Guest Post By: Christopher J McCann an Orange County criminal defense DUI lawyer
Discover if DUI Arrest is a Crime in California
Usually, in California, a first-time DUI is charged as a misdemeanor, not as a crime. As long as there are no mitigating or aggravating factors, you will be charged with misdemeanor called a “simple DUI”, especially when you are facing the first three DUI cases. However, there are three cases when a simple DUI in California is charged as a felony.
1. Your drunk driving causes an injury or the death of other people. When another person undergoes injury or death either because you’ve driven in a negligent manner, committed a vehicle code violation or drove under influence, California prosecutors might charge you with a felony DUI.
2. You have a prior felony DUI. In case you are arrested in California for DUI and you already had a felony DUI, you might be charged with crime.
3. You have multiple convictions over a 10-years period. In the state of California, driving under influence is considered a “priorable” offense. These priorable offenses add up every time you are convicted for a similar offense. Consequently, if you have suffered more than three DUI convictions over the last 10 years, you are more prone to be charged with a crime.
I hope this helps clarify the question to “Is DUI Arrest a Crime in California”.
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