Patrick J. Silva - Attorney at Law

A Professional Law Corporation

DuiLawyerSanBernardinoCourt.com 

Who do you want as your attorney? The Master or the student? Patrick Silva has over 21 years of DUI experience, he has been published in DUI reference books, he has spoken in front of hundreds of attorneys at conferences, taught classes to lawyers on his secrets and strategies, and has a nationally listened to podcast dedicated to teaching other DUI lawyers how to win.  (909)798-1500
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​Call us at Redlands          909-798-1500

         San Bernardino         909-888-7992​

 "My name is David and when I got my 3rd DUI I hired Pat Silva to fight for me and he did! He got my 3rd DUI dropped, all I had to do was plead no contest to a few moving violations. I had a bac of .17 and he still got it dropped that's why I call him the specialist! "    ONLINE REVIEWS

Hello, this is attorney Patrick Silva with a very important topic today. We have people that fight for our country, they serve their country, they get deployed, they witness horrific events, they suffer emotional trauma, and for the longest time, they were not eligible for what's called military diversion, which would ultimately dismiss a case if it was a DUI. So if you had mental issues and you had panic attacks and you had issues and you happened to commit a crime or hit your spouse or loved one, they said, "Oh, that's good enough, we're going to put you in military diversion and give you a break, but not for DUI." Thank God that last year, I think it was August, Governor Brown signed a bill and it became law, and what it says is, "Hey, our military guys, if they suffer any of these issues that may be related to their service in the military, if it's a DUI, we're going to give them a break and let them go through rehab and ultimately get their case dismissed."

Yes, dismissed. So ultimately this is what happens. We prepare a package, it's a petition for military diversion. We go talk to the judge who handled military diversion, we get you into the military diversion program. You're going to go through extensive counseling. You're going to complete your AB541. You're not going to be drinking, you're going to take a urine test if you have to, and you complete the counseling and the goal is to have abstinence. And if you do this for a year, then the law says that your case can be dismissed. So yes, your case can be dismissed under military diversion. That's a very simplistic overall view of what happens, but believe me, it works. This is attorney Silva, hopefully this has been helpful information. Remember, anything I say is not a guarantee of what could happen on your case because every case is different. Attorney Silva, have a great day. Bye.

I was wondering if there was a way to stay out of jail, I was...

Hello this is Attorney Patrick Silva with another to one of your fequently asked questions. Recently we were asked, I was wondering is there a way to stay out of jail? I was involved in a DUI, I ended up pleading guilty, I did not do my classes or the victim impact panel. Those are called terms of your probation, when you plead guilty to your DUI you agreed to do certain conditions, most likely agreed to pay a fine, maybe some jail time, weekend work release, the SB38 or the AB541 Dui Class and maybe the victim impact panel. Those are your agreements almost like a contract between you and the court. However the court has the power over you. When you failed to do any of those then the court has the authority to punish you. They can punish you up to the maximum amout of jail time that your exposure was. On a first time DUI that would be six months on a second, third that would be a year. So can you stay out of jail that's a big generalized  question I don't know, I don't think anybody knows until you get in the court. I would recommend going back to the Attorney who handled your DUI initially speaking to him he has best sence of the case. 


This is Attorney Patrick Silva have a great day.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Recently the California Dui Lawyers Association had there annual meeting up in San Francisco, I did not plan on attending this meeting because we were have a birthday party for Jordan that weekend. 
About 2 weeks prior to the meeting I got a few texts from the president saying “hey you coming to the meeting,” I text back no not this year. A couple of days later he sent another text saying “hey you should really come,” I said hey sorry can’t do it this year. Well the meeting date came and on that particular day I happened to go out earlier in the morning for a training ride because I had a 100 mile race coming up, so I went did about 80 miles. When I got home I took a shower and then was kind of relaxing just trying to let my body recoup a little bit and then my phone started blowing up, I got about 4 or 5 text in a row. Well unbeknownst to me I was awarded what is called the California DUI Lawyer Association President’s Award because of my hard work and dedication to DUI Law Defense. I am both humbled and surprised to receive this prestigious award from my C.D.L.A. President Jeff Boll.

