Los Angeles County Criminal Lawyer Blog

Local law enforcement made a big push during the end of the year to try to convince people not to drink in drive. The news media is reporting that officers attempted to make quite a few arrests for DUI in Ventura as the year closed and 2012 began.

Our Ventura DUI defense lawyers hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday season. But for many, the good time may have turned sour after being arrested by local or state law enforcement. An arrest can be frustrating, but it doesn't mean a driver should give up.

In fact, they should do the opposite and fight back. And the first step should be requesting a DMV driver's license hearing. This must be done within 10 days of a person's arrest, otherwise, they risk having no way to keep their driver's license. Within 30 days of a DUI arrest, the person's license will automatically be suspended or revoked.

What some people don't realize is that this is a separate hearing completely from the criminal case. If a person is convicted of DUI, they can lose their license for up to six months for a first offense, so the matter must be handled quickly and correctly.

A DMV hearing allows the defendant an opportunity to challenge the facts of the interaction with police and have a hearing officer determine whether the person should still be allowed to drive. In some cases, a person can still end up with a work permit license so they can still get to their job and home. In all cases, making the challenge allows a first look at the state's criminal case.

That hearing is different than the criminal case, where the state must prove that the person was actually driving while intoxicated. And according to the Ventura County Star, police made a serious effort leading up to New Year's Eve to make as many arrests as possible.

But despite the saturation patrol, it appears there were few arrests in Ventura. The newspaper reports police responded to more calls of crime. One arrest was made in Simi for DUI and another six DUI arrests were made by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies the Friday before New Year's.

The Camarillo Acorn reported that 16 DUI arrests were made going back to Christmas Eve in the county, a drop of one from the previous year's enforcement.

Another report out of Ventura County states that officers recently conducted a DUI checkpoint in Moorpark as a way to show residents police are serious about stopping drunk drivers. Police there admitted that they don't get many DUI arrests out of checkpoints, but use them as a way to get "a lot of public awareness on drunk driving." The county uses $150,000 a year in grant money to perform these DUI checkpoints.

Police constantly are trying to come up with ways to enforce DUI laws and typically use checkpoints and other tactics as public awareness campaigns that rarely have actual value in making arrests. But it is possible to get ensnared in one of these traps, which can have long-lasting effects.

If you are arrested, fight to keep your license and fight to stay out of jail by taking a hard look at the facts police intend to rely upon in making their case.