Articles Posted in DUI on Prescription Drugs

Statistics compiled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol spell good news: the number of Los Angeles DUI arrests over the holiday season dropped substantially from the 2011 numbers. la-dui-arrest-over-holidays.jpg

The stats are still pretty staggering, but they mark a step in the right direction. Here are the numbers. From December 14 through December 19, per the LA County Sheriff’s Department, police officers from 100 different agencies busted 1,773 people for DUI in Los Angeles — down by nearly 500 from the 2011 numbers for the same period (2,205).

Meanwhile, the California Highway Patrol recorded a radically different trend statewide.

Between December 21 and December 25, 1,170 people got arrested for driving under the influence in California, and 39 people died. This compares poorly to the 2011 stats for the same period — 980 arrested and 14 killed.

When you tally up the numbers from December 14 through January 1, they are also pretty eye opening. 2,168 people got arrested throughout Los Angeles for DUI, per the Sheriff’s Department’s report. That means that one out of three arrests — almost 600 DUIs — came during the final 4 days of the campaign, from December 28 through January 1.

As we’ve discussed before, Los Angeles DUI arrests spike like crazy during holidays like New Year’s Eve, because partying people fail to get designated drivers or create “Plan Bs” for their route home.

The Sheriff’s Department leveraged a variety of methods to crack down on DUI driving during the holiday, including roving patrols, multi-agency task force operations, checkpoints, and beyond — all made possible by a California Office of Traffic Safety grant.

What should you do if you got wrapped up in the Los Angeles DUI holiday “dragnet”?

Whether you got stopped at a checkpoint and arrested for a routine misdemeanor charge, per California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) or 23152(b); or you got tagged for a more complex offence, including hit and run, resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, et cetera, you’re entitled to a stiff defense.

The question before you is: how should you build that defense? How can you avoid the scary penalties, such as loss of your Californian driver’s license, substantial jail time, large fines, and a substantial criminal record?

The team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you put together a detailed, step by step strategy to manage your charges and confront them in the most effective and knowledgeable way. Attorney Kraut is a Harvard Law School educated former prosecutor — he worked for the city for many years, so he knows what prosecutors tend to do in case like yours, and he can help you prepare accordingly. Get in touch with him and his team today for a free consultation.

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Does a deep, emotionally charged knowledge of Pasadena DUI laws inoculate you against making bad decisions behind the wheel?pasadena-dui-can-happen-to-you.jpg

Your intuition might suggest that it would. You’d think that police officers, Pasadena DUI defense attorneys, legislators and the gadflies who advocate for tougher DUI sanctions might exhibit safer behind the wheel behavior than the average citizen. To be fair, no one has ever conducted a systematic scientific study to compare these types of groups – the “presumed responsible” people versus average citizens. However, anecdotal evidence certainly suggests that Pasadena DUI lawyers are human and prone to fallibility, just like everyone else is.

Case in point: consider the sad story of 40-year-old Jeffrey Gallup, a former defense attorney who now faces his sixth DUI case. His latest arrest occurred back in September in Highland, Utah, just half a year from his previous DUI conviction. A police officer saw Gallup swerve, and he pulled the ex-attorney over for an equipment violation. The officer told the court that he smelled alcohol on Gallup’s person and noted that he had “glassy eyes” – both traditional symptoms of Pasadena DUI. (As regular readers of this blog know, other symptoms include loss of motor coordination, aphasia, inability to do physical tasks, inappropriate emotional reactions, etc.)

Gallup initially refused a DUI blood test after failing his field sobriety tests, so officers had to get a warrant to put him through the paces of a blood test. The former attorney racked up a BAC of 0.09% — over the legal limit for DUI in Pasadena and elsewhere of 0.08%.

Gallup faces a third degree felony count, since this was not his first DUI charge. As we’ve discussed many times, prosecutors do not take kindly to recidivist offenders. They have legal tools that they can use to amp up your charges and put you behind bars for far longer.

