For Defence against Felony DUI charges, you need to hire the best DUI lawyer in San Diego

If you are arrested for a DUI charge in California, there is a potential for harsh penalties. However, if your charge is that of felony DUI instead of the usual misdemeanor, the penalties could be severe. So, although you need to hire an experienced DUI lawyer in any charge of this offence, in case of a felony DUI, you perhaps need to consider hiring the best DUI lawyer in San Diego.

When can you be charged for felony DUI?

Under some circumstances, the prosecutor in California can decide to press felony DUI charges against a person. However, if a person has already been convicted under this charge thrice in the past 10 years, then as per the California law, their driving under the influence offence must be charged as a felony.

Other than a multiple DUI offence, circumstances in which it can be pursued as a felony include:

• If the DUI accident in San Diego or any other place in California caused an injury to the driver and at least one other person
• If someone was killed due to drunk driving, possibility of a felony charge increases
• If the DUI accident led to massive damage of property

As anyone would expect, the penalties faced by someone proved guilty in a felony DUI case are far more severe compared to the same awarded to misdemeanor DUI offenders. This can be easily understood by a simple fact that felony DUI offenders are given a sentence of at least 1 year in prison, while misdemeanor DUI conviction is never more than a year. In case there is a death due to drunk driving, the jail sentence can extend to several years.