California DUI Attorney

Understanding Felony and Misdemeanor DUI in California. Welcome everyone to the DUI Minute, a series of educational videos brought to you by San Diego Defenders. Hi I’m Dan Smith, your host, the supervising attorney for San Diego Defenders, and I want to remind you that today’s video is not to be construed as legal advice but merely as pointers to help you navigate through the DUI process. Today’s subject is what is the difference between a felony DUI and a misdemeanor DUI? Well to start with, a felony DUI is more serious and it sounds more serious. Generally speaking if you’re driving under the influence or driving with a greater then .08 blood alcohol content and you get into an accident for instance and somebody gets hauled off in the ambulance, generally speaking that is going to be charged as a felony DUI. I can give you another example: I had a client that was driving along and hit a parked car that was while the individual was changing his tire. The individual got a scrape above his eye, had to be hauled off, and got a couple stitches. That constituted an injury. If it’s a DUI with injury generally it will be charged as a felony. The second most common area that you will see a felony DUI charge is when you get to your fourth DUI; it’s not a place that you want to be in. But after you get past your third DUI the state can charge your fourth DUI as a felony, and they will be looking for prison time. A misdemeanor DUI again is your typical DUI you hear about from your …