felony DUI question

[jmf_tracy]

i have a friend who recieved a felony DUI 20 years ago when he rolled his truck and broke both his and his passenger's legs. has he lost all his gun rights? if so, can he petition or get a lawyer to recover them? did he lose the right to handguns, but not long guns? can he go hunting?

i did try a forum search, but nothing revelant came up. thanks for any help on this.

[leelaw]

He should contact his lawyer.

[bwiese]

As a convicted felon he should not possess, use, or touch firearms, magazines or ammunition.

It may be possible to get restoral of rights via a "17(b) procedure".

I know of one young man who successfully did this himself for a college prank that went sideways (turned into a burglary charged) - but it really should be done by a lawyer. [I believe a key element to this may be that the charge could have been sentenced as a misdemeanor, not entirely sure.]

I'm thinking the passenger may have something to say that could affect this.

[jmf_tracy]

bwiese -
thanks so much for the reply. do you have any more info on this "17(b) procedure"? i think it is worth a shot (no pun intended).
also, what do you mean about the passenger?
thank you.

[scootergmc]

I know of one young man who successfully did this himself for a college prank that went sideways (turned into a burglary charged) - but it really should be done by a lawyer. [I believe a key element to this may be that the charge could have been sentenced as a misdemeanor, not entirely sure.]

That's correct. The convicted offense has to be wobbler for reduction to misdo.

[bwiese]

bwiese -
thanks so much for the reply. do you have any more info on this "17(b) procedure"? i think it is worth a shot (no pun intended).
also, what do you mean about the passenger?
thank you.

Contact a lawyer or Google it for more info.

And rights have to be restored. If it's not done right, there's risk of felon-in-possession if guns are acquired.

I'm just thinking that the judge could review the filing and ask for input from injured passenger - not sure.

[sac550]

Bill Wiese is correct as always..

Your friend needs to go back to court and make a motion to 17(b)-reduce his conviction to a misdo. It is very common and if he has stayed out of trouble over the last 20 years it should be granted. While he is in court for the the 17(b) he might as well ask for it to be expunged per 1203.4. However, ONLY the 17(b) motion will restore his gun rights. Sometimes people get bad legal advise and only have their conviction expunged per PC 1203.4, which even if granted doesn't restore your gun rights.

I don't know about other counties but in Sacramento County you can do it yourself and save the 5K in attorney fees. You just have to file the paperwork with the Court and then get a hearing date to tell the Judge what you are looking for. The DA'S office has a right to oppose the motion, but most the time they don't.

In Sacramento there are several law school which have 3rd year law students that give free advise and help with filing motions. It might be worth looking into the local law schools if he wants to save some money.

[jmf_tracy]

all - thanks so much for the advice (espicially the law student angle), i will print this out and pass it on to my buddy.

[edwardm]

If there's an attorney in Sacramento charging $5000 for a 17(b) and/or a 1203.4 (combination or even individually), you let me know and I'll undercut him by about $4200.

No bull****. Typical going rate is $600-$1000 for plain old 17(b)(3) + 1203.4 paper. Unless there are really odd or bad circumstances that are going to take some serious convincing of the judge and/or DA, you're wasting money by paying five thousand smackers.

Even seemingly fubar situations, where a person with a wobbler did the 1203.4 and didn't know (or his $5000 attorney didn't know) to do the 17(b)(3) can be fixed with a 17(b)(3) after the fact. Nothing special about it - cite to one case and everyone can go have a nice day.

Jeebus - Discount Legal Services, at your beck and call (I really should open up a shop like that and crank these things out.)

*grumble*

Bill Wiese is correct as always..

Your friend needs to go back to court and make a motion to 17(b)-reduce his conviction to a misdo. It is very common and if he has stayed out of trouble over the last 20 years it should be granted. While he is in court for the the 17(b) he might as well ask for it to be expunged per 1203.4. However, ONLY the 17(b) motion will restore his gun rights. Sometimes people get bad legal advise and only have their conviction expunged per PC 1203.4, which even if granted doesn't restore your gun rights.

I don't know about other counties but in Sacramento County you can do it yourself and save the 5K in attorney fees. You just have to file the paperwork with the Court and then get a hearing date to tell the Judge what you are looking for. The DA'S office has a right to oppose the motion, but most the time they don't.

In Sacramento there are several law school which have 3rd year law students that give free advise and help with filing motions. It might be worth looking into the local law schools if he wants to save some money.

[bwiese]

Edwardm,
You should slam up a webpage stating your flat fee services (w/cost overrruns for certain types of difficulties).

[sholling]

Quite commonly you can do a withdraw of plea if a conviction is that old. It would show up on his record as a case dismissed (no conviction) but he still must disclose it if he applies for high government office or any license (i.e. CCW) that asks about convictions. It has to be done in the county where the case was brought but here in Riverside they'll hand you the paperwork at the court clerk window but I do suggest getting a lawyer.

[FreedomIsNotFree]

Lets face it...The "Court of Law" is an industry. If you want to play, sometimes you have to pay. Decisions tend to "go your way" more often when your attorney plays golf with the Judge. :)

Get a local attorney that is well connected.

[ilbob]

Lets face it...The "Court of Law" is an industry. If you want to play, sometimes you have to pay. Decisions tend to "go your way" more often when your attorney plays golf with the Judge. :)

Get a local attorney that is well connected.

Its not just the connections, but that lawyers tend to know how to get things done in the legal system a whole lot better than the average Joe citizen does.

Where I live there used to be a practice where the chief judges clerk assigned all the cases. If a lawyer wanted a certain judge, the chief judges clerk could arrange it. When it became public knowledge, they changed to a more or less random assignment method.

[FreedomIsNotFree]

Its not just the connections, but that lawyers tend to know how to get things done in the legal system a whole lot better than the average Joe citizen does.

Where I live there used to be a practice where the chief judges clerk assigned all the cases. If a lawyer wanted a certain judge, the chief judges clerk could arrange it. When it became public knowledge, they changed to a more or less random assignment method.

Connections go a loooooong way when pleading a case down or seeking special dispensation.

[NuGunner]

start looking at the 23152 section of the Vehicle Code. Explains what is a felony DUI, basically a DUI w/injuries (felony), No injuries (misdemeanor)

but then there could be elaboration on as to the extent of the injuries...i.e "traumatic" "corporal" injury