Ocean Beach Criminal Defense Attorney
Ocean Beach is a small bohemian community located North of Point Loma. It is a hot spot for locals to sunbathe, surf and enjoy eating and vintage shopping in the pier. Given the size and characteristic of the neighborhood, the crime rate in Ocean Beach is relatively low compared to other beach communities in San Diego. With most offenses in Ocean Beach involving driving under the influence, it is important for you to know that all driving under the influence charges arising out of Ocean Beach will be heard in the Superior Court Central Courthouse, located downtown on 220 W Broadway San Diego, CA 92101. For the best possible DUI defense, you will need a local Ocean Beach criminal defense attorney that practices in the downtown courthouse. Attorney Vik Monder’s criminal defense practice is located in the Gaslamp Quarter, only five minutes away from the Central Courthouse. Given his close physical proximity to the downtown courthouse, criminal defense attorney Vik Monder has spent the majority of his practice in front of the judges in the criminal departments and negotiating with the local prosecutors in the Central Courthouse. If you are currently facing criminal charges out of Ocean Beach, Ocean Beach Criminal Defense Attorney Vik Monder would like to put all of his experience and knowledge of the local court system to work for you in the Superior Court Central Courthouse.
Understanding How Driving Under the Influence Charges are Determined in Ocean Beach
In California, you are allowed to legally drive with a blood alcohol concentration level under .08 percent. Driving with a blood alcohol concentration level of .08 percent or higher means that your physical or mental abilities are impaired to such a degree that you can no longer exercise ordinary prudence while driving. Accordingly, you may be charged with driving under the influence for driving with a breath or blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent or higher and for driving impaired under the influence of alcohol. If you are found driving a motor vehicle in Ocean Beach under the influence of alcohol you will be charged under the California Vehicle Code. There are various statutes under the California Vehicle Code that regulate driving under the influence, which statute you will be prosecuted under will depend on the seriousness of the offense. To determine the seriousness of a driving under the influence offense, the prosecution will look at the police report to see your blood alcohol concentration level, if there was an accident involved and if so, the severity of the bodily injury caused to another person in the accident. You need an Ocean Beach Criminal Defense Attorney who will identify these outcome determinative facts at the onset of your case and has the experience to provide you with the various defense strategies that will be required to fight each of them! For the best Ocean Beach DUI Defense contact criminal defense attorney Vik Monder now at (619)405-0063.
Misdemeanor Driving Under the Influence Cases
If you were arrested for driving under the influence and no bodily injury was suffered by another person, you will be formally charged with a misdemeanor DUI. In North Park and the rest of California, misdemeanor DUIs are charged under Vehicle Code sections 23152(a) and 23152(b). You are in violation of Vehicle Code section 23152(a) when you drive a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. It is important to point out that to be charged under this section there is no blood alcohol concentration level requirement that needs to be satisfied. This means that in order to obtain a conviction under Vehicle Code section 23152(a), the prosecution will be required to prove that you were under the influence of alcohol while driving impaired. The prosecution will have to show that the law enforcement officer conducting the traffic stop had reasonable suspicion to believe that you were driving while under the influence of alcohol and had probable cause to effectuate your arrest. The subjective implication of Vehicle Code section 23152(a) makes it easy for an experienced criminal defense attorney to attack the officer’s interpretation of your mental and physical responses prior to your arrest to show that you were not under the influence. For purposes of Vehicle Code section 23152(b), you are in violation of this statute when you drive a motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration level of .08 percent or higher. This is an objective standard that requires the prosecution to prove that you were driving above the legal alcohol concentration limit. The prosecution will attempt to do this by introducing the results of the chemical test that were administered while you were in custody. A knowledgeable criminal defense attorney will be aware of the procedures that law enforcement is required to comply with in the administration of breath and blood chemical tests. Attorney Vik Monder will use this knowledge to critically examine the administration of your breath and/or blood alcohol chemical tests to look for errors in procedure that could explain why your alcohol concentration level reported a false high reading at the time of your arrest. In driving under the influence cases, the prosecution has the burden of proof to show beyond a reasonable doubt that you were in violation of the California Vehicle Code. At Monder Law Group, we will hold the prosecution accountable to this standard by ensuring that throughout your investigation law enforcement adhered to all regulations for conducting a stop, testing for alcohol, and effectuating a DUI arrest. Attorney Vik Monder will fight your driving under the influence misdemeanor charges in Ocean Beach by confronting the prosecution with lack of reasonable suspicion, officer bias, improper testing procedures, inaccurate reporting, and lack of probable cause to make a DUI arrest. Ensure your best criminal defense by contacting Ocean Beach Criminal Defense Attorney Vik Monder now at (619) 405-0063 to have his DUI defense experience and knowledge fight for you!
Wobbler Driving Under the Influence Cases
In California, driving under the influence offenses that involve bodily injury to another are considered wobblers. A wobbler is an offense that the prosecution has discretion to file as either a misdemeanor or a felony. If you were arrested for driving under the influence and an accident occurred involving bodily injury to another, you could be charged with either a misdemeanor or a felony DUI. How you are formally charged by the prosecution will depend on whether you have a criminal history of DUIs and the severity of the injury that you caused to another person as a result of driving impaired. In California, driving under the influence offenses involving bodily injury to another person will be charged under Vehicle Code sections 23153(a) and 23153(b). You are in violation of Vehicle Code section 23153(a) when under the influence of alcohol, you drive a motor vehicle and while doing so you commit an additional unlawful act or neglect a duty imposed by law in driving the vehicle which results in an injury to another person. This means that in order to obtain a conviction under Vehicle Code section 23153(a), the prosecution will be required to prove that you were under the influence of alcohol and that while driving impaired you broke another law or acted negligently, proximately causing bodily injury to another. Whereas, you will be in violation of Vehicle Code section 23153(b) when you drive a motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration level of .08 percent or higher and concurrently commit an unlawful act or neglect a duty imposed by law in driving the vehicle which causes an injury to another person. This means that in order to obtain a conviction under Vehicle Code section 23153(b), the prosecution will be required to prove that you were driving with a breath or blood alcohol concentration level of at least .08 percent and that while doing so you broke another law or acted negligently, proximately causing bodily injury to another person. If you are facing charges for a wobbler DUI, it is crucial that you retain an Ocean Beach Criminal Defense Attorney that specializes in DUI wobbler cases. Attorney Vik Monder has years of experience in Ocean Beach negotiating wobbler DUI offenses down from felonies to misdemeanors. In order to minimize your culpability, attorney Vik Monder will identify all the mitigating factors in your case. For example, if this is your first DUI offense, your blood alcohol concentration level was not exceedingly high and the victim’s bodily injury is relatively minor, you will be in the best position to mitigate your charges. That being said, even if these mitigating factors do not apply to your case, attorney Vik Monder may still be able to negotiate your wobbler offense down to a misdemeanor by
reconstructing the accident that caused bodily injury to another person. At Monder Law Group, we work directly with DUI accident reconstruction specialists that take into account non-alcohol related factors that may have independently caused the accident. By confronting the prosecution with external factors, like the weather, road, or vehicle conditions, the reconstruction specialist will be able to find alternative explanations for the accident that caused another bodily injury. If you are being charged for causing injury to another person while driving under the influence, you do not have to face these DUI wobbler charges alone!
