DUI Category Archives — Page 34 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: December 6, 2010

Bizarre Defense Works: Southern California DUI Analysts Amazed by “Drinking to Keep Warm” Defense

Let’s face it: Getting charged and convicted of a Southern California DUI can ruin your day and radically alter your life’s course. Thus, it’s not surprising that defendants charged with crimes like DUI in Pasadena, DUI in Burbank, Glendale DUI, or Los Angeles DUI resort to contrivances to protect their freedom and avoid trouble. Often, prosecutors can break down bizarre and nonsensical defenses easily, but a recent acquittal out of Missouri has many experts in Southern California and across the nation scratching their heads and engaging in heated debates in internet forums.

Drinking to Keep Warm??

A Missouri man, Thomas Drummond, got acquitted of charge of Missouri DUI last week based on the argument that he had been drinking “to keep warm” in the wake of an accident. According to reports, Drummond had been driving near Jackson, Missouri, when his truck slipped off an icy road into a culvert. Panicked, the man text messaged his girlfriend on a dying cell phone and alerted to her his predicament. He then opened a bottle of brandy he had stored in his car and began drinking the alcohol to “stay warm” until authorities could help him out of the ditch. When the police finally showed up at 4 a.m., they found Drummond “unresponsive” and tested him via a breathalyzer. His BAC tested at 0.148% – nearly twice the Southern California DUI legal limit of 0.08%, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b).

Published on: November 23, 2010

Los Angeles DUI Bloggers Intrigued by Two Minor Celebrity Arrests

by Michael Kraut

Last week, Southern California DUI bloggers took a look at two breaking minor celebrity arrests out of Florida. Although a vast majority of DUI in Pasadena, DUI in Burbank, DUI in Glendale, and DUI in Los Angeles cases involve “non-celebrities,” DUI bloggers nonetheless spend the lion’s share of their attention on the plights of the popular. Last week, that meant probing the arrests of a professional wrestler’s sidekick and a failed mayoral candidate.

The website TMZ.com reported on Thursday that Kevin Kiley — a.k.a “Alex Riley” — had been arrested in Tampa after driving under the influence. Riley is a star of the World Wrestling Circuit – he serves as a sidekick to another wrestler named The Miz. The 29-year old Riley was released after posting a $500 bond.

Meanwhile, in Fort Myers, Florida, a former mayoral candidate, the 27-year old Gena Persons, flipped her car over a parking barrier near the intersection of Shoemaker and Palm Beach, while driving nearly 65 miles per hour. Officers who responded to the rollover tested Persons for DUI and gave her a breathalyzer test. She blew a 0.191% and 0.187% – both significantly over both Florida and California’s legal limit of 0.08%.

Now, when most people read stories of celebrities (or non-celebrities) like Persons blowing breathalyzer results of 0.191% or so, they quickly “convict in their minds.” But this rush to judgment is often unfounded. Indeed, breathalyzer results are far less accurate than popular culture makes them to be. Many factors can throw off breathalyzer test results – way off. These include but are not limited to:

• Whether you are a diabetic (diabetics produce chemicals on their breath that can skew breathalyzer tests towards “false positives”)
• Whether you are a man or a woman – men and women process alcohol at very different rates
• How deeply you blow into the machine – the deeper you blow, the higher your BAC level will read
• Issues with the test itself – poor calibration, administration, and record keeping on the part of police can lead people to get arrested/convicted for DUI unfairly
So what should you do if you or someone close to you has been recently arrested for driving under the influence in Southern California? Can you fight the breathalyzer test results? Should you? What if the blood tests show that you were DUI?

To get these and other crucial questions answered, you should almost certainly retain an experienced Los Angeles DUI attorney, like Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Michael Kraut.

Published on: November 8, 2010

Southern California DUI Pileup Leads to One Death and Multiple Injuries

by Michael Kraut

A tragic Southern California DUI crash in Santa Barbara has resulted in the death of 73-year old Liesel Ryden as well as injuries to several other people. Local prosecutors are accusing a 54-year old local businesswoman, Priscilla Susman, of causing the complicated, multi-car accident on Highway 154 near Cold Spring Bridge.

If you’ve been recently arrested for DUI in Burbank, DUI in Pasadena, Los Angeles DUI, or Glendale DUI – whether you got involved in a big multi-car pileup or simply blew 0.08% or above on a breathalyzer test at a checkpoint – the story of the allegations against Susman may be quite instructive.

