Legal Question in DUI Law in California

If you are arrested for a DUI in California, the officer will usually do a "stop and snatch," taking away your license and giving you a pink form called a DS367. It says it is your temporary license, and your license will be suspended in thirty days.

YOU HAVE TEN DAYS TO REQUEST A DMV HEARING OR YOUR LICENSE WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE SUSPENDED.

The administrative suspension is usually four months; however, if you have a prior DUI conviction or suspension within the past ten years, you are under 21, or you refused a chemical test, the suspension is one year.

The DMV hearing is conducted by a DMV employee who acts as both prosecutor and judge. The only real issues are whether you were legally arrested and driving a motor vehicle when your blood alcohol level was over .08% (or .01% if you were over 21).

DMV hearings are very technical and every case is different. It's impossible for anyone to tell you what you might do to avoid a suspension in your case without a complete review of the documentation. Even if I could write a road map of everything I would plan to do in a particular case, my strategy might change while the hearing was underway, based on the evidence presented.