Phoenix DUI Defense Attorney
On the off chance that you have been accused of any DUI offense in Phoenix, you are confronting genuine punishments in case you are sentenced for the offense—both criminal punishments and coincidental losses. Arizona has probably the most extreme punishments for DUI offenses in the United States, including prison time, loss of your driver’s permit, hardened fines, and the need of having a start interlock gadget introduced. Realize that DUI cases are faultless.
Extremely many individuals accept there is no way to forestall a DUI conviction, so they confess easily. An exceptionally experienced Phoenix DUI lawyer can have a genuine effect on the result of your charges. A criminal lawyer in Phoenix from the Ciccarelli Law Offices can recognize the remarkable issues of your situation that, thusly, make the best DUI safeguard. Learn more about how we can help you when you need our advice, consultation, and representation. Lee and the Ciccarelli Legal Team are experienced, concerned, and passionate about fighting for their clients in all types of DUI Charges in Maricopa and Pinal Counties in Arizona including but not limited to:
- The DUI Process
- Admin Per Se Suspension
- DUI Penalties
- CDL DUI Arrest
- DUI To the Slightest Degree
- Ordinary DUI
- Extreme DUI
- Super Extreme DUI
- Aggravated DUI
- Illegal Drug DUI
- Marijuana DUI
- Prescription Drug DUI
- Underage DUI
- DUI Screening
- DUI Testing
Arizona DUI Penalties
In Arizona, if your blood alcohol content (BAC) shows that you have a concentration of 0.08 or higher, 0.04 for a commercial vehicle driver, or if the results of blood alcohol or drug test are not available, you will lose your legal driving privileges immediately. You will be required to participate in an alcohol and drug screening to reinstate your restricted permit or your license.
If you are under 21, you cannot have any alcohol content in your bloodstream. If any alcohol registers, your license will be suspended. If you refuse to take a test to check your BAC when you are arrested, you will automatically lose your license for a year. If this is a second refusal within 84 months, you can expect to have your license suspended for two years. To reinstate your driving privileges, the state will require you to complete an alcohol and drug screening.
The court may impose criminal penalties for second and third-offense DUI convictions, along with the automatic revocation of the driver’s license.
Beginning on 09/29/2021, House Bill 2187 (HB2187) declared that MVD should revoke a person’s license for three years if they have at least one aggravated DUI conviction combined with another DUI conviction.
DUI
A first-offense DUI carries a minimum sentence of 10 consecutive days in jail with a minimum fine of $1,250. Mandatory participation in an alcohol screening, education, and treatment program is required. And any vehicle driven by the convicted party will be equipped with a certified ignition interlock device. In addition to this, community service is required.
Those with second or subsequent convictions will be jailed for at least 90 days and fined a minimum of $3,000. Their licenses will be revoked for a year, and they will be required to participate in an alcohol screening, education, and treatment program. Other requirements include a certified ignition interlock device and compulsory community service.
Extreme DUI
If the driver’s BAC is 0.15 or higher, it is considered an Extreme DUI. The penalties for these types of offenses are more severe.
A First offense conviction will require the convicted party to spend at least 30 consecutive days in jail without being eligible for probation or a suspended sentence. The driver will incur fines of at least $2,500 and will be required to complete a program of alcohol screening, education, and treatment. Ignition interlock devices will be placed on the vehicles they operate.
For second and subsequent convictions, the driver will spend a minimum of 120 days in jail, with fines of not less than $3,250. They will lose their driver’s license for a year and must participate in an alcohol screening, education, and treatment program. There will be a community service requirement and an ignition interlock device installed on any vehicle the driver may operate.
Aggravated DUI
If a person commits another driving under the influence offense while their driver’s license is suspended, revoked, or canceled, it is considered an aggravated DUI. This same charge also applies if a motorist commits a third DUI in 84 months or if a person under 15 is onboard when the DUI occurs. If a driver refuses to submit to a blood alcohol content examination while under an order requiring them to use an ignition interlock device, this automatically falls under the aggravated DUI category.
The offender, in this case, will spend a maximum of two years in prison and have their license revoked for a year. There may be other penalties required by law, depending on the offense. But, there will be mandatory community service hours and the requirement to use a certified ignition interlock device. A required alcohol screening, education, and treatment program will also be demanded.
What is a Certified Ignition Interlock Device?
It is a breath alcohol testing instrument that connects to the ignition of the vehicle. The driver must blow into the device before cranking the vehicle. If the driver’s BAC is above a designated level. Once the vehicle is in operation, the driver will be randomly required to blow into the device.
Alternative Sentencing in DUI Cases
A first-time DUI conviction calls for mandatory jail time if their BAC is 0.085-0.15%. But, in 2021, Arizona passed a law that permitted 9 of the ten days of jail time to be reduced or pardoned if an alternative sentence is applied. This alternative sentence might mean participation by the defendant in an alcohol or drug abuse treatment program that requires treatment, counseling, and screening. This means that the minimum sentence for a first-offense DUI is a jail stay of only one day.
Violent criminals or those facing several charges will not be qualified for alternative sentencing. Here are a few alternative sentences that may apply to those eligible:
- Drug and alcohol treatment programs
- Mandatory community service
- Home Detention
- Electronic monitoring such as an ankle monitor
- Work release
- Work furlough.
Speak to your legal team at Ciccarelli Law Offices about whether an alternative sentence might work for you.
