APS Suspension
When you were arrested, you were given a 30-day temporary license to use while your real license is taken away. In the mean time, you will suffer an automatic license suspension unless you request a hearing within ten days. Constitutionally, the state should have no right to summarily take away your license, so your ticket is your notice that if you do not request the hearing, you are "waiving your right."
Requesting the hearing will give you many benefits, including: right to discovery, right to a speedy hearing & an automatic stay if one is not granted, more lienient rules of evidence, and an opportunity to "see what the police have against you."
On that note, the California DMV must prove the following three issues at an over-21 excessive BAC hearing:
(a) The peace officer had reasonable cause to believe that the person had been driving a motor vehicle in violation of CVC §§23152 or 23153;
(b) That the person was arrested;
(c) That the person was driving a motor vehicle with a .08 or higher blood-alcohol level.
CVC §§13558(c)(2) and 13557(b)(2).
Unlike an actual trial, however, these elements must only be proven to a preponderance, and not "beyond a reasonable doubt."
Each of these elements has its own requirements, and dynamics of proof. Most critically, however, is the officer's initial reason for the stop. If you did not commit a traffic violation to begin with, such as speeding, failure to use a signal, or going the wrong way, then the officer did not have probable cause to stop you. Other defenses, such as the officer being outside his jurisdiction at the time of the arrest, vary and are available from case to case depending on the circumstances of your DUI.
After the hearing, the hearing officer's findings and decision will be mailed to you. Even if the DMV finds against you, a later acquittal of the BAC charge in court will have a retroactive affect on both your license suspension and give you the right to a new DMV hearing.