Trial and Sentencing

As I mentioned before, my charge was a super-extreme DUI, because the arresting officer had the forethought to think my BAC may be over .200 in the bloodwork, even though my breath read .171, and it did come back .235. I was facing 45 days in jail, home arrest, up to $6500 in fines, and some other things that made me sick thinking about. Because I hired a lawyer, he played the right cards on scheduling and rescheduling my trial for a time when a judge he knew would give me a favorable sentence would hear my case. Hear this - that was worth every penny of the $3500 fee he charged.

I was unable to get out of the super-extreme charge, and most of the penalty was worked out between my lawyer and the city prosecutor before I even went into the courtroom, so I had an idea of what I would get but it wasn't confirmed. I walked out of there with a sentence of 3 consecutive days in tent city, 11 days of CAM (continuous alcohol monitoring, NOT home detention, this is a huge difference that I will cover) and $3600 in fines. All in all, I feel that I made off far better than I even hoped to. While in jail, I talked to guys with extreme and super-extreme DUI convictions and ALL of them had much worse sentences than I did, and none of them hired a lawyer. The best sentence I heard from any of them was 9 days in tent city and 12 days of home detention, and his blood came back barely over extreme. There was a guy in my tent who had almost an identical BAC as mine and no prior arrests who got 45 days in jail.

You're going to be required to get an ignition interlock in your car regardless, and this will suspend 31 days of your sentence right off the bat.