Not only is Pasadena a pleasant town to visit, the Court also tends to be more reasonable with DUI cases than other Courts. I had two cases there this morning and felt pleased to get one DUI based on Ambien and Xanax dismissed and my other case resulted in minimum penalties for a DUI even though the breath test reading was over .20%.
The client charged with DUI based on medication also refused to submit to a chemical test. Normally a DUI with a refusal results in additional penalties including at least 48 hours of jail time and a nine month alcohol education program.
The Prosecutor accepted that there were problems of proof in terms of establishing that the defendant was legally impaired at the time of driving and agreed to dismiss the DUI charge. I was also able to win the defendants DMV Refusal Hearing based on inadequate proof that the arresting officer gave the correct chemical test admonition. This avoided a one year license suspension for the client.