DUI Conviction from 2014 Expunged in West Covina Court

In 2014, our client was stopped by the CHP for making an allegedly unsafe lane change on the eastbound I-10 Freeway near the Pacific Avenue offramp, causing her to bump into another car.  It was about 10:00 p.m..

She was 22 at the time and coming home from a small get-together with friends from work, where she had consumed a few mixed drinks.  She was a West Covina High School graduate.

After being arrested and taken to the Citrus CHP station, she submitted to a breath test at the station and her blood alcohol content (BAC) was measured at 0.12%.  She was held for a few hours and then released after signing a promise to appear for her arraignment at the West Covina Courthouse.

The client later did appear at the West Covina Courthouse for her arraignment and was assigned a public defender. 

 

The public defender rather quickly reached a plea deal for our client wherein she entered a no contest plea to a violation of Vehicle Code § 23152(b) (“Driving with a BAC of 0.08% or Higher by Weight) and the judge placed her on three years of informal, or summary, probation on the following terms and conditions: that she pay a court fine of $390, plus penalties and assessments (total of $2,022, or perform 13 days of community labor and pay a fine of $393); that she enroll in and complete an approved AB 541 three month alcohol awareness program; that she perform nine days of community labor; and that she attend both the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) victim impact panel and the Hospital and Morgue (HAM) program.  She also was ordered to pay restitution to the driver of the other car for any property damage repair costs not covered by insurance.

The client opted to perform the community labor and community service and completed all terms of probation in 2015.  No one showed up for the restitution hearing, so she did not owe any money to the other party beyond what was paid by insurance.

She thereafter became married and worked as a licensed health insurance agent, but she was looking for additional work.  She applied to Lyft, but until 2022, could not work for Lyft with a DUI within the last seven years, she was told.

She then called Greg Hill & Associates to ask about expungement of her DUI conviction from 2014.

 

Greg explained to the client that expungement did not delete, erase or remove the entry in her criminal history that she was arrested and charged with DUI, but it did return her last plea in the case to not guilty (replacing no contest or guilty) and did dismiss the case.  The big benefit of expungement would be, for her, to bar the Department of Insurance from considering her DUI case in denying renewal or suspending her state license to be a health care insurance agent.

Greg also explained that the judge had discretion to deny expungement for a DUI under Penal Code §§ 1203.4(c)(1) and 1203.4(c)(2), but that this was rarely exercised in Southern California.  Greg explained that he had a judge deny expungement for his client in a bad felony DUI case in Orange County and he saw a judge in Torrance deny expungement in a similar deny for another defendant (not Greg’s client). 

The client then retained Greg Hill & Associates and our office prepared the judicial council form for a Petition for Dismissal under Penal Code § 1203.4.  Our office supplemented the petition with a short points and authorities and a declaration from our client explaining why she was petitioning for expungement.  The declaration attached photographs of her with her family and her resume. 

Our office then filed the petition in the West Covina Courthouse, paid the $120.00 filing fee, and served the District Attorney’s office there in the courthouse.

The judge in West Covina Superior Court granted the petition, which made our client extremely happy, knowing her career as a health care insurance agent no longer was endangered.

For more information about expungement, please click on the following articles: