DUI Archives - Vacaville Attorney

Why You Need to Hire a Skilled Vacaville DUI Attorney

One of the most challenging things to face in a courtroom is a DUI charge. Why? In California,
and many other states in the nation, a DUI is a serious charge. Often the individuals face years
in prison and expensive fines. Hiring a Vacaville DUI attorney can assist in reducing the charges,
and decreasing the risk of imprisonment, and more. Dealing with the law is challenging, trust an
expert attorney to take on this case for you! There are multiple things that go into
consideration with a DUI charge:

 Blood-alcohol concentration
 Criminal history
 Whether there was an accident or an injury

Hire an Attorney for a DUI Plea Bargain

An attorney can work out a DUI plea bargain for certain cases. Trials are time-consuming, and
expensive and most attorneys work hard to keep your case from heading to court. A good DUI
attorney will already have experience with the prosecution, so they know if it is possible to
work out a good plea bargain. Prosecutors with weak cases often try to embellish information
to try and induce a guilty plea. A good attorney will be able to read between the lines and know
if they have a good case against you or not.

A plea bargain will normally consist of having a “wet reckless” charge, which is a lesser charge.
This charge acknowledges there was an impairment, but it is a lighter sentence than a DUI, and
does not include jail time. However, your driver’s license will be suspended if you have a BAC
level high than .08 percent. If you are being charged with a second offense, your wet reckless
prior charge can end up being considered a prior DUI offense.

Attorneys Help In Reducing Your Sentence

The courts can work to bargain down a DUI sentence for a guilty plea exchange. If this is a
second or third DUI, there is concern over prison time that could last several months, or
possibly years. The prosecution can work with an attorney to reduce the amount of time
needing to be served in prison in exchange for a guilty plea. When there are drugs and other
things present, the charges could be even higher. Trust an attorney to assist with a case in this
manner as most of them already have the experience dealing with negotiations, but also have
the relationships needed to deal with various prosecutors in the Vacaville area.

Hire a California DUI Attorney

As some people know, the DUI laws in California are different from other states. If you have
been arrested and charged with a DUI in California, it is vital to hire an experienced attorney
who has practiced DUI law here. Failure to have state experience could leave someone
vulnerable to opening the case up to the prosecution, preventing the defendant from receiving
a fair sentence.

A DUI charge is one of the most stressful situations you can find yourself in. It pays to hire
someone you know is capable of handling cases similar to yours. Contact the Law Offices of
David Knecht in Vacaville to work with an experienced, trustworthy DUI attorney.

Filed Under: DUI, Legal Advice

3 Most Important Things to Avoid After Being Charged with DUI

Drunk driving continues to be one of the most serious crimes in the United States. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about 1.5 million people are arrested yearly for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. First-time offenders are not always prepared to handle the legalities that start when they have been charged with a DUI. Hiring a good attorney is one of the most important things you can do as you navigate the next steps to take.

Not Contacting a DUI Attorney

Many people aren’t sure what they should and should not do following a DUI charge. In some states, you can make your situation worse by doing the breathalyzer test or volunteering information to law enforcement. An attorney will be able to help you understand what you should and should not do so you don’t make the charges worse. DUI laws are complex and do require in-depth knowledge of the legal system.

An experienced and skilled DUI attorney will have experience with cases similar to yours and will be able to create a case strategy that provides a favorable outcome. The judges are another thing to consider as some are tougher on different types of DUI cases, so you do want an attorney who has dealt with the judges previously. The right attorney knows how to effectively present the information to the court in a way the judge prefers. Always make sure you are protected and do yourself a favor and hire an experienced DUI attorney.

Social Media

After you have been charged with a DUI, avoid social media. Make sure you have set your social media account to private so the information on your accounts cannot be used against you. Unfortunately, many people make their situation worse with pictures and postings showing you with drugs or alcohol on the night of the arrest. Prosecutors often use social media accounts and pull the incriminating photos to use against you in court. Not only do the images on the account hurt your case, they can also damage your reputation. Even if you are innocent, photographs and posts are not the information you need circulating about you. Do yourself a favor and avoid social media in the wake of a DUI arrest and do not post anything!

