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Recent Blog Posts
Lawmakers’ DUI Attorneys Ask for Charges to Be Dropped Until Legislative Session Concludes
Lawmakers getting into trouble for DUI don't exactly make the news in California. However, DUI defense attorneys for one lawmaker who was recently arrested for driving under the influx of alcohol have called for charges to be dropped against him for a unique reason that was drafted by people riding in horse-drawn carriages.
They argue that the lawmaker is currently in the middle of a legislative session in the state, and therefore, should not be arrested for DUI at this stage.
According to the attorneys, charges against Kentucky’s Senator Brandon Smith must be dropped, because of a provision in the Kentucky Constitution that holds that a lawmaker cannot be arrested while the legislative session is in progress. Senator Smith was arrested on January 6, which also happens to be the day the 2015 session officially began.
Senator Brandon Smith was driving home when he was pulled over by officers, who smelt alcohol on his breath. He was administered a breathalyzer test. He registered a .088 on the test, which is just above the maximum permissible alcohol limit.
Holiday DUI Crackdown Kicks off in Southern California
Across the Southern California region including across Santa Ana and Los Angeles, law enforcement officers are gearing up to kick off the most intensive holiday DUI crackdown of the year. Several law-enforcement agencies in Southern California are participating in the effort to get drunk drivers off the street.
If you are driving under the influence of alcohol over the next few days, your chances of being arrested for DUI are the highest in the year. The special task force that has been designed to help crack down on intoxicated motorists is the Avoid DUI Task Force.
The message is clear - Drive Sober or Get Pulled over. The campaign is a no-tolerance campaign that is targeted at getting intoxicated motorists of the road. The counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura are included this year in the task force's efforts.
The campaign kicked off on December 12, and over the next few weeks and through the New Year's holiday, you will see more numbers of police officers, DUI checkpoints and driver’s license checkpoints. In Los Angeles, you're also likely see greater number of saturation patrols. You'll find more numbers of police officers on freeways, pulling motorists over and administering alcohol tests.
Man Claims Eating Beer-Battered Fish Caused Intoxication
Can you get drunk after eating a plate of beer-battered fish? That is the question that many Los Angeles DUI defense lawyers are asking, after a man in Wisconsin presented that as a defense for his DUI.
The man was pulled over by police officers, who then administered a breathalyzer test. The man registered below the .08 maximum permissible level, but since this wasn't his first DUI, he was charged just the same. The man apparently told police officers that he had eaten beer-battered fish just before he began driving, and that this accounted for the alcohol content in his blood. He denied having consumed any alcohol beverages.
To cook up a plate of beer-battered fish, the seafood is dipped in batter that includes beer, and deep-fried. Cooking removes the alcohol from the food. The alcohol evaporates in the cooking process, and although it leaves behind the flavor of alcohol, it does not leave behind alcohol content that would be sufficient to actually intoxicate a person.
Talking to Your Teenage Child about Underage Drinking
Underage drinking is pervasive in colleges across the United States, and it doesn't help parents to bury their head in the sand, and pretend that the problem does not exist. For any parent to believe that their child is completely immune from the dangers that emerge when an inexperienced or novice driver is given access to alcohol, is foolish.
As a responsible parent, you must initiate conversations about the dangers of alcohol use with your child. Those discussions must begin not when your child has been involved in an alcohol-related accident, or has been arrested for DUI, but must begin when your child enters high school, or at the very least, when he leaves home for college.
Some teenagers may be at a higher risk of alcohol abuse, underage DUI and other destructive behaviors involving alcohol. For instance, children who have a family history of parental alcohol abuse, a history of child abuse, behavior problems, mental health problems, discipline problems in school, or have close friends also use alcohol or abuse drugs, are much more likely to drink alcohol.
Arizona Court Rules Medical Marijuana Cardholders Not Immune from DUI
Arizona's medical marijuana laws which allow persons to access marijuana for medicinal purposes, does not give these cardholders immunity from prosecution for DUI charges. An Arizona court recently delivered a ruling in a case involving a man who was arrested for DUI after driving a car the car under the influence of pot. The man was a medicinal marijuana cardholder, and although he was found not guilty of driving while impaired, the court did find that he was guilty of driving with pot in his system.
According to the ruling, persons who are using marijuana and have traces of the drug in their system, can be charged with and convicted of DUI. It's an interesting ruling, and one that is bound to be watched in states like California that also have medical marijuana laws in place.
