Defense lawyers familiar with San Diego administrative per se license hearings know there are unique San Diego DMV rules, peculiar San Diego DMV laws and strange San Diego DMV procedures exist.
San Diego DMV Hearing Officer use evidence in the form of documents and/or witnesses. The Driver Safety Officer offers the San Diego drunk driving / DUI police report, DMV records, San Diego DUI alcohol reports and the important San Diego DUI officer’s sworn statement entitled a “DS 367.” With no Fifth Amendment right at the hearing, San Diego DUI attorneys usually will not want you to be present at the hearing since the Driver Safety Officer can call you as a witness and force you to testify against yourself if you ill-advisedly appear.
The San Diego DMV hearing is presided over by a Driver Safety Officer (DMV hearing officer) rather than a real judge, an employee of the DMV not trained in law who acts as both prosecutor and judge. As unfair as it is, she or he can legally object to your evidence, rule on her or his own objection, dually engage San Diego DUI lawyers, and admit or not admit either party’s evidence.
The San Diego DMV Driver Safety Officer’s decision will usually be mailed a few days or even weeks after the hearing.
A San Diego DMV / DMV suspension can be set aside or sustained. If the San Diego DMV suspension is sustained, the decision can be appealed to the DMV in Sacramento and/or to the San Diego Superior court by filing a San Diego DMV petition for writ of mandamus.