Top DUI Lawyers in Los Angeles, California

Finding the right DUI lawyer in Los Angeles is only the start of the journey to beat a DUI charge. Once a competent and professional DUI attorney has been hired, the preparation can begin. From the moment of arrest through the arraignment and trial, there are many ways a DUI lawyer in Los Angeles can help you win your DUI case and avoid jail time.

Immediately After A DUI Arrest in Los Angeles

The sooner you contact a DUI attorney, the better. In the state of California, you have 10 days from the time of arrest to request an administrative hearing. This is an opportunity to fight the Administrative License Suspension that is mandatory in all California DUI arrests. After this initial 10-day period, your license will be suspended for at least 4 months, depending on the specifics of the arrest. Any previous DUI convictions in California can lengthen this suspension. If you missed the 10-day window to appeal the ALS, you may apply for an ignition interlock device and a restricted license to get to and from work or school.

Pre-Trial

Being charged with a DUI does not necessarily mean it will be a long court process. In fact, the top DUI lawyers in Los Angeles may even be able to prevent the case from moving past the arraignment. If the arresting officer made a mistake in the citation, any mistake at all, this introduces the possibility of the case being thrown out. An error in the license plate number, the driver’s license number, or a variety of other potential typos may mean that you are off the hook. This is not exactly common, but it is also not unheard of for sloppy documentation to result in a case being dismissed quickly.

During Trial

If a case makes it past the arraignment, a top-rated Los Angeles DUI lawyer may be able to invalidate the prosecution’s evidence against you. Whether the case proceeds to a DUI bench trial or a DUI jury trial, there are ways to get the evidence against you dismissed. The field sobriety tests that were performed during an arrest must have been conducted properly by trained personnel. If this was not the case, then the field sobriety tests may be thrown out.

If a DUI breath test was performed improperly, or if the officer wasn’t properly trained on the specific breath test machine, then this evidence may be thrown out as well. Even DUI blood tests are able to be marked inadmissible as evidence if a very strict procedure and chain of custody were not followed and documented. These are just a few of the ways a top-rated Los Angeles DUI attorney can help you beat a DUI charge at trial.

After Trial

Even if the court case did not go in your favor, there are still ways your Los Angeles DUI attorney can help you avoid the worst-case scenarios. In certain cases, it may be advantageous for someone to enter a DUI Court or Drug Court program. DUI Court programs are an alternative to traditional incarceration and are voluntary. These may be recommended or offered to people with repeated DUI convictions in Los Angeles. Diversion programs focus on accountability, support, and case management. While this may not seem ideal at first, it is certainly preferable to spending time in jail. Keep in mind, this is a last resort just in case the court case does not go in your favor.