Meet the Attorney
Ian Pancer focuses his practice on
DUI Defense to give his clients the
very best defense possible.
What to do after a DUI Charge
Ian Pancer focuses his practice on
DUI Defense to give his clients the
very best defense possible.
- What Now
- DUI Blood Test
- DUI Breath Test
- DUI Criminal Case
- DUI Field Sobriety Test
- San Diego DUI DMV Hearing
- What to do if you’re charged with a DUI
- DUI FAQ's
- License Suspension
- Reliability of Breath Test Results
- Impact of Drunk Driving on Insurance
- Contact Us
- DUI in San Diego
- Legal Resources
- Is DUI a Felony?
- San Diego DUI Penalties
You have a DUI What Now?
If you get arrested or cited for DUI in San Diego, you will most likely have to defend against 2 separate proceedings. One is the DMV process and the other is your criminal case. To preserve your right to a DMV hearing, you have to put in a request with the DMV within 10 days of the alleged driving.
At a DMV hearing, a DMV officer plays the role of judge, jury, and prosecutor. The DMV officer determines 1) whether you were driving, 2) whether your arresting officer had reasonable suspicion to stop you and 3) probable cause to arrest you, and 4) whether your blood-alcohol level was .08% or more. If your attorney can argue successfully that one of these four elements is missing, then you win the hearing. If you hire an attorney, your attorney can appear for you, and you can avoid the inconvenience and embarrassment of going the DMV hearing or appearing in court in front of the judge during your criminal case.
Your criminal case is totally separate from the DMV hearing. The steps in your case are the arraignment, readiness conference is, motion hearings and trial. At your arraignment, the prosecution formally notifies you of the charges against you by giving you a document called a complaint, and you usually enter a plea of not guilty to the charges. The next hearing on your case is usually a readiness conference. There, you set future dates for another readiness conference or trial, unless you enter a plea of guilty.
Either before your first readiness conference, or between readiness conferences, your attorney may decide to file motions. A motion is a request for the court to take some action. The most common motion to file in a DUI case is a motion to suppress, at which your attorney will argue to a judge that evidence against you should be excluded from trial, usually because of an illegal arrest.
The next step is trial. Under the California in United States constitutions, you have a right to a trial with a judge and a jury of 12 people to decide your case. In order to convict a defendant for DUI the prosecution has to show that the defendant drove a motor vehicle while so impaired by drugs or alcohol that he/she could not exercise caution characteristic of a sober person, or they have to show that the defendant drove a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of greater than .08%.