California  |  DUI Law

Hi, I received a DUI back in October 16, 2009. The police officer gave me a pink paper stating that I must show up to court on November 16, 2009. Also, I forgot to call the DMV during the first 10 days I received my DUI. I went on that day to court and the clerk told me that my file hasn't been registered yet so she told me to wait until I receive something in the mail. I recently got a mail from the district attorney saying that I need to show up to court on February 26, 2010.

Information of my DUI case: I crashed into a tree and totaled my car. I blew a 0.08. I believe I fell asleep since it was so late, 4:30 AM. I drank around 10 PM - 1 AM that night and I waited to sober up before I drove. I did well on my sobriety tests that the officers gave me.

I wanted to know if my license gets suspended for an year or just 4 months. Can I still get a provisional license? I am 21 years old and the accident happened 10 days after I turned 21. I go to school and I work at home but I need to make deliveries everyday. I sell HID lights for cars to retail stores in the Orange County and Los Angeles area. For the past few months my friends and girlfriend gave me rides to wherever I needed to go. But I feel like I should get a license very soon or else they will get very irritated of me.

Also, I met with many lawyers and the consensus I got was that I should just get a public defendant to defend my case first. If I can't get some kind of bargain they said to come back and get a lawyer. Is that a good idea?