San Diego Police Officer David Hall was off duty at 7:30 p.m. on February 22nd, 2011, when he allegedly drove his vehicle into another on northbound 805, just north of Murray Ridge Road. He was confronted by law enforcement at his home in Linda Vista where he agreed to a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) test. The result was three times the legal limit of .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC).
Although he was not arrested that night, he was notified of the charges by mail and ordered to show up at the downtown jail on Sunday to be arrested and released, according to 10new.com. At his arraignment on May 2nd, he plead not guilty to two counts of DUI causing injury, one count of felony hit-and-run, and an allegation that his BAC was above .15. He is facing a maximum of three years and eight months in prison if convicted. He is due back in court on June 9th for a readiness conference and the preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 30, 2011.
Usually, a warrant is issued for the arrest of the person accused of committing a crime; however, the prosecutor may request a summons instead, (see “summons” under Penal Code Section 813).
A summons issued must be in substantially the same form as an arrest warrant. It shall contain: 1.) The name of the defendant; 2.) The date and time the summons was issued; 3.) The city or county where the summons was issued; 4.) The signature of the magistrate, judge, justice, or other issuing authority who is issuing the summons with the title of his or her office and the name of the court or other issuing agency; 5.) The offense or offenses with which the defendant is charged; 6.) The time and place at which the defendant is to appear; 7.) Notification that the defendant is to complete the booking process on or before his or her first court appearance, as well as instructions for the defendant on completing the booking process; 8.) A provision for certification by the booking agency that the defendant has completed the booking process which shall be presented to the court by the defendant as proof of booking.
If a defendant has been properly served with a summons and fails to appear at the designated time and place, a bench warrant for arrest shall issue.
In this case, Officer Hall complied with the notice and turned himself into the San Diego Central Jail for arrest and booking. Since he also appeared at the arraignment, a warrant will not be issued for his arrest.
If you have been arrested and/or charged with drunk driving in San Diego, you need to hire an exclusively DUI defense firm that will aggressively defend your case. For a free, confidential consultation, contact The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman today at 619-260-1122 or use the “Contact Us” form on this page.