While it’s against the law, it’s reasonably easy to drink enough to go over .08 BAC and still feel sober enough to drive -especially if you’re still learning how alcohol affects your system. As you get more and more intoxicated though, it becomes more obvious -both to yourself and those around you- that you shouldn’t be driving. That’s why California enforces stricter penalties for those arrested with particularly high BACs. If you have been arrested for drunk driving, your Del Mar DUI lawyer can tell you how your BAC can affect your court case.
If your breathalyzer or blood test comes back with a result higher than .15, the prosecution will most likely try to add on an enhancement to your DUI charge for excessive alcohol. An additional enhancement will be added if the BAC was above .20. In cases where the person convicted has a BAC above .15, the defendant will be forced to perform public work service for a few days on top of their other DUI penalties. Additionally, if the BAC was above .20, the defendant will be required to attend a nine month alcohol treatment course instead of the three-month program most people get after a DUI. These two sentencing enhancements are mandatory, but a judge may choose to add additional penalties to the sentence as well, such as an ignition interlock device. In fact, drivers who have a BAC above .15 or .20 could be sentenced to residential treatment, longer jail sentences, mandatory AA meetings, increased fines and be required to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet. With the right Solana Beach drunk driving attorney though, you can fight these enhancements as well as the DUI itself.
Even with a high BAC, while enhancements carry mandatory penalties, the enhancements themselves are not mandatory. It’s important to recognize that even if you cannot beat the charges entirely, the right La Jolla DUI attorney can at least help you avoid a sentencing enhancement and may even be able to have the charges plead down to a wet reckless.
Whatever the circumstances of your DUI arrest, a drunk driving defense lawyer in University City can help you fight the charges. Please call (760) 643-4050 or (858) 486-3024 to schedule a free initial consultation with Peter M. Liss.
Creative Commons Image by BlueEyedA73