Gallup’s situation dramatically highlights that knowledge of the law – on a level far deeper than 99.9% of the population will ever enjoy – is simply not enough to inoculate you from making dumb decisions behind the wheel.

Fortunately, you can recover from what’s happened to you and turn your life around. Look to Pasadena DUI criminal defense lawyer attorney, Michael Kraut, of Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to help you build a potent case. Attorney Kraut is an ex-prosecutor. His perspective as both a criminal defense lawyer and a former prosecutor gives him a competitive advantage over other Pasadena DUI attorneys and law firms.

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Southern California DUI events are dangerous, in and of themselves.dui-with_pipe_bomb.jpg

If you drive under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or even prescription medications, your ability to react to unexpected conditions on the road, emergency signals, strange weather conditions, etc can be horrifically impaired.

Usually, the DUI driving is the most scary ‘part’ of any DUI stop. However, that’s not always the case! Consider a seemingly routine DUI stop up in San Jose that got totally out of control, when local police discovered that the driver had a bomb in his van.

According to news reports, the San Jose Police Department stopped a 1998 Ford Windstar van near the 101 and First Street at around 8:45 p.m. last Wednesday. Police became suspicious while chatting with the driver; and they searched the van. They discovered significant evidence to bust 35-year-old James Magill and hit him with narcotics charges and a DUI.

They also discovered a live pipe bomb!

A SWAT team was summoned to the scene, and police shut down streets around the area. The SWAT team prepped for hours before detonating the pipe bomb in a controlled explosion. Local residents felt and heard the blast. One person living nearby said he felt his entire apartment shake from the controlled detonation. No damage or injuries resulted, fortunately, and the ‘uncooperative’ Magill got booked on a number of charges, including DUI and possession of a destructive device. He was held without bail at County jail.

An investigation into the situation is ongoing.

Hopefully, your Southern California DUI was less scary. The vast, vast majority of people who are arrested for driving under the influence intend no harm. They either misjudge their own ability to metabolize alcohol or make other poor judgment calls.

To manage the aftermath of your DUI arrest effectively, you likely need substantial help from an experienced Los Angeles DUI criminal defense attorney.

The Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’s Michael Kraut has a wealth of resources, experience, and connections to inform you and help you fight back against the charges. The best defenses involve both a deep and realistic appreciation of exactly how much trouble you are in as well as a success focused vision of an ideal conclusion to your case. Attorney Kraut is an ex prosecutor with a Harvard Law School background. He has the common sense, intuition, and experience to help you maximize your likelihood of prevailing.

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If you’ve been arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana or alcohol in Burbank, you are probably wondering how you’ll be charged, whether you’ll go to jail, and what you can do, if anything, to battle back. The law regarding marijuana DUI is rapidly evolving. And it’s evolving not just here in California but also in other states. marijuana-dui-long-beach.jpg

Last week, Colorado lawmakers scuttled a bill that would have created a “BAC-like” level for marijuana DUI. Colorado house bill 12S-1005 was defeated by a razor thin margin; had it passed, then Colorado drivers who drove with a THC level of more than 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood could be charged and convicted of a serious crime. The District Attorney for Boulder County told lawmakers that 15% of the impaired driving cases he sees involve marijuana, and that the vast majority of these cases require a lot of work and time to manage.

The D.A. and others argued that there need to be some standards. Law enforcement officials – and drivers and citizens – need to know what’s allowed and what’s not allowed, so they can make safer decisions and more efficient law enforcement decisions.

Opponents of the measure argued that the 5 nanogram THC level is an unfair standard, for a variety of reasons:

• Some marijuana users have a higher tolerance to the drug than others – thus one could have a high THC level in the blood and still be perfectly sober and capable of driving;
• The chemical THC gets stored in the people’s fat cells, so there is a latency effect. You can be stone sober, but the residual marijuana in the fat cells could screw up your reading and lead to unfair convictions;
• There is no clear method by which marijuana users can test themselves to know whether they are sober enough to drive – like there is with (admittedly flawed) devices like Burbank DUI breathalyzer tests.

