged with a DUI and are facing any of the penalties enumerated above, contact Mark Rosenfeld. The punishment for any DUI is serious, but having Mark Rosenfeld, a trained professional DUI attorney with years of experience dealing with the Los Angeles County court system, makes all the difference. Call his office today at (310) 424-3145 for a free consultation and see how he can help you.
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