According to news reports, the restaurateur, who owns and runs the Paradise Store and Grill, lost control of her sport utility vehicle on September 15th at around 8:20 in the evening. She swung into oncoming traffic, precipitating a series of accidents involving vehicles travelling westbound. All told, four different vehicles got entangled. One woman (the aforementioned 73-year old Liesel Ryden) died. Three people, including Susman, suffered serious injuries. Prosecutors plan to arraign Susman on November 29th on an array of charges, including vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol, two DUI counts, and a special allegation of causing serious bodily injury to multiple people.

Let’s take a break here and review California’s vehicular manslaughter law — a law that both Susman’s prosecutors and her defense attorneys will likely be scrutinizing in the upcoming weeks and months. California law makes numerous subtle distinctions in vehicular death cases that could have profound implications for any sentencing. For instance, if you caused someone’s death while driving with “gross negligence” while DUI, your penalties could be substantially elevated over what they would be for a standard vehicular manslaughter.

If you have been arrested and convicted of Los Angeles DUI in the past, prosecutors may even try to hit you with a charge of DUI murder – which is even more serious and could result in 15 years to life in jail.

To craft an effective defense against charges, you likely need a Southern California DUI attorney to review toxicology reports, police work, and other evidence from the scene of the accident and/or arrest. Without an aggressive counter response to prosecutorial charges, you could face major repercussions – such as longer than necessary jail sentences, high fines and court costs, and a variety of inconveniences, such as long-term loss of your driver’s license and mandatory installation of an interlock ignition device.

Published on: October 25, 2010

Southern California DUI Statistics Highlight Serious Problem in the Southland

by Michael Kraut

A few weeks ago, Insurance.com released its list of the 20 Top DUI Cities in the United States. If you have been arrested for Los Angeles DUI, Burbank DUI, Glendale DUI, or Pasadena DUI, you have a lot of company. The Insurance.com survey found that LA ranked as the seventh biggest city for DUI offenders. Three other California cities also made the Top 10: San Francisco, San Jose, and San Diego.

An on-site analysis at Insurance.com discussed why certain cities rank higher than others. The survey suggested three reasons:

1. Some people drink and party more in certain cities.
2. Cities with weaker public transportation systems have more DUI offenders because bar hoppers and partiers can’t avail themselves of subways and buses as easily to get home.
3. The strictness of enforcement can play a role. For instance, both San Diego and San Jose (the #1 and #2 cities in the survey) boast extremely robust and well-funded programs to stop Southern California DUI behavior.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found that cities with concentrations of young people – particularly at colleges – witness higher than average numbers of DUI arrests. The potency of enforcement surely also must play a huge role in these statistics. A San Jose PD officer spoke to that point: “We do have a high incidence of DUIs… that’s not to say that smaller departments don’t have it, but I don’t think they have the resources to detect it.”

Insurance.com used data from auto insurance applications to arrive at its figures.

If you have been hit with a charge of driving under the influence in Pasadena or elsewhere in the Southland, you might be wondering what specifically constitutes a violation of the law. If you are arrested for a “standard” DUI – an incident not complicated by injury or other charges – you will likely face a charge of violation of California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) or 23152(b).

23152(a) says that, if a California officer stops you while you are driving an auto or other motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you may face criminal charges that could lead to sentences like license suspension, jail time, serious fines, points on your DMV record, and strict probation terms.

23152(b) alternatively defines the crime of Southern California DUI as driving with a BAC level (blood alcohol concentration) of 0.08% or more. If your BAC level is positive for DUI, you can face the same punishments stipulated in 23152(a).

To respond effectively to charges, you may wish to consult an attorney experienced with Southern California DUI law.

Published on: October 11, 2010

Bribing an Officer with a Grilled Cheese? Would It Work for a Los Angeles DUI Suspect?

by Michael Kraut

People pulled over for Los Angeles DUI often do absurd things – sometimes comically absurd.

A breaking report out of Marion County, Florida illustrates just the lengths to which certain people will go to try to stay out of trouble. A 65-year-old grandmother, Elsie Wright O’Conner, got pulled over in town for DUI, after an officer noticed that she had been driving erratically. The officer found an empty bottle of vodka in her car… along with a second half empty bottle of vodka. He tested O’Conner and found that she had a BAC over three times Florida’s legal limit. This did not dissuade the suspect from begging for clemency.
She allegedly told the deputy: “Come on now, I’m a grandma. Can you do something for me since I am not that bad? I could have brought you back to my house and made you a grilled cheese sandwich.”