Acting Nonchalant

Following a DUI arrest, you need to take the situation seriously. Unfortunately, too many people act nonchalant after the arrest and assume their attorney will swoop in and take care of everything. If you haven’t taken a moment to write down everything that has occurred, you can make your attorney’s job extremely difficult to negotiate the best deal possible. Here are some things you need to work on following a DUI stop:

When and where were you when you were stopped?
Why did the officer stop you?
Did you take a breath test? What did the device look like?
Did you tell the officer anything about what you ate or drank?
What tests did the officer do in addition to the breath test? Did you do a eye tracking test, talk and turn, and one leg stand?

Taking a few minutes to go over everything and writing it down can help your attorney work on your case. The Law Offices of David Knecht Law in Vacaville has years of experience in criminal law. Our attorneys are here to help. Contact our office for a consultation.

Filed Under: DUI, Vacaville Attorney, Vacaville Lawyer

3 Most Important Things to Avoid After Being Charged with DUI

Not Contacting a DUI Attorney

Social Media

Acting Nonchalant

When and where were you when you were stopped?
Why did the officer stop you?
Did you take a breath test? What did the device look like?
Did you tell the officer anything about what you ate or drank?
What tests did the officer do in addition to the breath test? Did you do a eye tracking test, talk and turn, and one leg stand?

Taking a few minutes to go over everything and writing it down can help your attorney work on your case. The Law Offices of David Knecht Law in Vacaville has extensive experience in criminal law. Our team is here to help. Contact our office for a consultation.

Filed Under: DUI, Fairfield Attorney, Fairfield Lawyer

3 Secrets to Finding the Perfect DUI Attorney

One person dies every 48 minutes in America due to drunk driving. Each year, more than 1.28 million people are arrested for DUIs. Unfortunately individuals involved in an DUI car crash have a serious issue they need to face. Hiring the right DUI attorney can assist in ensuring their clients are giving a fair outcome for their trial. Here are 3 secrets that will help you find the perfect DUI attorney.

Experience and Skillset

The number one thing you want to search for is someone who has plenty of trial experience with DUI cases similar to yours. A DUI conviction can cost upwards of 20K a year! Search for an attorney based on their skills and their overall qualifications. Put together a list of attorneys in your area with the experience in cases similar to yours and start setting up interviews with them.

Online reviews are helpful to find out what other people think about their experience with the attorney. Read through the good reviews and the bad reviews to know what type of person the attorney is, and how hard they worked for their previous clients. In addition to online reviews, spend some time looking over their website to learn more about the attorneys and the team that will be assisting with your legal case.

Meet With Attorneys

When you set up the interviews with multiple DUI attorney’s, you will want to have several different questions set up to discuss with them. A few of the things you need to cover in that initial consultation include:

Discuss the facts of your case. Be upfront with what happened so they can assess your situation and come up with a strategy.
Bring documentation. Another thing you need to do is bring in the DMV letters, police report, and other documents related to your case.
Discuss the attorney’s experience. During the meeting, you need to ask the attorney about their experience. How many cases have they handled similar to yours, and how many cases have brought a successful outcome?
Who will handle your case? Will you work with the attorney you are meeting with, or will they pass you off to another person?
Comfort level. How comfortable do you feel with the attorney? If you do not feel like you can talk to them and be up-front with them, consider meeting with another attorney.

DUI Attorney Fees

When it comes to a DUI, you need to expect you will pay a lot of money for your case and for penalties. The cost for a non-injury, non-property damage DUI can cost $5,000 to $12,000. Some DUI attorneys will charge more based on their experience and expertise in winning difficult DUI cases.

David Knecht Law in Vacaville has years of experience in criminal law. Our job is to represent your legal rights and provide you with the best outcome. Contact our legal team to set up a consultation and let us help you navigate through this difficult time in your life.

Filed Under: DUI, Legal Advice

Think Like a Lawyer: DUI Defenses

If you’ve been charged with a DUI, don’t give up on a powerful defense. This article will explain key DUI defenses that you can discuss with your lawyer to plan an attack against the prosecution’s evidence:

Reasonable Suspicion for the Stop. Examine the reason for the stop. Did the officer observe a violation of the law? Or did he pull you over because of a guess or a prejudice? The officer must have reasonable suspicion that the driver or passenger have committed, is committing or will commit a crime. Reasonable suspicion is more than a hunch and has to be based on specific facts. If the officer can’t justify the stop, then your attorney can file a Motion to Suppress the evidence. If the motion is successful, the prosecution will typically not have the evidence available to convict you.