If you or someone you care about has been arrested and charged with a marijuana DUI in Burbank or elsewhere in the Southland, Southern California criminal defense attorney Michael Kraut of the Burbank’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810) can advise you and help you build a responsible, effective strategy to win back your freedom, protect your privileges, and move on with your life.

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In a post earlier this week, we talked about how Burbank DUI prevention theory is stuck. burbank-dui-paradigm-shift.jpg

Law enforcement agents, politicians, and even defense attorneys and defendants in LA all often assume that they understand why DUIs occur and what needs to be done to prevent them. For instance, if you were recently stopped for Burbank DUI, your first thought might have been to blame yourself:

• Why did you “act out” and refuse to accept the ride from your designated driver?
• Why did you decide to get behind the wheel after consuming a prescription medication?
• Alternatively, perhaps you are ruminating over how “unfair” the stop was. You believe, for instance, that the Burbank DUI stop was Unconstitutional, or that the breathalyzer test was administrated poorly, or that the police made an error.

Odds are, however, that you have not stopped to contextualize your Burbank DUI stop outside of your own actions and the actions of police. It’s hard to have a 30,000 foot view when contemplating jail time.

Problem is, decoupling your experience from larger trends can be dangerous! (Ask any Burbank DUI lawyer.)

For instance, it’s well documented that Burbank DUIs occur disproportionately on holidays like New Year’s Eve, Super Bowl Sunday, etc. Clearly, events outside of an individual’s control cause or at least heighten the possibility that you will get stopped for driving under the influence in Burbank. Sure, your own misjudgments and the police’s actions might have been important as well. But a national holiday may have played a key, particularly decisive, role in your situation.

The point here is that we can probably make substantial progress in managing and even preventing many Burbank DUIs, if we consider different strategies and tactics to address the root problems. Sure, let’s definitely continue to focus on how to modify driver behavior and educate law enforcement agents about best practices.

But let’s ALSO consider how the engineering of Burbank’s freeways and surface streets might play a role in dangerous driving. And let’s ALSO consider how seemingly tangential, indirectly related factors might play a role in either incentivizing or disincentivizing DUI behavior.

For instance, perhaps drivers who drive on dirty freeways or who drive under stress are more likely to commit a DUI. A Burbank DUI attorny can only infer so much about causality from correlation. But we can at least look at different associations among seemingly unrelated factors.

The amount of trash you have in your car, for instance, hypothetically could be correlated with your likelihood to drive DUI. If so, it may turn out that doing something as simple as keeping your car clean reduces your likelihood of getting arrested for Burbank DUI.

The point is to illustrate that good solutions to your problems might be out there… and they might be unexpected. The way to find these solutions might be to conduct experiments, ideally in conjunction with law enforcement, to try to “out-think” ourselves and our own destructive instincts and impulses.

On a less theoretical note, if you or someone you love needs help with a Burbank DUI defense, connect immediately with the team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810). Attorney Michael Kraut is a pre-eminent Burbank DUI criminal defense attorney. He was a successful prosecutor for over 14 years.

As a Burbank DUI lawyer, he remains a “go to” expert on Burbank DUI for media like the Los Angeles Times, KTLA, Fox News, The New York Times, etc. Attorney Kraut can give you a free consultation to help you figure out your strategy.

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If you got arrested after failing a Burbank DUI breathalyzer test – blowing significantly over the legal limit of 0.08% BAC, for instance – you may feel sour, sad, and scared that the breathalyzer test failure will doom you to a lengthy prison sentence? Now that you’ve been “tarred and feathered” as a DUI driver, will your insurance rates go to the roof? What will your friends, family and colleagues think about you now? Etc, etc.Intoxilyzer-8000-results-thrown-out.jpg

Before you go down this rabbit hole of fear and catastrophic thinking, pull out of your nose dive for a minute and consider a very curious story out of Manatee County, Florida, of all places. According to a local Florida paper, the Bradenton Herald, “prosecutors in Manatee County have decided not to use the alcohol breath test results from one or two local intoxilyzer 8000 machines, saying the volume of blown air wasn’t accurately measured.”

