LA DWI Lawyers

San Diego DUI defense attorney Rick Mueller talks about California Drunk Driving & DMV law at DUI seminar – see more at sandiegoduilawyer.com

California DUI Defense Lawyers and Orange County Criminal Attorneys Wallin & Klarich fight for your rights if you have been arrested on any drunk driving or DUI related cases.

www.shouselaw.com 888.327.4652 A California defense lawyer explains when DUI is a felony, based on injury to others or prior convictions. If because you were driving under the influence, you injure another person, prosecutors will likely charge you with “DUI with injury” under California Vehicle Code section 23153 VC.1 This charge is a “wobbler,” which means that it may be prosecuted as either a misdemeanor or as a felony depending on the circumstances of the offense, and your criminal history, with particular emphasis placed on your prior DUI history. California first enacted drunk driving laws in 1911. These laws prohibited driving while intoxicated. “Intoxicated” was loosely defined and, as a result, lobbyists sought stricter enforcement. In the 1980s, various citizen groups (led by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)) convinced the state to rewrite California’s DUI laws. It was during that decade that major new legislation changed the ways DUI cases were prosecuted, defended, and punished. Vehicle Code 23152 VC was introduced in 1981. At that time, California DUI laws prohibited driving while “under the influence” or driving “with a BAC of 0.10% or greater.” In response to even more political pressure, the California Legislature lowered the threshold from 0.10% to 0.08% in 1989. Today, Vehicle Code 23513 VC…which punishes driving under the influence and causing an injury…remains essentially unchanged since its inception in 1989.