San Francisco Bay Area DUI Enhancements

As if the punishment for driving under the influence or DUI in California weren't enough, the law provides for numerous sentencing enhancements that can greatly increase the punishments for first, second and third offense San Francisco DUI cases.  These enhancements also apply to felony DUI cases. 

COLLISIONS

The first and indeed unwritten DUI sentencing enhancement is for a motor vehicle collision.  Basically any DUI arrest that follows a crash of any kind will be subject to this enhanced penalty. If the motor vehicle collision involved injuries, that DUI case will likely be charged under California Vehicle Code Section 23153, driving under the influence causing injury.  There's no California Vehicle Code section for this enhancement as it is just a factor that most local district attorneys will take into account when making a settlement offer for a San Francisco DUI case.  Collisions typically will result in enhanced penalties like more jail or sheriff's work alternative program, SWAP, days.  Beyond extra community service or jail, collisions usually require that the either the district attorney or probation department conduct a restitution investigation.  The restitution investigation is to determine if the collision caused any damages to any victim that were not compensated by insurance.  While these investigations rarely result in a an order to pay, they tend to take a long time to get resolved and serve to extend San Francisco Bay Are DUI cases well beyond the sentencing date and require substantial additional work by the DUI lawyer handling the case.  

HIGH BAC ENHANCEMENT: .15% to .20% BAC and greater than .20% BAC

The most common San Francisco Bay Area DUI enhancement is for excessive or high BAC.  High blood alcohol concentration or BAC is defined as a chemical test at or above .15% via blood or breath test. The California high BAC enhancement in Vehicle Code Section 23578 reads:

"In addition to any other provision of this code, if a person is convicted of a violation of Section 23152 or 23153, the court shall consider a concentration of alcohol in the person’s blood of 0.15 percent or more, by weight, or the refusal of the person to take a breath or urine test, as a special factor that may justify enhancing the penalties in sentencing, in determining whether to grant probation, and, if probation is granted, in determining additional or enhanced terms and conditions of probation."

I call this DUI enhancement the blank check enhancement in that it simply states that the judge or prosecutor can take this into account when deciding whether or not to enhance any element of the DUI probation or punishment.  The high BAC enhancement usually means additional county jail or SWAP, a possible ignition interlock device or IID, additional alcohol counseling and often a longer DUI school.  Indeed, DUI arrestees with a BAC in excess of .20% are often sentenced to a nine (9) month DUI school instead of the normal three (3) month program.  This will result in a California license suspension of ten (10) months rather than the normal six (6).  It's important to note that this enhancement does not require any specificized additional punishment and an experienced San Francisco DUI attorney can negotiate DUI case settlements either without this enhancement or the punishment.  

It was my intention to index all of my high BAC San Francisco Bay Area DUI case results here, but since this DUI enhancement is so common, it would take pages and pages to do so.  For high  BAC enhancement case results, please visit the main case result index.  

The most punitive San Francisco DUI sentencing enhancement is for driving under the influence cases where the individual is alleged to have driven a vehicle above the the posted speed limit by more than 20 MPH on a road or 30 MPH on a freeway.  The DUI speed enhancement mandates an actual county jail sentence of sixty (60) days in the County Jail.  California Vehicle Code Section 23582 reads:

(a) Any person who drives a vehicle 30 or more miles per hour over the maximum, prima facie, or posted speed limit on a freeway, or 20 or more miles per hour over the maximum, prima facie, or posted speed limit on any other street or highway, and in a manner prohibited by Section 23103 during the commission of a violation of Section 23152 or 23153 shall, in addition to the punishment prescribed for that person upon conviction of a violation of Section 23152 or 23153, be punished by an additional and consecutive term of 60 days in the county jail.

(b) If the court grants probation or suspends the execution of sentence, it shall require as a condition of probation or suspension that the defendant serve 60 days in the county jail, in addition and consecutive to any other sentence prescribed by this chapter.

(c) On a first conviction under this section, the court shall order the driver to participate in, and successfully complete, an alcohol or drug education and counseling program, or both an alcohol and a drug education and counseling program. Except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would be served, a finding making this section applicable to a defendant shall not be stricken pursuant to Section 1385 of the Penal Code or any other provision of law. If the court decides not to impose the additional and consecutive term, it shall specify on the court record the reasons for that order.

(d) The additional term provided in this section shall not be imposed unless the facts of driving in a manner prohibited by Section 23103 and driving the vehicle 30 or more miles per hour over the maximum, prima facie, or posted speed limit on a freeway, or 20 or more miles per hour over the maximum, prima facie, or posted speed limit on any other street or highway, are charged in the accusatory pleading and admitted or found to be true by the trier of fact. A finding of driving in that manner shall be based on facts in addition to the fact that the defendant was driving while under the influence of alcohol, any drug, or both, or with a specified percentage of alcohol in the blood.

Clearly, the California State Legislature wasn't messing around when they enacted the DUI speed enhancement with it's sixty (60) day mandatory sentence, however the DUI speed enhancement is as airtight as it seems.  In addition to being convicted of a DUI and speed in excess the posted limit by 20 or 30 MPH, the driving must be "and in a manner prohibited by Section 23103."  California Vehicle Code Section 23103 is "Reckless Driving."  This means that the excessive speed DUI must also involve driving deemed reckless or a wanton and willful disregard for the safety of self or others.  California case law requires a showing of recklessness beyond just the speeding and DUI, so other factors like number of vehicles on the road, type of road, weather conditions, lighting, etc. are just as important as the speed itself.  

Regrettably, most San Francisco Bay Area district attorneys regularly charge the DUI speed enhancement for all DUI cases involving high speeds without considering the additional burden of proving that the driving pattern was also "reckless."  Nevertheless, in my twenty years of San Francisco DUI defense, I can say that while I've encountered the high BAC DUI enhancement many times, but have never had a DUI client who has been convicted of it by plea or trial.  The Excessive Speed DUI enhancement is on the books though and it needs to be defeated for the successful resolution of any San Francisco Bay Area DUI case.  

Santa Clara County San Jose DUI .15% BAC First Offense DUI Speed and High BAC Enhancements

Practice Area: San Jose DUI and DWI

Date: Aug 01, 2023

Outcome: PROBATION GRANTED: 3 YEARS, $1,950 FINE, 8 Days SWAP & 3 Month DUI School.

Description: Client was arrested for DUI by the CHP after he was observed driving 105 MPH on I-280. Client submitted to PAS test with results of .16% BAC and later breath test showed a .14% and .15% BAC. Client was looking at two enhancements: 1) for high BAC and 2) high speed....which could have added an additional 60 days in the county jail. Today, we settled the case for a dismissal of the enhancements, PROBATION GRANTED: 3 YEARS, $1,950 FINE, 8 Days SWAP & 3 Month DUI School.