Unfortunately for the 65-year-old, the deputy did not take her up on the offer. Instead, he arrested her and charged her with DUI. According to records from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the grandma had been convicted of a DUI count back in 2007. It’s understandable that she would do anything in her power – including offering up a fresh grilled cheese sandwich – to avoid getting charged with DUI a second time. Indeed, if you are hit with multiple counts of driving under the influence in Pasadena (or elsewhere in Southern California), your penalties can go up – way up.

Let’s take a closer look at how California law treats recidivist (repeat) Los Angeles DUI offenders.

If you are arrested for a Pasadena DUI, you will generally be charged with a misdemeanor. The court can impose punishments like: a fine of $1,000 on top of court costs, a one year CA driver’s license suspension with no restricted license option, formal probation, six weeks minimum of California DUI alcohol school, a mandatory installation of an interlock ignition device (IID), and 48 hours in custody minimum – with a maximum of full six months behind bars.

And that’s just for your first offense!

If, within 10 years, you get convicted twice for DUI in Southern California, you can face increased jail time, increased alcohol school, a longer license suspension, stricter probation terms, more fines and steeper court costs. If you are pulled over for three or more DUIs within a 10-year time period, the court can ratchet up your punishments again and even charge you with a felony for what ordinarily might be a misdemeanor. A felony charge is significantly more devastating – convicted felons often face longer prison sentences as well as chronic problems, such as difficulty getting loans and finding gainful employment.

So what should you do if you have been pulled over for driving under the influence in Los Angeles for second, third, or fourth time? Your choice of lawyer can make a huge difference for your outcome. Many defendants have found that being represented by an attorney who used to be a prosecutor can be a big plus.

Published on: September 27, 2010

Another Charge for Raven’s Coach Moeller has Los Angeles DUI Sports Analysts Talking

by Michael Kraut

While celebrity Los Angeles DUI cases get the lion’s share of the headlines (for examples see: Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, Chris Klien, etc), sports stars who drive DUI have been making the news a lot recently.

The Baltimore Ravens’ Assistant Coach, Andy Moeller, is one of the latest sports celebs to get charged with a serious DUI offense. His September 21 bust came just a few days before Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards’ DUI arrest. According to news reports, the 46-year-old coach got pulled over on the Baltimore Beltway early morning Saturday. The police charged him with seven different violations, including DUI. Moeller is no stranger to road related arrests. In December 2007, when he was an offensive line coach at Michigan, Moeller got arrested for DUI. He also still continues to deal with the legal fallout from a May 2010 arrest for DUI and negligent driving. Although he got acquitted of charges stemming from that arrest, Moeller has faced more intense scrutiny from colleagues, fans, and reporters in the Los Angeles DUI celebrity blogging community.

When someone like Moeller gets pulled over for driving under the influence in Pasadena (or wherever) the police will often look for “symptoms” of DUI. These may include (but will not be limited to) the following:

• Bloodshot/bleary looking eyes
• Slurred speech
• Lack of coordination, stumbling
• Incoherent story telling
• Aggressive behavior
• Inappropriate emotional reactions to police questions
• Odor of alcohol on the person or in the car/vehicle
• Admission to having consumed alcohol
• Lack of balance
• Acute symptoms, such as vomiting or losing consciousness
Just because you demonstrate symptoms that you have been DUI in Pasadena (or wherever), however, doesn’t mean that you actually were – or that you should suffer the consequences, which can include jail time, fines, probation, license suspension and much more.

Indeed, a Los Angeles DUI attorney may analyze your case and find that the so-called DUI symptoms actually stemmed from fatigue, from improper police observation of your behavior, or even from an undiagnosed disease or condition. For instance, it’s well known that diabetics can blow “false positives” into breathalyzer machines because ketones and other chemicals in their breath can register as alcohol. All this is to say that, if you stand accused of a crime like Glendale DUI or Pasadena DUI, you should talk over your options with a qualified and resourceful Southern California lawyer.