Don’t Assume the Blood Alcohol Tests Are Irrefutable. A test is intimidating evidence, but there are still ways to undermine the reliability of this evidence against you:

Undermine the reliability of the testing procedures.
- Did the administrator of the test have the proper training?
- Were the testing procedures followed with exactness?
- Was the device functioning properly?
- Were there results that were inconsistent with each other?
- Did they observe you prior to the DUI?
- Were you smoking, eating, drinking, burping, vomiting, etc. prior to or during the test?
Rising Blood Alcohol. The relevant point in time for blood alcohol level is at the moment you are driving. If your blood alcohol level goes up after you are arrested because the alcohol is absorbing into the blood stream, then you have an argument that the test is not accurate to the level while you were driving.
- The amount of food that is consumed, the gender of the driver, and other factors may play into whether the blood alcohol defense can be credibly asserted
Medical Problem Defense. The key point here is whether you have a medical problem that would render the results inaccurate.
- Do you have a medical condition such as asthma or emphysema that affects your lung capacity and ability to blow into a machine?

Fight the Officer’s Observations and Field Sobriety Tests.

The key here is to undermine the validity of the tests. Do you have a medical condition? Were there weather conditions? Did the officer explain and administer the tests properly?
tests, or if correct instructions were not given, then you can question the reliability of the conclusions drawn from the tests.

Don’t give up. There are many possible defenses in your case, so consult with your attorney.

Filed Under: DUI, Fairfield Attorney, Fairfield Lawyer

5 Steps For Successfully Handling First DUI in California

Did you just get a DUI in California, and you don’t know what to do? This article will walk you through important information you need to know to navigate the system successfully.

Don’t forget about the Driver’s License Suspension or Revocation

After you are arrested for DUI, the officer will forward a copy of the form and your confiscated driver’s license to the DMV. You have just 10 days from your receipt of a suspension or revocation order to request a hearing with the DMV, otherwise your license will be automatically suspended or revoked. It is wise to retain an attorney immediately after a DUI arrest to assist you with fighting your driver’s license suspension or revocation.

Evaluate your finances.

Take time to evaluate your finances immediately. You may qualify for a public defender. If not, you may want to retain private counsel. Understanding your financial position and seeking help from family or friends if necessary can be advantageous to you in preparing a strong defense. Additionally, if you decide to accept a plea or are found guilty, you can anticipate paying fines, costs of counseling, future costs of an interlock device and SR-22 insurance when you get your license back.

Look for holes in the case against you.

This is extremely broad but of the utmost importance. An attorney can look at each aspect of your situation and see possible defenses. Don’t just assume that your case is lost before really analyzing every piece of what happened.
- Driving – Is there a question of whether you were the driver? What is the evidence of driving?
- Stop – What was the basis for the stop?
- Tests – Were the tests administered properly? Were there environmental, health or other factors at play that could have impacted the results?
- Time – Is the evidence linked in time to the driving, or were the tests performed significantly after the driving occurred?

Get an idea of whether you want to fight or enter a plea.

After you have consulted with an attorney about the viability of your defense, a good idea is to consider what you think your best course of action would be. Consider your employment situation. Look at a calendar. Make a thoughtful analysis to decide how you want to proceed. Some defendants turn over all the decision making power to their attorney, but it is important for you to realize that you are the client and the person in charge.

Never give up and do not look back.

Many defendants focus on what they could have done or should have done better in the past to prevent a criminal charge. This is good for helping you avoid criminal charges in the future, but otherwise focusing on the past is not productive. Look to the future. Talk to your attorney about the long term plans and expungement in the future. Plan to comply successfully with all the terms of your probation. Prepare to put the DUI behind you and know that you can have a bright future.

