A DMV hearing is an administrative process that can preserve your right to drive before the criminal case is heard.
After a California DUI arrest, the police will usually confiscate your license and give you a notice of your right to a hearing. This notice will serve as your temporary license — but if you do not use the information on the notice to request a hearing before the DMV, your license will be automatically suspended.
If you win your case, then your license will not be suspended unless you are later convicted of a DUI (at which point the judge will order that your license be suspended). If you lose, your license will be suspended, but you will still have the chance to make your case in the criminal process.
Requesting a DMV hearing may seem like a waste of time and money. But as a skilled Los Angeles County DUI attorney will tell you, even if you lose before the DMV, you will get an important preview of the case against you — which may give you a strategic advantage in future negotiations or at trial.
The DMV Hearing Process
A DMV hearing is held in a local DMV office and is overseen by a DMV employee — who may not necessarily be a lawyer or have any legal education. It is an administrative hearing with one purpose: to determine whether your license should be suspended by the DMV because of your DUI arrest. There are no possible criminal penalties at this hearing; the only possible consequence is a license suspension (which would happen automatically if you did not request the hearing).
After a California DUI arrest, the police will take your license and give you a Notice of Suspension. This notice acts as a temporary license for up to 30 days after your arrest, and gives you information about how to request a DMV hearing. The only way to get a hearing is to request one within 10 days of your arrest. If you do not request a hearing, then your license will automatically be suspended by the DMV. Once you request a hearing, the license suspension will not go into effect pending the outcome of the hearing. The temporary license will be effective until the date of the hearing. Note that this process only applies to drivers with California licenses; there are different procedures for out-of-state drivers after California notifies their state of their DUI arrest.
A Los Angeles County DUI attorney can request a DMV hearing for you, and can represent you at the hearing. Each side will have the chance to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses, although the process is much less formal than a trial. The state has a much lower burden of proof to show that you were driving under the influence and that you were lawfully stopped and arrested than in a criminal trial. To win at the DMV level, the state has to show that:
- The arresting officer had probable cause to believe that you were driving under the influence;
- The officer had probable cause to arrest you; and
- You were driving with a blood alcohol content of .08% or greater.
If the state cannot prove these elements, then the hearing officer should find in your favor. Your
license will not be automatically suspended by the DMV. However, if you are later convicted of DUI, the judge will enter an order for your license to be suspended. If you lose, then your license will be suspended by the DMV.
Even if you think that you cannot win at the DMV level, it is often a good idea to request a hearing. It is the only way that you can avoid an automatic suspension of your license, and it gives you a preview of the state’s case against you. Your Los Angeles County DUI lawyer can use this information to develop factual and legal defenses to the charges in the criminal case — which is incredibly important to successfully resolving your case.
If you’ve been arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles County, contact the Chambers Law Firm at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com. We offer free initial consultations, and can represent you at all phases of the DUI process, including the DMV hearing.
