If your driver’s license is revoked or suspended in California for DUI under Vehicle Code section 23152 or 23153, and you get caught driving, you will probably receive a ticket for a violation of Vehicle Code section 14601.2 (or 14601.5)
Therefore, if you aren’t certain if your license was suspended for a DUI, you can check with the Department of Motor Vehicles by calling 1-800-777-0133, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., stating driver’s license and following the prompts. If you find out that your California Driver’s license is suspended, don’t drive. Find another method to travel: use public transportation, Uber, hire a driver, call a cab, call a friend, or use a bicycle, but don’t drive a vehicle on a public street or highway.
Vehicle Code 14601.2, subdivision (a), states that a person shall not drive a motor vehicle when that person's driving privilege is suspended or revoked for a conviction of a violation of Section 23152 or 23153 if the person so driving has knowledge of the suspension or revocation.
But knowledge of a suspension, revocation, or restriction of the driving privilege is conclusively presumed if notice has been given by the department to a driver under Section 13106. (See, Section 14601.2(c).) This presumption affects the burden of proof.
Section 13106, subdivision (a), indicates that when a person’s driving privilege is suspended
or revoked, the DMV shall notify the person by first-class mail of the action taken and of the effective date of the suspension, except for those persons who have been personally given notice by the DMV or a court, or by a peace officer, or otherwise. It is a rebuttable presumption, affecting the burden of proof, that a person has knowledge of the suspension or revocation if notice has been sent by first-class mail to the most recent address reported to the DMV, and the notice has not been returned to the DMV as undeliverable or unclaimed.
But if you didn’t know your license was suspended, and you received a ticket for driving with a suspended license due to a DUI charge, it is a defense if you can rebut the presumption that you had knowledge of the suspension. But since knowledge will be presumed if the notice sent out by the DMV has not been returned to them as undeliverable or unclaimed, this is often difficult to establish.
Much may depend on the timing. Sometimes a person is ticketed before the notice of suspension arrives at their door. Or, sometimes the person moves and the DMV notice of suspension never reaches them. Also, as you will read further below, the punishment often depends on the timing of convictions, so it may be in your best interest to allow your attorney to continue a case to avoid having a conviction fall within a 5-year, 7-year , or 10-year period of a prior conviction.
There could also be additional ways that a competent criminal defense attorney can challenge this charge; therefore, it is strongly recommended that you find an experienced criminal defense lawyer or ask for the services of the Public Defender if you cannot afford a lawyer. This is a misdemeanor offense which means that a court can impose a jail sentence of not more than six months.
The penalty for violating Vehicle Code section 14601.2 is as follows:
Upon a first conviction, by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 10 days or more than six months and by a fine of not less than three hundred dollars ($300) or more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), unless the person has been designated a habitual traffic offender. (Veh. Code, § 14601.2, subd.(d)(1).)
If the offense occurred within five years of a prior offense that resulted in a conviction of a violation of this section or Section 14601, 14601.1, or 14601.5, by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 30 days or more than one year and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than two thousand dollars ($2,000), unless the person has been designated a habitual traffic offender.
If a person is convicted of a second or subsequent offense that results in a conviction of this section within seven years, but over five years, of a prior offense that resulted in a conviction of a violation of this section or Section 14601, 14601.1, or 14601.5 and is granted probation, the court shall impose as a condition of probation that the person be confined in the county jail for at least 10 days.
But, the penalties increase if a person is designated as a habitual offender. Any person convicted of being an habitual traffic offender is punished as follows:
(1) Upon a first conviction, by imprisonment in the county jail for 30 days and by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2) Upon a second or any subsequent offense within seven years of a prior conviction under this section, by imprisonment in the county jail for 180 days and by a fine of two thousand dollars ($2,000).
Beginning October 15, 2015, California will offer traffic ticket amnesty for certain vehicle code violations, including this one.
If you are in the Los Angeles metro area, and you would like a recommendation for an experienced criminal defense lawyer, you can contact me at esserlaw@gmail.com
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copyright © 2015 Christine Esser
The information contained here is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal counsel. Online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Information on this blog is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship between you and Christine Esser. An attorney-client relationship is only established when a written retainer has been signed.
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