Hello, this is Attorney Patrick Silva with another answer to one of your frequently asked questions. Recently someone asked us, "I got a DUI in my Toyota Prius just as a regular class C. Now I have a job opportunity to get a class B. Can I get my license?" And it only happened five months ago.

Here's the problem. You pled to a DUI, so that puts any chance of a class A or a class B one year in deferment, which means you can't get it until one year after conviction. So the short answer is no. You got to wait one year. Even though you got it on your Toyota Prius and you didn't get it in a truck or a class B vehicle, you still have to wait one year. Be aware, if you ever get another DUI, you will lose your class A for life, and you'll lose your class B for life, regardless if you get it in a truck or on a Saturday night leaving Dodger Stadium in your Toyota pickup.

This is Attorney Patrick Silva. Have a great day.

Good morning, Attorney Patrick Silva here with another success story. This one happens to do with felony DUIs. Now, once you have one felony DUI and you pled guilty to that felony DUI, any subsequent DUI, even if you get pulled over for tinted window and you're a .08 or .07 guess what? The District Attorney's going to file that one as a felony also.
Now that's a general rule. There's ways to avoid that, but we're not going to talk about that. So here's a story. A friend of mine, very good friend of mine, known him for 30 years, calls me up and he says, "Hey, I got a friend, he needs some serious help on a DUI matter."
Now, this friend had caught a felony DUI umpteen years ago. It wasn't, let's say 15 years ago, and what happened that his passenger got a bloody nose. Well, he pled to a DUI because there was an accident felony, and then he went through a checkpoint and the second one was a felony. Now, the first time he went to jail, to prison for 16 months. The second time he went to prison for two years, and then he's rolling through a checkpoint and they filed that as a felony. Now he came to me and he was like, "Hey, just, you know, try to keep me out of jail long enough for me to get to pension age and I'll go do three years."
Well, that's not my style. What ended up happening is we ended up getting my client into drug court, drug treatment. He didn't have a drug problem, but he had an alcohol problem. I had a great DA and a great judge that said, "Yes, let him in." And what's going to happen is he's not going to do any prison time. So he's not doing prison. He's not doing jail time. He's not picking up trash on the weekend. He's going to do the 18-month class. He's going to pee in a bottle, take all these tests and get counseling and get help, but he's not going to prison. So ultimately that was a huge success.
One, it saved his job, saved hi family, saved his house. So it can be done with hard work, determination. And again, these are success stories. These are just illustrations of the results that happen because of the hard work I do. They're not a promise or a guarantee of what I might achieve in the future, because every case is different. If you want consultation, give us a call, 909-798-1500. Have a great day.

​This story is about Tony. 
 
When Tony first came to me he was telling me the story about the cops stopping him for speeding, not having tags and how he failed all the field sobriety test. Tony’s breath results came back close a .09. When I got the dash camera from the CHP vehicle I noticed something interesting. The officers radar was utilized on a downward slope which according to CHP experts can produce a false radar reading. What I then did is I took the dash camera and I looked at certain points on the video, in this case a couple streets. From street A to Street B I measured the feet using google maps and the distance measuring device they have on there.  What I then did was I took the number of feet traveled between the two streets divided by the number of seconds it took to travel that distance, I multiplied it by 36 hundred which is the number of seconds in an hour and then I divided it by 5280 which is the number off feet in a mile. That gave me his miles per hour. What I concluded was Tony was traveling about 39 miles an hour in a 45 mile an hour zone. What I then did was file a motion to suppress penal code 1538.5 at the hearing the district attorney realized we where correct in our speed estimation and were able to dismiss the Dui charges after Tony took a no contest plea to reckless driving, he paid a $260 dollar fine, he did no DMV classes, he didn’t do any community service, he didn’t have his license taken away and the end of the day this was a good result for hard working young man.

The DUI Answer Book   was written by Attorney Patrick J. Silva 

DUI and DMV question ?

Q. I got a DUI in January and I went to court but they said they are still waiting for the results so they rescheduled my court date. I went to the DMV because my license was already suspended before the DUI ( I didn’t know) and the DMV told me I needed a SR-22 and to pay my reissue fee and I will have my license back. 
So I’m curious to know, since it is showing at the DMV that I have a DUI, does this automatically mean my blood results came back over 0.08 ? 
I am trying to figure this out before I get a lawyer. What can a lawyer do for someone with a first DUI ? Expunge it ? Or somehow make it now show on my record? Or?


