Eugene Ellis has successfully served San Diego residents since 1976. He opened the first and only San Diego Ticket Clinic in 1978 wherein he fought the DMV and the courts for San Diego citizens to keep their drivers licenses and their DMV records clear of DUI and other traffic related crimes… In those days San Diego was a lot smaller and many judges did not fully grasp just how important a driver’s license was in this town.

San Diego has grown up considerably since then, and with many years under his belt now, Mr. Ellis is known by many local DUI council as “the Professor” in the field of traffic law and DUI, which is his specialty.

There is a saying, “Common Sense is not so common,” but there is no need for you to leave your common sense at the kitchen table when you check out websites looking for a DUI attorney to handle your case.

Here is what Mr. Ellis has to say about it:

“I was sitting in a Mexican restaurant in La Jolla my wife took me to, to celebrate Father’s day. The waitress was wearing a colorful shirt that said ‘Proudly Celebrating 35 years since 1967 to 2002'.

“As I ate dinner I started to think about the significance of that shirt. My wife must have been thinking of the same thing because she said, pointing to the shirt as one of the girls passed by, “They must have good food and service here because you cannot stay in business in one town for that many years without making a lot of people happy and having a lot of return customers.” I agreed with her.

“Then I started thinking about my own service business and thought how similar my situation was to that Mexican restaurant. Both serve people off the street. In my case I have been in business for 27 long years happily serving San Diegans with their DUI and other traffic related problems.

“Also similar is the fact that 70% of my business comes from happy customers that referred me to their friends and relatives. In some cases I did not even win their cases, as no attorney can win all their cases, but in most cases they appreciated our efforts so much that they still recommended their closest friends to me. Like all San Diego businesses in similar circumstances I proudly wear the badge, “Serving San Diego residents since 1976,” and I recommend you look for that guarantee, in a profession where there are no guarantees of excellence, when you seek an attorney in such a serious matter as DUI and having a DUI on your record for life. Thank you.”

Please Call : 619-563-1010

Known locally as MR. DUI, Eugene Ellis is one of the pre-eminent DUI attorneys in Southern California. With 34 years of legal experience, more than 30 years of his career has been dedicated exclusively defending DUI and DMV only cases… [read more]

Mitchell Mehdy, Attorney at Law (a.k.a. Mr. Ticket)

Known locally as MR. TICKET, Mitch is probably the only attorney in San Diego who devotes his entire practice to low-cost defense of traffic tickets and DMV Hearings! There are numerous reasons to keep a clean driving record: 1) As many… [read more]

Charles Gilliland, Attorney at Law

Charles Gilliland, Attorney at Law 20 Years Experience “3 Strikes” Advanced level felony jury trial attorney. Respected by judges as firm but gentle, highly honorable, and trustworthy. Charles received his undergraduate degree from the… [read more]

Jeff Billingham, Attorney at Law

Jeff Bullingham graduated from the University of Southern California in 1998 with a degree in Political Science and was a part of the school’s prestigious “Thematic Options” Honors Program. Thereafter, Jeff attended the University of San… [read more]

Jack Smith, Police Practices and Procedures

Jack Smith is an experienced Police Practices and Procedures Expert that has qualified and successfully testified as a Standardized Field Sobriety Test expert witness in the Federal and State courts.   Jack has personally reviewed and… [read more]

Please Call : 619-563-1010

The following is the opinion of the author and is not intended to give legal advice to any specific person. The reader is advised to seek legal counsel if prosecuted for DUI. This information is of general nature intended for readers age 21 or older and is based on California law.

1. Before you go out, check all brake lights, license plate lights, and look for any minor imperfections a policeman will be able to use for an excuse to stop you.

2. Always be cautious when driving after 11 pm or when crossing the border. Come to full and complete stops — no California stops.

3. If you see a policeman following you, pull into the first place possible without arousing suspicion.

4. If stopped, be respectful at all times.

5. Respectfully decline the field test based on this article stating such tests are subjective and often impossible to do. If you write to us with a self-addressed stamped envelope, we will give you a card to hand to the policeman. If you are afraid they will arrest you immediately and take you downtown, rest assured that since it is impossible for the officer to determine if you are 0.07 percent or 0.08 percent based on your performance on those same field tests, you will be going downtown anyway if you have admitted to drinking anything at all.

6. Do not allow the officer to pass his finger or pen or other objects by your eyes and ask you to follow while not moving your head, as this test very controversial and highly discredited in some scientific circles.

7. Do not blow into the hand-held breath device. A number of people are confusing the small hand-held breath device — about the size of a package of cigarettes — with the larger breath-testing machine usually employed at the police station itself: The hand-held unit is part of the field test and if you are 21 and over, you always should refuse to blow into it, because it may be highly inaccurate, while the blood or breath test at the hospital or police station, on the other hand, is required by law. You must complete one of those two tests: blood or breath. Again, when I talk about you blowing into the breath machine, I absolutely do not mean the small hand-held device in the field. In my opinion, it may read inaccurately and convict you of DUI when you clearly are not. It may, in my opinion, falsely convict you and give you a criminal record for life. I said for life – not just seven or ten years. Note: If you exhibit objective symptoms of drugs, they can require you to take a second blood or urine test if you chose breath as your first option.

8. You will not lose your license automatically for failing to do the field sobriety test under the “Stop and Snatch Laws,” which came into effect July 1, 1990. There is a lot of misinformation in that regard. You do not have to take a roadside breath test either. You still have your choice blood or breath, and you always should choose breath testing down at the station house as your first choice. If you cannot provide a breath sample at the main testing facility, only then allow a blood test. A favorite trick played by the officers is to put a scowl on their face when you explain politely to the officer you know your rights and the law does not require you to blow into the small hand-held unit on the side of the road. Rest assured when they reach the point of having you do a field sobriety test, you will be going downtown no matter what. I have had reports that some officers become so frustrated they have lied and told clients, many of whom are responsible business people, that the law recently changed and now requires they blow into the small hand-held breath machine. Don’t allow yourself to be taken in by this outright lie. If the law changes, the DMV will notify you. Knowledge is power. If you exercise your right to remain silent and refuse to do the roadside acrobatics or any field sobriety test, it will be extremely difficult to almost impossible for the police to make a provable DUI case against you. Also, the officer may get aggressive and snap orders that you now are required to take a blood test downtown. Such is clearly not the law unless you exhibit clear signs of drug intoxication or the breath machine is out of order. Police work, if done professionally, should be a search for the truth. The laws are there for the protection of all. Regarding the “Stop and Snatch Law”: They will take your license if you are arrested and test at 0.08% or higher. The police will issue you a temporary license good for 30 days. Be careful though. You have only 10 days to call the DMV and ask for a hearing; otherwise, your right to drive is gone for four or more months. Your attorney will appear with you at the DMV hearing.

Conclusion: There are many professional officers on the road trying to keep our streets safe. Always be polite, but refuse to do the field tests. There is absolutely no statute or code that requires it.

Please Call : 619-563-1010

Defending today’s DUI ticket requires a great deal of scientific and legal knowledge. Scientific knowledge is required to know if the alcohol test was applied correctly: Is the lab trying to cover something up? Could something have skewed your test? Could something else have invalidated your test? Legal knowledge is also important. Is your attorney up-to-date with the latest in DUI defense? Does your attorney attend the major national seminars on DUI defense? As a potential consumer of legal products, you have the right to know the answer to these questions.

MEET EUGENE ELLIS
Why Mr. Ellis is called “THE PROFESSOR” by many local DUI attorneys and known by his clients as “MR. DUI”?

Mr. Ellis is know as “THE PROFESSOR” by so many of the local DUI attorneys because his door is always open to local counsel for advice, and because he writes and teaches others about DUI law. That in turn, comes from practicing law in the San Diego courts for 28 years and limiting his practice to the defense of citizens accused of drunk driving for the last 21 years. Mr. Ellis has a newsletter that he sends out to a handful of local DUI counsel and he attends every major national seminar anywhere in the United States that he is aware of. When he returns from these seminars, he holds a class and teaches what he has learned to local counsel who wish to learn.

He is currently writing a book on how to defend yourself against a DUI conviction and a pocket version for patrons of restaurants and bars to carry with them in the event of being stopped by the local police. He is a sought after lecturer in his field and the pre-eminent attorney for DUI defense in the County of San Diego, California.

