Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Published on: June 29, 2016

DUI Drivers Can’t Avoid Arrest with These Tactics

Drivers looking to avoid charges of DUI in Los Angeles have tried many creative ways to avoid an arrest. They can make excuses, plead with the arresting officer to let them off and threaten the police department with reprisals by powerful friends. These attempts to evade DUI charges don’t work in the City of Angels, and they don’t work elsewhere either.

In the Chicago suburb of Riverside, Hazel Rojas didn’t avoid DUI charges when she told the arresting officer that she had many friends in the suburban police force. But that may have been due to the fact that she allegedly had already used many different excuses to prevent her arrest.

Police first noticed Rojas’ car when she reportedly neglected to go on a green light, then went 20 mph in a 35 mph zone. When an officer pulled her over, Rojas claimed that the alcohol he smelled was the result of her spilling alcohol on herself while serving customers at her workplace. But she reportedly failed the sobriety test and practically fell into the officer’s arms.

Published on: June 27, 2016

Glendale Police Vehicle Provides Unique Warning to DUI Drivers

by Michael Kraut

A police car is never a welcome sight to someone who has imbibed enough to risk an arrest for DUI in Los Angeles. But in Glendale, California, the police department is hoping that all motorists will think about the hazards of DUI when they see its new department vehicle coming down the street.

The front of the sedan features a black and white paint job—a traditional cop car look. The rear, however, looks like a yellow taxi.

A press release from the City of Glendale Police Department said the goal of the unique vehicle is to increase public awareness, to create discussion about the dangers of impaired driving and to remind motorists that they need to make responsible decisions when drinking. The police will use the vehicle for educational purposes and not for DUI enforcement.

Published on: June 23, 2016

Texas Court: Implied Consent Valid for DUI Driver

by Michael Kraut

Under California’s vehicle codes, drivers suspected of a DUI in Los Angeles must submit to breathalyzer or blood tests or face a license suspension of one year for the first offense (two years for the second offense and three years for the third) and must pay a fine of $125.

Texas has a similar implied consent law, and the state’s appeals court has just upheld its constitutionality.

Officer Luis Villarreal of the McAllen, Texas, Police Department pulled John Andrew Rankin over on July 19, 2014, after the driver breezed through a blinking red light without stopping. The officer reported that Rankin smelled strongly of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and slurred his speech. When Rankin failed field sobriety tests, Villarreal arrested him for driving under the influence. At the police station, Rankin refused to take a breathalyzer test.

Published on: June 20, 2016

DUI Driver Charged With Manslaughter After Accident Leads to Death of Unborn Baby

by Michael Kraut

Under a pilot program that became law in 2010, those convicted of DUI in Los Angeles County must use an ignition interlock device on any vehicles they drive for at least five months after a DUI arrest.

Why these draconian rules? Advocates of IID laws are pointing to a recent incident in Miami, Florida, to make the case that tough rules prevent recidivism and save lives.

Jessica Crane, 39, had racked up multiple driving violations before she plowed into a pregnant mother and her two children in Miami in early May. She had also allegedly lost her license 14 times because of failure to pay her fines. According to the Miami Herald, Crane should have been using an ignition interlock device on any vehicle that she drove. But her 2008 Infiniti didn’t have one, so Crane allegedly drove while under the influence and ended up killing an unborn baby. (Her BAC measured 0.22 almost three hours after the crash.)
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Published on: June 15, 2016

Even Worse Than Jail? Places DUI Drivers Really Don’t Want to End Up

by Michael Kraut

A conviction for DUI in Los Angeles can land you behind bars. While that isn’t a pleasant experience, some DUI drivers end up in even worse locations.

The Times-Union in Jacksonville, Florida, reports that St. Mary’s City and Camden County emergency responders found 52-year-old Charles Edward Fields, Jr., sitting in his pickup truck in the St. Mary’s River. Fields said that while traveling home, he became confused and apparently turned onto a boat ramp instead of a side street.

Fortunately, the water at that point wasn’t too deep. Although the truck became partially submerged in the river, police officers assisted Fields out of the vehicle without incident. He agreed to go the police station, where officers measured his BAC above the legal limit and charged him with DUI.

In Denver, meanwhile, police arrested Randolph Blazon for DUI after the 25-year-old’s vehicle ended up inside the Colorado Convention Center. What?? Here’s how it happened. His truck allegedly sped through an intersection, jumped the curb and crashed through the facility’s glass entrance doors, running over a woman’s foot. Flying glass caused minor injuries to several other people. Police reported that Blazon was mumbling, slurring his speech and swaying when they got to the scene.
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Published on: June 13, 2016

How Not to Parent 101: DUI Drivers Win Bad Parent Awards

by Michael Kraut

Children learn from their parents’ behaviors, so people convicted of DUI in Los Angeles might want to ponder the future and think about what their kids might try when they’re old enough to drive. Will your children repeat your actions, or will they be so turned off by the repercussions of your DUI that they’ll vow never to get behind the wheel while impaired?

