DUI cases in San Jose, Palo Alto and San Martin

Persons arrested in Santa Clara County face the most punitive courts in the entire bay area.   DUI sentences are longer, more severe and are more vigorously enforced than anywhere else.  Persons charged with DWI offenses need skilled attorneys who are thoroughly familiar with the different judges and prosecutors handling DUI cases in San Jose, Palo Alto or San Martin.

Example of how much more severe a DUI is in San Jose, Palo Alto or San Martin.  The law requires a minimum 48 hours of jail or work alternative for a first offense DUI.  All other Bay area counties interpret 48 hours as meaning two days.  But in San Jose, Palo Alto and San Martin, if a person is charged with a DUI, his or her attorney should warn the client that judges routinely start non jail alternative custody (sheriff’s work program) at six days and not two.  DUI lawyers must alert their clients that judge routinely try to put persons in jail for second offense DUI offenses in San Jose, Palo Alto and San Martin.

Moreover, DUI lawyers must be aware that non jail alternatives hardly exist in Santa Clara County.  The work furlough program (permitting a person to work during the day and just sleep in jail at night) was eliminated because of budget problems in 2007.  Now, if a person has a DWI sentence of more than 30 days(some judges go up to 45 days), the person will go to jail because there are absolutely no other options.  To qualify for the sheriff’s work program, the person must “pre book,” meaning be interviewed and, if accepted, assigned to a work site.  To “pre book,” the person convicted of a DUI must go the jail in San Jose and be interviewed in person on a specific day and at a specified time that the judge orders.  If a person is late or misses one day of work, the sheriffs notify the courts.  The judge issues an arrest warrant.

DUI attorneys should be familiar with the six departments in San Jose that handle DWI cases, as well as the three departments in Palo Alto.  DWI lawyers who practice in Santa Clara County will advise you that Judges in San Jose, Palo Alto and San Martin routinely punish first time DUI offenses with high blood level alcohol with sentences from 8 days to 35 days of weekend work.  If the DWI also involves an accident, the lawyer must advise you that additional jail or work time may be added.

Some judges actually place persons convicted of a second offense DUI on formal probation (meaning that the person has an actual probation officer and must report regularly to the probation officer for random tests and searches).  DUI offenses in Santa Clara County must be handled by competent DUI attorneys who know how to maneuver a DWI case through the difficult and punitive Santa Clara County court system.