New state DUI law gets tougher

If you are caught driving drunk, don't cross your fingers and hope that the judge might be able to suspend a certain portion of your DUI sentence at his or her discretion.
 
Starting Sept. 26, any individual convicted of a DUI will face a harsher mandatory minimum sentence as created by the Arizona Legislature. The individual can face up to 45 days of jail time, a minimum of $2,800 in fines, a 90 day driver's license suspension, will be using an interlock ignition device, attend mandatory alcohol awareness classes, attend driving school classes, and will be tested with a breathalyzer throughout certain times of the day. 
 
"This is being done as an effort to curtail drunk driving and to place certain consequences; if you drink this many beers, this is how much you'll be given as a consequence from the court," said Rosendo Morales, a city magistrate in the San Luis Municipal Court.
 
"Before, we had a discretion to suspend a certain portion of the sentence, now it's mandatory. So it's like they're taking the discretion away from the judges that are able to suspend a portion of the DUI sentence."
 
Angela Graddy, Yuma County court administrator, said the new law that takes effect on Sept. 26, will prohibit judges from suspending the 30-day minimum sentence for an extreme DUI from .15 BAC to .19 BAC.
 
"There are a lot of charges that have mandatory sentences as set out by the Legislature and yes, it does kind of take away from the judge," Graddy said.
 
Multiple phone calls were made to Yuma Justice of Peace David Cooper and Superior Court Judge Andrew Gould on Wednesday and Thursday, but they could not be reached for comment. Also, Municipal Court Judge Doug Stanley could not be reached for comment by press time.
 
Any driver who is found with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent to .14 percent will face 30 days of jail time, about $1,500 in fines that include court and mandatory class fees, must use a ignition interlock device on their car and will be using a breathalyzer, which will be reading and recording the alcohol levels throughout the day, according to Morales.
 
Any driver whose BAC is from .15  to .20 percent will spend 30 days in jail, will pay a fine of about $2.800, will have a suspended driver's license for a minimum of 90 days, will be using an ignition interlock device on their car, will attend mandatory classes and will be using a breathalyzer, according to Morales.
 
Those have more than a .20 BAC are ranked in the extreme DUI category. They will be facing 45 days in jail, will pay more than $2,800, will have their license suspended for 90 days, will be using a breathalyzer, an ignition interlock device and attend mandatory classes, Morales said.
 
"The Legislature feels there is a problem with drunk driving and they need to be more strict," Morales said.
 
In 2007, there were about 22,000 DUI sentences in Arizona, Morales said.
 
Jose Antonio Saldivar, an attorney in the criminal division with Phillips and Associates, which has handled cases in Yuma County, said the law doesn't really affect lawyers in terms of defending someone. However, in terms of the consequences of losing the trial or pleading guilty it is going to affect the defendant.
  
"It will probably give us more business because people are going to be afraid to do a lot of jail time and they're going to feel that they will want to hire a private attorneys to go to trial and fight the case," Saldivar said.
 
"That's when they pass that new law that it's 45 days in jail if your blood alcohol content is above .20. We've had many, many clients that have attained us because nobody wants to do 45 days in jail. In my opinion, there is going to be more business because there will be more people afraid of doing the mandatory jail time."


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Stephanie Sanchez can be reached ssanchez@yumasun.com or 539-6847.