Tag Archives: dui

Seattle DUI Laws

CPS and DUI’s in Washington State

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If you have been arrested for a DUI and you had a child under 16 in your vehicle. Then you will be facing some increased penalties for the DUI. One of which is a possible investigation into the child’s well being by the division of child protective services. RCW 46.61.507 states the following

In every case where a person is arrested for a violation of RCW 46.61.502 or 46.61.504, the law enforcement officer shall make a clear notation if a child under the age of sixteen was present in the vehicle. A law enforcement officer shall promptly notify child protective services whenever a child is present in a vehicle being driven by his or her parent, guardian, legal custodian, or sibling or half-sibling and that person is being arrested for a drug or alcohol-related driving offense. This section does not require law enforcement to take custody of the child unless there is no other responsible person, or an agency having the right to physical custody of the child that can be contacted, or the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the child should be taken into custody pursuant to RCW 13.34.050 or 26.44.050. For purposes of this section, “child” means any person under sixteen years of age

So what exactly does this mean you ask. Imagine you went out to dinner with your family. You have a few beers and feel you’re perfectly fine to drive. After all you would never do anything to harm your family. Unfortunately you get stopped for committing a minor traffic infraction. The officer smells the odor of alcohol and places you under arrest for a DUI in Seattle and you get booked into custody.

The next day when you get out of jail there are a million things going through your mind. And you don’t even think as a result of your DUI arrest your kids could be taken from you. But according to RCW 46.61.507 that is a distinct and real possibility. And keep in mind even if charges were never filed, even if your DUI got dismissed or you were found not guilty at trial. CPS is still required to contact the individual arrested based simply on the DUI arrest. And the BS thing about this is if the officer was completely wrong and illegally placed you under arrest for DUI you will still face a visit from CPS. If you find yourself in this unenviable position it is always best to contact a DUI lawyer immediately to discuss what the safest course of action should be.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is the owner of Leyba Defense PLLC, a DUI law firm located in downtown Seattle. He has been nominated as a Rising Star in the area of DUI defense by the Seattle Met Magazine, an honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive. Additionally he is rated as a Superb 10/10 Seattle DUI Lawyer by Avvo.com

DUI News, DUI Tips

656 DUI arrests in King County during six week crackdown

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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.

Bellevue DUI Laws, DUI Tips, Seattle DUI Laws

Senate panel weighs new felony DUI bill in Washington State

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A Senate panel is weighing a measure that would make it a felony charge to drive under the influence when the driver has three prior offenses within 10 years. The Senate Law & Justice heard testimony on Senate Bill 6090 on Monday, and will likely take a vote on it in the coming days.

Under the existing law, a DUI is a felony only if there are four or more prior offenses within 10 years. Last year the idea was originally proposed but eventually was cut due to the estimated cost. However the same work group is at it again and Governor Inslee as well as some other higher ups have put their full weight behind it again.

I’m really torn about how I feel about this. As a Seattle DUI Attorney this is something that will directly affect my practice and my clients. Although 99% of my clients have no criminal history when they get arrested for a DUI in the King County area. So it’s not like the majority of people will feel the full brunt of this change if it were to occur.

However when you look at the difference in penalties from a gross misdemeanor to a felony this proposed change is kind of a big deal. Instead of 90 days in jail a defendant would be facing prison time in addition to all the collateral consequences that comes with a felony conviction.

I suspect if the budget is better this year than we will see this change. Despite the horrendous vehicular homicide and vehicular assault cases 2013 had. They didn’t seem to stop as the year went on. And it seems like every time you watch the news or read the paper another repeat DUI offender has gotten arrested in Seattle.

In fact I saw a tweet from the WSP that there were something like 16 people arrested for DUI in King County following the Seahawks game. Which was more than double what happened the past 2 weeks combined. The proponents of this bill will just continue to point to these numbers and DUI arrests in Seattle to support their position. And unfortunately for the opponents of this bill there is not a lot to say other than pointing out the cost and the increase in prison population for these nonviolent offenders.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI Lawyer in the Seattle Bellevue area of Western Washington. His has been rated a 10/10 Superb Seattle DUI Lawyer by Avvo.com. He was also nominated as a Rising Star by the Seattle Met Magazine in the field of DUI Defense, an honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive.