Second-Time DUI, Manhattan Beach, Sunset Time the Issue

Our client, age 42, had started his weekend a bit early. This particular day, a Friday, he and friends sat in a bar, starting at about 3 p.m., and downed a few pitchers of beer watching NBA All-Star weekend festivities on a big-screen television there. The bar was on Artesia Boulevard in Redondo Beach.

At about 6:05 p.m., our client left the bar, but did not get too far. The sun had set that particular day at 5:46 p.m. in Los Angeles County, so it was still light out, but it was twilight. Streetlights were on already.

Our client got in his 2019 Infiniti, which had automatic lights, and started his drive home to Lawndale. He turned left onto Inglewood Avenue and headed north.

As he crossed under the 405 Freeway, there was a Los Angeles County Sheriff passing the opposite direction who noticed our client had not turned on his headlights. It was sometime before 6:20 p.m.

The officer turned around to pull over our client for not driving with his headlights illuminated during darkness, a violation of Vehicle Code § 24400(a). The officer pulled over our client and had contact with him at 6:20 p.m., or 34 minutes after sunset.

The officer never examined the car to see if the headlights were not turned on because they were manually operated and thus our client was forgetful or unobservant perhaps due to impairment from alcohol. After all, if the headlights are controlled by a sensor on the car and the headlights do not turn on, the sensor is at fault, not our client, particularly if the surrounding streets are well-lit. Put another way, the sensor’s operation is not affected by our client’s alcohol intake.

Nonetheless, our client was eventually arrested for DUI and his blood alcohol content was measured at 0.201% and 0.206%. This was a second-time DUI for him, as he suffered a prior DUI in 2017.

After being released when he signed a promise to appear in the Torrance Courthouse about three months later, the client called Greg Hill & Associates.

The client explained to Greg the reason for the traffic stop, which led to the investigation for DUI and then his arrest. Greg had represented the client on his first DUI and liked how hard he fought for the client.

When the client explained the reason for the stop, Greg asked questions about the exact time of the stop and whether the client’s car had automatic headlights.

Greg explained that “darkness” under California law is actually defined as starting at the end of nautical twilight, or 30 minutes after sunset. This is defined at Vehicle Code § 280.

Greg looked up sunset for Manhattan Beach, California for the day at issue and found it was 5:46 p.m., so the important issue will be if the officer pulled over our client for not having his headlights on before 6:16 p.m., or after 6:16 p.m. If the time that the officer observed our client was 6:16 p.m. or after, the traffic stop was proper.

When the police report came, Greg saw that the officer wrote he made contact with our client at 6:20 p.m. and thus the question became whether the officer observed our client driving at 6:15 or earlier, in which case California law did not impose an obligation to drive with headlights illuminated yet.

As this matter was a Los Angeles County Sheriff matter, their cars were not equipped with a “Dashcam,” or Mobile Video Audio Recording System (MVARS). The officers also did not wear body-cam recording devices, so the critical issue was whether it took the officers five minutes or more from the time of their observation of our client driving to the time of first speaking to him on the roadside.

Our client could not remember how long it took for the officer to pull him over, so he agreed to the Torrance District Attorney’s plea bargain offer of four years of informal, or summary probation, with 96 hours of county jail (less two days actual time in custody, plus two days of good time / work time credit), a $390 fine plus penalties and assessments, attendance at and completion of the SB 38 eighteen month alcohol awareness program, attendance at the Hospital and Morgue (HAM) program and attendance at the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) victim impact panel.

We bring this summary to the reader’s attention because while DUI’s are uncommon during early evening hours, an officer can easily pull over a car for not having headlights illuminated when the law does not require this if it is less than 30 minutes after sunset.

For more information about second-time DUI issues, please click on the following articles: