re: Hypothetical Question about Alabama and the Tuscaloosa PD

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I've never had a dui but I know many people who have, in GA, and the only one I know that was actually negotiated down was a teenager that got one, they were willing to neg it down so as to "not ruin her life" with it being on permanent record.

Every adult I know that's had one, hired lawyers, first offenses with no criminal background, every single one of them ended up with a full fledged DUI on their record.

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without knowing the facts of their case, i can't tell you why they weren't able to. For instance, in a lot of counties around where I practice there is an unstated "grey area" for BAC that you can negotiate down to a reckless on a first offense DUI if they have a BAC at .12 or lower. The highest I've been able to negotiate down was a .16. However, in one county in my area, they don't negotiate anything down but they also don't hammer you on your sentence and will still give you the minimums if you take it to trial. This county (Williamson) doesn't negotiate on much of anything, not just DUIs. The typical response from their DAs are "this isn't Nashville." Like i said it all depends on what county you're in and other factors in your case. If your buddies had a high BAC, then no they probably weren't able to get it down to a reckless.