In other words, the machines screwed up!

And the “positive” DUI readings the machines collected are no longer valid as evidence!

As a Division Chief in the Florida State Attorney’s Office noted, “it was the right thing for the integrity of the pending cases to not use the breath results.” Not all analysts agreed with the decision to throw out the breath test results. A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Heather Smith, countered that “the volume is separate and independent from the subject’s alcohol content results … the amount of breath you blow cannot result in a higher or lower alcohol content reading.”

We will leave it to the reader to find the holes in Ms. Smith’s reasoning here. But let’s not get lost in the minutiae of the case – Florida officials already believe that the problem has been solved and the machines are now “fixed,” back in action, ready to help officers tag DUI drivers.

The greater point here is that Burbank DUI breathalyzer tests may not be as “bullet proof” as the common driver assumes they are. As this blog has documented many times over, breathalyzer tests can be corrupted by a diverse array of factors, including:

• Whether you are a man or woman;
• Whether you are a diabetic, or on a special ketogenic diet;
• How deeply you blow into the machines (Ms. Smith’s protestations to the contrary, notwithstanding);
• Calibration or officer reading errors;
• Sample contamination;
• etc, etc.

A Burbank DUI defense attorney, such as a Michael Kraut of San Fernando Valley’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810), can help you understand the charges you face, figure out what to do about them, and resolve any questions, concerns, or fears you have regarding your situation and legal prognosis.

Attorney Kraut is a former prosecutor for the city. He is often called upon by major media institutions to provide expert analysis on Burbank DUI matters.

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This blog typically focuses on news stories, advice, and tips to help defendants charged with crimes like Beverly Hills DUIs understand their options, build better defenses, and stay out of trouble. dr-conrad-murray-los-angeles-medical-crime.jpg

But considering that the trial of the late Michael Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, has consumed more than its fair share of media oxygen, it may be useful to address this admittedly amazing and scary story in this space.

After all, Murray’s trial contains many hidden lessons that can help Beverly Hills DUI defendants understand their challenges, avoid mistakes, and get help before it’s too late.

Prosecutors allege that Dr. Conrad Murray prescribed controlled substances for Jackson, such as the drug propofol, and that the doctor’s reckless care contributed to the pop star’s untimely demise. Prosecutors had been counting on testimony from a Las Vegas pharmacist named Tom Lopez, who was set to testify that Dr. Murray had received huge amounts of propofol — the drug that allegedly killed the King of Pop. Unfortunately for the prosecution, Lopez skipped town… in a major way. He is now apparently living in Thailand.

Whether Murray received massive amounts of propofol – and handed them off to Jackson – will be pivotal to the case. According to a coroner’s report, the King of Pop died in June of 2009 due to an overdose of the lethal combination of propofol and other drugs.

In August 2009, agents from the DEA raided Lopez’s company, Applied Pharmacy Services, and “seized computers, hard drives and other documents relating to prescriptions for controlled substances written by Dr. Conrad Murray for Michael Jackson and shipping information regarding drugs that may have been sent to Dr. Murray.”

The prosecution wants to read Lopez’s testimony, but the defense is arguing that they wouldn’t have the opportunity to cross-examine Lopez, so the evidence should be kept out of the trial.

So, what lessons can drug Beverly Hills DUI defendants learn from what’s happening?

1) First of all, unexpected weirdness can emerge before, during, or after a trial.

No one anticipated that Lopez would zip halfway across the globe and cause a pivotal legal battle before the trial.

2) Traces of your crime can be found far and wide.

Likely, Dr. Murray did not anticipate that his conversations with a Vegas pharmacist would one day become the center of a legal battle. Thanks to prosecutorial investigation techniques and technology, evidence against you can come from a surprisingly diverse array of sources.

3) The quality of your Beverly Hills DUI criminal defense attorney matters.

