First DUI, should I expect jail time?
I recently got a dui in Denver, Colorado. I go to court in about 3 and a half weeks. I understand that I will have to pay fines, lose my license, do community service and take alcohol classes. I’m prepared for all this, but I’m mostly nervous about the mandatory 5 days to a year in jail. I’ve had a clean record prior to this. I willingly took a breathalyzer and blew a .144. I was sent to detox for 5 hours. I am currently collecting unemployment benefits and looking for a job like crazy! I’m don’t know if doing jail time will end my ui benefits or just interrupt it. Either way, I will lose my apartment, my car, my dog and I’ll have nowhere to go. I have started my alcohol classes early. Is it possible that the judge will wave the jail time so I don’t interrupt my classes or my job search? Basically, I’ve read that when the law says “mandatory jail time” it is still up to the judge to decide whether to give it to me. I’ve also read that a BAC of .2 and over is when they really start enforcing the jail time. Is this true? I’ve also heard conflicting stories about whether a lawyer will really be able to help me or not. Not that I could afford one anyway.
For what it’s worth, I left my car at the bar and started to walk home when I ran into a friend who was too drunk to walk straight let alone move his car and it would definitely get towed in the morning. Trying to be a helpful friend, I foolishly agreed to move his car for him and got pulled over for not using a turn signal. The cop who did my finger prints said he wouldn’t have thought i’d blow that high from just talking to me. Still, it was a stupid decision and I’m ashamed and sincerely sorry.
I don’t need the law quoted to me, I need advise from someone who has been thru something similar. Maybe someone with recent experience because the law changed on July 1st. Thank you….
So it’s clear, I absolutely am not making excuses for what I did, and I will completely own up to it to the judge and do what I have to do. I only added the details of my arrest to clarify that I did not get in an accident, kill someone, resisted arrest, etc, because I would surely recieve different answers if that had been the case…
Tagged with: Expect • First • jail • Should • time
Filed under: Detox from Alcohol at Home
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probably not do your classes if you somehow do get jail time it will probably be 5 days and you should be able to do weekends.
Sorry for what happened to you, but all I can say is: If you can’t pay the fine, don’t do the crime. This should be a good lesson to you. There is NEVER a good reason to drink and drive!
No one cares about the details.
“First DUI conviction: A fine between $600 to $1,000; 5 days to 1 year in jail; between 48 and 96 hours of community service; and, 12 points against your license.”
Colorado does not screw around with DUI’s. That’s what the law change reflects. It largely deals with multiple offenders though.
You need an attorney. Colorado DUI’s show up on your criminal record, so you need to be convicted of something NOT that. Jail time can absolutely come before .2. Do I think you’ll get that? Probably not since you are trying to do the right thing by classes. BUT leave the excuse for driving at the door. In my experience with Colorado judges (Denver specifically and I’ve had plenty) they will not give jail time for first offenders if you own what you did and seem willing to make it right. I assume that you are sorry and know why it’s wrong? If so, that attitude comes across nicely.
I know you’re scared, I was too. I’ll give you the low down -
No. You will not go to jail, and don’t bother paying for an attorney either. I got a DUI in 08, and didn’t have an attorney, and got the EXACT same sentence as everyone else there that day, many of whom did have attorneys. Unless you hurt or killed someone, or have priors, they dish out the same damn thing to everyone with a 1st DUI.
The “mandatory” jail time is a clever psychological tool, used to make you feel like they’re doing you a “huge” favor when they “let” you do community service instead.
DUI’s are INCREDIBLY common, as you’ll realize when you go to court, and you’re one of several people there, with the same charge. It’s a money making mill for the state, and they have no inclination to be putting non-violent DUI offenders in prison. Their goal is to MAKE money, and putting people in jail COSTS them money.
If no one was hurt, this is what you’ll get:
-A big fine, mine was $1,800. They’ll let you make payments if you need to.
-A day or more (I had one day) of work project (raking leaves or picking up trash)
-A month, or 2, or 3, of a suspended license (this sucks, I just risked it and drove anyway, just don’t get pulled over)
-Several months of “classes.” This will run you a few hundred bucks, you’ll go to group classes at a “recovery” center, where they make everyone talk about getting busted.
-You’ll have to call your car insurance and have them add an “SR22” to your file, which will crank your insurance WAY up. Mine WAS 30/month, now I pay about 100/month w/progressive.
-Several years of “probation,” (I got 5) which doesn’t suspend your license, it just means if you get pulled over with ANY alcohol in your system, even below the legal limit, you get a 2nd DUI. (This is ridiculous, and is the worst part for me, because I’m now scared to even have a beer with a friend after work, or wine with dinner, and that can really put a damper on your social life…. I should move to NY so I don‘t have to drive….)
You’ll be fine, and good luck, don’t get a 2nd one.
probation first offense. be polite in court.