DUI Category Archives — Page 4 of 24 — Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog Published by Los Angeles & Southern California Criminal & DUI Defense Attorney Michael Kraut

December 7, 2015

November’s High Profile Los Angeles DUI Cases

The City of Angels attracts a fair number of celebrities who party too hard and end up facing charges of DUI in Los Angeles. The most recent case was Michael Weatherly, a longtime actor on the television show NCIS. He spent 15 hours in jail in early November after police pulled him over for speeding. Since Weatherly’s reported blood alcohol content measured above the legal limit of .08, he is now looking at two counts of DUI. Since Weatherly is a first-time offender, however, he’s not likely to face jail time.

Let’s also quickly survey two big out of state celebrity DUI cases.

December 4, 2015

Do Double Los Angeles DUI Drivers Get Their Vehicles Back Too Soon?

by Michael Kraut

Police officers who arrest motorists for DUI in Los Angeles occasionally run across drivers who don’t learn from their initial mistakes. As soon as these alleged DUI drivers are out of jail, they get behind the wheel again.

One woman in Somerset, Pennsylvania, may hold the record for the least amount of time between DUI arrests. She’s certainly a contender.

On Saturday, November 14th, around 5 p.m., Pennsylvania State police arrested Michele Leonard, age 47, on charges of DUI after she crashed her car in an intersection in Somerset Township. They gave her a breathalyzer test and took her to the station, where officers did the paperwork and then released her.

Leonard still apparently wasn’t thinking too clearly, because she gave $3 to a stranger to take her back to the crash site. She got back in her car and proceeded to drive away, only to lose control of her vehicle and smash the side of a parked car. She ended up traveling down a nearby driveway and through the owner’s shed, destroying both the building and many of the expensive tools inside.

November 27, 2015

Teachers Need Education on DUI

by Michael Kraut

Students who take drivers education in the Southern California area hear numerous warnings during their classes about the dangers of DUI in Los Angeles. But sometimes the teachers of these classes ignore their own good advice.

Take the case of 51-year-old, Richard Bull. The Fort Myers, Florida, CBS affiliate WINK reported on that when Bull attempted to pull into a McDonald’s parking lot in Alva, Florida, his vehicle jumped the curb and landed up in a ditch alongside the fast-food restaurant. When Lee County deputies reported to the scene, he allegedly compounded his problems by trying to convince them that someone else was driving his car and had taken off when they approached.

This scenario would have embarrassed anyone (once they were sober again), but the real problem in Bull’s case is that he teaches driver’s ed at the local Riverdale High School. He was even wearing a school tee shirt when arrested. The Lee County School District said that while it doesn’t fire teachers for DUI, it will probably reassign the (now former) driver’s ed teacher.
Even if they don’t teach driver’s ed, educators are expected to set a good example behind the wheel. But in Williamson County, Tennessee, a finalist for the state’s Principal of the Year got in trouble when he crashed his car in late October, causing some property damage.

November 23, 2015

DUI Arrests Declining in Chicago—But Is That Really A Good Sign?

by Michael Kraut

If the number of arrests for DUI in Los Angeles decreased, would it mean that the roads are getting safer? Maybe not. A recent article in Illinois’ Daily Herald newspaper raised some questions about the real meaning behind a decline in DUI arrests in several suburban Chicago neighborhoods.

Columnist Jack Griffin wrote in a November 18th column in the Daily Herald that DUI arrests in 79 Chicago suburbs have been declining since 2007. Surveys compiled by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM) reported that police made 12,166 DUI arrests in 2007 and only 6,955 in 2014.

But what’s the reason for the declining arrests? Griffin spoke with one Chicago area attorney who thinks people simply don’t have the money to go out drinking. The police chief in the Chicago suburb of Lake Hills, however, believes people are becoming more conscious of the need to take a cab or have a designated driver when they plan on drinking. (Arrests in this suburb declined from 100-plus each year between 2007-2012 to 86 in 2014.)

