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  • Halloween Weekend DUI Checkpoints
    Happy Halloween! If you plan on going out and drinking this weekend, please be aware of all the upcoming DUI Sobriety Checkpoints all throughout California. Whi ...
 

California DUI Driving Defenses

In any California driving under the influence (DUI) case, the District Attorney must be able to establish that the suspected offender was driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.  This includes the District Attorney’s establishing that the suspected offender was indeed driving a “vehicle.”  In many CA DUI/DWI cases, a police officer did not actually observe the suspected offender driving a vehicle.  In such instances, the District Attorney has a difficult time proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the individual was actually driving drunk.  An experienced California DUI Defense Attorney can often raise reasonable doubt in such cases and get clients a “not guilty” ruling. 

As defined by the California Vehicle Code, the term “vehicle” is “a device that is self-propelled.”  This includes all self-propelled automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, mopeds, and scooters.  Note that while bicycles and horses are not considered to be “vehicles” under California’s vehicle and drunk driving laws, operating or riding one while under the influence of alcohol or drugs is addressed in other statutes and can result in severe penalties being imposed.

 

The bottom line is if the District Attorney can not show that a vehicle was actually driven, then any potential Calilfornia DUI/DWI conviction flies out the window. 

Be Cautious About What You Admit To

Oftentimes when people are confronted by the police, they have a tendency to blurt out things and make statements that can incriminate them in court.  (e.g., admitting to “driving” a “vehicle” after you have had a “few” drinks, or admitting to being in a vehicle when the police did not actually see you in one.)  Any statements that you make to the police in a California DUI case can be used against you.  While any admissions that you may have made are not enough to establish a driving under the influence case, they certainly will help the District Attorney’s office prove its case.  The bottom line is to be very cautious as to what you admit to doing.  Remember, you can always plead the 5th. 

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