Here are two stories along those lines to chew on:

• In Richmond, Virginia, a mother left her 16-month-old son and a dog alone in a hotel room while she allegedly went out drinking. Police picked up Taliaferro Troupe, age 34, for DUI shortly before 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning, but the mother apparently didn’t remember to tell authorities or her family members about the child until seven hours later. Troupe’s mother and the hotel staff finally went to the room around 1:30 in the afternoon and found the child in soiled diapers and without access to food and water. No one knows how long the child had been in the room alone.

Published on: June 8, 2016

New Law Says No Tows for DUI Drivers: Is It Fair? Will It Help?

by Michael Kraut

Drivers at risk for DUI in Los Angles sometimes face dilemmas. They don’t want to drive when they suspect they’ve had a few too many, but if they don’t move their cars from a bar’s parking lot, they may risk a tow truck taking it to an impoundment lot. Would they be more inclined to seek alternative transportation if they knew that their cars would remain in place overnight?

The City of Tampa, Florida, thinks that they will. In 2008, the City adopted an ordinance that made it illegal for bars to have vehicles on their lot towed between 9 p.m. and noon the next day, unless they have signed an order authorizing its removal. The law also forbids tow truck drivers from removing any vehicle unless they have a signed order that gives the make, model, color and license plate of the vehicle and the name of the person in the bar who ordered the removal.

But the law has not worked as intended. According to a series of investigative reports by TV 10News in Tampa, neither bar owners nor customers are aware of the law. People interviewed for the news story said that fear of towing did play a role in their decision to drive their vehicles after they had been drinking.

So Tampa’s City Council is now considering another measure to require any bar or restaurant that serves alcohol to post signs telling customers that their vehicles cannot be towed before noon. According to 10News, the goal is to encourage anyone who’s had too much to drink to seek a lift from a cab, Uber, Lyft or a friend.

Published on: June 6, 2016

South Carolina DUI Drivers Retain Moped Option – Should Los Angeles DUI Drivers Get Something Similar?

by Michael Kraut

Drivers convicted of DUI in Los Angeles usually lose their licenses for some period of time, forcing them to seek alternative transportation. They may take the bus, get rides from friends or family members or use cabs or ride-sharing services.

In South Carolina, however, DUI drivers have had another way of getting around the license restriction. They can travel around on a moped, since those vehicles are not subject to the same traffic and safety laws as other motor vehicles.

But moped drivers can expect some changes. The South Carolina legislature just sent a measure to Governor Nikki Haley that will require operators to follow almost all of the state’s traffic laws. When the bill becomes law, police officers will be able to arrest a moped operator for DUI just like they could arrest any other motorist who drives while impaired. (They could not do that under current law.)

However, drivers convicted of DUI who lose their regular drivers’ licenses could still get a special moped license that would allow them to continue to operate these small motorized vehicles.

Published on: June 6, 2016

Oddball Encounters with Houses Halt DUI Drivers

by Michael Kraut

Some Los Angeles DUI drivers manage to evade police officers who try to stop them. Others collide with other cars but continue on their way missing a fender or a front headline. But when a DUI driver smashes into someone’s home, that encounter is usually enough to halt the progress–one way or another.

• In Chesterfield, Virginia, 29-year-old Edward Reid rammed several cars on the evening of Saturday, May 28th, before he hit a house on Sherwood Forest Drive. Although the collision stopped the car, it did not prevent Reid from taking off. Police caught up with the errant driver and charged him not only with DUI but also with hit and run and a misdemeanor drug possession charge.

Published on: May 27, 2016

Unsuccess Leaves Clues: What DUI Drivers Leave Behind [For Instance: a Headless Vulture!]

by Michael Kraut

Pro tip: People who want to avoid charges for a DUI in Los Angeles (or for other criminal charges) should avoid gifting police officers powerful evidence against them.

In Tumwater, Washington, on May 17th, police charged 32-year-old Christopher Rieg with hit and run and with driving under the influence. Reportedly, Rieg traveled through an intersection, slammed into a black sedan and then took off. But he left behind something from his vehicle—his license plate. When a police officer found the tag in the intersection, he did a quick search and found that the plate belonged on a car owned by Rieg. The officer also uncovered a booking photo of Rieg from an earlier arrest.

Police officers discovered Rieg and a female companion standing by the side of the road not far from the crash scene. They administered a blood alcohol test and found his BAC level was .16 – twice the legal limit. After Rieg went to jail, a judge set his bail at $50,000.