Under California’s vehicle codes, police can charge a driver who is DUI in Los Angeles with a felony if that driver has had three previous convictions for driving under the influence in the last 10 years or if the driver has had a previous conviction for a felony DUI. The…
Addiction to alcohol and other drugs obviously contributes to many arrests for DUI in Los Angeles. But could repeat DUI offenses also be an indicator that a person has a mental health disorder? The San Joaquin Superior Court’s Collaborative Courts Department will be working with Harvard Medical School to try…
What evidence should a judge permit police to present during a DUI trial? If a driver suspected of DUI in Los Angeles refuses to take a field sobriety test, for example, should the court allow police officers to use that as evidence against him/her? The Washington State Supreme Court thinks…
A driver might be very happy when a judge reduces a charge of DUI in Los Angeles to a lesser charge, like wet reckless. But getting intoxicated and driving down a busy main street is not a good way to celebrate. Just ask 18-year-old Lucas Brandenberg of Knoxville, Tennessee. He’d…
Police officers frequently find passengers in a vehicle when they’ve pulled someone over for DUI in Los Angeles. All too often those passengers suffer critical and sometimes fatal injuries if the car hits a light pole, another car or a wall. In Spartansburg, South Carolina, Joshua Meadows was traveling between…
Police officers are accustomed to finding illegal drugs, guns or open alcohol containers when they arrest someone for a DUI in Los Angeles. But few start out investigating a DUI-related crash and end up with a gruesome homicide case. On the evening of June 27th, officers in Anchorage, Alaska, responded…
The Port of Los Angeles has a total of 16 marinas with 3,795 recreational boat slips. Since a day on a boat often involves enjoyment of adult beverages, there are plenty of opportunities for boaters to face arrest on a water-related DUI in Los Angeles (technically a BUI–boating under the…
DUIs in Los Angeles often involve collisions between vehicles, between a vehicle and a pedestrian or between a vehicle and some building. But the DUI driver rarely hits the same object more than once–at least not on purpose. In Naperville, Illinois, however, John Chiampas was apparently determined to get the…
The Maryland Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, has ruled that parents who knowingly let underage teens drink in their home are liable for damages if a teen injures someone or suffers injuries while under the influence. Although the ruling does not have a direct effect on…
A recent Supreme Court decision requires police officers to get a warrant if a suspected DUI driver refuses to take a blood test voluntarily. This ruling could eventually impact procedures in future cases of DUI in Los Angeles. In a split decision, five of the eight justices said that police…