Hearing of a DUI DMV suspended license process
When you are arrested driving with alcohol level above 0.08%, the Department of Motor Vehicle(DMV) of California has a right to suspend your license immediately. The case is taken up by the DMV administration which treats it separately from a court case. You are charged with a DUI offense under the DUI California laws. You license is revoked if you lose the case.
1. What will happen to my license?
After your arrest, the arresting officer takes away your driving license and issues you with a revocation order. He will also give you a temporary license known as an administrative Per sef driver’s license. This document acts as a temporary license for the next thirty days. You are also given ten days from the day of your arrest to request for a DMV hearing.
If these days expire without requesting for a hearing, then your driver’s license is confiscated for a period of time which you cannot challenge. After this period of time is over, you can get your driving license back after you:
- Enroll in a DUI class
- Pay the reinstatement fee
- Submit the SR-22 insurance form
When you request for a Dmv Dui hearing, your license is not revoked even after the thirty days, the administration’s waits for the outcome of the case. The license is returned when you win the case.
2. Scheduling a DMV hearing
After you request for a hearing, the DMV reviews the necessary document to determine whether there is need for the revocation. If there is no need, the DMV then writes to you a notification. Remember, after you are arrested you are only given 10 days to request a hearing. You or your attorney or the two of you can be present in the hearing.
To schedule a hearing, a dmv appointment Fresno CA is not necessary, as the DMV officer communicates the date. In most cases, the hearing takes place more than thirty days after your arrest. This means that the temporary license will most likely have expired. Your dui attorney could request for an extension in such a situation.
3. The process of DMV hearing
The hearing is different from a court hearing. For one, a DMV officer presides over the case and also acts as the prosecutor. In some cases, they do not have any formal legal training. The hearing takes place in an office and over the phone in some instances. Though it is a miniature trial, the jury is never part of the proceedings. You also have rights during the hearing (your lawyer acts on them) which includes:
I. Evaluate and challenge evidence
II. Cross-examine witnesses
III. Summon witnesses and present them
IV. You can also testify for yourself
V. The right to appeal the judgment if you lose the case.
During the hearing, it is advisable that you do not attend as you don’t have the right against self-incrimination. What this means is that the hearing officer has the right to call upon you to testify. The issues of discussion in the hearing are so specific. They seek to determine a number of things which include whether:
- Your urine or blood or breath was tested
- The arresting officer had justifiable reason to arrest you
- He/she arrested you lawfully
- The alcohol level was more than 0.08% in your body at the time of arrest
If you declined to take the test, the officer further seeks to know whether the arresting officer explained the consequences of your actions. Normally, your license is suspended for 1 year or invalidated for 2 to 3 years.
A win in the DMV office does not mean you will win at the courts. It is therefore important that you hire a lawyer that has experience with cases both at the DMV offices and the court. In case you lose, you have the right to appeal. The length of a license suspension and its circumstance are dependent on whether you committed the offense for the first, second time or it’s a subsequent offense.
4. Avoid drivers license suspension
Even though a dui dmv hearing is not as serious as a court hearing, you should not take it lightly. The consequence of losing your license is frustrating. You should therefore hire an experienced lawyer.
5. How Fresno lawmen can help you get your license back?
Fresno Lawmen operates in California. The firm has worked with the Fresno DMV in several cases so they understand DUI DMV trials. A Fresno Dui attorney helps you get your license back as he/she assists you in every stage of the process with expertise from previous experiences. Timing is important in such cases so the dui attorney CA also acts as communication agent on your behalf.
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