A. The blood results may or may not be ready. For violation dates on or after 1/1/2019, you may be eligible for a CDL before anything actually happens at DMV or in court. SB1046 is now the law and allows persons arrested for DUI to avoid any actual suspension time by getting an SR22, enrolling in a DUI school, putting a breath machine (IID) on their car and paying DMV fees.

If your license was suspended for some other reason you'd need to clear that problem up first.

Call DMV at (916) 657-6525 and confirm what you need to do.

A good DUI lawyer will help you understand what's happening and help guide you through the process. There isn't a way for attorneys to make guarantees about the outcome of a case without getting involved. Call a couple for a free case evaluation and you'll have a little more to go on.

Recent Success Stories

May 2022

​Felony DUI, Injured passenger. Result - Reduced to misdemeanor with 45 days of house arrest... E.L.
 

.03 BAC 1st time DUI after 1 year of court hearings case was dismissed under Penal Code 1001.80...​

Highly recommend - professional and thorough - Patrick truly cared about helping me.
I carried out an extensive search throughout Southern California for the best attorney to handle my first and only DUI case. After countless attorney consultations and strategy sessions, I can say that Patrick is one of a kind.
Mr. Silva's knowledge, passion, and professionalism are unique. He is a breath of fresh air in a field that is inundated with attorneys who are more interested in landing clients and refining their websites than they are with handling their client's legal issues.
Patrick's knowledge, energy, professionalism, ability, and intelligence separate him from the pack. Good luck with your search and I highly recommend reaching out to Mr. Silva's office to discuss your legal matter.

​Thomas Allsworth

Mellisa Mercer
5.0 stars
Posted by Melissa 
January 14, 2019
Nobody wants an attorney, everyone needs an attorney. As I was laying down to sleep tonight thanking God above for all of my blessings Mr Silva popped into my head once again. This time I thought oh my gosh I still haven't given a review and I have intended to. My case has been over for over four months and yes I am still thankful. I can't say enough about him and his crew. I live in Texas and my offenses happened of course in California not knowing anyone for word-of-mouth by family or friends I was forced to find my attorney via website and alot of prayer. First thoughts were "so all these attorneys with awesome websites must be the ones who can't perform in court and need to boast" or vice versa "they don't necessarily suck but they're not good enough because they can't afford a good website" you get it. Here's your answer badass website badass attorney. Mr Silva review.. simple this guy is smart he knows exactly what he's doing he works very hard for you. Relentless to say the least he follows the law and he holds the law accountable. From the beginning to the end this guy is exceptional he's good at what he does believe it. I hired him for the drivers Court part of it and for the criminal court part. Mr Silva I'm sure would disagree and say that he was only doing his job but I win this one, he went above and beyond. Even though I paid him I feel like I owe this guy, Truly above and beyond. Honest, real, smart, compassionate, relentless, and did I mention smart. Thx Silva you da man!

​​This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Just Another Typical Day in Court

What can a dui lawyer do that other attorneys can’t?  Spot the nitty gritty legal issues that are hidden in a dui case.  Over the last 2 days, I obtained a dismissal on a .10 BAC due to my motion to suppress based on an illegal stop by the officer. I reduced 10 days of jail and a 9 month dui class down to zero jail and a 4 month class on a .23 BAC.  I also worked a deal out with the DA that would allow my client to save his immigration status. If your going to paint a masterpiece you hire Picasso not a house painter.

Highly recommend - professional and thorough - Patrick truly cared about helping me.
I carried out an extensive search throughout Southern California for the best attorney to handle my first and only DUI case. After countless attorney consultations and strategy sessions, I can say that Patrick is one of a kind.
Mr. Silva's knowledge, passion, and professionalism are unique. He is a breath of fresh air in a field that is inundated with attorneys who are more interested in landing clients and refining their websites than they are with handling their client's legal issues.
Patrick's knowledge, energy, professionalism, ability, and intelligence separate him from the pack. Good luck with your search and I highly recommend reaching out to Mr. Silva's office to discuss your legal matter.
​Thomas Allsworth - 

Five Star Review on Google

Did I have to take the roadside breath test?

Hello this is Attorney Patrick Silva with another answer to one of your frequently asked questions. Many times I get asked, did I have to blow into the roadside breath test. That's governed by vehicle code 23612A1D. The test is completely voluntary, the officer should have told you it was voluntary and that you had the right to refuse that test. The is only two instances where you are required to take the roadside breath test. 1. If you are under the age of 21 and 2. If you are on probation for a prior DUI.


This is Attorney Patrick Silva, I hope this has helped you. Have a nice day.

​Mr. Silva has lectured in front of over 100 Dui Lawyers at the C.D.L.A. Annual Seminar

​I have my third violation on probation, what is going to happen?

Hello this is Attorney Patrick Silva with another answer to one of your fequently asked questions.

Had a recent questions regarding, I have my the third violation on probation whats going to happen? If you violate a first or second time usually the courts don't instill to much punishment, they just might give some additional work release, they might have you do some more community service pay a higher fine. On a third violation the judge is going to take alot harder look at why you are not doing what the court told you to do.  i would recommed getting in comtact with the original attorney that help you and seeing what his recommendations might be because he'll have the best knowledge about the facts of your case. If you have some type of extenuating circumstances like you've been out of school, you've had a death or illness in the family, you have transportation problems or life is just throwing you alot of curve balls. The judge is willing to listen, just be honest explain yourself and don't delay, dont wait till 1, 2 or 3 years goes by get yourself on calender talk to the judge and explain the situation. 


This Attorney Silva Have a Great Day.

RECENT VICTORIES

I.M. ( Riverside Courthouse) Nov. 2021

Old DUI Case 100% Completely Dismissed on a Speedy Trial Rights Violation.

C.M (Banning) Nov. 2021

Judicial Diversion Granted under P.C. 1001.95 on a .11 Blood Case. Client will have case 100% Dismissed.

Were my Miranda Rights violated?

Hello this is Attorney Patrick Silva here, with another answer to one of your frequently asked questions. Many times I'm asked, did the officer violate my Miranda rights. Under Miranda an officer is required to read you your Miranda rights when you are detained and when he asks you questions to which your answers would be incriminating. Let's think about it were you free to leave when he stopped you on the side of thwe road, No. Did he ask you one hundred questions about what you had done that night, Yes. My opinion is that the officer was required to read you your Miranda rights at that point in time. This is Attorney Patrick Silva have a nice day.

How do I beat a DMV APS Hearing?



Hello this Attorney Patrick Silva with another answer to a fequently asked questions. Recently we were asked. How do I beat a DMV ASP hearing? The DMV APS is a whole nother animal, it is an administrative process and the DMV only has to prove three elements against you. The officer had the right to pull you over, He had the right to arrest you, and your blood or breath came back at higher then .08. The DMV process is very technical it all relates title17 and a time line. your best chance it to speak with an attorney who specializes in DUI's. Hire that attorney who local with that particular DMV office that is going to be your best chance. Again the DMV APS hearing is a very technical matter, It level of proof is call preponderance of the evidence. When you went ot court and if you went to trial the burden is called beyond a resonable doubt. This is Attorney Patrick Silva Have a Great Day.

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING

5.0 stars

Posted by Todd 
August 4, 2019

Patrick Silva is absolutely amazing.!!!... he personally called me back within 30 minutes on a Sunday afternoon and completely put my mind at ease........!.. I had been absolutely distraught.. hadn't slept or eaten much for 10 days and had droped 20 pounds.... I had been talking to lawyers for days and getting no good results or answers to my questions....... I was really concerned about keeping my driver's license and had seen so many horror stories out there already.... one guy even wanted $500 just to send me some papers and wouldn't answer my questions directly.............. Patrick did answer my questions......... everything that I was concerned about ............he was very forthcoming and even gave me D M V phone numbers and all the information that I needed .........he was very kind and patient and I would absolutely recommend him to anyone and will in the future....who is going through this horrible ordeal.......... he is definitely the right man to contact for a DUI DWI problem......... he really knows his stuff in this field........... I can't say how much I appreciate him for putting me back on track.... if any of you out there are having the same problem.. this is definitely THE MAN to talk to...!..thank you so much Patrick. .

