Yesterday I was in North Court in Fullerton with a client for her 4th DUI in less than 10 years. She was out of custody but it was likely they were going to take her into custody and set a bail of about $50,000 for the 4th DUI and $15,000 for the probation violation. (She’s on probation from her previous DUI). At this point she still was consulting with her attorney but had not hired her yet. Her attorney happened to be at court yesterday and stood in to represent her in a special appearance. The attorney argued for bail to be reduced and was successful at getting it set at $30,000 when it should have been $65,000. She saved this potential / past client over $3,000 just in bail fees. And, the client never had to go to the County Jail to be booked. Instead we were able to post bail for her at the same time while in court and she was free to go.
In speaking with the client after the hearing I felt like she just didn’t understand how lucky she was. First, she had a very prominent attorney appear on her behalf for free, second the attorney saved her over $3,000 in bail money and third she was able to convince the judge to let her go from the courtroom instead of booking her into the county jail. The jail booking saved her over 18 hours of jail time alone. I felt like she was ungrateful for what the attorney did for her. And I don’t think she understands the seriousness of a 4th DUI and what could happen at sentencing. For her sake I really hope she hires the attorney as she will definitely need one.