I have a son who was arrested for DUI in Marin 4 months after his 18th birthday on a Friday night after work. He was full time college student, working 5 nights a week at the time of the arrest. The entire process has been a nightmare. We paid for an attorney because we have never dealt with anything like this and knew the impact it would have on his future. Spent a full year and a half with filings, delays etc.- only to reach the point of saying to the attorney this must come to resolution so he can move on with life - the result......pleading quilty because in Marin...the Officer's word on his probable cause for the stop is the only word heard in the court. We couldn't afford to go to trial, so case over. We think a jury would have been shown that there was no probable cause but funds just weren't available to go forward. No excuses, if my son had not been drinking (he had a BAC of .08) the illegal Novato stop would not have resulted in any traffic violation...but, it doesn't matter....anything over .01 when you are underage and the book will literally be thrown at you, as it should be (assuming you were legally stopped). So underage drinkers - your parents will go through hell, spend lots of money, and Marin County will convict you and your future will suck for many, many years with a criminal conviction on your record. One of the worst parts was seeing the cop walk out of court during preliminary hearings repeatedly with a smirk on his face - I hated that - he should not have takeen such joy on the job he did on this particular night. Having seen what I have of the judicial system, it is NOT anything you want to be part of. Pay attention kids, do not drink even a single drink and drive, they will bring you down harder than they need to in Marin. If he had been 40 years old, they would have let him go with a caution without a doubt.