Minimum and maximum sentences with probation (3-5 years):

First Offense A fine of $390 to $1000 with penalty assessment (multiplied by approximately 3-4 times), up to 6 months in jail, and attendance in a 3, 6, or 9 month alcohol program. As a result of the court conviction, the DMV will suspend your license for 6 or 10 months, depending on the alcohol program ordered, but a restricted license may be requested. Additionally, you will receive 2 points on your driving record.

Second Offense within 10 years A fine of $390 to $1000 with penalty assessment (multiplied by approximately 3-4 times), a minimum of 4 days and up to 1 year in county jail, attendance in a 18 month alcohol program, and installation of an interlocking device for up to 3 years. As a result of the court conviction, the DMV will suspend your license for 2 years, but a restricted license may be requested with IID for 1 year. Additionally, you will receive 2 points on your driving record.

Third Offense within 10 years A fine of $390 to $1000 with penalty assessment (multiplied by approximately 3-4 times), a minimum of 120 days and up to 1 year in county jail, attendance in a 18 month alcohol program, and installation of an interlocking device for up to 3 years. As a result of the court conviction, the DMV will revoke your license for 3 years, but a restricted license may be requested with IID for 2 years. Additionally, you will receive 2 points on your driving record.

Fourth Offense within 10 years A fine of $390 to $1000 with penalty assessment (multiplied by approximately 3-4 times), a minimum of 180 days and up to 1 year in county jail, attendance in a 18 month alcohol program, and installation of an interlocking device for up to 3 years. As a result of the court conviction, the DMV will revoke your license for 4 years, but a restricted license may be requested with IID for 3 years. Additionally, you will receive 2 points on your driving record.

Unlike alcohol DUI, which alleges a specific concentration level of alcohol in your system at the time of driving (over which you are deemed ‘impaired’), in a drug DUI there is no such level alleged. One reason is that there are too many drugs out there, both legal and illegal, and the government isn’t very good at measuring how much of a particular drug is in a person’s body, let alone the time the person took the drug.

Which is why drug DUIs are often very defensible by a skilled DUI defense attorney. A lot of the defense involves not giving up pushing forward despite the prosecutor’s seeming unwillingness to change the initial offer. It is not hard to see how a prosecutor can have a weak case when it can’t even be proven when you took the drug; the fact is, some drugs, such as marijuana, can stay in your system days after you took it, and if no concentration level can be established, there cannot be a rational connection between “taking drugs” and “impairment” for purposes of driving.

In drug DUIs, it is more important than ever to exercise your right to remain silent. Because a lot of what the government cannot prove can be proven by your own mouth. For example, cops are trained to ask questions such as:

“When did you take this drug?”

“How much did you take?”

“Do you feel the effects?”

The investigating/arresting officer who writes the police report is often not a trained DRE (Drug Recognition Expert), so their observations and conclusions often lack a scientific basis.

Police officers will also help themselves by writing all kinds of unfavorable observations about your physical appearance, demeanor, speech and, of course, performance of Field Sobriety Tests, because these things can help the prosecutor support the conclusion of “impairment” when scientific evidence is lacking. It takes a skilled DUI defense attorney to cross-examine the police officer(s) about these obviously biased observations.