Mark R. De Yoe Criminal Law Blog

Legalization of Marijuana and the Prospect of Marijuana DUIs

While Proposition 19's attempt to legalize marijuana failed in California, the movement is still working to achieve that goal. The sense of the defeat is that it was more at tactical loss than a strategic one. One of the reason given for the failure was bad timing, suggesting that off-term elections, with lower voter turnout, especially among young people.

A man and a woman drinking the same amount of alcohol will have different BAC levels. The women will generally be higher. The reasons for this are complex, and have a great deal to do with a women's body chemistry.

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream or on one's breath. This is the standard means of testing for levels of intoxication in DUI cases. BAC is expressed as the weight of ethanol, measured in grams, in 100 milliliters of blood, or... Read More

In California, a second offense DUI within ten years is, by statute, supposed to carry a minimum sentence of 96 hours in custody. That can usually be satisfied by two weekends in jail, but a much preferable alternative would be to obtain "work release" as opposed to jail. 

The custody for a third DUI within ten years jumps up from 120 days, to a year in jail. These custody minimums can sometimes end careers. Fortunately, in many... Read More

California law states that a driver is deemed to have given his consent to the testing of his breath or blood for the purpose of determining its alcoholic content. In the real world however, for a very wide variety of reasons, a substantial number of individuals end up refusing to take a breath or blood test after being arrested in San Diego on suspicion of DUI.

Refusal cases are serious in court, because California law calls for mandatory custody in refusal cases. Refusal cases are... Read More

Although California DUI laws remain very tough, for offenses occurring after July 1, 2010, almost unbelievably, the old hard and fast DUI license sanctions have now been modified, allowing for certain individuals in second and third time DUI situations to obtain a restricted driving privilege much faster than under the old rules - provided they agree to what is known as an ignition interlock device. [SB598] .

An ignition interlock device (IID) is a breath-testing device, connected to... Read More

Arrest warrants are issued by the Court for many different reasons, including failure to appear and failure to comply with Court ordered terms and conditions of probation.

San Diego Attorney Mark R. De Yoe has over 20 years of experience in recalling warrants and reinstating probation.

In recalling a warrant, Mark acts quickly to get the matter on calendar as soon as possible. In a very large number of... Read More