Many times a DUI defense lawyer will negotiate with the
prosecutor to get a DUI charge reduced down to what we call a
dry reckless.
And think of it as there being sort of a hierarchy of
offenses with the DUI being the worst.
And one notch below a DUI is what we call a wet reckless,
which is reckless driving involving alcohol.
And then a second notch below DUI is dry reckless, which is
reckless driving not involving alcohol.
Now, there's a lot of benefits to getting a dry reckless.
And in most DUI cases, a dry reckless is considered a very
good resolution of the case, a very good outcome.
One thing, by way of clarification, I should say is
that even if you do plead to a dry reckless, it doesn't
necessarily mean that you were driving recklessly.
And a lot of people sort of get that confused.
You may have been pulled over because you had
a broken tail light.
You may have been stopped at a checkpoint.
And there was no bad driving, no reckless driving at all.
Well, nevertheless, you agree to plead to a reckless
driving, because it's much better than the alternative of
pleading to a DUI or it's the lesser of two evils.
Now, I want to talk about the benefits of a dry reckless.
First of all, you generally have a lesser
probationary period.
So with a DUI usually it's three to five years probation,
with a dry reckless usually it's one or two years.
Secondly, the fine is usually much less.
Thirdly, there's often no DUI school with a dry reckless.
Whereas with a DUI, you're going to have anywhere from
three months to three years of DUI school.
Fourthly, a dry reckless conviction does not trigger a
license suspension.
So whereas a DUI conviction does.
Now, you could still get your license suspended if you lose
your DMV hearing.
But simply being convicted of dry reckless in court is not
in and of itself going to trigger a license suspension.
And in cases of a second time or a third time DUI, the
benefits of a dry reckless are even greater.
Because with each successive DUI the penalties get
exponentially worse.
So in a second time DUI you're looking at a minimum of four
days jail sometimes in many counties 30 or 60 days.
And with a third time DUI, you are you looking at a minimum
of 120 days jail and a three month license suspension.
But none of these mandatory minimum penalties apply with a
dry reckless.
So it's certainly valuable in a first offense, but it's even
more valuable in the second and third offense of DUI.
And another great benefit to the dry reckless is that it
does not count as a prior on your record.
So if you're convicted of DUI or even of the lesser offense
of wet reckless, it's treated as a DUI on your record.
And if God forbid you get in a situation where you get
another DUI charge within the next 10 years, this new
offense would be treated as a second time DUI.
Right?
And like I said, the penalties are much, much worse on a
second time.
But if the original offense is reduced down to a dry
reckless, it doesn't count as a DUI on your record.
So if God forbid you got another DUI in the next 10
years, it will be treated as a first offense
not a second offense.
So it's a really good outcome.
It's not easy to get.
A lot of times prosecutors are very stubborn, and they don't
like to reduce a case to a dry reckless.
And the reason they don't is because they want to have that
prior, right?
They want to get you for a second time next time
if you get a DUI.
So prosecutors tend to be very stingy and it can be hard to
persuade them to knock the case down to a dry reckless.
But a good DUI defense lawyer, if he can find problems in the
case and convince the prosecutor that it is a weak
case and they're likely to lose a trial if they go to
trial, a lot of times we can get it reduced down to a dry
reckless, and it's a real benefit to the client.