With a solid track record of defending DUIs over the past twenty-five years, I bring a wealth of experience to guide you through the process of regaining your license after a DUI charge and conviction.

First, if it's a first offense, after the police arrest you and release you, you will typically be given a pink piece of paper that serves as your temporary license for thirty days following your arrest. The police will take your regular license away, send it to the DMV, and submit other paperwork to the DMV to alert them to the fact that you've received a DUI, so that they can initiate suspension proceedings.

As your attorney, I will take the lead in contacting the DMV on your behalf, ensuring that your representation is clearly documented and eliminating any uncertainty about meeting deadlines. You can rest assured that I will navigate the legal complexities on your behalf, providing you with the best possible chance of regaining your license.

It's crucial that you make this call within ten days of your arrest, asserting your right to a hearing and a stay on any suspension until the hearing is conducted. Failure to do so could result in immediate suspension of your license.

As long as the call is made within ten days, done correctly, and is documented so that the DMV can't claim they didn't receive the notice, you should have no problem getting the hearing and being able to defend your rights. So, the first step, in my opinion, is to hire an attorney who's been down this road before and has done DUI cases and been successful in getting people's licenses back for them. This should give you hope that a positive outcome is possible, and allow that attorney to operate within the DMV system to get your license back for you as fast as possible.

DMV Hearing

Once we set the hearing, we then get the discovery in the case. The finding is either provided through the court related to the criminal case or the DMV in preparation for the upcoming hearing.

If your hearing is set more than thirty days after your arrest, then the temporary pink license will be extended, and you will be able to drive past that thirty days until your attorney does your DMV hearing for you.

You must get the new temporary license so that if you're pulled over during that time frame between the arrest and your DMV hearing, they're able to show the police that you're lawfully driving. They don't issue you a suspended license ticket.

At the hearing, the three basic things that the DMV must prove are that you were lawfully stopped or that the police honestly contacted you. This is the first step in their case. Number two, that the police lawfully arrested you, which is the second step. And number three, that your blood alcohol level was a .08 or greater, or that you refused to take the test. These are the key elements of their case that we will challenge.

Suppose they can prove all three of these things, and they're going to take your license away on a first offense for a whole thirty days after that. In that case, you will be able to get it back on a limited basis to drive to and from work, to and from school, as long as you install an ignition interlock device and enroll in a first-offender alcohol program.

Whenever you encounter an issue with the DMV, you must contact the DMV directly and ensure that you have met all the requirements necessary to drive lawfully, obtain a restricted license, and eventually regain your regular driver's license.

Determine Lawful Contact

In determining whether or not the police came in contact with you lawfully, the DMV hearing officer is going to see whether you committed some traffic violation to permit the police to pull you over and talk to you, and decide whether or not you've been drinking or driving.

There are other ways the police can come in contact with you. Sometimes, people either become involved in an accident or are on the side of the freeway or the side of the road. Other times, the police are present when something happens related to your vehicle.

Maybe you have become incapacitated, or you fall asleep, and the police come upon you. Therefore, there are various ways in which the police can come upon you. The key for purposes of a DUI in a justified stop is that they must be able to show that they lawfully came into contact with you or that they honestly stopped you.

As far as determining whether or not it is a lawful arrest, the police have to believe that you are so intoxicated that you cannot safely operate a motor vehicle. That's why they do the field sobriety test, because those tests are supposed to be designed to determine whether you can safely operate a car.

Of course, these are subjective tests, and they are not always 100% accurate. That's why, a lot of times, trying to get video evidence of you doing a test and other indications that you were driving safely is crucial to your defense. Additionally, they can assess how you were walking, talking, and driving the car – these are all factors that can contribute to determining whether you can be arrested for a DUI.

Blood Alcohol Level

Finally, to be able to take someone's driver's license away, the police are going to have to be able to show that your blood alcohol level was a .08 or greater or that you refused to take the test.

The two main tests used in Los Angeles County to determine whether someone has a DUI are the breath test, which can be conducted using a small PAS device in the field or a larger machine at the station.

The big machine at the station is the official test and the only one that courts and prosecutors will use when deciding whether or not they have a good case against you.

They could also take your blood, which is probably the most accurate of the tests, and see if that's over a .08. Lastly, if you refuse to take the test, it's automatically presumed that you are a DUI. They have this law in place because if they didn't, everybody would refuse to take the test, and they wouldn't be able to charge anyone with a DUI.

The bottom line is that to get your license back, you either need to follow all the processes indicated by the DMV or sit down with a qualified DUI defense attorney and allow them to guide you through the system, helping you get your license back as quickly as possible. By understanding and following these processes, you can take control of your situation and work towards regaining your driving privileges.