At the beginning of 2022, the law regarding DUI diversion changed. DUIs are no longer eligible for diversion in California. Please contact our office with any questions. Email us at abortellaw@gmail.com OR Call us at: (415) 886-6333

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Law Offices of Aaron Bortel

If you are charged with a DUI, the authorities are not supposed to take your license if you are from out of state or have an out of state license. For instance, if you’re from Texas, New York, Jersey, Florida, Ohio, or Hawaii, they’re supposed to give your license back. However, sometimes they don’t. That’s unfortunate because once they take it, you’re not going to get it back. For residents of California, they will take your license. They give you a pink sheet of paper, which is an administrative per se order. It’s a suspension order that says that your license will be suspended in 30 days. It also says that you have 10 days to request a hearing. If someone hires us as their lawyer, we request the hearing on their behalf. We contact DMV via fax, and mail in the requests so that we have it in writing as proof of that request. We also get it date stamped on our fax machine.

We request the hearing at least two different ways for almost every case. Requesting a hearing gives us a stay of suspension, which means that the DMV will send you a white piece of paper that acts as a temporary license. In most cases, that paper will be good until the case with the DMV is over. DMV cases can go on for many months. And so, you’re able to keep driving.

You are also allowed to apply for a hard copy license known as a duplicate license. It’s very important to tell the truth. If they ask why you need one? You want to tell them the truth because if you lie to the DMV, it’s perjury, especially because you’re putting things in writing. But most DMVs will issue you a duplicate license. Therefore, you get a white piece of paper, and within two or three weeks, you’ll receive a hard copy that looks like the license you just lost to the police.

The key in these situations is to make sure that the request for a hearing is made within 10 days, and that’s 10 calendar days. If the 10th day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, they’re supposed to allow us Monday, but there are some DMV supervisors that are difficult about that, and we prefer not to deal with that circumstance. So, we always try to get those requests in by Friday at the latest. If you call us the day you got arrested or the day after, we’re going to get that request for a hearing in right away and get you that stay of suspension.

What Happens To My Temporary License?

Once the 30 days are up, a lot of people think that the license that has replaced their original license is not a regular license, but it is. The new license is just as good as your previous license. You can drive everywhere, anywhere, anytime. Of course, if there is a shelter in place order, then you want to be a lot more careful. But, for travel purposes, it is important to try to get into the DMV right away after you get arrested for DUI and get a duplicate license, so that you get a new hard copy. A good reason why you should get a duplicate license is because if you’re traveling and need to rent a car, most rental companies do not rent to people with a pink temporary license or a white temporary license. Therefore, you want to get a duplicate hard copy license.

What Is The APS Hearing As It Relates To My DUI Case In California?

In California, the administrative per se (APS) hearing refers to the hearing that is on the pink temporary license that they give you when you get arrested. You have 10 days from the date of arrest to request that hearing, and as long as you do that, you’ll get a hearing at some point. That hearing determines whether or not your license will be suspended by the DMV. In a regular alcohol DUI case during that hearing, they’re basically looking for three different things. Did the cops have sufficient cause to pull you over and do a DUI investigation? Were you lawfully arrested? Which looks at the procedures used. And, were you at or over .08% at the time of driving?

Consequently, if you get pulled over and it’s a DUI drug case, but there was no alcohol in your system, I can request a hearing at the DMV and notify them that there was no alcohol on your system. The DMV will then dismiss the administrative pers se case against you, and nothing will happen to your license from a DMV standpoint. However, we still have to be able to win the court case to avoid any type of a suspension because if you get convicted in court on a drug case, you’re looking at a license suspension. Also, if the DMV thinks that you’re a habitual user, then they can bring a different type of action against you to try to take away your license.

Accordingly, the administrative per se hearing works as follows: we request the hearing, we’re assigned a hearing officer, and then we have the hearing. I try to do my hearings in person. If your DUI is in Marin County, your arrest is in Marin County.

The DMV driver safety office that handles these hearings is in San Francisco. The good news for my clients is that they don’t usually need to be at the hearing. If I need them there for the hearing, I fully prep them, and go over what is going to happen. We go over what they might need to say, and more importantly, what not to say. In most cases, however, the client will not testify. I sometimes use experts to testify. Typically, these cases are won on a lack of probable cause, or on the inability to show that someone is not at or over .08% at the time of driving. If we do not win, the hearing would be similar to what happens if you’re convicted of a DUI. Your license would get suspended by the DMV, which can turn into an interlock license right away in which you have to get an ignition interlock device installed in your car. As long as you enroll in a DUI school, get the SR-22 high risk insurance and reissue fee, you can apply for an interlock license at the DMV.

For more information on Drivers’ License Consequences Of DUI Charges, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (415) 886-6333 today.

Aaron Bortel

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