DUI states that it is unlawful to “drink under the influence” and drive. The person who is drinking and driving and has not involved in injury or property damage has a penalty up to 6 months in jail. The person who has caused property damage can be penalized for at least three to ten years, depending on the severity of the accident.
There are two types of punishment for this criminal act. It has different name in different states. The first degree of punishment is suspension of your driving license. The second degree of punishment is imprisonment and the sentence can be long term. The person will have a criminal record. After, serving the imprisonment tenure, his name can be removed from the records after few legal proceedings.
Procedure of license suspension
License suspension is the first step and it is an administrative action. You will lose your driving license as soon as you get caught, even before you are convicted of the charge. It can be taken even if you refuse or fail in the sobriety or alcohol testing test.
This means you cannot drive even before you appear in the court. Moreover, in some states, police also takes away the driving license even if you take the Blood Alcohol Content exam.
Is DUI a felony or is it a misdemeanour?
As per the criminal procedures, the police will arrest you in the first case. However, the process is different in case of the felony and misdemeanour.
You will be treated as a misdemeanour when you have done DUI for the first time. In such situations, the police will first seize your license and give you a pink paper. This paper will act like your license for 30 days.
In this time period you have to appeal to the court with the help of an attorney. He can suggest the best ways for you. In most of the cases, a lawyer usually turns the case into reckless driving. However, you need to do few more tests in case you have already taken the blood alcohol test and the results are not very high.
Now, after you have been a misdemeanour, you will not be in the criminal record. When you accidently perform DUI for the second time, you will be treated as a felony. Felony is when you have the criminal record with the police. You have to appear in the court and give a huge amount of fine. In some accidental cases, you may also have to serve imprisonment.
How to deal with it
You must hire the best Los Angeles DUI Attorney in order to get out from the mess. The rules and regulations for most of the time keep changing from time to time in some states. Therefore, he needs to be well aware of the new rules. You must check his certificates and successful cases he has handled.
Conclusion
Lastly, it is always recommended to drive safely and don’t drive after drinking. Not only will you hurt yourself, but also the roadside pedestrians and other drivers as well.