SAN DIEGO DUI "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE" POLICY MOST LIKELY WILL BE SUSPENDED THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
Drivers arrested for a San Diego DUI near Christmas and New Years this year can expect to spend up to three days in jail if they cannot make bail.
But is this legal? No.
Each year near Christmas and New Year's, the San Diego Sheriff's Department revises it's bail policy. Normally, when a driver is arrested for a San Diego DUI, he or she is held for about 12 hours through the booking process and then released after promising to appear in court.
Bail is not to be used to keep someone in jail. It is meant to secure the person's attendance at his court date. Most individuals arrested for misdemeanors are not required to pay bail, or are required to post a very small bail. That's because since a first time DUI almost never warrants jail time, it is likely the person arrested for the San Diego DUI will appear in court to handle it when released on his own recognizance.
Last year the San Diego Sheriff's Department maintained this procedure until January 2.
While surely there will be more San Diego DUI checkpoints and San Diego cops (and CHP) on the road keeping an eye out for impaired drivers, the altering of bail as a means of deterrence is unconstitutional.
For answers to your ost frequently asked San Diego DUI Defense questions, click here:
http://http://www.acrimedefenseattorney.com/pages/dui.html
And for answers on what to do if you are stopped for suspision of a California DUI, click here:
http://www.californiacriminallawyerblog.com/2007/11/what_to_do_when_the_dui_office.html
