Multi-State DUI problem ....

[Username998]

I guess I need to come here since my attorney's in AZ haven't given me a single solid answer on any of these questions. Anyone who is 100% sure of any of these questions, please advise. Thank you.

Situation:

Arizona - August - pulled over, first time DUI, BAC 0.10, visiting driving a rental car.
California - where I've resided the last 12 years and still have a license.
Florida - where I moved to in February and have rented.

So three states are involved in how this plays out.

Miami offers a diversion program ("Back on Track") which the famous musician FloRida just got approved for last week, to get his DUI downgraded to a Reckless Driving. I no longer live in California. I have never lived in AZ. I am now living in Miami.

Yet the attorney I hired in AZ is just going through the typical Scottsdale process. Basically "representing me as I can not be present". Hearings happening there, and decision was made there to not downgrade me to a "Wet and Reckless" last week. I have repeatedly asked my attorney if we can petition for Miami's Diversion Program. They don't seem to know, and they haven't done anything to pursue it at all, despite several requests.

I am thoroughly confused as to how this is supposed to play out. Resident of CA with CA license at the time of DUI. Currently working on becoming a resident of FL (been renting here since February) and it happened in Arizona in a rental car.

1) Can I request the Miami diversion program from the AZ court? If yes, how? If not - why?

2) If AZ court decides definite DUI - where is jailtime served? And why?

3) I was told by a CA attorney not to get a FL license because I would be punished under FL law, which is worse than CA DUI punishments. So I've held off and kept my CA license. This was before the diversion program went into effect this summer. Im at a loss as to whether I should get a FL license now. Should I ? Would it mean I might be entitled to downgrade to reckless when the punishment gets doled out?

4) How exactly can an AZ court decide punishment for a CA resident living in Florida? Or rather - execute on it?

5) My attorney told me that she has seen so much inefficient procedures at the AZ Motor Vehicle Dept that she stated I would most likely only have my license suspended in Arizona. She says the left hand almost never knows what the right hand is doing, and she isnt 100% sure I'd be suspended in Florida. I pointed out that its 2011 and there are things called computers with central databases. She still said in all her time prosecuting DUI's she cant count the times it took 2-4 months for the information to even propogate through the system, and by that time the 3 month suspension is over. Is she completely uninformed?

Im really frustrated because situations like this have a thousand questions, and I have absolutely zero answers despite hour-long discussions with her on the phone. *Everything* seems uncertain and *Nothing* seems set in stone. Especially with a situation like mine where 3 states are involved.

Thanks to anyone who can help me dissect this with actual facts.

~ Me

 

[FlyingRon]

What diversion Florida has is an aspect of their courts not Arizona. You can ask for it but you won't get it. Arizona doesn't do DUI diversion. If you could not get a plea bargain, you're in tough straights. The big question is if they're willing to waive the day in jail or make some accomodation on that. By default, you do your time in the jail in the county you were arrested/tried in.

The diversion rules are not going to make any difference as to what happens if you have a Florida license (you'll get 180 days of suspension there). I don't know if you're better off in California or not, but of course, you're breaking the law in Florida by kiting on a California license. I'd speak to an attorney in Florida.

Arizona can decide on punishment because you committed a crime IN THEIR STATE and you will be convicted IN THEIR STATE and they will punish you. Do you think if I went down and robbed a gas station in Pheonix, that Florida's laws would apply?

Don't know how inefficient Arizona's DMV is, but it wouldn't surprise me. Pennsylvania is equally slow. By the time your conviction is posted, your suspension would be over there.

 

[HighwayMan]

This is not a multi-state DUI problem. It's a ONE state DUI problem and that state is Arizona.

 

[cyjeff]

For what it is worth, you had 30 days to get a Florida license. It has now been 10 months.

 

[FlyingRon]

This is not a multi-state DUI problem. It's a ONE state DUI problem and that state is Arizona.

Well it's a one state DUI problem with concerns on what happens to his out of state license as a result.

 

[Username998]

Thanks to FlyingRon and HighwayMan for helpful responses.

You mentioned that convictions for a 3 month suspension in AZ can take 3-5 months to post. Why is that?

And when you say post, do you mean outside of Arizona? (so that a FL officer would see it when he runs my plates?)

Thank you.

 

[DUIAttyPCho]

This is an Arizona DUI, so you will have to play by the rules of Arizona as far as your case is concerned. Only they have jurisdiction, and they don't have to follow anything with Florida and California.

You won't be eligible to get a Florida license. Florida won't issue you one because they will know about your Arizona DUI. When you APPLY for a new license in a different state, they run the Federal and State Registry for DMV. Arizona lists your DUI arrest on the Federal Registry and hence will show a license suspension. So, until you clear your suspension out of Arizona, Florida won't even issue you a driver's license.

California DMV will also find out about your Arizona DUI. So, don't be surprised when they suspend your license too, until you fulfill the Arizona DMV requirements. While other states are lax about checking the Federal Registry for DUIs, California is not. Trust me. They were aware that a client of mine had a prior DUI out of Virginia the minute he picked up a 2nd DUI in California. Even though he doesn't have a California driver's license.

So, get your license eligibility back in Arizona, and you will be okay with California and Florida. Good luck!

 

[Username998]

This is an Arizona DUI, so you will have to play by the rules of Arizona as far as your case is concerned. Only they have jurisdiction, and they don't have to follow anything with Florida and California.

That isn't what I was asking.

As per the responses above, my license will be suspended in the state of AZ. My CA license will be subject to CA DUI punishment. (3 months). And its a crap shoot as to whether FL (where I drive) will know about it.

That was my current question (regarding FL).

Florida won't issue you a drivers license because they will know about your Arizona DUI.

Once again, this wasn't one of the questions. I never said I was trying to get a DL in florida after the DUI conviction. I just said that I was discouraged from getting a FL license *before* the conviction because I would be subject to FL punishment (6 months suspension instead of 3).

California DMV will also find out about your Arizona DUI. So, don't be surprised when they suspend your license too

I didn't ask if CA DMV will find out. I already know my license will be suspended in CA. I asked how long it would take FL to find out. And why the 3-5 month delay. Florida is where I live and drive. Not CA.

While other states are lax about checking the Federal Registry for DUIs, California is not. Trust me.

I live and drive in Florida. Not CA. I asked how long *Florida* takes to find out.

Thanks for your response but I'm no closer to the answers than before you posted. Please see my message immediately above yours for the questions currently on the table.

Q99

 

[InsaneJane]

So, you have a Ca license and think you are going to be convicted of DUI in Arizona.
You will have to complete the requirements of Arizona in order to get your license cleared in that state.
Additionally if California finds out, then you will have to complete what ever they require including proving that you have met Arizonas requirements for reinstatement.
It may be possible to get a restricted or hardship license from California, but I'm not sure.
After all of this has been completed, you should be free to get a license in another state.

In any case this sounds like an expensive mistake and I hope you can refrain from ever putting yourself in that stuation again.

 

[Ohiogal]

Me thinks OP believes he can drive regardless of whether CA suspends his license or not. In other words, the moronic drunk driver is going to be a driver without a license who will probably be back asking how to be a driving under suspended charge.

 

[HighwayMan]

I live and drive in Florida. Not CA

Then you need to get a Florida license. You are a resident of Florida, NOT California.