DUI Defenses

Published on: August 21, 2016

Buggy Driver Gets DUI

When New York State passed the nation’s first DUI law back in 1910, automobile owners weren’t the only drivers that authorities were targeting. At that time, plenty of horse-drawn vehicles still traveled the roads, and their drivers could cause a fair amount of damage to people and property if they were under the influence while holding the reins. Fast forward more than 100 years, and police officers rarely (if ever) arrest someone for a DUI in Los Angeles when they’re riding a horse or driving a horse-drawn carriage. But it can and does happen elsewhere.

Pennsylvania, Lancaster County, Amish Horse And Buggy. (Photo by Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)

In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, police arrested Robert Miller, 18, on suspicion of DUI. Miller, a member of the Amish church, was driving one of the plain black buggies that the Amish favor.

Published on: August 17, 2016

Judge Sentences DUI Doctor to Jail

by Michael Kraut

Although judges may try to be impartial when hearing cases of DUI in Los Angeles or any other locale, in reality, the occupation of the defendant can impact the way that the justice system treats them. But sometimes the accused driver presses his luck too far.

In Illinois, Cook County Judge James Karahalios sent Dr. William Malik, an orthopedic surgeon, to prison for six years for aggravated DUI and criminal damage to property. The court had given Malik many opportunities to change his ways; the physician had six previous DUI arrests dating from 2005 in several different jurisdictions in Illinois and in Wisconsin, according to a Chicago Tribune news report.

In the latest incident, which took place earlier this year, Malik was driving his Lincoln LS when he sideswiped a parked car, drove onto a lawn and then hit a garage and two fences. The arresting officer reported that Malik said “At least I didn’t hit anybody.”

Malik has undergone treatment for alcoholism several times, but he reportedly has not been successful in controlling his addiction. During the sentencing hearing, several character witnesses spoke of his struggle as well as his skill as a physician and his commitment to his family. But the prosecutor argued that Malik had gotten off too many times with the “good doctor” excuse and that he didn’t deserve any more chances.

Published on: August 10, 2016

Sister Passes the Buck on DUI Charge

by Michael Kraut

Drivers pulled over for a Los Angeles DUI try many different ways to avoid getting a DUI charge on their records. Some plead with the arresting officers asking for a break; others may hire experienced attorneys who will look for flaws in the government’s case. Some people will even lie about their identities to the arresting officers, although that ruse does not work well over the long term.

Shannon Whack, age 31, said she had been attending a party on March 17th at her (now-ex) boyfriend’s home when he became abusive. Grabbing her two young kids, she got into her car at 2:30 in the morning and left, despite the fact that she allegedly had been drinking much of the evening.

Police officers in Graham, North Carolina, caught up with Whack and determined that she had been DUI, according to the Times News of Burlington, North Carolina. They took her to jail, but Whack probably knew that admitting her real identity would get her in even more trouble, because she reportedly had been driving on a suspended license (not for a DUI, however). Her workaround was to give the booking officers her sister’s name and birth date.

Published on: August 8, 2016

DUI Drivers Get in Trouble for Making Donuts

by Michael Kraut

DUI drivers usually lack the necessary control to demonstrate the finer points of the vehicles they’re driving. But that doesn’t stop them from trying, as police officers who have arrested drivers for DUI in Los Angeles can attest.

In the past month, two drivers have tried to impress their passengers and/or onlookers by making circles or “donuts” with their cars. In Oklahoma, Fox 25 reports that Michael Dean Sharpe was trying to impress a date when he entered a church parking lot and turned off the traction control in his Pontiac G8T so that he could perform a series of donuts in the lot. Sharpe forgot, however, to turn his traction control back on when he had completed his performance. Sharpe allegedly zoomed out of the parking lot at a high speed and lost control of his car, hitting a curb and damaging at least one tree along the roadway.

While Sharpe’s date will probably never forget the evening, it’s doubtful that he made the impression he had hoped. First of all, the crash smashed the windshield and caved in the vehicle’s passenger side where the woman rode. Plus watching your date carted off to jail on DUI charges is not an experience most women hope to repeat. (Even Sharpe is quoted as saying that he was acting like a “dumbass.”)

