Burbank DUI Crime Defense Attorney

Burbank DUI Crime Defense Attorney

Pulled over on San Fernando Boulevard leaving the Coral Cafe at 1 AM—Burbank officer says your speed was 42 in a 35 zone, asks if you’ve been drinking, you admit “two beers,” and now you’re doing field sobriety tests on the sidewalk while tourists watch and film from the outdoor dining area across the street. The officer asks you to follow his pen with your eyes, stand on one leg, walk heel-to-toe along the curb, and you’re thinking “I’m not that drunk” but your leg wobbles during the one-leg stand and the officer writes something on his notepad. He asks you to blow into a Preliminary Alcohol Screening device, it reads 0.09%, and now you’re in handcuffs in the back of a Burbank Police patrol car heading to the station on Third Street for chemical testing—breath or blood, your choice, and if you refuse they’ll get a warrant and take your blood anyway plus suspend your license for a year just for refusing, and you’re not fighting one DUI case, you’re fighting two—the criminal case in Burbank Superior Court and the DMV administrative hearing that will suspend your license regardless of what happens in criminal court, the criminal case where they book you and you post bail or sit in custody and you get a court date at Los Angeles County Superior Court, Burbank, 300 East Olive Avenue, Department B with arraignment typically 3-4 weeks after arrest, and the DMV case where they hand you a pink temporary license when they release you from booking and it says “Notice of Suspension” at the top and you have 10 days from the date of arrest to request a DMV administrative hearing or your license suspends automatically on day 31, ten days not ten business days but ten calendar days, and if day 10 falls on a weekend or holiday too bad the deadline doesn’t extend, and what most people don’t understand until it’s too late is the DMV hearing happens before the criminal trial and operates under different rules with preponderance of evidence instead of beyond reasonable doubt and the public defender you’ll meet at criminal arraignment doesn’t handle DMV hearings because the public defender works for the criminal court system not the DMV, so if you’re arrested on Friday night and you wait until Monday three weeks later when you meet the public defender at arraignment to ask about your license the DMV deadline passed two weeks ago and your license suspended automatically and the public defender cannot fix that problem because the deadline is jurisdictional and once it passes the DMV hearing right is waived permanently.

How much does a DUI attorney cost in California? For a first-time DUI in Burbank—Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) driving under the influence or 23152(b) BAC 0.08% or higher—expect to pay $2,500 to $5,000 as a flat fee that covers both the criminal case and the DMV administrative hearing. That includes arraignment, pretrial conferences, DMV hearing representation, motion practice (suppression motions, Pitchess motions challenging officer credibility), and trial if necessary. Second DUI runs $5,000 to $10,000 flat fee. Third DUI is $7,500 to $15,000. DUI with injury under Vehicle Code Section 23153 is $10,000 to $25,000 depending on the severity of injuries and whether felony charges are filed. Felony DUI—fourth offense within 10 years or DUI causing serious injury or death—runs $15,000 to $50,000 or more depending on complexity.

The public defender is free if you qualify based on income, but the Los Angeles County Public Defender handles an average of 500 active cases per attorney and does not represent clients at DMV administrative hearings. That’s not a criticism of the public defenders—they’re excellent trial lawyers trapped in an impossible caseload. They cannot spend 10 hours analyzing breathalyzer calibration records looking for Title 17 violations. They cannot hire an expert witness to testify about rising blood alcohol defenses or mouth alcohol contamination. They cannot file a Pitchess motion to discover the Burbank Police officer’s disciplinary history and prior incidents of misconduct. And most critically, they cannot request your DMV hearing within the 10-day deadline because you don’t meet them until arraignment three weeks after arrest.

Is it worth getting a lawyer for a DUI case? The cost-benefit calculation: a first-time DUI conviction in California costs $10,000 to $15,000 over three years when you add up the fines (minimum $1,800 plus penalty assessments that triple the base fine), DUI school ($500 to $1,800 depending on whether it’s 3-month first offender program or 18-month multiple offender program), SR-22 high-risk insurance filing (insurance premiums increase by 200-300% for three years), and lost wages from jail time (48 hours to six months for first offense). Attorney fee of $2,500 to $5,000 is cheaper than the guaranteed cost of conviction—and that calculation doesn’t account for the permanent criminal record that shows up on background checks for employment, professional licensing, immigration proceedings if you’re not a U.S. citizen. What a private DUI attorney does that the public defender cannot: files the DMV hearing request within the 10-day deadline to prevent automatic license suspension, subpoenas the breathalyzer calibration and maintenance records to challenge Title 17 compliance (California Code of Regulations Title 17 requires specific calibration protocols that Burbank Police often fail to follow), files Pitchess motions under Evidence Code Section 1043 to discover the arresting officer’s personnel file and prior complaints of misconduct or false testimony, challenges the legality of the traffic stop (officer must have reasonable suspicion of Vehicle Code violation to justify the stop—”you were weaving” is not reasonable suspicion if the dash cam video shows normal driving), negotiates from a position of strength because the Los Angeles County District Attorney knows that an attorney who files suppression motions will take the case to trial if the evidence gets suppressed.

Start with Burbank-specific experience—has this attorney tried DUI cases in Department B at the Burbank courthouse, does this attorney know the prosecutors who work the Burbank branch of the District Attorney’s office, has this attorney represented clients at DMV administrative hearings at the Glendale Driver Safety Office (the DMV location that handles Burbank DUI suspensions)? Technical knowledge is non-negotiable: does this attorney understand the science of breathalyzer testing (partition ratio assumptions, mouth alcohol contamination, radio frequency interference), does this attorney understand Title 17 calibration requirements (accuracy checks with 0.08% simulator solution every 10 days, certification records maintained for three years), does this attorney understand blood testing protocols (anticoagulant and preservative requirements, refrigeration and storage procedures, fermentation issues that can artificially elevate BAC results weeks or months after the blood draw)?

212-300-5196.