Tag Archives: dui attorney

Underage DUIs in Washington: What Happens Next?

August Aug, 2018 Matthew Leyba Leave a comment

Driving under the influence (DUI) is a serious criminal charge that can have a permanent effect on a person’s life. While it’s bad enough if you’re charged with a DUI, it’s even worse if you’re the parent or a guardian of a minor charged with a DUI.

An underage DUI can result in a complete loss of driving privileges, hefty fines, and a lasting criminal record. If you want to minimize the damages your child suffers as the result of a DUI, keep reading. We’ll educate you about what happens if your minor gets a DUI, and what you need to do to help them. You’ll learn why you need a DUI defense attorney to represent your child, and what a good DUI lawyer should do for your defense.

If you’re in the greater Seattle area, and you need an attorney for an underage DUI, contact us right now. Don’t wait another second in giving your child the best defense possible.

What Happens if a Minor Gets a DUI?

If a minor is arrested for a DUI, they will be booked and processed at a police station. Minors are usually not placed in holding cells with adults—they’re kept separate until their parents or a guardian come and pick them up.

The possible penalties and repercussions for an underage DUI conviction may include:

Suspension of License – The length of the suspension is affected by the level of intoxication, the rate of offense, and any relevant circumstances related to the DUI arrest.
Revoked Drivers License – After repeat or severe DUI charges, the Department of Licensing may restrict a person from ever driving a car in Washington state.
Tickets & Fines – All DUI charges will cost you money. There may be multiples fines you need to pay that can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Court Mandated Drug/Alcohol Testing – A teenage DUI can result in your minor needing to regularly check in with the state to ensure they are sober.
A Criminal Record – Once a minor is convicted of an underage DUI, they have a permanent criminal record. This can impact future employment opportunities or admittance to certain universities.

When you’re the parent of a minor facing a DUI, getting an attorney is the thing to do. Your DUI lawyer works to minimize the charges your son or daughter may have to deal with.

What Should I Do if My Teen is Charged With an Underage DUI?

We recommend three things—retaining a DUI criminal defense lawyer, having a serious discussion with your teenager, and showing them that their actions have consequences. The next section has more information on why finding the right DUI lawyer is important.

Most teenagers experiment with alcohol or drugs, but most don’t get teenage DUIs. Talk to your teen—ask questions about why they’re doing drugs and drinking. Punishment may certainly be in order, but so is listening. Find out if this was their first time drinking or using drugs. Find out what made them want to get drunk and/or high. You may be sad or angry with your teen—but you’ll learn the most by listening first.

Next, your teenager needs to respect the responsibility that comes with their car. Being under the influence and operating a vehicle puts many lives in danger. It’s not just the driver’s life and well-being on the line—it’s also every other person out on the road.

You may decide your teenager needs to face consequences that don’t just include the law. Grounding your kid, taking away their vehicle, or enrolling them in community service are some options for proactive punishments. Also, when you’re in court, mentioning your involvement in your child’s well-being and self-appointed consequences may play favorably. Show that your teen has genuine remorse for their actions and won’t drink and drive again.

Remember, teenage minors are just discovering their new freedoms, and are going to make mistakes. If you help them correct these mistakes now, using communication tempered with discipline, you can prevent them from going down this road again.

Why You Need a DUI Defense Attorney for an Underage DUI

While you handle your family business, you need a seasoned DUI attorney to help your child with their underage DUI charge.

You don’t want to represent yourself or your kid during an underage DUI. You need a qualified DUI attorney who can:

Build Your Case – You have the right to defend your child. A DUI attorney can see if the arrest is challengeable. They can challenge the field sobriety test or arresting procedure. Each case is different, and your attorney will help form a defense strategy uniquely suited for you.
Represent You in Court – While an underage DUI is a big deal for you and your kid, it’s in a DUI lawyer’s day-to-day. The courtroom is their ballpark and this is their game. It’s important to hire a Seattle DUI attorney with a good reputation and a proven track record. You want a DUI attorney who knows the law as well as they know the judges and prosecutors.
Dismiss or Reduce Charges – With a proper DUI defense, you might get your charges completely dismissed. A good DUI defense can mean paying fewer fines, having a shorter license suspension, and staying out of jail.
Answer Your Questions – If you or your child never had a DUI before, that’s a very good thing. However, this is also completely unfamiliar territory. You want to play a proactive role in your child’s defense. Get a professional DUI attorney to walk you through to proceedings and educate you.

