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Third DUI in California: Felony or Misdemeanor Under the New Law?
DUI/DWI4d ago

Third DUI in California: Felony or Misdemeanor Under the New Law?

Gov. Newsom signed AB 1546, which lets a third DUI within 10 years in California be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor. The new penalties are set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027. This guide covers who decides the charge level and what to do now if you have been arrested.

DUI/DWI5d ago

Pleading Down a California DUI Will Soon Come With a Murder Warning

Starting Jan. 1, 2027, Braun's Law requires California courts to give the Watson murder advisement when a DUI charge is pled down to a different or lesser offense. Here's what the judge will say, what the new law leaves out, and what it means for a plea offer.

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DUI/DWISep 24

Why Your Blood Alcohol Could Have Been Lower While You Were Driving

A breath or blood test measures alcohol when the test is taken, not when you were driving. Here is how the rising blood alcohol defense works, what courts require before they accept timing estimates, and how some state laws limit the argument.

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DUI/DWISep 21

How to Save Your Driver's License After a DUI Arrest

After a DUI arrest, your license faces its own case at the DMV, and it moves faster than the criminal charge. Most states give you 10 to 15 days to request a hearing, and some give up to 30. Here is how the deadline works, what the hearing decides and what you lose by missing it.

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DUI/DWIAug 28

The Arrest Report in Your DUI Case May Have Been Written by Software. California Now Makes Them Say So.

California's SB 524 took effect January 1, 2026, and it forces police reports to disclose when artificial intelligence drafted them, preserve the first AI draft, and log who ran the tool. In DUI cases, where the officer's narrative of odor, slurred speech, and field sobriety performance often is the case, that retained draft is new impeachment material. Utah requires disclosure and certification but no draft retention. Roughly 48 states require nothing at all.

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DUI/DWIAug 23

A Jacksonville Panel Threw Out a Breath Test Over Five Rubber Rings. The Window to Use That Argument Is Closing.

A three judge Duval County panel suppressed an Intoxilyzer 8000 result this month because FDLE and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office replaced O-rings inside the machine without being an authorized repair facility. The order is not the first ruling of its kind, and it is not the blank slate the coverage suggests. It follows binding appellate precedent from 2025, and it lands weeks after FDLE amended the very rule the argument depends on.

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DUI/DWIAug 22

An Illinois Lab's Cannabis DUI Tests Couldn't Separate Delta-8 From Delta-9. Roughly 2,000 Cases Are Now in Question.

For eight years, Illinois courts treated delta-9 THC numbers from a University of Illinois Chicago lab as fact. On March 11, 2026, the state's forensic oversight commission rejected the university's own defense of those numbers as 'insufficient.' Here is how to find out whether your case is in the pool, and what remedy fits.

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DUI/DWIAug 18

California's DUI Overhaul Has Two Weeks Left, and Most of It Is Already Dead

The Legislature must pass every bill by Aug. 31, and the Governor has until Sept. 30 to sign. But the headline bill in California's 2026 impaired-driving package, a first-offense ignition interlock mandate, is stalled on the suspense file and would not operate until 2031 even if it passes. Here is what actually survived, what died in the spring, and what a Jan. 1, 2027 effective date would really mean for a pending case.

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DUI/DWIAug 15

Oklahoma Can Now Turn Two Unproven DUIs Into One Felony: SB 1543 Drops the Conviction Requirement on November 1

Starting November 1, 2026, Oklahoma prosecutors can aggregate two DUI violations committed within one year and charge them as a single Class C2 felony, with no prior conviction required. Here is what the statute says, what it leaves undefined, and why severance under 22 O.S. § 439 becomes the central defense tool.

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DUI/DWIAug 14

Louisiana's New Twelve-Year DWI Minimum Took Effect August 1. It Reaches Far Fewer Drivers Than the Headlines Suggest.

Act 117 added a twelve-year mandatory minimum to Louisiana's DWI statute effective August 1, 2026. It fires only when the driver already has a vehicular homicide, third degree feticide, or first degree vehicular negligent injuring conviction. The baseline penalties for a second, third, or fourth DWI did not change. Here is what actually moved, and why a decades-old conviction can still trigger the new floor.

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