Yearly Archives: 2014

DUI Advice, DUI Risk, DUI Tips

When to expect a court date following a DUI arrest in King County

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One of the most common questions I get asked whenever I speak with someone who was recently arrested for a DUI in King County. Is when will my first court date happen? A few years ago this was more difficult to guess due to the delayed filings of DUI cases that routinely happened in King County. However, DUI cases are now being filed more consistently and thus it is easier to tell someone when to expect that unpleasant letter in the mail.

To pinpoint exactly when to expect that first DUI court date. Two things need to be known. First, who was the law enforcement agency that arrested you? Secondly was there a blood test involved. So let’s go over all the possible scenarios.

If you were arrested by the Seattle Police Department. Then the arresting officer will give you notice of your first court date personally. This is typically 2-3 business days following the DUI arrest. Your first hearing will be in the Seattle Municipal Court. This assumes there was no blood test involved. Because a blood sample needs to be analyzed by the State Toxicologist office this can delay the filing 2-3 months. If this applies to you then you will receive a letter in the mail from the Seattle Municipal Court in that time frame informing of your a Court date.

If you were arrested by the Washington State Patrol then your DUI case will be filed in one of the King County District Courts. The Courts that would be applicable to hear the DUI case would be in Redmond, downtown Seattle, and at the Regional Justice Center in Kent. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to expect where the DUI case will be filed if the arresting officer is not known. In other words, let’s say you were arrested in Seattle. Conventional thinking would suggest the DUI case would be in the downtown Seattle court, but that is not necessarily true. Depending on how the arresting officer was it could be in Redmond or in Kent. An experienced DUI Lawyer would be familiar with most of the Troopers who arrest in Seattle for DUI and can give advice on where to expect the DUI charge filed based on prior experience with that Trooper.

Let’s say you were arrested by a local law enforcement agency in the outlining eastside cities. Such as Redmond, Bellevue, Issaquah, Newcastle, Mercer Island, etc. Typically these cases take a little longer to get filed. Usually around 30 days. So expect a letter in the mail informing of that first DUI court date.

Law enforcement agencies in South King County seem to be a little sooner in filing DUI cases. Des Moines, Tukwila, Auburn seem to file DUI charges relatively quickly. Often times seeing a Judge the next day following a DUI arrest.

The law enforcement agencies in North King County typically file within 30 days. So in Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, etc. You will get a letter in the mail much the same way the Eastside cities do it.

Obviously things can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. But if you’re facing a DUI offense in King County speak with an experienced DUI lawyer to help navigate you through the process, explain where your DUI case will be, and when to expect that first court date.

DUI Advice, DUI Risk, DUI Tips

Can hiring a good DUI Attorney ever backfire?

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Recently I was in a local court in King County when I happened to catch the tail end of a heated conversation between a fellow Seattle DUI Attorney (who is well respected among defense attorneys) and a Prosecutor. Afterwards I was just shooting the bull with this particular Prosecutor when they told me something interesting. They told me everybody in their office dislikes that DUI Attorney and they will never give any of their clients a break because of it.

Now this got me thinking. Here is a DUI Attorney who has a very good reputation among the defense bar. However because of how that Attorney practices law and how they deal with Prosecutors all of that Attorney’s clients will suffer because of it. It’s an unfortunate set of circumstances but that particular DUI Lawyer has nobody to blame but themselves.

So where does that leave their clients. They have no idea this particular DUI Defense Lawyer has pissed off an entire office and in the end they will suffer. So if you’re looking for a DUI lawyer how do you go about making sure the lawyer you hire will not backfire due to their reputation.

Personally I don’t know how a client would figure that out. Probably the easiest way to determine the relationship between a Prosecutor and a DUI Attorney is to flat out ask. Although I’m not sure a defense attorney would admit to having a strained relationship with a particular Prosecutor. So how do you find out.

The best way I could think of would be to look at two things: How many trials is the DUI Lawyer doing compared to the number of favorable plea deals they are getting. For example if you look at 10 cases and the DUI Attorney has gotten reduced charges on 7 or 8 and went to trial on the remaining that is a pretty good record. However if they go to trial on 7 or 8 and only gotten plea deals on 2 or 3. That should tell you something.

Now don’t get me wrong. If a DUI lawyer is going to trial 7 or 8 times out of 10. That is really commendable. That means the lawyer is not just pleading people guilty. However the question to ask is why are they going to trial so much, how come they can’t get their clients deals. Have they ruined their relationship with Prosecutors to the point they get “blacklisted?” In the case of the DUI Attorney I described above it sounds like that is whats happening to them and subsequently it is unfairly affecting their clients. And that’s a shame.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI Lawyer in Seattle. He has been repeatedly named a Rising Star in the field of DUI Defense by the Seattle Met Magazine, an honor only 2.5% of all Lawyers receive. Additionally he is rated a perfect 10 out of 10 by Avvo.com and listed as a Superb DUI Lawyer.

