A Seattle mother was recently arrested for DUI and spent the night in jail when she was stopped by a police officer for DUI and her child was in the vehicle. According to the police report the mother backed her vehicle into parked van in a 7-11 parking lot. Apparently there was extensive damage caused to the parked vehicle. When officers arrived on scene the mother was so unsteady on her feet she was unable to perform the field sobriety tests.

Last year Washington State added additional penalties for getting arrested for DUI with a child in the vehicle. Under RCW 46.61.5055 and RCW 9.94A.533 if a driver is arrested for DUI with a passenger under 16 then they face additional penalties on top of the regular DUI penalties. First an ignition interlock device will be imposed for an additional 6 months on top of the regular 1, 5, or 10 year increments. Secondly a higher fine is imposed for a first offense. And lastly for each passenger under 16 an additional 12 months shall be added to a sentence for vehicular homicide.

So how does this compare to other States. In all honesty it is pretty comparable to other States, and if anything the Washington State laws are less strict. For example in North Carolina if you get a DUI with a passenger under 16 then you automatically face a minimum sentence of 7 days to 12 months with mitigating circumstances adding a minimum sentence of 30 days to 24 months in custody. In Pennsylvania there is an automatic 100 community service hours that get imposed. But the cake is taken by Texas. If you get a DUI with a passenger under 15 then you face a minimum sentence of 180 days. Now that is tough.

Like I said Washington State recently enacted these laws. Surprisingly there are still States out there without any additional penalties for DUI with a child passenger. Vermont, New Mexico, Missouri, Indiana, Connecticut, and Alaska are the only ones I can find without additional penalties.

So back to the Seattle mother. She will probably face the additional penalties listed above per the RCW’s. Also knowing the Prosecutor’s office like I do she will most likely face harsher treatment from them as well.

About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI Lawyer in Seattle, WA. He is listed as a Top Rated Seattle DUI Attorney by Avvo, and a was recently named a Rising Star in the field of DUI Defense by Seattle Met Magazine. An honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive.

A recent article in the Seattle Times came out this weekend about King County DUI cases and how long they take to get filed.  The article compared cases that fall under the jurisdiction of the King County Prosecutors Office and several other Prosecutor offices in and around Western Washington, specifically the Seattle City Attorneys office.  In comparing the King County DUI cases and DUI cases from other jurisdictions, King County takes much much longer to file DUI charges.  And the article asks why?

The article went on and on about the delay in King County DUI cases, and used an example of a gentlemen who was arrested for a DUI in King County but was not charged until 95 days after his DUI arrest.  In between his arrest and arraignment in King County he got arrested for a DUI in the City of Seattle and was charged within a day or two of the arrest.  The columnist then went on to blame the County for the delay and not locking this guy up sooner.

As a DUI Attorney in Seattle, I have to say I really don’t have an opinion on when a DUI case gets filed.  Yes, I can see from the community safety point of view of charging someone as soon as they are arrested.  But I also see the number of DUI cases that come through King County every year.  There is absolutely no way the County can file cases like many small Prosecutor offices with much fewer cases.  For example, the City of Seattle roughly handles a 1/4 of what King County handles and that is why there is such a quick turnaround.

Additionally, I tend to think that DUI cases in King County get handled and resolved much much quicker than say Seattle Municipal Court.  The reason is that when the DUI charge is not filed for several months, it gives the defendant and the defense attorney a head start on the investigation.

For example, in Seattle Municipal Court if you are arrested for a DUI in the City of Seattle then you will have an arraignment within 2-3 business days.  After your arraignment, the next court date is typically a month’s way.  Most Judges will not allow a DUI case to be continued after 2 pretrial hearings.  So basically a Defense Attorney has 60 days to interview all witnesses, find any legal issues, negotiate with the Prosecutor, and draft and file any motions.  This time frame would be extremely fast for a theft of a candy bar case let along with a crime as complicated as a DUI.  So most times in my experience DUI cases are needlessly set for trial in Seattle Municipal Court just to give the Defense more time to work on the case.  This costs money to do from a taxpayer standpoint when you consider the added court time for the Judge, clerks, bailiffs, and Prosecutors, but the article didn’t seem to recognize this issue.

Now compare that to a King County DUI case.  If it is filed 2 months after the date of the arrest.  Then the Defense Attorney has probably already litigated the DOL hearing.  Probably interviewed any witnesses including the arresting officer, and researched any legal issues.  So by the time the DUI case is filed the Defense has thoroughly had enough time to investigate and prepare the case.  So it is not uncommon for a DUI case to be resolved at that first pretrial, or at the latest the second pretrial.  There is no needless trial date set, and the taxpayers save money.

Obviously this is just one man’s opinion.  But it is a point of view that was not raised in the Seattle Times article.  So before you go bashing Dan Satterberg and the King County Prosecutor’s office consider what I wrote above.  Additionally from what I hear, nowadays the King County Prosecutors Office is filing cases much much quicker now.  Not as fast as the Seattle City Attorneys, but usually within one month.  Which I think is quite impressive, considering the number of cases that come through that office.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI lawyer in Seattle.  He is currently rated a 10 out of 10 by Avvo and listed as a Superb DUI Attorney.  Additionally, he was recently named a Rising Star in the field of DUI Defense by Super Lawyers Magazine and the Seattle Met Magazine.  An honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive.

One of the questions I am most often asked while I’m meeting with someone arrested for a DUI in Washington State is why did my vehicle have to get impounded?  This wasn’t always the case.  I used to represent people all the time who were arrested for DUI and the police officer left their car where it was.  Or sometimes I had cases where the police officer would even move the vehicle so it was lawfully parked and wouldn’t get towed in the morning.  However this all changed July 22, 2011 when Hailey’s law became effective.

What is Hailey’s law you ask?  Well back in 2007, Hailey French of Whatcom County was seriously injured in a head on collision when she was struck by a drunk driver.  The driver who had been arrested earlier was not booked and was actually taken back to her residence.  The arresting officer who did her this favor warned her about going back to her vehicle and driving.  The driver ignored this warning and went back to get her vehicle.  Unfortunately she was still affected by the alcohol consumed earlier and she got into an accident with Hailey French.  An interesting side note French sued Whatcom County and the Washington State Patrol and a jury awarded her $5.5 million.

So if you have been arrested for a DUI in Seattle or any other place in our State then your vehicle has a mandatory 12 hour hold before it will be released.  However there are certain exceptions when the vehicle can be picked up prior to the hold.  For example if two registered owners are on the vehicle, and one of the registered owners was not a passenger in the vehicle then that person can get the vehicle prior to the 12 hours.  Otherwise the vehicle has to stay in the impound lot for the mandatory 12 hours before it will be released.

Although I’m a Seattle DUI Attorney I must say that I was in favor of this bill.  I do believe that it will create a safer community for citizens of our State.  In addition there is the well crafted exception that would allow the vehicle to get released prior to the 12 hour hold.  What I’m not in favor of is the lack of any oversight on how much these two companies can charge.  If you get arrested for a DUI in Seattle for example and one of the major two companies gets your vehicle expect to pay $500-$750 to get the vehicle out of the tow yard.  To me that is a ridiculous price that is only benefiting the tow companies.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI Lawyer in Seattle.  He has been named a Rising Star in DUI Defense by both the Super Lawyers Magazine and the Seattle Metropolitan Magazine.  An honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive.  Additionally he is recognized as one of the best Seattle DUI Attorneys by Avvo and was awarded their 2013 client’s choice award for excellence.