DUI Lawyer in Delano

DUI Defense in Kern County Built on Scientific Analysis

Middlebrook & Associates represents people facing DUI charges throughout Kern County, including Delano and surrounding communities. Richard Middlebrook has focused his legal practice on DUI defense for more than 29 years and has handled thousands of DUI cases.

Our approach is grounded in careful legal analysis and reliable scientific research. Breath testing, blood analysis, field sobriety testing, police procedure, and the circumstances leading to an arrest can all affect how a DUI case should be evaluated. We review the evidence to identify defenses supported by the facts rather than making assumptions about what a test result means.

Richard Middlebrook has also been recognized among the Top 100 Lawyers in America for DUI Defense and received the Edward Kuwatch Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to DUI and DMV defense.

A DUI Arrest Can Start Two Separate Proceedings

One of the first things to understand after a California DUI arrest is that the criminal charge and the driver's license process are separate.

Your criminal case is handled through the court system. Depending on the allegations and evidence, it can involve arraignment, motions, negotiations with prosecutors, and potentially trial.

A separate California DMV action may affect your driving privileges. The outcome of the criminal case does not automatically determine the result of the administrative license proceeding.

Middlebrook & Associates handles both sides of DUI defense. Our firm has handled more than 8,500 DMV hearings in Kern County in addition to hundreds of DUI trials.

The 10-Day DMV Window Requires Prompt Attention

If an officer serves you with an Order of Suspension or Revocation following a DUI arrest, California DMV generally gives you 10 days from receipt of that order to request an administrative hearing.

The hearing provides an opportunity to contest the administrative action against your driving privilege before it takes effect. The issues considered at a DMV hearing are different from the question of guilt or innocence in the criminal case.

Because the triggering documents and circumstances matter, the safest approach is to review the paperwork from your arrest promptly rather than assume that every DUI follows exactly the same timeline.

Learn more about California DUI DMV hearings.

How We Examine the Evidence in a DUI Case

A DUI prosecution can rely on several types of evidence, including an officer's observations, field sobriety tests, breath testing, blood analysis, driving behavior, statements, and video evidence.

The presence of evidence does not make every conclusion drawn from it automatically reliable. Our job is to examine how that evidence was obtained, whether required procedures were followed, and what the evidence can legitimately establish.

Breath Test Evidence

California Vehicle Code 23152(b) makes it unlawful to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or more. California separately prohibits driving while under the influence of alcohol under VC 23152(a), so a DUI case may involve more than one legal theory.

For a person driving a commercial motor vehicle, VC 23152(d) establishes a 0.04% BAC threshold.

Breath-test evidence can raise questions about instrument maintenance, calibration, testing procedures, timing, and whether the result reliably reflects the driver's alcohol concentration when the driving occurred. We examine those issues rather than treating a reported number as the end of the analysis.

Learn more about how we approach breath and blood test evidence.

Blood Test Evidence

Blood testing presents a different set of scientific issues.

Collection procedures, storage, laboratory analysis, chain-of-custody records, and interpretation can all become relevant to the reliability or weight of a blood-test result. When the evidence warrants additional scientific review, Middlebrook & Associates may work with an independent toxicologist to evaluate the government's testing or analysis.

That scientific focus is central to the way our firm handles DUI defense.

Field Sobriety Tests

Law enforcement may use field sobriety tests such as the walk-and-turn and one-leg stand as part of a DUI investigation.

We examine how the tests were instructed and administered and whether circumstances unrelated to alcohol or drugs could have affected performance. Surface conditions, footwear, physical limitations, fatigue, medical conditions, and the officer's interpretation of the performance may all be relevant depending on the facts.

Different DUI Charges Require Different Defense Strategies

A Delano DUI case can involve circumstances that change both the potential consequences and the evidence that matters most.

Repeat DUI Charges

California increases penalties when qualifying prior DUI-related convictions fall within the applicable 10-year period. A second, third, or later DUI can therefore require close review of both the current case and the convictions the prosecution intends to use as priors.

Certain convictions from outside California can also qualify if the underlying offense would constitute a qualifying DUI offense under California law.

Our page on multiple DUI offenses in Kern County explains how prior cases can affect a new charge.

Drug and Prescription Medication DUI

California DUI law also applies to driving under the influence of drugs. That can include illegal substances as well as prescription or over-the-counter medications when the prosecution alleges that they impaired the person's ability to drive safely.

Unlike the 0.08% per se alcohol provision, VC 23152(f) does not establish an equivalent universal numerical threshold for drug impairment. These cases may rely heavily on toxicology, officer observations, Drug Recognition Expert evaluations, and other evidence of actual impairment.

Read more about drug DUI defense in Kern County.

DUI Involving Injury or Felony Exposure

California Vehicle Code 23153 addresses DUI cases in which the prosecution alleges that an unlawful act or failure to perform a legal duty while driving proximately caused bodily injury to another person.

Depending on the circumstances, a DUI involving injury can expose a defendant to felony prosecution. Prior felony DUI convictions and multiple qualifying prior DUI offenses can also affect felony exposure under California law.

These cases can involve incarceration, significant fines, license consequences, and a felony record if convicted. Learn about our felony DUI defense.