DUI Advice, DUI News, DUI Risk, DUI Tips

State v. Mecham – what does this mean for DUI cases in WA

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A few days ago the Division One Court of Appeals in WA State recently came down with a ruling that was not favorable to defendants facing a DUI charge in WA. In my opinion this ruling will result in one more unfair advantage Prosecutors will have at their disposal to use in the conviction of people charged with DUI. I anticipate this being appealed to the State Supreme Court, but as of now the refusal of field sobriety testing can be used to show a consciousness of guilt.

So what does that exactly mean? A consciousness of guilt. This is not novel or new as DUI Defense Attorneys have been dealing with this with theory in regards to breath and blood testing. Essentially when it came to the refusal of breath or blood testing during a trial a Prosecutor could argue to a jury that the reason a defendant declined a breath or blood test was because they had a “guilty conscious” or in other words they knew their blood alcohol level was going to be higher than the legal limit so they declined that test because they were going to fail.

Now prior to this recent ruling this argument could only be made when it came to breath or blood tests. So if a person declined the field sobriety tests during a DUI investigation although that evidence of the refusal could be admitted it was not allowed to show the “consciousness of guilt” theory. In other words the Prosecutor couldn’t argue the driver declined the field sobriety tests because they knew they were going to fail. But now that is not the case and a Prosecutor can argue they didn’t take the test because they knew they were guilty.

Here is my issue with this ruling. Although introducing “consciousness of guilt” on a breath or blood test refusal sucks, I kind of get it. Heck when a driver in WA gets their drivers license there is an implied consent that they will take the test and if they don’t that refusal will be used against them in trial. The driver is informed of this prior to making that decision and they make that decision knowing and intelligently based on that understanding.

However when it comes to field sobriety testing it is completely voluntary. Heck their admissibility depends on the tests being taking voluntarily. And from what I hear the police are not going to be advising people the refusal of these tests can be used against them in a criminal trial. So now if a person exercises their right to decline these voluntary tests and they go to trial. The Prosecutor can turn around and say they declined these tests despite being voluntary because they were drunk and they knew they would fail. I think this is a flawed reasoning and it should be interesting to see what happens at the Supreme Court level.

So what is my advice as a Seattle DUI Attorney? If you’re being investigated for a DUI in WA and the investigating officer asks you to take these field sobriety tests. You should still politely decline them. Although what I would suggest is perhaps changing how you do that.

I have always preached that prior to answering any questions or doing any tests you inform the investigating officer you wish to speak with an attorney prior. 99.9% of the time they will say you’re not under arrest and they are not going to put you in contact with an attorney. So just inform the Officer that you don’t feel comfortable doing anything without first speaking with a lawyer. At least this way if you end up in a trial and the Prosecutor tries to play the “consciousness of guilt” card it may not have the same effect.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI Lawyer in Seattle, WA. He is rated as a perfect 10 out of 10 by Avvo.com when it comes to DUI Defense. He has also been repeatedly named a Rising Star in the field of DUI Defense by the Seattle Met Magazine, an honor only 2.5% of all lawyers receive.

DUI Advice, DUI News, DUI Risk, DUI Tips

Local cop gets arrested for DUI with BAC less than legal limit

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In case you had any questions about whether there is such a thing as a “legal limit” anymore on DUI cases in Washington State. This should answer that question. A local law enforcement officer was recently arrested for a DUI in Snohomish County, WA. Now this is nothing new, we have seen several police officers get DUI’s in King County here in the past year or so. However the difference between those DUI cases and with this one was this particular officer had a blood alcohol level of 0.05. Yes you read that correctly. 0.05 well below the legal limit of 0.08.

Now I have been saying this for the past year. Because of the high profile vehicular homicide cases that occurred in Seattle last Spring. The drastic change in negotiating policies with DUI cases by the King County Prosecutors Office. The recent proposed legislation to toughen existing DUI laws made by certain states legislators and the Governor. All those things have slowly contributed to this zero tolerance “unwritten rule” that is now happening before our eyes.

The fact that a police officer was arrested for a DUI in Mountlake Terrance with a blood alcohol level significantly less than the legal limit just corroborates what I’m saying. Think about it. If a police officer can get a DUI when they are clearly being responsible and doing what the legislator intended when it created a legal limit and made it lawful to consume alcohol and drive then it can happen to anyone.

I have said it here before and I will say it again. Unfortunately in this day and age you cannot have a drop of alcohol and drive a vehicle. If you get stopped for any reason and the Officer smells an odor of alcohol and you admit to drinking you will get arrested for a DUI. I guarantee that. No matter what anyone else says, I guarantee you will at least get arrested for a DUI. You may not get charged with one if the Prosecutor is doing their job correctly and finds there is not enough evidence to file a charge. But more often than not I have been seeing cases just like that Mountlake Terrance police officer get filed every day.