Your legal representative’s tenacity and acumen can make a profound difference in your case. Will certain evidence be allowed or disallowed? What precision techniques will work on a jury and what ones won’t? Small nuances – differences between a “good” and “great” Beverly Hills DUI attorney – can translate into widely disproportionate outcomes. A good attorney, for instance, may be able to get you off with a two-year jail sentence. But a great attorney might be able to get the charges dismissed altogether. (Obviously, everything depends on circumstances and context.)

For help with your Beverly Hills DUI charge, connect with the team at Beverly Hill’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450, Beverly Hills, California 90210 Phone: (310) 550-6935). Attorney Michael Kraut is an experienced, Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor with the connections, legal understanding, compassion, and tenacity to serve you well.

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Last Monday afternoon, while most Pasadena DUI blogs (and, let’s face it, the entire news media) had attention turned towards the fatal catastrophe in Pennsylvania that took the life of Jackass co-star Ryan Dunn, Idaho Senate Caucus Chairman John McGee quietly bailed himself out of jail on a $5,000 bond, following a brief 10 minute hearing. The Republican Chairman of the Canyon County’s GOP was involved Saturday night in a truly bizarre disaster that surpassed any of the weird arrest and news stories involving Los Angeles DUI, Burbank DUI, Pasadena DUI, and Glendale DUI last week.idaho-state-senator-john-mcgee.jpg

Let’s lift the lid on this curio and discuss its broader implications.

According to the Idaho statesman, “The 38-year-old Caldwell Republican was arrested early Sunday morning on a charge of felony truck theft and misdemeanor DUI, after police found him in the backseat of an SUV – towing a 20-foot trailer – that witnesses say he initially tried to drive off in.”

McGee apparently blew a 0.15 BAC level – nearly twice the Pasadena DUI limit of 0.08% — after drinking and partying at a golf course club house in Boise.

Around about 3 A.M., he hopped into a Ford Excursion and drove away… but then jackknifed the 20 foot rig before getting too far. Two teenagers watched the bizarre accident scene unfold, and the mother of the boys noted that “McGee appeared to be disoriented and hallucinating.” The Idaho Statesman also noted that the Senator’s attorney “might argue that a medical issue was at play.” A hearing has been set for the 1st of July, and many Idaho state political figures are keenly watching the outcome here, as it might have strong bearing on future elections.

One thing that’s striking about this story is that McGee was not exhibiting typical Pasadena DUI symptoms. Normally, someone under the influence might behave recklessly, incoherently, smell like alcohol, or blow a high BAC reading on a breathalyzer test. But if McGee indeed had been hallucinating — and if he did in fact have an underlying medical condition — these factors might influence the nature and quality of his defense. Obviously, it’s illegal to drive with a BAC level of greater than 0.08% in Idaho, just as it is here in Pasadena. But your Los Angeles criminal defense attorney will probe the details of your arrest for facts just like these to help construct a sympathetic and smart defense. After all, your punishments (and potential counterarguments to prosecutorial charges) depend intimately on a clean and vivid accounting of the true facts of the DUI stop and any subsequent acts that you or police officers took.

Pasadena’s Michael Kraut (Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers located at: 790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899) has the track record and success at jury trials, knowledge of prosecutorial tactics and strategies, and diverse experience you need to identify your most strategic path to success. This may not mean getting all of your charged dropped, but it will mean feeling less overwhelmed, anxious, and confused. And more confident about exactly what you need to do to restore your life and make amends for any wrongdoing you committed.

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Jennifer Jowett, a wealthy socialite featured on the VH1 series You’re Cut Off! was arrested for driving under the influence in West Hollywood the night of the show’s premiere just a block from her house, according to gossip website TMZ.com. Jowett and the show’s host, life coach Laura Baron, had gotten into a heated disagreement prior to the DUI arrest. One promo clip shows Jowett throwing a garbage can at the hostess and pushing the cameras away while launching into an expletive-laden tirade.Jowett-DUI.jpg

If you have recently been tagged for DUI in Pasadena, DUI in Glendale, Los Angeles DUI, or Burbank DUI, odds are that some of your friends, relatives, and co-workers have lumped you in with out-of-control celebutantes like Jowett.