Filed Under: DUI

DUI With Injury Basics

If you are convicted of a DUI with injury, you face increased penalties, and you will want to consult with an attorney as soon as possible to discover if there are defenses that can be argued in your case. This article will educate you on some of the basics, but you will benefit from assistance with the specific facts of your case.

What are the elements of 23153 “DUI with injury”?

You were driving under the influence

You committed an illegal act or neglected to perform a legal duty

Another person was injured as a result

Does my blood content have to be a certain alcohol level?

No, if as a result of drinking an alcoholic beverage or taking a drug, your mental or physical abilities are so impaired that you are no longer able to drive a vehicle with the caution that a sober person exercising ordinary care would have, then you can still be convicted of a DUI even without a blood alcohol measurement of over .08%. So your blood content CAN be the basis of the charge, but it’s not the ONLY way you can be charged with DUI.

Is DUI with injury a misdemeanor or a felony?

Prosecutors may charge it as either a misdemeanor or felony depending on the circumstances of the case.

What if I don’t think the injury was my fault?

There are many defenses to show that another person was not injured as a result. For example, if you were stopped at a light and the other driver rear-ended you, then you could argue that even though you were driving under the influence, the injury wasn’t your fault.

Is there any chance I won’t be convicted?

Yes, there are many defenses to a DUI with injury. The prosecutor has the job to prove each element of the crime (see #1 above) beyond reasonable doubt. An experienced defense attorney can take you through each step of what happened to you and look at ways to suppress the evidence or undermine it. From the reason for the stop to the tests that were performed to the correlation with the injury that was caused, etc. your case can be examined to discover how to defend your case.

Filed Under: DUI

Top 10 Ways to Protect Yourself Financially in a Divorce

Regardless of whether your divorce process is adversarial or cordial, it is a wise move to protect your assets. This article will highlight ten tips on how to protect yourself financially in a divorce.

Evaluate Your Contributions. Look at your contributions to health savings accounts, retirement, individual trading accounts, etc. Talk to your attorney to seek advice about whether to continue to contribute to these accounts.

Consider Your Estate Planning. Is your ex the beneficiary to any assets? Do they have the power to determine your health under a living will? Do they have power of attorney? These are important issues that can be inadvertently put on the backburner.

Separate Assets. Do you have separate assets? For example, is there a bank account or property that you acquired before the marriage? If so, keep separate assets separate. Don’t comingle them during the divorce process as it might muddy the water.

Get information about the tax consequences of alimony, capital gains on the sale of a home, etc.

Change Your Passwords, Protect Your Privacy. If your ex has the passwords to any separate bank accounts, credit card, telephone accounts, etc., change the passwords immediately to protect your privacy. Also look to social media such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Build Your Credit. Consult with your attorney about the advantages of taking out a credit card in your name only and starting a separate bank account.

Consider Moving Out. The decision of whether to stay or go involves many factors including your time with children, finances, etc., so there is no one right answer on this one, but seek advice as to whether moving out is a good idea.

Live frugally. Divorce can cause a financial strain on both parties, so attempting to live a little smaller than usual may help you in the long run. Try to cut spending where you can.

Get organized. One of the best ways to protect yourself financially is to educate yourself on what you have and document it. Look in all checking, investment, and savings accounts to see what is there now and take screen shots to document. Get information and documentation on each party’s salary and other income. Find out how much debt you owe. The more you know about your money, the better off you will be in fighting for it.

Keep records. If you aren’t one to keep financial records and receipts, now is the time to start this habit. Having records will help you verify facts and figures and will help protect your financial future.

Filed Under: DUI, Fairfield Lawyer

5 Amazing DUI Defenses

Think your DUI is hopeless? Think again! This article will explore five major categories of defense tactics that you can discuss with your public defender or private attorney.

Asserting your Fourth Amendment Right in relation to the Stop.

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution protects you from unreasonable search and seizure. With a DUI, this often comes into play when the officer pulls you over for a traffic stop. The officer needs to have reasonable suspicion that you are committing a crime (a traffic offense counts as a crime for this purpose). The officer must have probable cause to arrest you. A defense based on the stop or the arrest is one of the most common and effective ways to fight a DUI, and an attorney can help you apply the law to the specific facts of your case.

Attacking the Accuracy of the Field Sobriety Tests.

The officer likely performed the field sobriety tests near the street where he pulled you over, and the conditions may have interfered with the accuracy of the testing processes. Was there heavy traffic that distracted you or made the tests unsafe? Were weather conditions in play that may have impacted your abilities? Was the lighting poor or in your eyes? Was the ground uneven or dangerous? Were there other environmental hazards or distractions that may have impacted your ability to perform on the field sobriety tests? Aside from the environmental factors, the officer’s explanation and execution of the field sobriety tests can also be used to challenge the results. Did he explain the tests fully and accurately, and were they administered as they were supposed to be? Attacking the accuracy of the field sobriety tests is a very common, but can be a useful way to defend you.

Undermining the equipment and methods used in testing.

In any test involving equipment, the equipment must be functioning properly and used properly in order to achieve a reliable result. For example, if a breath test was administered, you can question whether the equipment was in good, working condition and whether the officer was properly trained to use it. If you can undermine the fact-finder’s confidence in the testing, then you can draw into question whether the results can be relied upon. Along those same lines, you can question the method of the testing. For example, when did the testing take place? Was it contemporaneous to the driving or much later? The method of testing is as important as the reliability of the equipment itself.

Chain of Custody.

Any evidence used in a criminal case has to pass muster when it comes to the chain of custody, which means the prosecution has to be able to trace where the evidence has been from the time it was taken into custody. For example, when police officers take a blood sample in a DUI case or seize evidence of drugs, the evidence will be packaged with a form and each person who comes in contact with the evidence should be noted on the form. If there has been a break down in that procedure, then you can claim that the evidence has been contaminated or tampered with and therefore the evidence is unreliable.

Necessity, Duress, Entrapment, Involuntary Intoxication.

The affirmative defenses are not as commonly used because they require circumstances that are somewhat unusual. If your case falls into this “oddball” group of categories, the affirmative defenses may well suit you. The necessity defense is where you drove under the influence for a greater good – for example, to race someone to the hospital to save a life. Duress is when you are forced to drive under the influence under threat of your life of safety, such as if you drove while intoxicated because someone threatened to kill you if you didn’t. Entrapment very rarely arises or if it does, it would be difficult to prove, but an example would be where the police officer requests that the person drive while intoxicated to “set the trap” to arrest that person Involuntary would be where someone was given drugs or alcohol without their knowledge or consent.

Filed Under: DUI, Legal Advice, Vacaville Attorney

Wet Reckless and DUI in California

Have you heard about friends or family getting a DUI charge reduced to a Wet Reckless? This will tell you what it means, when it’s done, and how it can help you.

What is a “Wet Reckless”?

A “wet reckless” is a nickname for a charge of reckless driving involving alcohol or drugs. It is a common reduced charged from a plea bargain.

Will the prosecutor agree to a Wet Reckless?

There are no hard and fast rules as to when a prosecutor will agree to a Wet Reckless plea bargain, but your chances are higher depending on your BAC and whether there are evidence problems in the prosecution’s case against you.

What are the advantages of a Wet Reckless plea bargain?

Shorter max penalty: The maximum jail time is shorter, so if you violate probation then you face a shorter max jail penalty.

Shorter minimum penalty: If this is your second or third DUI within a ten year period, then certain mandatory jail sentences will apply. If you enter a plea to wet reckless instead of DUI, then the conviction only requires five days in jail regardless of your prior history.

Shorter probation period. Wet reckless often has a shorter probation period than a typical DUI.

DUI School: You’ll likely have a shorter DUI school with wet reckless than DUI.

Fines: Penalty assessments that are lower for Wet Reckless than DUI may make the total cost of a Wet Reckless less expensive than a DUI.

License advantages: A wet reckless plea may help out on the license suspension from the court, but there is also the DMV license suspension – so it may or may not impact your driver’s license.

Don’t get too excited about a Wet Reckless because it still packs a punch in many ways:

Insurance Company: The insurance company will likely still ding your record with the Wet Reckless.
Repeat Offender: If you get another DUI within ten years after your Wet Reckless, you’ll still be considered a repeat offender, even though Wet Reckless is different than a DUI.

License Suspension: The DMV can still take your license.

Filed Under: DUI