So please be careful out there and keep what I’m saying in mind. It has become far too common for drivers to get arrested for DUI below the legal limit in King County.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI lawyer in Seattle, WA. He is rated a perfect 10/10 by Avvo.com when it comes to Seattle DUI lawyers. He also has been repeatedly recognized as a Rising Star by the Seattle Met Magazine in the area of DUI Defense, an honor only 2.5% of all Lawyers in WA state receive within their respective field of law.

DUI Advice, DUI News, DUI Risk, DUI Tips

Under no circumstances should you try to game an ignition interlock device

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I recently saw a report from KIRO News here in Seattle about a woman who tried to game an ignition interlock device. Apparently, this woman was required to have one installed due to a prior DUI arrest. She then was trying to allegedly game the system by having her boyfriend blow into the ignition interlock device when she should have been. Unfortunately for her most ignition interlock devices have cameras installed to try and prevent this from happening.

As a Seattle DUI Attorney, I have come across all sorts of ways people try to beat an ignition interlock device. In case you don’t know what an IID is and how it can be imposed here you go. Ignition interlock requirements. However in my opinion that is the stupidest thing a person can do and here is why.

Following a DUI arrest most people have to appear in Court to formally enter a not guilty plea on the charge. If the Judge were to impose an ignition interlock device at the arraignment then most likely the Judge also imposed an abstain condition as well. In Seattle, this happens quite regularly, especially in places like the Seattle Municipal Court.

If you try to game the ignition interlock system you most likely will be caught. The ignition interlock company will notify the Court where your DUI case is. The Judge will then set a hearing to address the release conditions. Keep in mind at this hearing that a Judge only needs to find by a preponderance of the evidence the release conditions have been violated. If that is the case then criminal rule 3.2 allows a Judge to amend a release order. If a Judge has ordered an ignition interlock device and an abstain condition, then they will only go one direction in amending that order. This would be an increase in any bail amount, and probably a SCRAM bracelet.

So unless you want to spend the duration of your DUI case in jail, or you want to drop an extra $400-$500 a month on a SCRAM bracelet then just don’t have a drop of alcohol and drive when you have an ignition interlock device in your vehicle. It’s that simple.

Oh and in case you were wondering about that news report on KIRO with the woman who tried to game her IID. She is now in custody after the ignition interlock company notified the Court of her violations. Additionally, the pictures taken from the ignition interlock device show she had a 3-year-old in the backseat. My guess is she and her boyfriend will be facing some new charges. Probably a reckless endangerment or something along those lines. It’s not worth it.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI Lawyer in Seattle. He is rated as a 10/10 by Avvo.com when it comes to DUI lawyers in the Seattle area. He has also been repeatedly recognized as a Rising Star in the field of DUI Defense by the Seattle Met Magazine, an honor less than 2.5% of all Lawyers in Washington State receive.

DUI Advice, DUI Risk, DUI Tips

Bill to change DUI law dies in Washington State Senate

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If you follow this blog then you know Im a DUI lawyer in Seattle. One of the things that I do for my practice is try and stay up to date on any potential changes of existing DUI laws. Not only is this important to keep my practice current, but it also forces me to read the news.

If you recall last year during the 2013 legislative session there were a bunch of changes to DUI laws that were proposed. They were all set to make the existing DUI laws harsher and increase the penalties one would face if charged with a DUI. Most of these proposed laws did not pass due to the budget constraints. But the Washington State Legislature is at it again for the 2014 legislative session.

However last month one bill to change Washington’s DUI laws died in the state House of Representatives, when it wasn’t approved. The proposal House Bill 2506 would have raised a felony DUI conviction from a Class C felony to Class B, but the measure failed to move out of a House committee after a public hearing earlier this week. The bill would have increased maximum sentences for felony DUI convictions from five to 10 years, and increased fines from $10,000 to $20,000.

Now even though that bill died another bill has been proposed in the Senate and it is gaining ground quickly. Senate Bill 6090, sponsored by Rep. Mike Padden from Spokane, would cut that number of DUI convictions from four to three for a felony DUI. Currently a DUI becomes a felony if a person has four or more convictions in 10 years.

If I was a betting man I think this law will eventually pass. It may not be this legislative session. Quite frankly there are still budget concerns and monies are needed for another areas. But eventually the proponents of making Washington State have the Toughest DUI laws in the Nation will prevail.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI lawyer in Seattle. His practice focuses on representing those charged with DUI and DUI related arrests. He has rated as a 10/10 by Avvo.com when it comes to Seattle DUI Lawyers, and he was named a Rising Star in that area of law by the Seattle Met Magazine.