The honest answer is maybe…AND it depends! …however the odds are usually against it. Any lawyer that tells you, YES they can dismiss your DUI, without examining the facts is lying to you.
USC just beat both UCLA and Notre Dame and many of my friends have been celebrating for these games and an abundance of other college and NFL games. When any new defendant comes into the office, the first question on everyone’s mind is what can you do for me? …and what will it cost? If I was a doctor and you had stomach pain, you would not ask me “what is wrong with me and what will it cost” on our first office visit, and before I examined you.
You would understand a doctor would have to take a history, perform a physical exam, order blood tests, X-Rays, and MRI’s etc. Maybe the doctor would even perform exploratory surgery before telling you what was wrong. If it was Cancer the surgeon might stitch you up and explain there is very little he or she can do to cure you of Cancer.
A DUI is usually not cancer, but with a (1) High Blood Alcohol Reading of .15+; (2) Drugs (Prescriptive or street drugs) or (3) a Traffic Accident, your case becomes more challenging. This means that the results your lawyer can achieve are problematic and the possible sentence will probably involve the DA and Judge talking about jail time. However, our clients have rarely had a jail sentence on a DUI.
The Indio Court is much tougher on DUI’s than many other jurisdictions, and our local DA’s ask for JAIL time most DUI’s. This is probably because we have more DUI FATALITIES in the CV, than anywhere else in California…per capita. Even Paul Zellerbach, our former DA’s wife’s DUI, was set for trial because the prosecutor does not show favoritism to ANY DRIVER.
On any criminal case there are different degrees of success. I usually explain to clients on their first appointment, that many years ago I was in the office of famed criminal attorney Robert Shapiro, my best friend at the time, who later became O.J. Simpson’s lawyer. We were planning on going to dinner and discussing cases on which we were working together.
Shapiro got a call from a prospective client and had to stay late to meet with him. He asked me to sit in the office with him but of course I was to say nothing.
When the client came in Shapiro said “I don’t want to know anything about your case.” He merely asked “what are you looking for?” He then explained that there are different degrees of success. If I go into court and the DA wants a year in custody, and I can get you 6 months, that is success. If they want 6 months of custody and I can get you 2 months, that is success. If they want 30 days and I can get you 10 days, that is success. If they want 10 days and I can get you a weekend and/or home arrest, that is success.
It is impossible to guesstimate what the success will be on a case when you only hear the client’s side of the story. It is necessary to review the police report for probable cause for the stop, how well you did on the OPTIONAL field sobriety tests and chemical test results for the Blood Alcohol Reading and your criminal record.
Clients often think that because they have a clean driving record or have been a pillar of the community that will factor into their guilt or innocence. That is wrong. It may affect the sentence, but not GUILT or INNOCENCE.
Sometimes a prior record will aggravate the sentence and philanthropic work in the community may mitigate the sentence. However, they have nothing to do with GUILT or INNOCENCE.
Many clients had “Black & White Fever” when they saw the police and were thus nervous about the police stopping them. The driver may have innocently said something that was wrong and that may negatively influence the case. Of course failing the attitude test also makes the case more difficult, as the DA is more likely to want to punish the driver.
The best advice I give you is to Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. So DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE OR TEXT AND GET A DUI OR ACCIDENT, CALL A TAXI OR UBER………IT IS A LOT CHEAPER THAN CALLING ME
For ideas for future articles contact me at 760 837 7500 or dale@dalegribowlaw.com.
DALE GRIBOW
Representing the Seriously Injured and Criminally Accused
“TOP LAWYER” – California’s Prestige Magazine, Palm Springs Life (PI/DUI) 2011-23
“TOP LAWYER” – Inland Empire Magazine
PERFECT 10.0 AVVO “Peer” Rating
5 STAR Rating
AV- MARTINDALE HUBBELL (A FOR LEGAL ABILITY, V FOR VERY HIGH ETHICS)
DRINKING AND TEXTING BOTH CAUSE ARRESTS AND ACCIDENTS, OR MAKE A DRIVER LESS LIKELY TO AVOID A DUI INDUCED ARREST OR NON FAULT ACCIDENT.
BEING INTOXICATED, IS JUST AS SERIOUS AS BEING INTEXTICATED.
A DRIVER MUST DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO AVOID AN AT FAULT ACCIDENT.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS “DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE OR TEXT, AND GET A DUI OR ACCIDENT…
CALL A TAXI, LYFT OR UBER….THEY ARE A LOT CHEAPER THAN CALLING ME”.