November 16, 2015

Gotten Multiple Los Angeles DUI Arrests? How to Make Sure 2016 is “DUI Free”

by Michael Kraut

As the year winds towards the holidays, and you look back on 2015, you have to admit that this one wasn’t exactly your best. Your Los Angeles DUI arrest, in some sense, was the tip of the iceberg. Maybe you faced rejection at work or financial problems. Perhaps you had a big issue with a personal relationship or suffered a health setback that led you to take refuge in the bottle or in some other compulsive activity.

2015 is a year you would like to forget.

That said, you want to take away valuable lessons from what happened to avoid repeating mistakes going forward. In our society, we are taught to pay attention to our neighbors and friends — to measure our progress in relation to what others do. But it’s more accurate (not to mention more resourceful and compassionate) to measure our progress based our OWN past experiences.

To that end, let’s unpack your year. Ponder the following questions:

November 13, 2015

An Alternative and More Humane Approach to the Los Angeles DUI Problem?

by Michael Kraut

Drivers arrested for DUI in Los Angeles often have a history of repeated offenses. Taking away their drivers’ licenses doesn’t seem to prevent them from driving while intoxicated; neither does jail time. But each time they get behind the wheel, they not only put other people at risk of injury of death, but they also risk their own welfare and the well-being of any family members who depend on them for support.

What can be done, for real, to solve the problem at its root?

California’s Monterey County Superior Court is attempting a radically different approach that could, if successful, alter how we think about DUI treatment and prevention. According to reports on KSBW and in the Monterey County Weekly, the Court has recently launched a new Driving Under the Influence Court. Judge Sam Lavorto had the idea for this special court, which will operate on a therapeutic model, trying to get help for people who have alcohol problems so that they won’t repeat their offenses.

November 6, 2015

Lessons from California’s Big Drought for Los Angeles DUI Defendants

by Michael Kraut

Even if you’ve been consumed by concern over a recent Los Angeles DUI arrest, you’ve no doubt at least been aware of the hand wringing and impassioned discussion about California’s epic drought and the impact that it will have on industry, communities and homeowners.

Despite California’s implementation of water conservation measures, many engineers worry that, with our reservoirs running low and longer concerns about climate change adding uncertainty to the mix, water planning challenges will abound for some time.

Will the drought subside as El Nino surges in the Pacific?
Will we continue to deplete our aquifers until we are forced to take extreme measures, like cutting off water to almond farmers or forcibly desalinizing the Pacific to keep our cities hydrated?

October 30, 2015

Warning: El Niño’s Rains May Make Los Angeles DUI Events That Much More Dangerous

by Michael Kraut

Everyone knows that driving under the influence in Los Angeles (or anywhere, frankly) puts drivers at an elevated risk of getting into accidents, hurting themselves and others, and causing property damage. However, to understand the true risks associated with dangerous driving of any kind, you need context.

Someone just barely overly the legal limit (as established by California Vehicle Code Section 23152) of 0.08% BAC — who is otherwise alert, driving on a sunny, clear road and at a stable, slow speed — is probably far less likely to get into a crash than someone driving with the same BAC level at night, while blasting music and chatting with a girlfriend on a cellphone.

Driving risk factors stack up.

To maximize your safety on the road, be aware not just of your alcohol consumption but also of other elements that could make driving less safe. For instance:

• Your level of distraction – are you fully attentive behind the wheel?
• Are you listening to music or eating?
• Are you chatting with someone on a cellphone? (Even talking on a hands free headset can lead to driving errors comparable to the errors you’d make while DUI, according to research from the University of Utah.)
• How tired are you? (Fatigue is a major factor in auto accidents. One study out of Australia found that someone who stays up 24 hours in a row exhibits a level of impairment commensurate with DUI level of impairment.)
• What are the road conditions like? Are the roads potholed and bumpy or smooth and well-marked?
• Weather – is it dry? Or is it raining? (The first 45 minutes after a rain following a long period of dryness can be quite treacherous.)

As El Niño stirs up trouble in the Pacific, weather forecasters expect serious rain here in the Southland this winter. These bouts of rain will be dispersed with periods of dryness, so we can expect the weather to ratchet up the level of treacherousness on the Los Angeles roads and complicate car accident cases. (For instance, was your wreck caused by DUI driving or by slick conditions or both?)