Matthew Leyba — Seattle DUI Attorney

Do you or your child need a DUI criminal defense attorney? Call Leyba Defense, Seattle DUI lawyers. Each of our cases gets personal supervision and guidance from the owner and head attorney Matthew Leyba.

We work tirelessly for our clients and we don’t stop until you’re completely satisfied with your defense. Contact us and get the underage DUI defense you deserve.

DUI Advice

DUI lawyer in hot water over controversial DUI checkpoint advice

January Jan, 2015 Matthew Leyba Leave a comment

I recently read about a DUI lawyer facing a little heat this year over some controversial advice he provided in Florida over DUI checkpoints. In Florida, where DUI checkpoints are legal, this DUI lawyer blogged that motorists should put their license, registration, proof of insurance, and a flyer in a plastic baggie attached to the exterior of their vehicle and then roll up the driver’s window as they approach the checkpoint. The flyer would state things such as, “I remain silent,” “no searches,” and “I want my lawyer.”

The thinking behind this idea is the law enforcement officer would see the flyer, perhaps review the license and registration and then waive the driver through the DUI checkpoint. Because the flyer essential would state the driver is not going answer any questions, then arguably, the police officer shouldn’t ask the driver to exit absent any specific or articulable observations of impairment made by the police officer.

I personally think this idea might cause the opposite of what this DUI lawyer was thinking. By employing this tactic, aren’t you drawing attention to yourself? Let’s be honest here if a police officer wants to get someone out of their vehicle, it doesn’t take a whole lot. Any little traffic infraction, any little possible sign of impairment, and the cop is just going to use that as an excuse to see what is really going on with the driver using this flyer tactic. Even though under Florida law, something like this would be legal, it is my opinion that it would be stupid to do, especially if you have been drinking. Unless you’re completely sober and you want to just mess with the police, I wouldn’t advise a driver would do this.

If you’re interested, here is the link to the article from the ABA journal where is saw it.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is the owner of Leyba Defense PLLC, the premier DUI law firm in Seattle. Matthew has been repeatedly recognized as a Rising Star in the area of DUI defense by the Seattle Met Magazine. Additionally, he was recently named a Top 40 under 40 criminal defense lawyer in Washington State.

Bellevue DUI Laws, DUI Advice, DUI Risk, DUI Tips, Seattle DUI Laws

So you subpoena the arresting officer to a DOL hrg and they show up, now what?

February Feb, 2014 Dev Dev Leave a comment

The other day I was talking with a Seattle Police Officer about a recent DOL administrative hearing he did for a DUI arrest in Seattle that he made. He told me that he was served a subpoena to appear to the telephone hearing. So when the DOL called him he answered and appeared for the hearing. But when he was connected to the DUI Attorney, the Attorney didn’t ask a single question and instead told the DOL he didn’t have any questions for the Seattle Police Officer. Here is why that DUI Attorney was an idiot and completely wasted their clients time and money.

It’s no secret that if you get arrested for a DUI in Washington State then you’re most likely facing an administrative license suspension from the DOL. Unfortunately the odds are against a driver if they find themselves in one of these hearings. Statewide the average dismissal rate is around 25%. Here at Leyba Defense PLLC we have a dismissal rate closer to 38% due to how we approach these hearings. But I digress.

Because the DOL hearings following a DUI arrest are so dang hard to win often times a DUI Attorney will employ the hail mary if they have no other options. And that is to serve a subpoena on the arresting officer and hope they don’t appear. It’s a last line of defense and is often a strategy I hope for myself to be honest with you. But I have news for you. Most of the time these DUI police officers will appear. After all they get paid time and a half to do so. If you were a police officer wouldn’t you appear. I mean all they have to do is answer the telephone in their bed and answer some questions about their DUI arrest. It really is not that difficult for them.