How Might Ciccarelli Law Offices Help You Through Your Phoenix DUI Charges?
- With over 100 years of joint criminal protection experience among our group, we will shield your DUI allegations with the objective of the absolute best potential outcomes.
- We are completely furnished with the information, abilities, and experience important to battle Arizona DUI accusations for our customers.
- We comprehend that you might be feeling restless, pushed, or even terrified with regard to your future at the present time. Your work and your day-to-day life could be on the line.
- We likewise comprehend that great individual now and then commit errors, yet this doesn’t mean as long as they can remember ought to be wrecked accordingly.
- Our lawyers are fighting tried in nearby court frameworks and are exceptionally knowledgeable about taking on the neighborhood District Attorneys’ Offices.
- We will battle for your privileges, regardless of whether as an option condemning project, brought down charges, or least condemning.
- In case there was a slip-up made during your pause and capture, we will battle to have your charges excused inside and out.
What are The Most Common DUI Defenses Available?
In case you’ve been accused of a DUI, the particular guard utilized for your situation will rely upon the conditions and realities encompassing your DUI pause and capture. The following are probably the most regularly utilized DUI protections:
You were not in real actual control of your vehicle. For instance, on the off chance that you had a lot to drink and pulled off the street to work it off in the secondary lounge, then, at that point, you are not in real actual control of the vehicle.
The underlying stop was not made legitimately. Cops need reasonable justification or sensible doubt that a law has been broken to pull you over, as indicated by our United States Constitution which keeps proof of unlawful prevents from being introduced in court. That being said, in practically all cases there is some emotional reason for this doubt, regardless of how little. All in all, even the way that your tag might be grimy can be “reasonable justification” for the official to pull you over. Clearly, most cops will look hard for something more self-evident and generally search for such criminal traffic offenses as speeding, inability to utilize signals, moving to another lane often, or moving through a stop sign.
The Field Sobriety Tests were not appropriately controlled. Despite the fact that cops are prepared on the appropriate technique for regulating field restraint tests, there are many strides simultaneously, some of which might be skipped, either incidentally or purposely. Officials might neglect to consider explicit ailments which could make breezing through field collectedness assessments troublesome or even unimaginable for an absolutely calm person. At the point when field restraint tests are given out and about, the landscape might be rough and lopsided, making it hard for anybody, especially a lady in heels, to breeze through the assessments. The individuals who are taking sure prescriptions might experience issues with the field collectedness tests, or those with a background marked by dizziness or other equilibrium issues can likewise experience issues. One of the tests is known as the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, which should be given by an official that has been ensured to regulate the test. There are many, many issues related to field restraint tests, and your lawyer can decide if any of these issues existed for you.
You were denied the option to advise. Once captured for DUI, DWI, Extreme DUI, Super Extreme DUI, Aggravated DUI, or some other kind of DUI, when you demand a lawyer the police are legitimately obliged to give a telephone when sensibly conceivable. In the event that they overlooked your solicitation or stood by excessively some time before giving a telephone, your lawyer could discover the reason for excusal.
The BAC test was not appropriately performed. A breathalyzer is, regardless, basically a piece of hardware, which should be kept up with, overhauled, and very much dealt with. Machines can and do glitch, and despite the fact that officials are prepared, they might direct the test inappropriately, permitting the lawyer to challenge the outcomes. The actual machines should be adjusted and should be kept up with consistently. The official should be prepared in the organization of the test and should appropriately follow the method. Any deviations can bring about difficulties to the legitimacy of the test.
The cop neglected to plan, neglected to appear, or neglected to protect proof. Cops, particularly in bigger urban communities, may make a few DUI stops and captures every week. Thus, the official might not have the opportunity to appropriately plan for your preliminary. Truth be told, when your preliminary moves around, the official may not recollect the particulars of your capture, and can just go on his composed report, which could conceivably be 100% exact. Further, recordings and affirmations disappear, papers are finished up inappropriately or at some unacceptable time—so, in our frail world, desk work can, and does, regularly essentially vanish, which could help you as your lawyer searches for these shortcomings.
Will I Keep My Driver’s License After a DUI?
Your license is automatically suspended when you are arrested for a DUI in Arizona. This happens before a conviction even takes place. You may be allowed a restricted license to commute to work or school.
The following circumstances will lead to a lost driver’s license:
- Blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 or greater
- BAC test results are 0.04 or more while operating a commercial vehicle
- Blood alcohol test results are not available
- Drugs were detected in your system
When you are charged with a DUI, the police officer handling your case will take your license and, provide you with an admin per se form. This will act as a temporary driver’s license for the next 15 days. This type of suspension is through the Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) and not through a court or law.
This means the suspension occurs even if there is no conviction for the offense. You still must go to court, and if you are convicted, you face the court revoking your license. It is important to seek a DUI criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.
How Might the Ciccarelli Law Offices Team Help You with Your Phoenix DUI Charges?
At Ciccarelli Law Offices, our Phoenix DUI Defense legal counselors address people blamed for DUI across the territory of Arizona. We realize that this is a startling time and we work rapidly to secure your privileges and opportunity every step of the way. Let Attorneys Lee Ciccarelli and his group help you when you need them most. We have broad experience helping complex DUI cases in Phoenix and all through the province of Arizona. Our team defends DUI-related arrests and tickets throughout Arizona including Maricopa County and Pinal County. Call us today!