You may feel like this judgment about your character is premature and unfounded. After all, while the popular press loves to report on the “nervous breakdowns” of attractive, histrionic, wealthy women like Jowett, real Burbank DUI defendants tend to be far more diverse.

Some DUI offenders are recidivists – that is, they repeat their bad behavior.

Others simply make a one-time mistake.

Still others are unfairly charged.

There is yet another category — one that’s rarely discussed in the media – and that’s people arrested for driving under the influence of drugs.

A Burbank drug DUI would be charged under California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (a) – the same CVC code that applies to driving under the influence of alcohol. You need not be under the influence of some exotic and illegal narcotic, like cocaine, heroin or “Special K,” to face a CVC Section 23152 (a) charge. Indeed, if you operate a vehicle while on standard prescription medications, such as Oxycodone or Vicodin, or even certain over-the-counter medications, you can face charges. An officer will likely not give you a breathalyzer test, since the breathalyzer only picks up the chemical signature of ethanol (alcohol). That said, you could be asked to take a blood and/or urine test.

If convicted, you could face a variable rainbow of penalties, including license suspension, jail time, probation, and fines and fees. On top of that, you will face secondary consequences, such as hiked up insurance rates.

Fortunately, you don’t have to execute your own legal defense. A proven and compassionate Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can be enormously helpful in either plea bargaining down your charge or working to get it wiped out completely.

Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers — located at 2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810) — is a fantastic resource for new defendants. Whether you are confused about your rights or overwhelmed by the potential penalties you face, get in touch with this Harvard Law School educated former prosecutor today to come up with a success-oriented defense strategy.

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What could have been a horrifically bloody Los Angeles DUI story fortunately ended with just a minor fender-bender and an arrest. Last week, a man apparently under the influence of alcohol pulled his car onto some railroad tracks parallel to San Fernando Road and fell asleep – literally with his car striding the tracks. Sure enough, at around 1:15 in the morning, a Union Pacific freight train came barreling along and smashed into the vehicle. Fortunately for the unconscious driver, the freight train hit the car at such an angle that it spun off the tracks and whipped around. Local Sergeant Jim Reed (of Foothill Station) noted that “(the driver) wasn’t injured at all.” Amazing.Los-Angeles-DUI-track-crash.jpg

Drivers arrested for Burbank DUI, Glendale DUI, DUI in Pasadena, or DUI in Los Angeles are often lucky to be stopped before they get into a crash or hurt themselves or others. And sometimes, sheer luck prevents tragedies.

When many people imagine a driver falling asleep on a train track, they perhaps conjure up images of someone who has consumed bucket-loads of pills and alcohol. This brings up an interesting issue. Many people realize that driving under the influence of alcohol is wrong. But did you know that driving under the influence of drugs — including prescription pain medications and OTC drugs – can not only be as dangerous as (or even more dangerous than) driving under the influence of alcohol but that California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (a) considers such action a criminal offense? Even if you have a doctor’s order to take a medication – or you are taking an over-the-counter drug – you can be arrested and charged for a DUI drug crime. Officers may not use a breathalyzer test on you. You might be subjected to a blood or urine test, however.

The good news, from a defendant’s point of view, is that a Burbank DUI drug charge is actually harder to prove than a DUI alcohol charge. But a conviction can result in a jail time, major fines, license suspension, loss of security clearance at your job, points on your license, and indirect but substantial problems, such as a likely hike in your insurance rates.

To respond smartly and efficiently to these charges, you should almost certainly talk to an experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney. Burbank DUI attorney Michael Kraut (located at 2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810) has the knowledge, wherewithal, record of success, and in-house resources to provide you with a peerless defense. Mr. Kraut is no stranger to drug and DUI cases. Prior to becoming a criminal defense lawyer, he served as a prosecutor for the City of Los Angeles – more than 14 years as a Deputy DA – and he also brings his Harvard Law School education and high level connections to bear to help defendants get their best possible outcomes.

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