ADVANCED PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENTS
Other than Mr. Ellis’s education in the law, he has also gone out of his way to learn more in specific areas of DUI.

FOUNDING MEMBER of the National College of DUI Defense, Advanced DUI Training and Education 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010.
This is the most advanced practice course offered to attorneys. It consists of a given factual scenario and each attorney is required to prepare the case for trial. Upon arrival, lectures are given on each area of the trial preparation and presentation by the nation’s leading DUI defense attorneys. The class is then broken into smaller groups in which each student demonstrates his ability and understanding of the lecture topic. After each demonstration, the student is critiqued by a three member panel, again composed of the best DUI defense attorneys in the country. In addition to the legal and extensive training in the areas of science involved with professional DUI defense, attendees work closely in small groups with scientists that explain the most advanced developments in chemical breath testing and blood analysis using the same scientific instruments employed in the attorneys home jurisdictions.

Graduate: Certified Field Sobriety Instructor, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
This course is based on the scientific study conducted by the Southern California Research Institute for DUI Detection and Field Sobriety exercises. It includes instruction on administration, procedure and evaluation of data collected for the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, One Leg Stand, and Walk and Turn tests used by the San Diego and State Police and in fact, across the USA. in identifying potentially intoxicated drivers during traffic detentions. Mr. Ellis is trained by a certified instructor in this course study. His instructor was Rick Swope, who has trained literally thousands of state troopers across the nation on how to give these coordination tests and is an NHTSA instructor’s instructor. Mr. Ellis is authorized to teach others how to give these Field Sobriety Tests.

Certified on Intoxilyzer 5000 Operator, American Legal Education graduate 1996
The Intoxilyzer 5000 is the most common breath test machine used throughout California to test possibly intoxicated persons who have been arrested for DUI and DWI under the current implied consent law. This machine is manufactured by CMI, Incorporated. This certification exceeds standards set by the California Alcohol Breath Testing Program for breath test operators. In addition to learning how to conduct a valid breath test, this course also teaches the scientific aspects of breath alcohol testing, infrared photo-spectroscopy, the internal workings of the Intoxilyzer 5000, and calibration of the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test machine.

Certified Training on the Intoximeter 3000, Data Master, Drager and the Intoximeter Alco-Sensor
A hand-held unit now used extensively to convict citizens of DUI by the State Police and local DUI police units. Mr. Ellis appeared recently on San Diego’s KUSI television station and instigated Dan Plat, the anchor, to chew Wonder Bread, who then blew .012 on Wonder Bread while a station employee blew .033 (half of the legal limit) after eating one slice of Wonder Bread. Henceforth, this machine is referred to by San Diego citizens that saw that news broadcast as the “Wonder Bread Machine,” and they are refusing to blow into it if they are over 21 years old.

Attended post-graduate courses at U.S.C. Law Center: Advanced Studies DUI Defense, class of ’92 and ’93; Park Gilman Clinic Inc.: Advanced Studies DUI Defense, 1995;
Chosen as “Gate Keeper” attorney for the prestigious “Drunk Driving Defense Network” for San Diego County over other leading San Diego and Los Angeles DUI council.

No other attorney in San Diego County can offer this rich background in years, as well as hands on training with the blood testing instruments, as well as expert training in the most commonly given breath machines.

Mr. Ellis is also a “Consultant to the Editor” (Ed Kuwatch) in his outstanding two volume DUI reference work “California DUI Law” by James Publishing Company, which is consulted by leading DUI attorneys all over California.

Mr. Ellis is the recipient of the much coveted “specialist” designation by the California Deuce Defenders. There are about 135,000 lawyers in California. About 10,000 of them will take your money to represent you in a drunk driving case. Only about 225 of them are serious enough about this area of practice to join the California Deuce Defenders, the only statewide bar association of lawyers who do drunk driving defense. A “regular member” is an attorney who meets the minimum qualifications for membership, with an added interest in staying up on development and networking with other attorneys in his or her field. A “Specialist Member” is one who has met strict requirements for skills and experience certification by the organization. There are only about 30 specialist members. (Associate members are non-attorney professionals with an interest in drunk driving defense.)

Please Call : 619-563-1010

Although we have been successful in these cases, please be aware that he cannot and does not guarantee any particular result for your case.

Please Call : 619-563-1010