Published on: September 19, 2010

Los Angeles Man Could be Charged with Southern California DUI Murder

by Michael Kraut

Last Tuesday, an emotionally charged Southern California DUI trial got underway in Fullerton. The defendant, Angel Herrera Leal, stands accused of perpetrating a horrific fatal DUI accident on an Anaheim freeway.

According to news and police reports, in the early morning hours of December 27, 2008, Leal – who had been twice convicted for driving under the influence in Southern California (2005 + 2007) – drive several miles in the wrong way on the southbound lane of an Anaheim freeway. He eventually collided head on with a car driving the correct direction. The collision resulted in the death of one of the passengers in the southbound car – Rebecca Moon – as well as injuries to the driver, Jisun Park. (Park allegedly had also been driving under the influence that evening, and she was cited accordingly).

Prosecutors apparently will seek a Southern California DUI murder charge against Leal. The Deputy DA, Howard Gundy, claims that Leal had a BAC of 0.29%. (By comparison, the Southern California DUI legal limit is 0.08%). According to news reports, Leal had spent time in alcohol education classes — he was aware that driving while intoxicated could lead to someone’s death or serious injury. He was also operating on a suspended license.

Prosecutors seeking serious charges — such as Glendale DUI murder — must meet a serious burden of proof. Typically, if a driver kills someone while DUI, he or she can be charged with vehicular manslaughter or maybe vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, depending on circumstances. The charge of DUI murder is even more serious than the vehicular manslaughter counts. In this case, the defendant had two priors and had completed an alcohol education course, so he should have deeply understood how dangerous driving DUI could be.

Designing a potent defense to charges of driving under the influence in Pasadena or Glendale (or wherever) can be tricky, even if the charges are far less serious and the police employed less than stellar technique. A smart, credentialed and experienced lawyer can make all the difference.

Published on: September 6, 2010

What to Do After Being Arrested for Los Angeles DUI

by Michael Kraut

Many articles about Los Angeles DUI tell you how to avoid getting into dangerous driving situations, how to handle the police at the scene, and even how to draft an effective legal contest to your charges. But very few resources out there tell you what to do — how to handle the stress, agita, confusion, and overwhelm that you feel — in the hours and days after your arrest. This blog post aims to help defendants take smart, active and resourceful steps to help with damage control.

1. Record what happened
The human memory is notoriously fluid and malleable. Although you may feel like that your Glendale DUI arrest will forever being burned in your mind, your memory has a way of warping events. If you cannot clearly and articulately recall what happened, you may not be able to put up your stiffest defense. To that end, write down precisely what happened as soon as you get home and get cleaned up. If you remember any officer quotes – things that might be helpful in constructing a defense – be sure to note those. Note time lines. If you were given a breathalyzer or blood test, note how that went. Write down the names of officers who arrested you, and so on and so forth. The more information you can get out of your head and onto paper right now, the easier it will be for your Pasadena DUI lawyer to help you strategize your defense.

2. Don’t delay taking action
For one thing, your California driver’s license could be suspended if you don’t try to contest your charges. Also, if you miss court dates or other key deadlines, you could face penalties above and beyond those stemming from your Southern California DUI.

3. Find an attorney ASAP
True, you can handle your own defense. But if you fail to put up the stiffest resistance to the charges against you, the consequences could be dire. Not only could you face jail time – sometimes much more jail time than the minimum 48 hours behind bars – but you could also face heightened court costs, stricter probation terms, a lengthier license suspension, and more mandatory alcohol school.

4. Steel yourself.

In the weeks and months ahead, you may have to go through difficult times as you relive your arrest and explain to family and friends what’s going on. Do your best to get perspective on what happened, and count your blessings that you are still alive. It is possible to recover from a DUI arrest and rebuild your life, become a safer, more mindful driver. It is going to take work and soul searching to figure out how you got to where you are now – and how to make improvements in your life.

As part of your battle strategy, you almost certainly want to get the help of an experienced Los Angeles DUI lawyer.

Published on: August 29, 2010

Disturbing Southern California DUI Charge – Suspect Beat His Girlfriend While on DUI Rampage

by Michael Kraut

Driving under the influence in Southern California is — in and of itself — an extremely dangerous and perhaps even deadly thing to do. But a Mill Valley man by the name of Scott Lindner has been arrested not only for Southern California DUI but also for allegedly assaulting a female passenger while smashing his 2010 Honda Accord into a variety of objects during what can only be described as a DUI rampage.