SPECIALIZING IN DUI DEFENSE. . . 20 YEARS OF DUI DEFENSE PRACTICE. . . 
I AM RECOGNIZED BY OTHER LAWYERS AS A DUI DEFENSE EXPERT, IN FACT, I TEACH OTHER LAWYERS ALL ASPECTS OF A PROPER DUI DEFENSE.

​Home Run
Today I was able to save another job for a client. He is a trucker with a Class A License. This means if I lost either the DMV or the court hearing my client would be out of a job, lose his apt., and go on public assistance.
Well I beat the DMV and got his charges reduced to the point that it would not affect his license.
Result: I am smiling today.

Affordable Payment Plans Available

100% recommended
5.0 stars
Posted by Belen 
May 22, 2019

I have to say anattorney like Mr. Silva is hard to find. he definitely knows what he's doing and does not beat around the bush like others. i can't explain how happy With the outcome of my case. He did an exceptional job and got me a better deal than what i expected. i am 100 percent pleased with his work and not to mention Their really nice staff and very helpful. it was an honor to have you as my lawyer and highly recommended! he's is totally worth every dollar! THANK YOU Mr. Silva for everything and to your wonderful team!

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Who is Patrick Silva DUI Specialist?

Hello this is Attorney Patrick Silva
You’re probably watching this video and saying who is this guy, should I hire him, do I even need a lawyer. Let me tell you after 21 years of doing DUI Defense I’m still passionate about winning for my clients. I love the battle in the courtroom . I am blessed, I have been able to rise to a level, all be the let’s call it the wise guy on top of the mountain. I am able to teach other lawyers the art of DUI Defense. I was very fortunate this year 2017 to speak in front of 100+ lawyer at the California DUI Lawyer Association at our Annual San Francisco Convention. I was able to teach them little tricks of the trade that have been winning me cases for years. You’re saying ok how can this guy help me, well let me tell you if you ask yourself a different question, you get a different answer. I ask myself when a client comes in how am I going to win this case. Other lawyers ask themselves what type of deal is the D.A. going to give me.. If I can’t win the case, I say ok if I can’t out right get a dismissal, how do I get it reduced. If I can’t get it reduced, then how do I keep my client out of jail and pay a fine. 
There’s huge problems with the blood and breath testing that allegedly goes along with this, along with the Field Sobriety Test. Well let me give you a quick tutorial on the blood problems, the blood problems the use of a machine called gas chromatography here’s what happening in San Bernardino and Riverside County in San Bernardino County the use what’s called a single column gas chromatography the use something called the pack column within that machine. Here’s the kicker the American Board of Forensic Toxicology in 2014 says that a single column gas chromatography is not good enough to tell what the blood number is in your system, the same problem exist in Riverside at the Department of Justice, so both times we are very successful attacking the blood on trail on that premiss. It’s like your old cell phone, are you still using a flip phone, No technology has risen. In California almost every other lab as gone away from the single column “not good enough” machine, now they are using double column. What about the breath, here ‘s the breath problem, breath is guessing what’s in your blood. If you blew a .10 in a breath machine, based on human physiology, just based on your body alone the variables of breath testing you could have been a .04 to a .11.
 Field Sobriety Test is junk science. Field Sobriety Test if you are a ballerina great, but based on your body and age you can’t do them and here’s the kicker. In 1975 NHTSA commissioned a study, Dr Marcellina Burns did the study. She took 10 cops, 6 different test, 238 people and over the course of a year brought them in got some trunk, some not so drunk and with a little alcohol. The cops came in gave them the voodoo test, walk a line, stand on one foot and the cops had one question to answer hey is this person over the legal limit or under the limit that was it. But here is the kicker almost 20% of the people the cops said were definitely over the legal limit, had zero alcohol in there body. Let’s go to 1998 another study commissioned be NHTSA in that study the government says the performance on the Field Sobriety Test is not an indication of impairment for driving.

