Caspar, CA Criminal Defense Law Firms & Lawyers

You definitely need to fight the case. In particular, you must contact the DMV within 10 days of your arrest to request a hearing. The information is on the temporary driver's license you received when you were arrested. If you retain an attorney, he or she should do that for you. As for the drug issue, while most crime labs do a qualitative analysis of what's in your blood, most won't do a quantitative analysis until trial as to whether there is enough in your system to make a difference in your driving. Since you got stopped at a checkpoint, then you likely weren't driving poorly anyway. Plus, there is case law in California that requires a checkpoint to meet certain requirements to be legal, call the 8 "Ingersoll factors". If this is a first offense, you likely wouldn't not do any jail time. None is required, and unless you were in an accident or have priors, which isn't the case here, you likely won't face jail. Also, if you are a hemophiliac, an alternative to a blood test must be offered. You should have been given the option of a urine test. Contact a qualified attorney immediately who focuses on DUI cases, as I do, for more information.

As a parolee, this will likely be charged as a parole violation in addition to the new criminal charges, thus risking return to prison on the violation. The new charges carry up to a year in jail, and with priors and strikes, will not be handled lightly by the DA as if it were a first time offender with no record. I would expect to face some jail time if convicted.