Joseph McPeak, an Attorney at Red Metric Law, Debunks the Common Myth That a DUI Stays on Your Driving Record for 10 Years

Hayward, CA, April 14, 2021 --(PR.com)-- Amongst the unlucky individuals who have received a DUI, there is a common myth that DUIs only stay on one’s record for 10 years. Mr. McPeak explains where he believes the myth comes from, “In California, whenever you’re charged with a DUI offense, you’re subject to a mandatory minimum penalty, which is a minimum penalty that a judge has to impose - no matter how good of a person you are, if you are convicted of this type of DUI offense, the judge has to at least impose ‘X’ amount of days in jail, ‘X’ amount of DUI school, ‘X’ amount of fines, ‘X’ amount of interlock, etc... The 10 year figure comes from that concept - that the possible minimum mandatory sentence for someone’s DUI depends in large part on how many times they have been found guilty of DUI or wet reckless driving in the past 10 years.”

Mr. McPeak explains how this leads to two misconceptions, “This phrase is problematic because it leads people to believe two things incorrectly- one, it leads people to incorrectly believe that they can’t get their DUI case expunged before ten years passes. And two, it leads people to believe that after ten years have passed, that a DUI conviction doesn’t count for anything.”

So does that mean employers are always going to be able to take someone’s DUI into consideration? Not exactly, “You can get your DUI case expunged. So lets say I get convicted of DUI, I serve my time, I do my probation, I don’t have any violations; under California penal code 1203.4, I probably have a good basis by which to expunge my case by getting the court to recategorize my conviction as a type of dismissal. For practical purposes, it would make it a lot harder for private employers to use this conviction as a reason to pass me over for employment or terminate me,” says Mr. McPeak.

Mr. McPeak addresses the second misconception, “After 10 years have passed, some people think that their DUI is off their record. If you’ve never gotten it expunged, even though it’s old, private employers can probably still use it to pass you over. So maybe people don’t care about a conviction that’s so old, practically speaking, but they’re still allowed to see it and consider it.”

Mr. McPeak is a senior attorney at Red Metric Law, a criminal defense firm that focuses on DUI charges and offers expungements.

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