Give us a call at (909) 798-1500 I’ll give you a free consultation, I’ll analyze your case, Takes me about an hour. The facts are important that’s where I get my strength. We are located in Beautiful Downtown Redlands 205 E. State Street also know as Farmers Market Night every Thursday it is a great event. We have Restaurants, coffee, just come down and visit us. Make an appointment come see me if you want a real analysis from a real lawyer on your DUI problems. Patrick Silva (909) 798-1500

Talented Lawyer
5.0 stars
Posted by anonymous 
June 20, 2019
I am a first time DUI offender and in the beginning I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I had received so many letters in my mailbox from lawyers trying to take on my case regarding my DUI. Patrick’s mail had stood out from 25 mails I would receive weekly. When I first met Patrick, it was on a Saturday, he made time for me on his day off. He helped ease my stress and told me not to worry about it, to go on living my life normally, that he would handle my case and appear on my behalf. That is exactly what I did, I did not stress one bit. Patrick had my complete trust and I knew he would fight for me. Patrick is truly a live savior, he is professional, experienced and a great lawyer. His assistant is amazing as well, whenever I had questions regarding my case she was quick to pull my file and keep me updated. Patrick got me off on a wet reckless, 25hrs of community service, and DUI classes. I would highly recommend him to anyone who is in the same shoes I am. 
Thank you Patrick Silva

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Morning. This is attorney Patrick Silva with an answer to another one of your frequently asked questions. Recently, somebody asked me, "On a DUI, do I have to post a bail or a bond?"

Well, let's talk about San Bernardino County. Then we'll talk about Riverside. Let's talk about the amounts. This is where the counties can differ vastly. San Bernardino County, on a second DUI​, you could be asked to post a $50,000 bail. Riverside is a $5000 bail.

Now, 50, if you go to a bail agent, you're going to have to come up with 8%. So you've got to come up with five grand out of pocket. Riverside, 10% of five grand is $500. So you can see, different counties have different bail schedules.

If you actually go to the county's court site, go onto the Internet, you can actually type in their search engine "bail schedule" and you can see how much it is for your county.

Now you're saying, "Wait a minute. I'm in San Bernardino County. I got a third. They want 75 or the judge wants 100. What do I do?"

Well, this brings us to a new case recently that came down. It's Humphrey's. Basically, Humphrey talks about the ability to pay. So if you can only afford $300 and you're not a danger to society or any of the other factors in a bail hearing, that's going to be what your bail amount is, because I don't have five grand to put out on a $50,000 bail or I don't have eight grand.

Now, is there a way to backdoor staying out? Well, it just depends on the county, but let's talk about a case I had today. Bail was set at 100, so 50 on the second DUI case and 50 on the violation of probation case. That was last Thursday, and we came back today for a quasi-bail hearing. The judge recognized that, "Well, even if I take your claim in, he'll get out by 5:00 today, because it's just a misdemeanor, and the jails are a little bit overcrowded."

So what happened on today's case? We were able to basically keep my client out of jail. The initial schedule was 100, reduced down to zero. My client didn't have to lose eight to ten grand paying to a bail agent, and I kept him out.

So there's a lot going on with bail, especially when you get into the second and third range. If you get into felony land on a DUI, that's a whole 'nother story. That'll be a different webcast.

This is Attorney Patrick Silva. If you need a quick answer, give me a call, 909-798-1500. I'll answer anything, a quick five, ten minutes, not an issue, get you on your way. Have a great day. Bye.

What can a highly skilled Dui Lawyer do with a tough case?

My client R.V. was charged with a DUI, causing an accident, causing injury to a person, and charged with having a blood alcohol content of .20. He allegedly failed every field sobriety test that they give him. He failed the eye test, he failed the walk and turn, he failed the breathalyzer, and ultimately he was arrested. Under federal law on a case called Doggett and California Law a case called Serna I was successful in getting MR. R.V. case thrown out of court. His case was dismissed under penal code 1385. He did not take a plea deal, he did not plead to a lesser crime. He did not plead to a parking ticket. This a 100% straight out dismissal. Results like this only come through the hands of ahighly skilled Dui Attorney.

Good morning. This is Attorney Patrick Silva coming at you from DUI TV. I'm going to talk to you probably about the number one question that I get, "Should I hire an attorney and spend all this money or just plead guilty?" When I hear that question, what's going through that person's mind is, "What if I spent all this money on an attorney and it ends up being a DUI anyway?" Well, here's what you have to think of.

