A regular DUI in Marin County entails attending a three-month DUI school unless the blood alcohol level is extremely high, in which case additional penalties may apply. It’s fine, and it costs just under $2000. Offenders are also sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation with no probation officer and six months of restricted driving. With DMV, things become more complicated. It is determined by how the DMV hearing is resolved whether or not you will have any suspension time.
You Are Subject to Marin County’s Zero Tolerance Law Following a DUI Conviction
The zero tolerance law is another major issue that people must be aware of regarding the penalty for a first DUI in Marin County. For the next few years, you cannot drive with any alcohol in your system. That’s.01 for most people, and depending on how much you weigh, it could be as little as an ounce to 2 ounces of wine or a portion of a beer.
Marin County has no jail or Sheriff’s Work Program
The DA’s standard offer to someone arrested for DUI includes all the penalties, including probation, fines, and zero tolerance, but they do not request jail or sheriff’s work program time. In every other county in the San Francisco Bay area, they usually ask for at least two days in jail and, in some cases, at least five or six days or picking up the trash on the sheriff’s work program.
However, you cannot drive with any sort of alcohol in your system. If you’ll do you will lose your license for a year and may violate your probation. Marin County’s penalties differ from those imposed by other counties in this regard. Marin is kinder to people in this situation. They have not requested any time if you were convicted of a first DUI. If you had a high blood alcohol level, they might ask for several AA meetings as part of your punishment, which could be 2 or 3 a week for 3 to 6 months.
They could request community service hours ranging from 20 to 40 hours. That only applies to extremely high blood alcohol levels.
In Marin County, losing a jury trial for a DUI does not result in severe penalties
The nice thing about Marin on a DUI where someone does not have an extremely high blood alcohol level is that they can go to a jury trial. If you lose, the penalty is very close to what it would have been if you had gone in and pleaded guilty.
Marin County could save taxpayers money by reducing DUI charges and avoiding many trials. Attorneys in Marin County are more likely to encourage their clients to go to a jury trial. There is a lot of debate about this because they could have fewer jury trials in Marin if they just reduced the charge to a wet or dry reckless.
It takes up a lot of courtroom space that could be used for something else. Marin County administrators have been talking to the DA’s office for years, trying to persuade them to change this. So far, they haven’t, except marijuana DUIs.
If you were convicted of a regular DUI with no high blood alcohol level, they would sentence you to 5 days in jail, which you could do through the sheriff’s work program. Least probability that you receive credit for a day or two; it depends on your time in custody. You can consult an expert DUI Defense lawyer in San Francisco, CA, for further information. So, call us right away to get an appointment of free consultation.
