An odor of alcohol is created by drinking any amount of alcohol, not just an amount that would cause impairment or a person to have a .08% BAC, San Diego DUI lawyers know. Odor of alcohol alone is not sufficient probable cause to request a chemical test. See People vs. Roybal, 655 P.2nd 410 (Colorado, 1982). A 1998 study refers to the odor of alcohol, saying ”it failed to rise above the level of a guess” (Burns, Moskowitz and Ferguson, Police Officers’ Detection of Breath Odors from Alcohol Ingestion, Accident and Analysis and Prevention 31 (1999) 175-180), San Diego DUI attorneys remind.
10. If you need to save your driver’s license or privileges, your San Diego DUI attorney has only ten (10) calendar days to contact DMV!
You should not contact DMV to schedule a date conflicting with your San Diego attorney’s calendar. That’s because DMV will not reschedule and you may not get the San Diego attorney of your choice. There is no rush as long as your San Diego attorney contacts DMV by the 10th day from your San Diego drunk driving arrest.
9. The ten (10) day time limit is computed from the Issue date of the SUSPENSION/REVOCATION ORDER AND TEMPORARY DRIVER LICENSE. If time is running out or you are late, contact a San Diego DUI attorney ASAP.
8. This ADMINISTRATIVE PER SE SUSPENSION/REVOCATION ORDER AND TEMPORARY DRIVER LICENSE is the California DMV paper which you should have received.
7. Even if you did not receive this DMV paper, the California DMV will probably take action against your driving privileges.
6. Even if you have a license from another state, and even if the San Diego drunk driving officer did not take your license, that state may also take action against your driving privileges.
5. This TEMPORARY DRIVER LICENSE ENDORSEMENT is valid for only thirty (30) days from the issue date.
If a DMV hearing is requested within ten (10) days, your DMV TEMPORARY will be extended & there will be a stay (delay) of any suspension until the outcome of your DMV hearing is determined.
4. Do not confuse this initial 30 day TEMPORARY DRIVER LICENSE with your court date!
The DMV and criminal proceedings are separate and independent. The outcome of one almost never affects the other. Sometimes the officer or the DMV paper confuses or misleads you to believe that the TEMPORARY DRIVER LICENSE is good “until the court date”. If there are approximately thirty (30) days from your arrest date to your court date, this may just be a dangerous coincidence. There usually are months before your DMV hearing takes place.
3. There are three (3) issues at the hearing if you completed a chemical test. (See reverse side of DMV paper.)
Issues are whether the San Diego county DUI officer had probable cause to stop or contact you or whether the San Diego breath or blood test evidence is beatable.
2. San Diego DMV has the burden of proof to prevail on all three (3) issues. If DMV meets the burden of proof on two (2) issues, you win!
1. All a San Diego DMV attorney has to do is knock out one (1) DMV issue to save your license & you avoid any reissue fee or Proof of Insurance SR-22 requirement.