When people say Maricopa County is one of the harshest on DUI offenders, they aren’t kidding. If convicted of a DUI in Maricopa County, you have a good chance of ending up in Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s tent city. Former Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs first basemen Mark Grace is no exception. Grace was arrested for DUI last August in Scottsdale. This was his second DUI in 15 months. In October, Grace pleaded not guilty to four felony counts of Aggravated DUI and was scheduled for trial on March 19. This past Thursday, after pleading guilty to felony endangerment and misdemeanor DUI, Grace was sentenced to four months in jail.
Felony DUI charges are incredibly serious. I conviction could result in much harsher consequences than Mark Graced experienced. It is not uncommon for people who have been convicted of a Felony DUI to be sentenced to 4 months in prison. If you are sentenced to prison for your Aggravated DUI conviction, you will not receive work release. Rather, you could be housed with inmates who are imprisoned for very serious convictions.
As stressful as a first time DUI can be, a repeat offender faces far worse consequences, as was the case for Mark Grace. Whether it is your first DUI or your second or third, I cannot stress how important it is that you hire an experienced DUI lawyer. Hiring a good criminal defense lawyer can be the difference in spending one day in jail and four months in jail. DUI attorney Matthew Lopez has achieved favorable outcomes for countless DUI clients and knows how to formulate the most effective defenses to ensure a client’s mistake doesn’t affect the rest of their life.
Matthew Lopez is a highly successful DUI defense lawyer who represents clients in Tempe, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Chandler who are facing both misdemeanor DUI’s, as well as felony DUI’s.
Don’t make the mistake of not hiring a knowledgeable and strategic DUI lawyer, call Matthew Lopez Law today for a free case evaluation.