DUI Category Archives — Page 32 of 41 — Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog Published by Los Angeles & Southern California Criminal & DUI Defense Attorney — Medical Marijuana Defense Attorney Michael Kraut

Published on: September 19, 2011

Now Here’s a Glendale DUI You Don’t See Every Day…Woman Busted for DUI Twice in Five Hours!

Every week, dozens of stories about driving under the influence in Glendale (and the rest of the southland) get published and discussed in the blogosphere. And SoCal is sure home to some strange DUI stories. But last week, the most spectacular DUI story in the country came from Boise, Idaho, of all places, where police arrested 47-year-old Michelle Caves twice for driving under the influence… within a five-hour span!

Amazing stuff.

Here’s how it all went down, according to the local Boise new station, KBOI 2. Caves had dropped in at a retail store on Apple Street: “Employees told police that [she] smelled of alcohol, and stumbled and dropped items while walking around the store. They say they couldn’t stop Caves from getting in her car and driving away, or… get the license plate number of her car.”

The police then tracked down Caves, pulled her over, and gave her field sobriety tests (which she failed) as well as breathalyzer tests that pegged her at significantly more than four times over the legal limit for Boise (and Glendale) DUI of 0.08%. The police arrested her, booked her into a local jail, and secured her car.

Pretty normal stuff. But then…
Later that evening, “police got a call from a citizen reporting that a drunk driver had returned to her car and was going to drive home. Officers determined it was the same woman they had arrested earlier, and located the car around the corner from where it originally had been pulled over. Police say the car swerved into oncoming traffic and almost drove head on into the officer’s car.”

Lo and behold, it was Caves again. She got retested and her BAC was slightly lower this time – around 0.24% – but still high enough to be more than three times over the state’s legal limit.

After this second, embarrassing arrest, police “requested that Caves’ car be towed to a private, secured lot.”

Obviously, this story is something of an impressive oddity. But it does hold hidden lessons for defendants in Glendale DUI cases. One lesson is that drivers often make mistakes “after the fact” that can dreadfully complicate their legal situations. Of course, had Caves been arrested only once, she still would have been in trouble. But now she faces all sorts of extra headaches because she made bad decisions that compounded her earlier bad decisions.

In fact, it’s this cycle of bad decision-making that often creates the most long-term problems for people. Getting arrested for a Glendale DUI is already a major problem, but it’s the spiral of poor thinking upon poor thinking that creates huge problems.

Fortunately, you can stop that spiral by connecting with an experienced and Harvard Law School educated Glendale DUI defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (121 W Lexington Dr, Glendale, CA 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123). Attorney Michael Kraut served as Senior Deputy District Attorney for the city of Los Angeles for over 14 years, and he uses his relationships with prosecutors, knowledge of the system, strategic understanding of the law, and other resources to help clients build vigorous defenses.

Published on: September 12, 2011

Hope after Beverly Hills DUI Arrest? Redemption is Possible – Just Ask the 49-ers’ Braylon Edwards

by Michael Kraut

Getting arrested for driving under the influence in Beverly Hills is zero fun.

Contrary to popular perceptions, drivers who violate California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) or 23152(b) are often acutely remorseful, scared, and dismayed by their actions, even hours after an arrest. And while some DUI defendants certainly “fit the stereotype” many people have, the reality is that defendants are diverse and come from all over the community.

One common thread among Beverly Hills DUI defendants is fear.

Defendants worry about job security, family, the possibility of jail time, the possibility of a license suspension, the logistical inconvenience of having to attend weeks or months of alcohol school, the embarrassment of facing strict probation terms, and so on. And these punishments are very real possibilities, by the way, even if you committed a small, misdemeanor Beverly Hills DUI, and it was your first offense.

But certain choices you make now – after the fact, while you are more rational – can radically change the course of your life. Your decision to work with a reputable, creditable Harvard Law School educated Beverly Hills DUI criminal defense attorney, for instance, might lead to a better outcome than you currently believe is possible.

It is also helpful to look at public DUI news events to see how they play out. As a case in point, consider the San Francisco Forty-Niners’ Braylon Edwards. The wide receiver pled guilty to a DUI in July and got fined $50,000. Under ordinary circumstances, he might have been suspended from playing in the NFL, which could have derailed his career and led to a professional catastrophe. And sports analysts who examined similar cases involving Kenny Britt, Aqib Talib, and Terrelle Pryor, thought Edwards’ situation could have gone either way.

He could have been suspended, but he got lucky.

