Legal Question in DUI Law in California
I received a DUI in California in 2003. When I received the DUI there was a penalty of a fine completion of a DUI class and for it to stay on my record for 7 years. Later the law was changed to allow the DUI to stay on for 10 years and then changed again recently to 13 years. After doing some investigating of my own I found that this is illegal. Here is what makes me think soAn ex post facto law from the Latin for "from after the action" or retroactive law is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences or status of actions committed or relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law. In reference to criminal law it may criminalize actions that were legal when committed or it may aggravate a crime by bringing it into a more severe category than it was in at the time it was committed or it may change or increase the punishment prescribed for a crime such as by adding new penalties or extending terms or it may alter the rules of evidence in order to make conviction for a crime more likely than it would have been at the time of the action for which a defendant is prosecuted. Conversely a form of ex post facto law commonly known as an amnesty law may decriminalize certain acts or alleviate possible punishments for example by replacing the death sentence with lifelong imprisonment retroactively. Such laws are also known by the Latin term In mitius. Does anyone have any legal advice for me to help remove this DUI off my record and or can I sue the state or DMV.
4 Answers from Attorneys
Sorry, but ex post facto doesn't apply here.
If they passed a law making something illegal, then tried to prosecute you for doing that thing when it was legal, that is ex post facto. For example, if you wore a red shirt on Saturday, then the next week a law passed
Among it illegal to wear a red shirt on Saturdays, they could not prosecute you. Why? Because it wasn't illegal when you did it.
A change in how a law is applied is not the same. They're not trying to punish you now for something you did that was legal.
This argument has been tried and failed. Sorry.
There's nobody to sue either.
You may want to conduct a little more research, I think this has been addressed by the courts. I'm guessing you got another DUI, and the potential penalties have been enhanced because of the prior DUI or the time frame for consideration of a prior has been extended. If I recall correctly, the courts ruled that the defendant was not receiving additional penalties for the first violation, but was being penalized solely for the subsequent violation (even though it is enhanced by the first violation). Since the subsequent violation was after the new law took effect, the defendant knew or should have known of the consequences.
Nice try, no brass ring for your legal 'research' or conclusions. If your complaint is that you got another DUI within the currently specified 'look back' period, sorry, but you'll just have to live with it. Also, for your edification, your DUI, as with all convictions, is on your record 'forever'. It only counts as a prior for enhancement for the currently specified number of years.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
