Yes you can, and will, receive Jail as part of your sentence!!! But my clients do not serve time in jail. We utilize alternatives to protect our clients.
During the Coachella and Stagecoach season, many of our neighbors will attend the parties without thinking about the consequences. They, as well as regular tourists, will drink and not use good judgment. These drivers will drink more than they should or more than they realize and many will be stopped for speeding, unsafe lane change or a not up to date tag on their license plate.
Many will also get into a fatal car accident and injure or kill an innocent party. This tragedy happened to my 25 year old client Celena Nava who worked at Eisenhower. She was jogging in Coachella with a friend and was hit and killed by a drunk driver. The pain the family is experiencing is beyond words. It will last a life time and there is nothing anyone can do to take the pain away. The money I recovered for the family for her wrongful death cannot begin to ease the pain they will experience as they celebrate holidays this year and every year thereafter.
I have sued drunk drivers for the injuries to my clients, for over 30 years AND I have successfully defended drunk drivers when I change hats. Most drivers did not realize they could be charged with a drunk driving with the small amount of alcohol they consumed. They incorrectly looked at the number of drinks they consumed rather than the amount of alcohol in the drinks. For DUI purposes a drink equals 1 ounces of alcohol; 12 ounces of beer or 4 ounces of wine.
Thus when the bartender pours a 6-8 ounce glass of wine and you have two drinks you have consumed the equivalent of 3 or 4 drinks. Likewise my clients always tell me they were not drunk. The law does not require one to be drunk but rather under the influence or impaired. Being under the influence occurs with everyone when their ability to drive is impaired and that occurs when you reach a .08 blood alcohol level. However, the Indio DA will file .07’s…..and YES the DA and the Court ask for a minimum of 10 days in jail on a first offense DUI with less than a .15 reading.
It is also necessary to look at what medications the driver has consumed, be they prescriptive, over the counter or illegal. Many pills have a warning not to mix with alcohol and not to operate heavy machinery after taking the medication….this means a car. The combination of alcohol and these pills will create a Potentiation so that the driver is a lot more under the influence at .07 or .08 than the average person. It is possible they are as much under the influence as someone .09 or more than .10.
Remember: Silence is Golden and Handcuffs are Silver so DON’T TALK TO POLICE OR INSURANCE ADJUSTERS without your lawyer’s permission.
Though often referred to as a DUI criminal defense lawyer, I choose to not view my DUI clients as “criminals”. I prefer to view them, and more importantly to treat them, as good, honest people that have found themselves in a scary and unfortunate situation after screwing up.
I look upon my job as protecting the Constitutional Rights of every American who drinks and drives and gets in an accident or arrested for a DUI.
I do however “Change Hats” when I SUE Drunk Drivers for damages to my Injured or Deceased (Wrongful Death) clients.
DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE OR TEXT, CALL A TAXI, LYFT OR UBER………THEY ARE A LOT CHEAPER THAN HAVING AN ACCIDENT OR ARREST AND CALLING ME. LAW ENFORCEMENT WARNS “DRIVE SOBER OR GET PULLED OVER”
DALE GRIBOW
“TOP LAWYER” – Palm Springs Life 2011-2018 (PI/DUI)
“TOP LAWYER” Inland Empire Magazine Nov 2016
10.0 AVVO Perfect Peer Rating
