Extreme and Super Extreme DUIs. My name is Gordon Thompson and today is July 5, 2016. The topic for today’s podcast is Extreme and Super Extreme DUIs in Arizona.
In Arizona we have for DUI alcohol, three levels of misdemeanor offenses. The first, which is commonly known as a regular DUI, is an alcohol level less than .15% within two hours of driving or being an actual physical control of a vehicle. The second and third offenses are .15% Extreme, which means having an alcohol level of .15% or more within two hours of driving or being in actual physical control, and the third offense is a Super Extreme which is having an alcohol level of .20% or more within two hours of driving or being in actual physical control.
The sentences for these offenses is what distinguishes them and needless to say as the alcohol levels increase so does the severity of the sentence. Now for this podcast what I’ll do is briefly go through what the penalties are for a first and second offense misdemeanor Extreme and Super Extreme, and then discuss how the outcome may vary by various courts because there’s different ways of interpreting the sentencing for these offenses.
For a first offense regular DUI .15% Extreme in terms of jail the minimum sentence is 30 days in jail of which the court can suspend 21 days if the person installs a vehicle interlock device for 12 months. The basic fines are $2800 or so, again it varies by court, and the court can order jail costs up to as much as that $2900 for a first offense.
For a first offense .20% or more Super Extreme, the jail costs could be $4300 the basic fines are $3200, again it varies somewhat by court, and the jail is 45 days in jail of which 31 days can be suspended if the person does the interlock for 12 months.
For second offenses the sentence is increased dramatically, for a second offense .15% regular Extreme the mandatory minimum is 120 days in jail, none of which is suspended if the person does the interlock, and the jail costs can be as much as $8000.
For a second offense .20% Super Extreme, the mandatory minimum jail sentence is the same as the maximum, namely, 180 days in jail with none suspended. The basic fines and assessments can be $4600 and in addition to that jail costs can be $16,500, and depending on how the court computes it and the total assessments can be as much as $21,000. In terms of the jail sentence, it is actually a longer jail sentence then it would be for the minimum sentence for a felony, aggravated, DUI because for that the minimum is 4 months in state prison, whereas for a misdemeanor .20% Extreme it can be six months in the County jail.
Now that’s a broad overview of what the minimum sentences are for a first offense .15% Extreme and .20% Super Extreme and a second offense .15% Extreme and .20% Super Extreme. Now what can mitigate the harshness of some of the sentences is, again it depends on which jurisdiction the case is being prosecuted in, the law provides that if the local jurisdiction where the case is being prosecuted permits home detention then a portion of the sentence can be served on home detention. How that would work in jurisdictions that do it, for a first offense .15% Extreme would be a 30 days jail, 21 suspended which leaves 9 days jail, which could be served as 2 days jail and 7 days on home detention.
For a first offense .20% Extreme the mandatory minimum would be 14 days in jail, again that could be served as little as 3 days jail, 11 days on home detention.
For a second offense .15% Extreme the 120 days sentence that could be served as 24 days in jail with work-release and 96 days on home detention.
For the second offense .20% Super Extreme that can be served as 36 days in jail with 144 days on home detention, so again there’s a big difference there between that and 180 days in jail.
For cases involving home detention the jail costs are much less because the person will be paying for home detention, which is far less to pay for anyway then the jail costs.
Now as I say it depends on the jurisdiction whether you can do home detention or not. Several of the Municipal Courts such as Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, and Goodyear all permit home detention so a portion of the sentence can be served on the home detention there. For example in Phoenix on a first offense .20% Super Extreme it would be 45 days jail, 31 suspended with a balance of 14 which would be served as 3 days jail and 11 days on home detention. The problem is not every jurisdiction does that and specifically the one that does not that’s very important is Maricopa County because in the Maricopa County Justice courts, if that’s where the case is being prosecuted there is no home detention. So for example if the case is a second offense .20% Super Extreme in one of the Justice courts and guilty as charged that would be 180 days in jail with no home detention and, depending on who the judge is, the jail cost can be as much a $16,000, so that’s a very serious sentence.
Some of the other courts do not do the minimum sentence. For example Tempe, Mesa & Chandler do not follow the minimum sentence in the sense of suspending the jail sentence if the person does the interlock. So in those jurisdictions for example on a first offense .15% Extreme the minimum sentence would be 30 days jail 0 of which would be suspended if the person did the interlock device. That would be served as 6 days jail and 24 days on home detention. Again that’s generally done in Chandler, Tempe, Glendale and Mesa.
As you can see the second offense .20% Super Extreme or the second offense .15% Extreme are very serious offenses, as of course is the first offense .15% Extreme and .20% Super Extreme. One should always try to see what can be done with the alcohol levels to see if there’s a way of getting out of the charge completely, or certainly getting the charge reduced, for example, from a second offense Super .20% Extreme to a regular DUI or from a Super .20% Extreme down to regular DUI or regular .15% Extreme DUI.
So that is basically what a .15% Extreme and .20% Super Extreme DUI charge is here in Arizona.
If you have any questions please call me. Thank you
If you’ve been charged with DUI or another criminal offense, getting help from an experienced and knowledgeable lawyer is one of the best things you can do for your case. Gordon Thompson has been practicing criminal and DUI law since 1979, and has used his vast experience to help countless people charged with DUI and other criminal offenses get the best result. Call Gordon Thompson now, 24/7, so he can put his many years of experience to use and help you get the best result for your DUI or criminal case. #DUI #Criminal