For a first time DUI in Orange County, California, do I need to get an attorney?
nit2vvinit2 asked:
I am going through a divorce and it’s really miserable at home as we are still under the same roof. After work, I stopped at CVS and bought a big bottle of rum and 2 2-ltr bottles of diet coke. I was planning on going home, but decided I wasn’t up to a fight. I pulled into a parking lot near my home and called a friend. While sitting and talking I made a couple of drinks. I knew that I would be walking home when the rain stopped. After sitting a couple of hours, cops appeared and proceeded to arrest me for DUI.
I don’t want any of my family members to know about this. I am awaiting a job transfer to Houston. I need to deal with this in a timely manner.
What is the best way to handle this?
Get an attourney or the state appointed one and deal with it asap. The sooner you face the problem, the sooner you can be rid of it.
Yeah, get a defense attorney. In California, the car has to move for it to be a DUI. You didn’t consume the alcohol until after you moved, so they’re going to have an evidence problem.
You definitely need a lawyer. My sister’s ex-husband got arrested for having an open alcohol container in a parked vehicle and ended up spending tons of time in jail just waiting for his trial; it was a total mess. I think that a lawyer might be able to get you off on jurisdictional issues (like if the parking lot that you were in is private and not considered a road or something), or at least have it reduced to a misdemeanor. This definitely isn’t something that’s going to just go away. Since you are going through a divorce I would call a women’s shelter or some other resource that helps women and ask them for attorneys who won’t charge too much.
Good luck!
yes get an attorney. especially since you weren’t driving or intending on driving.