If you go in and plead guilty, you're going to be guilty 100%. If you go in and say, "Let me hire a lawyer to fight this," then you will be not guilty for who knows the entire period, or there might be something that works out. So let me give you a couple of examples.

Some of my best cases have been cases that came in and looked, for lack of a better term, the crappiest. So had a friend of a friend come in and he actually came in and he goes, "Mr. Silva, I want to hire you to go to court and plead me guilty." And I go, "What?" We'll call him Daniel. I said, "Daniel, you could go do that by yourself. You don't need to hire a lawyer. Just go down there and tell the judge." He goes, "Nah, me and judges don't get along." So Daniel's a little bit of a homeboy, had some problems. Now Daniel's case sounded pretty awful. DUI, his blood alcohol ended up being a 0.20, he was under 21, that means he loses his license for a year, and he crashed his car. He's a friend of a friend, so I literally charged him nothing.

And I went into court and I got the police report and I was, "Well, I can't plead this guy guilty." I said, "There's something to work with here." So what did I do? I ended up doing the DMV hearing. I subpoenaed the cop to the DMV hearing. The cop comes in, tells the story what happened and it doesn't match the report. Lo and behold, the issue was lack of probable cause. What happened in Daniel's case, I got the DMV set aside. That means overturned. It means I won. That means he didn't get a years' suspension. Then what I did is I took that entire DMV hearing, had the audio tape transcribed, and then presented it to the DA. And I said, basically, "Here. Here's your case. You got an ugly case. Especially when the cops admitted to speculation and hunches." And that just goes to a bunch of what we call case law. You can't suspect somebody on a hunch or a speculation.

So I ended up getting it thrown out. That's just one of dozens. If you go to my website and just look up my success stories, or you go to a avo.com and type in my name and look at my success stories, you're going to see a ton of cases that we've got dismissed.

So the short answer is whether you're going to plead guilty or not guilty, and whether you're going to hire an attorney, all depends on you. Do you want to take the chance to hire a lawyer to fight your case? And basically a guy like me, who just does 99% of his work is DUIs, we look under every rock. We know every point of attack, from the time that they stopped you, to the time that they gave you the field sobriety test, to the time they had you blown into roadside breath test, to this time you did a blood test. I know all the attacks that helped me win a case, get it dismissed or get it reduced.

That was a long winded answer to probably the number one question I get, "Should I hire a lawyer or should I just go plead guilty?" You've got to take into your financial accounts too. A lawyer's not going to be cheap and especially if you hire a good lawyer like myself, it's expensive. That's truth be told. You're going to spend a lot of money. At the end of the day, it might be the same as saying, "I'm guilty." But guess what? You still got, we'll call it option number four, because if you don't like what has happened so far in the case, we can always put it before 12 people sitting in the jury and let them decide. And I've won a lot of cases that way. I've had a lot of cases dismissed that way.

You got to think of a case as a big, lack of better term, it's a chess match. And I'll give you an example. I just had a case, it was a blood alcohol .10, cop stopped him and we set it for trial. That means I went to court six days in a row waiting for a courtroom. Finally got a courtroom. I get a courtroom, we'd go out to the courtroom and we do these things called motion eliminates. That's me kicking out evidence. I kicked out the evidence I wanted and I'm literally on the side of the mountain at 6:00 PM that night and my phone rings. And I race mountain bikes, so I'm out there training. The DA calls me. He says, "Hey Pat, my boss wants to settle." I said, "Oh yeah?" He goes, "Well, your guy take a wet and reckless."

Now wet and reckless is a fancy term for reckless driving with alcohol in your system. It's just not a DUI. I said, "No, he's not going to take that." I call my client, relay and he goes, "No, but I'll take a dry." I called back the DA, he calls his boss, he calls me back. It's done for dry. I'd beat the DMV on this one, and no DUI. My client wants to be a cop. So he ended up being a cop. And not only that, he's going to be a good cop, because now he's experienced the other side of the coin.

So this is Attorney Silva. Have a great day. Bye.

