I am charged with a 23153 a/b felony. What if my BAC was below .08 when I blew at the station?

Vehicle Code 23153 is DUI causing injury. Subsection (a) is driving while impaired by alcohol, drugs or both; subsection (b) is driving with a blood alcohol level over .08%. The District Attorney might bring in a toxicologist to testify that your blood alcohol was actually higher at the time of driving. You could even be convicted of DUI under the (a) subsection if your BAC was under .08%. Bottom line: you're charged with a felony, which means you might go to prison. Nobody can give you any sort of meaningful help without a complete review of the evidence. You need a lawyer, and the judge will appoint one from the public defender's office if you can't afford to hire your own.

The key here is injury. The DA can charge you under the (a) count, regardless of your BAC. The DMV only cares about the .08. You need a lawyer's advice. If the injuries are serious, you may face state prison time.

You are charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol causing injury. If you blew below a .08 at the station, it is possible that the prosecution would argue that your blood alcohol was higher at the time of driving. It would be good to know what the results of the preliminary alcohol screening PAS were to assess this situation better. You definitely need an attorney to represent you in this matter as the exposure is state prison because it is a felony. Further, it would also help an attorney to assess this case better if there were more facts about the accident and the type of injury to the complaining witness. Additionally, your driving record and other circumstances particular to your situation would determine the type of sentence you would receive.

As mentioned, the DMV is concerned only with whether you were at .08 % or higher at the time of the testing. However, the DMV action is independent and distinct from the courts action. The District Attorney will be looking at whether they can prove you were at .08% or higher at the time of driving--it may not matter that you were below .08 at the station, depending on what you told the arresting officer and the time that passed between the stop and the test, the District Attorney may call a forensic expert to testify as to you being over .08 at the time you were driving. You need to have an attorney familiar with DUIs review the facts of your case, and possibly consult with their own DUI expert, to discuss how to best proceed with your case. The District Attorney also looks at the type and degree of the injuries involved when determining whether to file the case as a felony or a misdemeanor. If the case has not been to court yet, the District Attorney will review the reports to determine whether to file your case as a misdemeanor or felony. Hopefully the injuries are not serious and they consider dropping your case to a misdemeanor--but that depends on the nature of the injuries. You should speak to an attorney about your case.