FELONY DUI

Facing a DUI felony charge in Northern California is a big deal. In addition to potentially facing years in California state prison, individuals convicted on DUI felony charges in the North Bay also face severe fines, mandatory participation in an expensive alcohol or drug treatment program, loss of their driver’s license, and other significant long-term ramifications.

Are You Facing a DUI Felony in Northern California?

Fiumara & Milligan Law, PC is a Santa Rosa DUI felony law firm with substantial experience and skill successfully representing clients facing DUI felony charges in Sonoma County, Marin County and the entire North Bay.

There are three different types of DUI felony charges. All three carry serious penalties, including loss of your driver’s license and possible incarceration for three years or longer.

California law provides that a DUI will be charged as a felony if:

-The DUI involves an accident resulting in serious personal injury or death to someone other than the driver charged;

-The driver has three prior California DUI misdemeanor charges within the past ten years; or

-The driver has at least one prior felony DUI charge within the past ten years.

-There may be other conditions including priors and enhancements that can augment the penalties and length of incarceration.

Possible Defenses to North Bay DUI Felony Charges

There are numerous possible defenses to DUI felony charges. However, in order to preserve all possible defenses for your DUI felony charge, it is best to start working immediately with an experienced and highly skilled DUI felony lawyer who can quickly gather evidence and speak with police officers and the prosecutor about your case. The longer you wait, the more likely it becomes that a possible defense will slip through the cracks or that favorable witnesses and evidence will disappear.

Some possible defenses to DUI felony charges include:

-Your alcohol level rose between the time of the accident and the time you took the field sobriety test,

-The field sobriety test was faulty, unreliable or improper,

-Lack of reasonable suspicion for your stop or lack of probable cause for your arrest,

-Someone else caused the accident (in accident cases),

-Something else caused the accident, i.e., road conditions, weather and or mechanical failures,

-The police failed to read your Miranda rights.

 Getting DUI Felony Charges Reduced or Dismissed

Police and prosecutors are notorious for overcharging DUI cases as felonies when only a misdemeanor charge is warranted by the circumstances. In addition, in many cases a lack of evidence or questions about the credibility of evidence can lead prosecutors to agree to reduce a DUI felony charge to a misdemeanor. In many cases, we are able to have our clients’ DUI charges dismissed entirely.

Experienced Felony DUI Attorneys Defend You

The experienced DUI attorneys at Fiumara & Milligan Law, PC proactively work to get felony DUI charges reduced to misdemeanors because the exposure to our client is dramatically different. We understand how critical it is to carefully review any accident reports or other evidence and determine a strategy to minimize the consequences of a felony DUI charge. We also have at our disposal and on retainer excellent and highly experienced accident reconstruction experts because police incident reports often contain errors and omissions.

Felony DUI is a serious charge, and one that can affect your career, education and your future. It pays to hire a qualified Northern California DUI attorney so that you fully understand your options and all the defenses available to you. There is no substitute for the assistance and help of a knowledgeable and highly skilled legal professional when you are facing DUI charges.

People make mistakes, but the DUI attorneys at Fiumara & Milligan Law, PC find ways to be proactive and demonstrate to the prosecutor and to the court that you are a good person who made a mistake. We fight for your rights every step of the way.

Please call our office today at (707) 571-8600 in our centrally located Santa Rosa office in Sonoma County or call our office in San Rafael in Marin County at (415) 492-4507 to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation.

-“The right attorney makes all the difference.”