Mr. Silva has been recognized and awarded by the California DUI Lawyers Association for his hardwork and dedication to DUI Law Defense. The C.D.L.A. has chosen him as the 2019 Recipient of the Prestigious President's Award.

Good morning. Attorney Patrick Silva here with DUI TV.

I'm going to answer a question that if you've been charged with a DUI, you want to know. How do I hire a lawyer? What that translates to is, "How do I choose the right one?"

Now, there's lawyers that do different types of law. You have some lawyers that do bankruptcies. You have some lawyers that just do divorces, some lawyers that just do probate, wills and trust, some lawyers that do family law, some lawyers that do car wrecks, some lawyers just sue doctors, some lawyers that do criminal defense like robbery, rape, mayhem, assault, domestic violence, and then some lawyers like me, that 99% of my work is just the DUI defense.

So you want to look at ... let's look at a couple things. How long has the lawyer been practicing? I myself, as of this recording, I think I'm starting my 21st  year. I just finished my 20th year as a lawyer. Been doing DUIs this entire time. So you want to look at the length of time. You don't have a brand new puppy lawyer in there representing your case.

Now you want to look at, well, what type of law does this lawyer do? Well, if the lawyer specializes and just focuses on one type of law, you've got a better chance that this guy's going to know what he's doing or this girl's going to know what they're doing.

Then you want to look at, well, how well-known as this attorney? Do other attorneys look up to him? I can give you an example what I've done. I've been lucky enough where I've spoken in front of the California DUI Lawyers Association where I had 125, 130 attorneys in the audience listening to me talk about tricks of my trade that have helped me be a good DUI lawyer and helped me win cases. So that's one way that you're looking at.

And then you can look at their reviews. Go online. If you type my name into Avvo, avvo.com, do a search on me and you'll see what I think 70 plus of my clients say about me. Knock on wood, I've been blessed with all five stars. I work hard for my clients. So let's actually ... another aspect we could talk about. You want to hire a lawyer and you think, "Should I hire?" And then I get this question a lot. Can you guarantee that I'm gonna beat this thing? Well, you know what? You're going to have some lawyers out there that guarantee the moon, and you know what? You're not talking to the lawyer. Talking to some salesperson and it's not the lawyer. When you call my office, you talk to myself, the lawyer or attorney Megan Silva, the other lawyer. We're a father daughter team.

When you call, you're going to get the right answer from the right attorney. So you're going to get a lot of information. So that's another thing. When you call, are you talking to the attorney or are you talking to the salesperson? And if somebody calls and says, "Well, can you guarantee I'll get off?" And you've got some attorneys or some salespeople that are going to guarantee that? Run for the hills. You know what? I can guarantee two things. I'm really, really good at what I do and I work hard for my clients and I'm real successful. Take a look at my track record.

Let's go into track records. I've seen some guys that advertise a thousand percent success rate. Well, I tell you what they do. You get two counts on your slip. 23152A, that's driving impaired. 23152B, that's over the legal limit. They plead you guilty to the over the legal limit, the driving impaired's automatically dismissed, so they count that as a success rate. If you want to plead guilty, you could go do that by yourself, but if you want somebody who's going to actually get into the nitty gritty of your case and try and beat it, you call somebody like me.

Our mindset, and this is what I truly believe, if you ask yourself a different question, you're gonna get a different answer. If you call an attorney and they're saying, "Hey, I could get you this, I could get to that, get you house arrest and no jail time and pay a fine," well, that's fine and dandy, but I don't ask myself that question. You come into my office for free consultation, I have you sit down, and my first question in my mind is, "How do I beat it?" If I can't beat it, then I ask myself, "How do I get it reduced," and if I can't get it reduced, then I ask myself, "Well, how do I just save my client's behind? Keep him out of jail?" So those are the questions I ask myself.

And guess what? Sometimes I ask the fourth question, "How do we win in trial?" And there's a lot of emotion that goes into a trial, both for the attorney because I'm very well vested in a trial. I'm there to win. My clients, they're emotionally invested because it's not an easy thing to do to sit there and have 12 to 14 people with the alternates judging you and you want to tell your side of the story. And sometimes I say, "Well, you know what? We don't have to prove anything." But that's another story for another video.