San Francisco DUI Lawyer / Attorney

DUI's in San Francisco
By Aaron Bortel, Attorney at Law

Aaron R. Bortel is a well-known and respected DUI lawyer, practicing in San Francisco and throughout the Bay area. Aaron has dedicated most of his practice to the defense of people accused of driving under the influence of alcohol and or drugs. Aaron has an impressive history of achieving client goals i.e. winning DUI cases, winning DMV hearings and saving drivers licenses

One of the first questions I ask someone who calls my office regarding a DUI is where did the arrest occur. Every county in the Bay Area has their own DUI procedures and advice that I can give a client will be determined by the county the case is in.

In most counties, you will have a first court date about four to six weeks after your arrest date. However, if arrested in San Francisco, your court date will be within a day or two of your arrest (sometimes three or four days after arrest if arrested on a Thursday or Friday). In San Francisco, all DUI cases take place at 850 Bryant Street. The only exception is if you get arrested on Federal land and then your case will most likely be at the Federal courthouse on Golden Gate Avenue. Your citation will tell you what court you are in.

If you hire a DUI lawyer or attorney before you have to go to court, the lawyer can attend the first court date for you. This means you don't have to miss work and deal with the stress you've just experienced with the arrest.

If you do not have a lawyer by the first court date, you will need to attend court. In San Francisco court starts at 9:00 AM. In most cases, your first court date will result in a lot of waiting around. Although it is a good idea to get to court on time, don't get upset if there's a long line outside the metal detector and it's almost 9:00 AM. The court will not be ready to call your case until later in the morning.

The reason for this delay is the prosecution (District Attorney) does not have most of their new cases ready by 9:00 AM. The District Attorney's office usually does not even look at your case until the morning of your first court date. If arrested by SFPD, the cops will turn in your paperwork the night before or the morning of your initial court date. If CHP arrested you, the paperwork often does not get to the District Attorney's office until about 8:30 AM on your first court date.

What this boils down to is most new cases are not ready to be called by the court until 9:30 or 10:00 AM at the earliest. Often it takes until 10:30 or 11:00 AM, and sometimes longer.

Once you get to court you can find out which courtroom you are in by looking on the wall across from room 101 for your name. Next to your name will be the court number. You will be in one of four courtrooms if charged with a misdemeanor. Those courtrooms will be on the second floor and are courtrooms 14, 15, 16 and 17. If your case was charged as a felony, your courtroom will be on the first floor in Department 9, 10, 11, or 12.

Most DUI's are charged as misdemeanors. Some reasons why a DUI would be charged as a felony are if an injury occurred (injury to someone in your car, another car, or a pedestrian), if this is a fourth DUI offense within ten years or if you have a prior felony DUI within the last ten years.

Not much usually happens at the first court date. Your attorney enters a not guilty plea and a new court date is set. We get your paperwork, which includes police reports. If you took a blood test, the results might or might not be ready. Depending of which courtroom you are in, your attorney might be able to conduct your next court date without you present. Some judges insist on having the defendant present after the first court date, others do not.

In San Francisco there is more room for an attorney to negotiate a case than in most other counties. Negotiations usually begin before or at the second court date. In some cases negotiations begin at the first court date. The attorney's goal is to get the case dismissed. If that can't happen the case either goes to trial or a non trial result is negotiated. The process can go on for many months.

As in most counties, the District Attorney's office in San Francisco has specific guidelines for its deputy district attorney's to follow on DUI cases. They will usually look at specific areas in your case during negotiations. Blood Alcohol level is often the main issue, along with the driving and field sobriety tests. At present time there are a number of new prosecutors in San Francisco working in the courtrooms dealing with DUI's. These attorneys are more concerned than the seasoned prosecutors with following guidelines and will look more at the Blood Alcohol Level than other factors.

Like many areas in life, who you know and what you know can be the difference between a conviction and a dismissal or reduced charge. You want an attorney representing you who is both experienced with DUI's and knows the district attorneys in San Francisco. Your best DUI lawyers and attorneys practice mainly DUI cases and there are very few of us in San Francisco

Most Bay Area counties will not reduce charges when the Blood Alcohol Level is above a .10. In fact, Marin County won't reduce any charges. In San Francisco, the prosecutors are given guidelines and depending on who you are dealing with will reduce some charges when the Blood Alcohol Level is above a .10.

I just finished a case in San Francisco where the charges were reduced on a .17 Blood Alcohol Level. Another recent case with a .10 Blood Alcohol Level ended up a Dry Reckless.

Most Bay Area counties are not willing to negotiate DUI cases down to a Dry Reckless. The Dry Reckless offense is not considered a DUI and therefore an excellent result when you can get it in most cases. A Dry Reckless is usually only considered in San Francisco when the Blood Alcohol Level is .08 and sometimes but not often .09. Again, this is where the who you know and what you know comes in. A reduced charge and a win at the DMV hearing can result in many thousands of dollars saved in insurance over the next many years, and no license suspension or restriction.

Most DUI charges that get reduced end up as what is called a Wet Reckless. This is a charge that counts as a prior DUI and will still result in insurance going up. In San Francisco the Wet Reckless will usually result in probation, a reduced fine, no jail or work program time and a 12 hour DUI school. However, if you do not win the DMV hearing, you will have to do the 30 plus hour school to get a restricted license after the first month of DMV suspension. If you get convicted of a wet reckless without a license restriction and your attorney wins the DMV, you will not have your license restricted or suspended by DMV.

A first offense DUI that is not reduced in San Francisco will result in a large fine, three years of probation, a 30 plus hour DUI school, a three month restricted license and a minimum of two days of picking up trash on the sheriff's work program. These two days can be a higher number based on the alleged driving and whether there was an accident you get one day credit for the time you spent in jail, possibly credit for two days if you were in over two calendar days.

The penalty for a 2nd DUI in San Francisco usually starts at 10 Days on the Sheriff's Work Program, but can be much worse depending on the facts of the case. This is not bad as compared to San Mateo County, which starts most 2nd DUI's at a minimum of 30 days on the Sheriff's Work Program. However, San Francisco puts 2nd DUI offenders on a five year supervised probation, which means reporting to a probation officer. San Mateo County only does a three year non supervised probation.