So let’s say that you have a crappy DUI case. There are no legal issues. Everything appears to have been done properly by the DUI police officer during the DUI arrest. So you decide to subpoena the DUI officer to appear and pray that they don’t show up. But then the DUI police officer does, what do you do?

As a practicing DUI Lawyer in Seattle I will tell you what you don’t do. You don’t tell the DOL you excuse the DUI police officer and have no questions for them. That is a complete waste of time, and honestly is borderline malpractice. Although it doesn’t surprise me that DUI Lawyers do this. I mean after all this is a business where a lot of so called “DUI Lawyers” aren’t interested in fighting for their clients, but only collecting a pay check by doing as little work as possible. It doesn’t get any easier than not asking a single question at a DOL hearing and then telling the client there was nothing you could do since the DUI police officer appeared.

So what do you do if the DUI police officer shows up? You ask them questions. A DOL hearing is a free deposition of the police officer without the Prosecutor present. You can ask anything you want. You can find out what observations the officer made. How they administered the field sobriety tests. Whether they followed the proper protocol during the breath test. Ask away, and guess what it is all recorded. If the DUI police officer says something that is inconsistent with their police report, or you catch them in a lie it is all recorded and it can be used in the criminal trial.

I can’t tell you how many times I had a crappy DOL case. But I served a subpoena on the arresting officer. They showed up and I proceeded to find something out that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. I then used that in the criminal trial to either get the DUI dismissed or reduced. It happens quite often and the so called DUI Lawyers that just hang up when the Cop appears never get that benefit.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI lawyer in the Seattle Bellevue area of Western WA. He has been repeatedly named a Rising Star in the field of DUI Defense by the Seattle Met Magazine, an honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive. Additionally he is rated as a 10/10 Superb DUI lawyer by Avvo.com

DUI News, DUI Tips

656 DUI arrests in King County during six week crackdown

January Jan, 2014 Dev Dev Leave a comment

Law enforcement officers in King County arrested 656 drivers for DUI during the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign from Nov. 27 through Jan. 1. Mind you that is just in King County. Statewide officers arrested 2,723 drivers for DUI. If you’re wondering how that compares to last year. In 2012 in King County, during the same time period, officers on routine and extra patrols arrested 795 people for DUI. Thus there was quite a significant decrease in my opinion.

The extra patrols were funded by a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. The commission has gone on record saying “the holiday season is an important time for these patrols, given the number of holiday festivities that often involve alcohol. These and all extra patrols are part of Target Zero—striving to end traffic deaths and serious injuries in Washington by 2030.”

If you were arrested for DUI in King County during this period then chances are you will be receiving notice in the mail for a Court date, if you haven’t already. That notice is for your DUI arraignment. In King County the DUI arraignment procedure varies from Court to Court. But essentially this is where you will enter a formal not guilty plea. The Judge will set a few conditions you have to follow while the case is going on. These range from simply staying out of trouble to bail, SCRAM, or IID requirements depending on the severity of the crime and the criminal record. Once those conditions are set then you will be given a new Court date called a pretrial hearing.

I have previously blogged about whether you should bring your own King County DUI Attorney to your DUI arraignment. I am of the opinion you definitely should, especially if your breath test level was a couple points higher than the legal limit. In Seattle Municipal Court DUI’s for example if you have a breath test level at .10 or higher the Judges will always try to set bail and require an ignition interlock device for the entirety of the criminal case. Clearly having your own DUI Attorney there to object to these Seattle conditions is a good idea.

If you haven’t contacted a DUI Attorney in King County yet about your DUI arrest then feel free to contact Leyba Defense PLLC. I’m the owner of the firm and I speak with you about your situation, how I can help, and of course what your options might be. It’s a completely free no hassle consultation where hopefully I can put your mind at ease about the post-DUI arrest process here in King County.