The ruling is also interesting to Los Angeles DUI lawyers because it comes at a time when a number of states are moving to ease restrictions on access to marijuana. Colorado and Washington recently became the first states to allow the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes. As restrictions on marijuana continue to ease, courts continue to deliver conflicting messages, ruling that while access to marijuana is easier, people who have traces of the drug in their system can actually be prosecuted for DUI.
California DMVs Arbitrary Powers to Revoke Licenses under Spotlight
An analysis of data from the California Department Of Motor Vehicles from 2012 found that employees at the DMV either suspended or revoked the licenses in at least 135 DUI cases. In all these cases, the persons arrested had never been charged with any DUI-related crime, nor had their criminal cases dismissed because of lack of evidence.
Los Angeles DUI lawyers have found that DMV employees are often allowed to act as a prosecutor and judge, when they decide whether to revoke or suspend licenses. Attorneys have always believed that allowing a single employee to decide on a matter like this amounts to a violation of an individual's constitutional rights. Now, a lawsuit that has been filed by a group of attorneys against the California Department Of Motor Vehicles, targets these arbitrary powers that are granted to employees at the agency.
The lawsuit claims that allowing employees to act as both the prosecutor and judge about which person’s licenses will be suspended or revoked, is a violation of their rights. At the California Department Of Motor Vehicles, a single employee is given the task of advocating for the DMV's interests, and making the decision in administrative proceedings. That makes it a clear conflict of interest, and means the system is tilted against drivers in the state of California who have been arrested for DUI.
Alcohol Commercials Affect Teen Drinking Rates
Teens, who are exposed to brand-specific alcohol advertising on television, are much more likely to drink. Those who already drink illegally are likely to drink even more, when they view such commercials. Those are the results of a new study that was released by researchers at the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recently.
The researchers were specifically looking at whether brand-specific alcohol ads that air during television shows specifically increase consumption of these brands. They found that there was definitely an association between exposure to specific ads during television shows an increased consumption. Ad exposure over 20 television shows was monitored, and the researchers looked at whether the ads had an impact on teen drinking rates. They found from their study of more than 1000 people, that there was a significant connection between exposure to a brand in advertisements on television, and actual consumption of the beverage.
Feds Push for Law That Would Mandate Interlock Devices
Under the proposal by New York Democrat Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey, states that fail to enact the law by the deadline of October 1, mandating all DUI offenders to have these devices installed in their vehicles, would suffer a cut in their highway transportation funding.
Motorists in four California counties-Los Angeles, Sacramento, Almeida and Tulare - are already familiar with a program like this. Under the pilot program, which was kicked off in 2010, even an offender who is convicted of a first-time DUI, is required to install certified ignition interlock devices in each vehicle that he owns or operates.
An ignition interlock device is a device that is connected to the ignition of the car. The device takes a breath sample from a person before he begins driving. It detects the alcohol content in the breath, and if it detects alcohol content above a predetermined limit, it will shut down the ignition, and the engine will not start. As the person drives, the device will continue to ask for samples to reduce the risk that the driver will consume alcohol as he is driving.
Is Uber App Helping Reduce DUI Arrests?
That seems to be confirmed by statistics in Los Angeles and other cities, where there has been a drop in the number of DUI offenses recorded since Uber arrived on the scene. According to data involving DUI citations from the California Highway Patrol, the number of DUI arrests actually peaked just before the release of the Uber app in April 2012. After the app was introduced, the number of DUI arrests began to drop even as other rideshare apps like Lyft arrived on the scene. However, police are not as quick to credit Uber for that drop in DUI arrests.
The Los Angeles Police Department however does admit that there has been a slight decrease in the number of DUI accidents between 2013 and 2014. The department also admits that there is no way to confirm that a decrease in the number of DUI accidents is in any way linked to the increasing use of Uber. The Los Angeles Police Department would like to believe that there have been other factors that have contributed to a drop in DUI arrests, and DUI crashes like increased awareness and education campaigns targeting drunk driving.
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Appeal of DUI Case
The Supreme Court of the United States Of America recently decided not to take up the appeal of a DUI decision, that had been handed by a California court.
The decision was handed down in Vangelder versus California, and the crux of the defense was the breath test performed just before the arrest. Vangelder had been arrested for DUI after a breath test. At the trial, attorneys for the defendant brought in an expert, who said that testing machines were unreliable because they tended to measure the alcohol content in the wrong part of the breath. They didn't measure the alcohol content in the deeper part of the air, which is closer to the bloodstream, and therefore, readings from the testing machines were unreliable.
The defense however didn't work, and the man was convicted. The man appealed, and the California State Court ruled against him again. When the matter went to the Supreme Court of the United States Of America, the Court decided to not take up the appeal at all.
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