This goes to show that your case is not entirely within your control. Edwards could have done everything the same but been suspended and he wouldn’t have had any say in the matter.

The important takeaway here is that Beverly Hills DUI defendants need to figure out what they can control and what they can’t control. And then they need to focus on what they can control, such as their choice of attorney. Beverly Hills DUI attorney Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450, Beverly Hills, California 90210 Phone: (310) 550-6935), can put together a powerful and solid defense plan for you, irrespective of the circumstances and complexity of your legal challenges.

Published on: August 29, 2011

Your Glendale DUI Defense: How Might the Fall of Gaddafi’s Regime Affect It?

by Michael Kraut

Last week, Moammar Gaddafi’s four-plus decade rein over Libya came to a screeching halt as rebels overtook Green Square in Tripoli.

If you were recently arrested for driving under the influence in Glendale, you probably weren’t paying much attention. You were probably focused more on the imminent crises in your life – potential jail time, license suspension, mandatory installation of interlock ignition device, and other problems that you could face if you are ultimately convicted of Glendale DUI.

Maybe you made a mistake, ignoring the news.

Maybe you should have been paying attention to Libya – and not just to have something to chat about with coworkers while you gather around the water cooler. You see, the rapid and surprising collapse of Gaddafi’s loyalist forces indirectly teaches us a powerful lesson about Glendale DUI defense.

Yes, it sounds like a stretch at first. But stay with this train of thought…
When you read analyses of the drama in Libya, there is a common refrain: “No one saw this coming.” NATO didn’t anticipate it, policymakers didn’t anticipate it, probably even the rebels themselves didn’t anticipate that they would be able to march into Tripoli in such short order. This kind of deer-caught-in-the-headlights reaction is typical during war. Events on the ground often come as a surprise, and war plans disintegrate often immediately after they go into effect.

Now, building a coherent defense against Glendale DUI – to get you unhooked from charges pursuant to California Vehicle Code Sections 23152(a) or 23152(b) – is not exactly like going to a war. But both war and DUI defense involve strategic thinking – and they also involve surprising setbacks and opportunities. Good generals – and good Glendale criminal defense attorneys, too –understand the power of strategic thinking as well as the power of renegotiating, reassessing, and reforming plans in the midst of battle.

For instance, in your case, new evidence might suddenly emerge that could potentially get your charges dropped or at least give prosecutors a much harder time. If you don’t have the strategic focus and flexibility available to take advantage of that development, you might miss out on a key opportunity to reduce your sentence.

Just as the Libyan rebels managed to take advantage of the surprising collapse of Gaddafi’s forces to turn the tide and take down Tripoli, your Glendale DUI defense attorney may potentially leverage surprising developments in your favor. These include sudden revelations of weaknesses in the prosecution’s case and other subtle factors that could transform your options and get you better results than you – or even your attorney – ever expected.

To that end, you want to work with an attorney who thinks like a general – who helps you not only construct the right strategic defense, but also continually reassesses your options in real time. Attorney Michael Kraut of Glendale’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (121 W Lexington Dr, Glendale, CA 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123) has a unique vantage on Glendale DUI defense law. Attorney Kraut served as a prosecutor for over 14 years. He put DUI defendants behind bars before switching over to become a criminal defense attorney. Since he has “played the game from both sides,” he can help you understand what your prosecutors are planning and counter-plan accordingly.

Published on: August 15, 2011

Making the Pasadena DUI Process Way Too Complicated? Maybe it’s Your Bad Handwriting… like Justin Bieber’s?

by Michael Kraut

Hopefully we won’t be reading about Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus going through the gauntlet of the Pasadena DUI process any time soon.

We need at least some of our young fresh-faced celebrities to stay sober and clean and act as responsible role models. But young celebs like Cyrus and Bieber are already setting something of a bad example. According to a recent article on CNN.com – “nation of adults who write like children” – Cyrus, Bieber, and other young celebrities have atrocious handwriting. The article quoted Justin King, a paparazzi who sells celebrity autographs: “with stars ages 30 and above, they generally have a much more full, legible signature. When you deal with these new people like Elle Fanning, you are lucky if you get an E and F and a heart for a signature.”

How does this all relate to the Pasadena DUI process?

It does, actually.

Because defendants recently arrested for violating California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) or 231521(b) – driving under the influence in Pasadena (or elsewhere in Southern California) — must deal with a certain amount of bureaucracy, or risk of losing their licenses or encountering other legal trouble down the line.

If your handwriting is terrible – like Bieber’s and Cyrus’s, for instance – and you submit illegible forms, several things might happen. You might be asked to fill out the forms again. Or, quite possibly, the documents can be misinterpreted, leading to all sorts of unpleasant bureaucratic complications.

Given that your future is on the line – not just your potential freedom, but also your driver’s license, future insurance rates, employability, etc., it behooves you to connect with an experienced Pasadena criminal defense attorney who can explain your options.

Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899) provides the help, support, and resources you need (minus the handwriting instruction) to manage your Pasadena DUI charge with aplomb. Attorney Kraut is a widely respected figure in the Pasadena DUI community. Please read more about his background, credentials, history as a former city prosecutor (Senior Deputy District Attorney), and critical information about the relevant law (“Pasadena DUI 101”) on his site, or connect with him now for a free consultation.

Published on: August 2, 2011

Beverly Hills DUI Crushed Dreams: Olympic Silver Medalist “Speedy,” Tagged for Speeding in Ohio, Commits Suicide

by Michael Kraut

The most tragic Beverly Hill DUI arrests, at least from a narrative point of view, are ironic.

In other words, there is an inherent dissonance. When a young and healthy celebrity – someone who has everything going for him or her – crashes a car and winds up behind bars, you can’t help pay attention to the dissonance between the image of this “perfect person” and the dire straits he or she is now in.

Not all stories about Burbank DUI, Pasadena DUI, DUI in Glendale, and DUI in Los Angeles have this element of irony in them. But a story last week out of Hailey, Idaho definitely had that element — tragically so. 29-year old Olympic silver medalist, Jeret “Speedy” Peterson, got arrested the Friday before last for DUI and speeding… and then things took a terrible turn.

The three time Olympian apparently had “caused a disturbance” somewhere in Sun Valley, Idaho before getting behind the wheel and driving off at a fast clip. A local police chief, Jeff Gunter, said: “when he went through Hailey, we estimated he was going 80 miles per hour, and they didn’t get him stopped until Belleview.” In addition to being hit with a misdemeanor DUI charge, Peterson also faced a charge of “fictitious display of license plates.” The Olympian had gotten in the trouble in the past. During the 2006 Winter Games, he got into a bar fight that got him sent home from the Olympics.

He was also a very decorated Olympic athlete – in addition to his Olympic silver medal, he helped win a national championship and seven victories at the World Cup.

In any event, few expected the minor arrest to end in tragedy. But it did. Just days after the arrest, and only “seventeen months after reaching the pinnacle of his career by winning a silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics… Peterson was found dead in a remote canyon in Utah in what police are calling a suicide.” (USA Today article published 7/26)

Devastating news, and a sad illustration of how DUIs can cause terrible and unexpected stresses in the lives of everyone involved.
If you have a Beverly Hills DUI case, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can help you understand what might have gone wrong, how to respond to your charges effectively and efficiently, and how to move beyond the arrest and charges to get a grip on your life again. Michael Kraut, of Beverly Hill’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450 Beverly Hills, California 90210 (310) 550-6935), is an experienced, highly reputable, compassionate former prosecutor who is devoted to helping defendants build better cases and rebuild their lives. Connect with him today to get a consultation.

Published on: July 17, 2011

Long Beach DUI Sports News: Pittsburgh Steelers WR Hines Arrest Shocks the NFL

by Michael Kraut

Pro football fans were dealt another setback last week – more Long Beach DUI bad news. The NFL has been shellacked this year: possible season ending/shortening labor strikes; concerns about players’ long-term brain health; multiple DUI arrests at both the NFL and college level.

Steelers’ wide receiver Hines Ward added to the chaos the weekend before last. Fortunately for Southlanders, Ward was not arrested for DUI in Pasadena, DUI in Glendale, Los Angeles DUI, or Burbank DUI. Ward got booked in DeKalb County, GA early last Saturday morning. According to USA Today, “the police report… claims Ward hit a curve and had difficulty remaining in his lane. It said he smelled of alcohol, though Ward said he had just two beers three hours previously. He refused the breath test upon arriving at the jail.”

According to Ward’s representation, the defendant claims that he was not impaired by alcohol while he was driving. But this case will not fade from the limelight anytime soon (at least if Baltimore Ravens fans have their way), given Ward’s celebrity. He won Super Bowl XL’s most valuable player award as well as this year’s Dancing with the Stars.

His court hearing is scheduled for October 6th. If convicted of misdemeanor DUI, he could face a $1,000 fine on top of a full year behind bars.

So it’s clearly an up and down year for Ward. And, in that sense, his case presents us with an important object lesson. Many people assume that Long Beach DUI arrests only happen to people who are on the “down and down” – who are living too fast, ignoring safety rules, and generally “asking for it.” But this stereotype does not necessarily hold true. Everything in your life can be going great, and you can still get tagged with a serious Long Beach DUI charge.

What’s important is to recognize your reality – the potential trouble that you might be in and your potential resources. Rather than “reinventing the wheel” and trying to figure out your best possible strategy by yourself, you might benefit tremendously from a free consultation with Long Beach’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454). Michael Kraut is not only a very experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, but he is also a former prosecutor. His experience in both positions gives him a very unique vantage, which he uses to deliver excellent results for his clients, get results at jury trials, and even impress legal colleagues, peers, and the major media.

Published on: July 5, 2011

Long Beach DUI Statistics: What Can They Really Tell Us?

by Michael Kraut

Ask anyone in law enforcement how to end the problem of Long Beach DUI, and they will tell you that we need better enforcement, more measurement of the problem, better education and tools for law enforcement, drivers, road engineers and policymakers. These are good points. And if we did indeed measure DUIs better with richer metrics, chances are we could see a decline in Pasadena DUI, Glendale DUI, Burbank DUI and Los Angeles DUI arrests. That being said, statistics may not be as useful as many bright-eyed and bushy-tailed pundits believe they are. As the old saw goes, “there are lies, damned lies and statistics.”

Case in point: consider a small story published in a Kansas newspaper, the Wichita Eagle, last week: “Wichita police see spike in DUI arrests.” Over a relatively non-special weekend, police saw a jump in DUI arrests of more than 50% – 31 arrests, up from the usual 21 DUI arrests for the weekend. Traffic accidents also increased from 70 to 98. This is a statistically significant shift, by any measure, and law enforcement officials and local prognosticators jumped on the story to immediately develop explanations for the surge. Wichita Eagle posited “there are lot of outdoor activities at this time of year… and that increases the opportunities for drunk driving to occur.” That said, the magazine concluded with this statement: “DUI arrests were made all over Wichita…and couldn’t be linked to any specific event.”

What if the surge was just a random fluctuation? Sounds impossible?

It turns out that statistics don’t work quite the way that most people believe that they do. In any given city, on any given weekend, one might expect a surprising surge – 50% or even more – as part of the random background statistical noise. In other words, the spike need not tie into any specific event because it really was random. It only appeared to have meaning because the statistics were considered just in the context of Wichita instead of in the context of the whole nation.

Think about it this way: say you were to flip a coin six times in a row. What are the odds that you flip heads each time? Here is the quick answer: 1 in 64 (1/2*1/2*1/2*1/2*1/2*1/2). If you pull out a coin and ever do this experiment, chances are pretty good (63 out of 64) that you will not get heads every time. But 1 out of every 64 readers of this blog post will! And to that person, this post may seem like magic. In fact, it’s not. Random events can look like something more than random when viewed out of context. Thus, the spike in Wichita DUIs might not have been anything at all. It might have been something… but there is not really a clean and clear way to tell.

The same thinking should apply to study of Long Beach DUI statistics.

On a more practical note, if you are in need of the services of an experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, Long Beach’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) may be able to steer you in a good direction. Attorney Michael Kraut is an experienced prosecutor who is respected by legal peers and by major news media as a maven of Los Angeles DUI law. He can help you understand your rights, develop a strategy, and ensure that you make smart decisions going forward to protect your rights as a defendant.

Published on: June 21, 2011

Long Beach DUI Tech News – Apple Bans “Buzzed” App

by Michael Kraut

After U.S. lawmakers pressured Apple, the tech company has banned an app called “Buzzed” which revealed the locations of Long Beach DUI checkpoints (and checkpoints elsewhere) that police had not previously publicized. Apple also changed its online store guidelines to come into compliance with this new policy: “Apps which contain DUI checkpoints [such as Los Angeles DUI, Pasadena DUI, Glendale DUI, Burbank DUI, etc.] that are not published by law enforcement agencies that encourage and enable drunk driving will be rejected.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) Nevada applauded Apple but encouraged the company “to take the next responsible step for removing all applications that allow unsafe drivers to evade police checkpoints.” Perez Hilton, for one, also applauded the Apple move: “It’s definitely a step in the right direction… we feel these apps only do more harm than good by putting other drives at risk. Not only will drunk drivers be drunk, but they will be fiddling around on their cell phones to avoid getting caught!”