Call the strategic, respected Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers, and recover peace of mind and clarity about your situation.

October 21, 2015

Unusual Los Angeles DUIs Make Headlines… Including DUI in a Wheelchair

by Michael Kraut

Arrests for DUI in Los Angeles aren’t usually big news unless the person arrested is some sort of celebrity. But sometimes a story about a DUI arrest—in any part of the country–is so unusual that online news outlets and social media provide widespread coverage. Here are two crazy breaking stories:

Wheelchair DUI for Florida Man

In Palm Bay, Florida, police just arrested 54-year-old Ronny Hicks on DUI charges. Nothing extraordinary about them—except that Hicks has been driving an electric wheelchair at the time. Visitors to a city park called police, complaining that Hicks was blocking a pedestrian path. When police arrived, they allegedly smelled alcohol on Hicks’ breath and said that he appeared to be highly intoxicated.

Hicks tallied not his first but rather his third DUI arrest in 10 years. Under Florida law, that could mean a fine of $2,000 and mandatory imprisonment for at least 30 days. (Three Los Angeles DUI convictions within 10 years leads to felony counts.) But Hicks’ attorney doesn’t seem to think that the most recent charge of DUI in a wheelchair will stick.

Alleged DUI Driver Hides in Church, Claims Dog Did It

Another Florida motorist, this time from Manatee County, came up with an unusual excuse when police finally caught up with him to question him about his driving. TV station WFTS reported that sheriff’s deputies spotted Reliford Cooper speeding and tried to pull him over. Instead of obeying, the 26-year-old took off, leaving the road and driving through two ditches before crashing into a house. But even that act didn’t slow Cooper down; he took off on foot and tried to hide in a church. The churchgoers, however, had none of it, and they chased Cooper out of their building.

The deputies finally got Cooper into handcuffs, which is when he allegedly told them that he wasn’t responsible for the erratic driving because his dog was driving the car. (The dog must have been invisible, because nobody has seen a trace of it.) The officers didn’t buy his story, since Cooper smelled like alcohol and marijuana. They charged him with DUI.

How should you respond to your recent and disarming charges? Call a qualified Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer (and ex-prosecutor) with nearly two decades of relevant legal experience.

October 7, 2015

Déjà Vu for Chicago-Area DUI Arrest

by Michael Kraut

Police officers who constantly have to arrest people for a Los Angeles DUI probably experience a sense of déjà vu each time they stop someone suspected of a DUI. Or maybe they feel trapped in an endless loop that keeps repeating (like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day). But a suburban Chicago police officer arresting a certain DUI driver in mid-September had a good reason for getting that done-it-all-before feeling.

According to a local CBS station, the unnamed Riverside police officer had been sitting at a traffic light on September 19 at around three in the morning, when a car driven by 22-year-old Angel Calleros swerved towards him. That got the officer’s attention, and he pursued Callero’s vehicle, which was traveling 50 mph in a 30 mph zone and swerving between traffic lanes.

The officer pulled Calleros over on Harlem Avenue–and realized that he had arrested the same man, on the same street, on the same charge, just two weeks before. There were some differences in the experiences, however. For one thing, Calleros refused field sobriety tests at the time of his first arrest, and he agreed to them the second time. (Not that it did him any good–he reportedly failed all six.) In addition, the first time Calleros had been traveling 48 mph in a 35 mph zone. Police also found open liquor bottles (Jack Daniels and tequila) at the time of the first arrest.

Meanwhile, Calleros may have had his own déjà vu experience. Police arrested him for DUI (again), two counts of improper lane usage and speeding.

Unfortunately, multiple DUI arrests aren’t a rarity–online news sources carry many accounts of police charging drivers previously arrested on DUI counts for second and third incidents of driving under the influence.

To understand what to do to fight back against your charges, call Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, Michael Kraut of Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. As a former (and highly successful) Deputy District Attorney, Mr. Kraut has fought on behalf of defendants like you for nearly 20 years.