Published on: August 4, 2016

Pilot in Fatal Hot Air Balloon Crash Had Long History of DUI

by Michael Kraut

A driver convicted of multiple counts of DUI in Los Angeles would not meet the medical requirements for a license to pilot a plane or a helicopter. Yet the Federal Aviation Administration has no such restrictions when it comes to approving a license to pilot a hot air balloon. Could this loophole in the balloon regulations have contributed to the hot air balloon accident in Texas that claimed 16 lives on July 30th?

The Washington Post reported that Alfred G. “Skip” Nichols had at least four DUI convictions in Missouri in the last 26 years: one in 1990, two in 2002 and another in 2010. He also served time in jail for a drug crime.

A report from NBC Nightly News said that multiple convictions for DUI would most likely have prevented Nichols from getting the medical certificate required to get a license to fly solo in an aircraft. But pilots of balloons and gliders don’t have to provide that medical certificate for their pilots’ licenses. The NBC story said that all that is required is for prospective pilots to provide a statement certifying that they have no medical defect that would make them unable to pilot such an aircraft.

Published on: August 1, 2016

DUI Driver on Scooter Faces Felony Charges

by Michael Kraut

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 law does not specify what type of motor vehicle the person has to be driving for that felony charge to stick.

The DUI laws in Montana have a similar provision, which is unfortunate for 64-year-old John Adrian Langstaff of Missoula. He wasn’t behind the wheel of a car, but was on a scooter when police picked him for DUI.

According to KGVO radio, the Missoula police department sent an officer to a post office when callers reported they had seen a man drinking a can of beer while he was driving a scooter. Witnesses said he spilled part of the beer when he parked and finished the rest up before he went inside the post office.

Published on: July 27, 2016

How Many DUIs are Caused by Undiagnosed Mental Health Issues?

by Michael Kraut

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 to find out.

Recordnet.com reports that the court will be serving as one of six test sites for a Computerized Assessment and Referral System (CARS) developed by Harvard Medical School’s Division on Addiction of Cambridge Health Alliance and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility. The court’s case managers and substance abusers have already begun screening repeat DUI offenders using the system.

CARS asks repeat offenders a series of questions about signs and symptoms of mental health issues within the past year and during their lifetime. It identifies 15 specific mental health disorders for which they might be at risk, including depression, anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder. The system then generates a report to the court that suggests treatments and provides a list of referrals to providers who could offer help.

Published on: July 25, 2016

Washington State Supreme Court Rules DUI Sobriety Tests Aren’t Unreasonable Search

by Michael Kraut

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 so. In a recent 5-4 vote, the court ruled that Mark Tracy Macham did not have a constitutional right to refuse a field sobriety test on the grounds that it was an unreasonable search.
According to King 5 News, police had pulled Mecham over back in 2011 because there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. After trying to talk to Mecham, the officer concluded that he was impaired and asked him to take a field sobriety test. Mecham refused. During his booking at the police station on DUI charges, Mecham also refused repeated requests to take a breathalyzer test.

Published on: July 22, 2016

Celebration Nets Teen Another DUI Arrest

by Michael Kraut

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 likely be in less trouble today if he had found a quieter and less dangerous way to express his satisfaction with the outcome of his court case.

On Thursday, June 14th, Brandenberg appeared in a court in Knox County, where Judge Scott Shipplett accepted a plea deal that reduced a DUI charge against him to reckless driving. (Another judge, Stephen Mathers, had initially rejected the plea deal, but Brandenburg’s case ended up in Shipset’s courtroom.)

Around 2 a.m. on the morning of Friday, June 15th, police responded to calls about a pickup truck driving through Knoxville with two occupants throwing beer cans out the window. Officers tried to intercept the truck, but it blew through a red light and then led them on a chase through another town. The officers eventually found the vehicle abandoned and Brandenburg hiding in a nearby shed. (They never caught the vehicle’s second occupant.) But the police did discover several illegal and prescription drugs as well as illegal drug paraphernalia in the truck.

Published on: July 20, 2016

Passengers At Risk with DUI Drivers: a Scary Cautionary Tale

by Michael Kraut

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 67 and 74 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone when he lost control of his vehicle on the night of June 8th. The car spun, went off the road, climbed an embankment and then went airborne before hitting a tree with the passenger side door. One passenger, Harold Dean Fields, 57, lost his life in the crash. Two other passengers suffered serious injuries.

Meadows faces charges of felony DUI resulting in death and felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury. His blood alcohol level allegedly was 0.104, and he also tested positive for barbiturates, Benzodiazepine and cannabinoids.