Opinions about Apple’s move were far from unanimous, however. For instance, as techdirt.com points out, blogger Nick Gillespie built a powerful argument against the banning of apps like Buzzed: “police themselves regularly make this info available as a deterrent.”

Quoting from Gillespie’s blog now: “Some police departments actually support the data used in such apps because they reduce the number of drunk drivers on the road!”

Another blog post on reason.com argued that such apps (like Buzzed) actually minimize drunk driving and speeding – which is one of the reasons why police in places such as Travis County, Texas are the ones entering the information for DUI checkpoint apps such as Trapster. As a Travis County cop puts it, “If we can stop the problematic behavior without writing tickets or hauling people, everybody is better off.”

The pundits and techno bloggers can continue to debate the merits (or lack thereof) of Apple’s app ban. But if you or someone you care about has recently been pulled over at a Long Beach DUI checkpoint, you have fewer intellectual concerns and more practical ones. A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, such as Long Beach’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454), can inform you, help you understand your rights and responsibilities, and develop an astute and aggressive strategy to clear your record and defend your interests.

Published on: June 6, 2011

Long Beach DUI Romantic Tragedy… Well, It Would Have Been, But it Took Place In Pittsburgh

by Michael Kraut

What makes a story about driving under the influence in Long Beach noteworthy? A quick search on Google news reveals that the most popular Burbank DUI, Pasadena DUI, Glendale DUI, and Los Angeles DUI stories involve celebrities, scary or grisly cases, or people doing stunt-like acts while DUI, such as driving lawnmowers, jet skis, or electric unicycles.

Sometimes, the ages of the participants – as well as their dramatic situations – influence newsworthiness. For instance, last week, police arrested 20-year-old Andrew Magill of Arona, Pennsylvania for driving under the influence, after his 16-year-old wife leapt from his car. Early reports did not specify why the 16-year-old leapt from the vehicle at Central Highway and Buttermilk Hollow Road at 6:15 A.M. last Tuesday. But the fall resulted in a potentially serious head injury and a DUI charge for her husband. Apparently, police are not expected to file domestic dispute charges.

This near tragedy (or, possibly, semi-tragedy) clearly illustrates that there is a fine, almost minuscule line between conventional Long Beach DUI — which is generally charged as a misdemeanor pursuant to CVC 23152 (a) or 22152 (b) — and Long Beach injury DUI, which would be charged according to CVC 23153 (a) or 23153 (b).

If all those letters and numbers confused you, we are talking about the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor – between a mild sentence and more than a year behind bars!

Even if you have the world’s best Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, your challenges become exponentially greater if you have to fight a felony count (or multiple felony counts) instead of just a simple misdemeanor.

This isn’t to say that all hope is lost. Indeed, Long Beach’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) can provide immediate, strategic assistance developing and moving your defense forward. Mr. Kraut is often called upon to analyze Long Beach DUI news stories for KTLA News, the New York Times, Fox News, and other major media sources. He served for nearly a decade-and-a-half as a prosecutor for the city before “switching sides” to represent defendants.

Published on: May 16, 2011

Beverly Hills DUI Experts Examine Colorado’s Failed Marijuana Bill

by Michael Kraut

If you smoke medical marijuana and get behind the wheel – or drive under the influence of alcohol in Beverly Hills — you can be charged with a crime pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a). Indeed, it doesn’t matter if the marijuana you smoke is legal – even over-the-counter medications or prescription medications taken with a doctor’s order can cause you to violate 23152(a). In the annals of the literature about Glendale DUI, Burbank DUI, Los Angeles DUI, and Pasadena DUI, you can find hundreds of cases involving people getting arrested for driving after consuming totally illegal drugs.

The question about how to measure drug-induced driving problems has obsessed lawmakers and policymakers for some time. The Colorado Senate last month proposed a bill to set a limit for marijuana blood content. But last Tuesday, the CO Senate Judiciary Committee killed that bill — House Bill 1261 — on a voice vote. The Pot DUI Bill would have set a limit for medicinal marijuana drivers – if you had more than 5 nanograms per milliliter of THC in your blood, you would be considered over the legal limit.

A medicinal marijuana advocate, William Breathes, demonstrated that his THC levels remained over that limit — even after he had slept for a full night and abstained from smoking for 15 hours. An occupational medicine specialist evaluated him at that time and declared him to be “in no way incapacitated.”