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San Diego DUI Lawyer G. Cole Casey
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Impoundment of Vehicles or Sale as Nuisance for San Diego DUI, DWI, and Drunk Driving Cases. California Vehicle Code §23592, 23594 & 23596.  Whenever a person is convicted of any of the following offenses committed while driving a motor vehicle in San Diego, of which he or she is the owner, the San Diego Court, at the time sentence is imposed on the person, may order the motor vehicle impounded for a period of not more than six months for a first san Diego DUI conviction, and not more than 12 months for a second or subsequent San Deigo Drunk Driving conviction:

  Driving in san Diego with a suspended or revoked driver's license.

  A violation of Section 2800.2 resulting in an accident or Section 2800.3, if either violation occurred within seven years of one or more separate DUI related convictions for a violation of any of the following:

Section 23103, if the vehicle involved in the San Diego drunk driving violation was driven at a speed of 100 or more miles per hour. Section 23152.

Section 23153.
Section 191.5 of the Penal Code.
Subdivision (c) of Section 192 of the Penal Code.

The cost of keeping the vehicle is a lien on the vehicle pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 3067) of Title 14 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code.

Notwithstanding subdivision (a), any motor vehicle impounded in San Diego County pursuant to this section which is subject to a chattel mortgage, conditional sale contract, or lease contract, shall be released by the San Diego court to the legal owner upon the filing of an affidavit by the legal owner that the chattel mortgage, conditional sale contract, or lease contract is in default and shall be delivered to the legal owner upon payment of the accrued cost of keeping the vehicle.

California Vehicle Code §23594
Impoundment of Vehicle of Registered Owner Convicted of Violation of §23152 or §23153; Prior San Diego DUI Offenses; Considerations; Exemption

Except as provided in subdivision (b), the interest of any registered owner of a motor vehicle that has been used in San Diego in the commission of a violation of Section 23152 or 23153 for which the owner was convicted, is subject to impoundment as provided in this section. Upon conviction, the San Diego court may order the vehicle impounded at the registered owner's expense for not less than one nor more than 30 days. If the San Diego drunk driving offense occurred within five years of a prior DUI offense which resulted in conviction of a violation of Section 23152 or 23153, the prior drunk driving conviction shall also be charged in the accusatory pleading and if admitted or found to be true by the jury upon a jury trial or by the San diego court upon a court trial, the court shall, except in an unusual case where the interests of justice would best be served by not ordering impoundment, order the vehicle impounded at the registered owner's expense for not less than one nor more than 30 days. If the Sasn Diego DUI offense occurred within five years of two or more prior DUI offenses which resulted in convictions of violations of Section 23152 or 23153, the prior DUI convictions shall also be charged in the accusatory pleading, and if admitted or found to be true by the jury upon a jury trial or by the San Diego court upon a court trial, the court shall, except in an unusual case where the interests of justice would best be served by not ordering impoundment, order the vehicle impounded at the registered owner's expense for not less than one nor more than 90 days. For the purposes of this section, the San Diego court may consider in the interests of justice factors such as whether impoundment of the vehicle would result in a loss of employment of the offender or the offender's family, impair the ability of the offender or the offender' s family to attend school or obtain medical care, result in the loss of the vehicle because of inability to pay impoundment fees, or unfairly infringe upon community property rights or any other facts the court finds relevant. When no impoundment is ordered in an unusual case pursuant to this section, the San Diego court shall specify on the record and shall enter in the minutes the circumstances indicating that the interests of justice would best be served by that disposition.

No vehicle which may be lawfully driven on the highway with a class C or class M driver's license, as specified in Section 12804.9, is subject to impoundment under this section if there is a community property interest in the vehicle owned by a person other than the defendant, and the vehicle is the sole vehicle available to the defendant's immediate family which may be operated on the highway with a class C or class M driver's license.

G. Cole Casey heads the top San Diego drunk driving defense law firm. As a well known San Diego DUI lawyer, his proven track record and DUI jury trial case results are unmatched and unprecedented by any other DUI attorney in the region.

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