The couple had been arguing at Marin County’s Olema Campground, when they got into Lindner’s 2010 Accord. The 22-year-old Lindner crashed his car into a parked truck and then slammed into a metal pole (part of a propane tank enclosure), causing his 20-year-old female passenger to get thrown from the car and suffer injuries. For whatever reason, the woman got back into the car with Lindner, and they peeled off down Highway 1. Throughout an 8-mile drive, Lindner continued to hit his passenger, hurting her more. His rampage finished at Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, when the Accord plowed into a curb and came to a stop blocking the eastbound lane of traffic. CHP officers quickly arrived and arrested Lindner for felony traffic charges. Lindner’s passenger was taken to a nearby hospital. Investigating officers found that Lindner had been on parole with the State’s Department of Corrections, and the CHP released a statement that said the Lindner was back on parole hold.

This disturbing case gives us an opportunity to discuss the difference between a “standard” non-injury Los Angeles DUI and an injury DUI. A non-injury charge might be prosecuted pursuant to California Vehicle Code Sections 23152(a) and 23152(b); but an injury Pasadena DUI will be charged according to two different sections, California Vehicle Code Sections 23153(a) and 23153(b).

Essentially, the injury subsections of the CVC stipulate that an ordinary misdemeanor DUI charge can be elevated to a felony if the driver hurts another person in the course of operating a vehicle while DUI. A felony is a much more serious charge than a misdemeanor. It carries stricter penalties. Convicted felons lose the right to vote and face a much more difficult road back to normalcy. Felons have a harder time securing loans, leasing cars and apartments, getting jobs and generally readapting to life after the conviction.

So if you have been charged with an injury DUI in Glendale or elsewhere throughout the Southland, it’s in your interest to explore your options for best legal defense.

Published on: August 23, 2010

Another Mel Gibson Los Angeles DUI? Not Quite, But Still – More Bad Press for the Braveheart Star

by Michael Kraut

Actor Mel Gibson’s 2006 Los Angeles DUI arrest may have been the most notorious celebrity DUI arrest in history. The Australian actor allegedly went off on an anti-Semitic rant at the Malibu police station when he was brought in, and this tirade fueled weeks of media coverage. On August 16, Gibson made headlines once again for getting into motor vehicle related trouble in Malibu – this time, he drove his Maserati Quattroporte off a hillside in Malibu and dinged up his car. The police called to the scene found that the actor was not DUI in Southern California this time.

Gibson may face allegations that he hit and abused his ex-girlfriend (and mother of his child) Oksana Grigorieva. A series of taped conversations between Grigorieva and Gibson released on the website RadarOnline.com revealed the actor to sound like a deranged lunatic, in which he apparently admitted to hitting his girlfriend, and he threatened to burn her house down (among other unsavory things). Clearly, in the wake of the release of these obscenity laced tapes and this fresh reminder of his 2006 Los Angeles DUI, Gibson is not exactly having a blockbuster summer.

But his story does lead us to an intriguing question: what happens to a driver who is pulled over multiple times for driving under the influence in Southern California? Obviously, your penalties likely go up. But what influences those penalties, and what should a second or third time Los Angeles DUI offender expect?

First of all, you have to remember that if you are pulled over for driving under the influence in Glendale (for instance) several times, the court will take a slate of factors under consideration, including how and whether you cooperated with the police, how much over the legal limit of 0.08% your BAC was, and whether you hurt anyone or did any property damage – and if you did, whether you took responsibility or fled the scene (hit and run). Beyond that, a typical second time Southern California DUI offender will get jail time of between 4 and 10 days (first timers will get a mandatory 48 hours in custody), 18 months minimum DUI alcohol school (first timers will get maybe six weeks), a two-year driver’s license suspension (first timers will get a one year suspension), and an increase in court costs and fines – among other heightened penalties.

A third time offender will get a mandatory minimum of 120 days custody – that’s around four months. He or she will face a three-year license suspension and see even more significant hikes in court costs and fines. And again, this is really just scratching the surface – the circumstances of your Pasadena DUI will almost certainly inform your punishment. Another important factor will be the nature and strength of your defense. And since you can’t really control the court – or what happened with your DUI arrest – your best strategy is to work with an experienced DUI lawyer to cultivate and execute your best possible legal defense.