Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog

October 28, 2015

The Day Before Thanksgiving: Why It’s Such a Dangerous Time for Los Angeles DUIs

As the holiday season approaches, most people are looking forward to Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas presents and 2016 fireworks. But a small percentage of people will face unpleasant surprises, such as Los Angeles DUI arrests. Believe it or not, DUI arrests are not spread out evenly throughout the year. Some days are actually more dangerous for DUIs than others.

Statistical analyses have revealed, for instance, that major national holidays, such Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend, the 4th of July, Super Bowl Sunday and New Year’s Eve tend to be more dangerous than average days. In a recent post, we talked about confounders that make easy explanations for this phenomenon hard to identify.

(The “too long; didn’t read” of it is this: just because you notice an ASSOCIATION between two variables — holidays and DUI arrests, for instance — doesn’t mean that you can know what CAUSES what.)

In any event, these analyses, for whatever reason, show that the day before Thanksgiving tends to be a particularly dangerous time. Thanksgiving is also dangerous, but it’s not as dangerous as the eve of Thanksgiving.

Why is this?

One theory is that college students home for break often spend the night before Thanksgiving out with friends, partying. During Thanksgiving, they stay at home with their families and eat and drink inside. But the night before, they go out to bars. Although parents don’t want to hear this, statistics show that children who go off to college often experiment with alcohol and drugs in a fairly predictable manner, even though it’s illegal for minors to do so.

Driving DUI under any circumstances can get you into serious trouble, leading to license suspension, hikes on your insurance rates, and jail time. But driving under the influence while under the age of 21 can lead to special punishments, and the legal system is less lenient. For instance, a minor stopped with a BAC of just 0.05% could lose her license, even though that BAC would be under the legal limit for an adult.

The experienced Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys at the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. would love to learn more about what you are going through and help you develop a sound strategic plan.

October 26, 2015

DUI Driver Back In Jail After Violating Release Terms

by Michael Kraut

Drivers convicted of a DUI in Los Angeles face a variety of penalties, including fines, loss of license and time in jail. A judge may show some leniency but usually reserves the right to reinstate punishments (including jail time) if the person violates the terms of parole.

This summer, Carol Ferdigan pled guilty to charges of vehicular homicide in the horrific deaths of her husband and her son-in-law. The judge released her pending sentence this fall, but she had to promise to refrain from drinking alcohol and to wear a transdermal alcohol sensing device. In early October, that device showed that Ferdigan had been drinking and that her blood alcohol content tipped 0.16% BAC, twice the legal limit, per California Vehicle Code section 23152(b).

That violation sent Ferdigan back to King County Jail to await sentencing on October 23rd.

The deaths occurred in May 2014, when Ferdigan had been enjoying a meal with several family members in her home in Sammamish, Washington. Ferdigan left the table to move her Jeep, but she apparently had consumed so much alcohol that she mistook the accelerator for the brake. She pressed the gas repeatedly, plowing through her home, smashing the table where her family sat and continuing into Lake Sammamish. The crash killed her husband and her son-in-law and badly injured her daughter.

Ferdigan wasn’t hurt; neither was her young grandson, who had been sitting on her lap while she went on her deadly drive.

Ferdigan’s blood alcohol content measured 0.16%, and she allegedly was also driving under the influence of Ambien.
The 69-year-old grandmother ended up taking a guilty plea on charges of reckless endangerment-DUI, with a recommendation

that the court sentence her to six years in prison instead of the 10-13 years she might otherwise have faced.
The justice system isn’t taking any chances with Ferdigan this time; the court denied her bail request. This incident could also influence the judge, who may—but does not have to—follow the sentencing recommendations in her plea deal.

Respond strategically to your arrest and charges by calling a former Senior Deputy D.A. and highly successful Los Angeles DUI defense attorney with the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. today for a complimentary consultation.

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 19, 2015

Notable October DUIs – John Stamos, Cre Moore and Tim Chambers

by Michael Kraut

DUI arrests of sports and entertainment figures always make the news, and this October witnessed some serious charges.
The most prominent Los Angeles DUI arrest involved none other than “Grandfathered” actor John Stamos, whom police pulled over after receiving calls about an erratic driver.

The officers initially took Stamos to a hospital out of concern he had some medical condition. Police later charged slapped him with a DUI; tests allegedly determined that Stamos was under the influence of drugs while operating his vehicle. This misdemeanor charge could result in the former star of Full House spending six months in jail.

The sports world also saw two high-profile arrests this month. Cre Moore, the defensive back for the Kansas State football team, crashed his 2014 Ford F-15 in Riley County, Kansas, around 3 in the morning of October 4th. He left the road, hitting a pole and then a stone wall before coming to a stop. The 20-year-old Moore didn’t suffer any injuries, although his vehicle received major damage. But police who went to the scene allegedly did find several pills in Moore’s car, and they charged Moore with DUI and possession of depressants.

The head baseball coach at the University of Nevada, Tim Chambers, faces legal and job troubles after his arrest for arrest for driving under the influence on October 6th. After police charged Chambers with DUI, two counts of failure to maintain a lane and a violation of the proof of insurance requirement, the university immediately placed him on an administrative leave of absence until the courts resolve the charges against him. Chambers is in his fifth year of coaching the UNLV Rebels. The university has a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol for its athletes.

What should you do if you or someone you love faces a serious DUI count? Will you go to jail? Will you lose your license? Call Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer Michael Kraut immediately to understand your options and craft a strategic response.

October 14, 2015

How Much Marijuana Before It’s a DUI?

by Michael Kraut

Eleven U.S. states have now legalized or decriminalized marijuana. California, which approved of the use of the drug for medical purposes, also seeks to legalize the drug completely in the next few years. But the move to legalization raises the question of how marijuana impacts a driver. How much THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) would have to be in the bloodstream before police could charge someone with a DUI in Los Angeles?

A Florida state legislator, Dave Kerner of Lake Worth, believes that there should be a standard for determining marijuana intoxication when it comes to driving, just as there is a blood alcohol content for people who drink. He thinks that at 5 nanograms of active THC in the bloodstream, the courts should presume that the person is driving under the influence of cannabis.

Kerner introduced a bill into the Florida Legislature to make this standard the law in the Sunshine State. He named the bill the Naomi Pomerance Victim Safety Act in honor of a 16-year-old girl killed in a crash caused by a person high on marijuana. Kerner isn’t a marijuana opponent, however; he supports medical marijuana.

Other states are addressing this issue as well. Colorado, where marijuana is legal, already has a law that presumes that someone is operating under the influence if the THC level in the bloodstream is 5 nanograms or higher.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says that data from road traffic arrests and fatalities indicate that after alcohol, marijuana is the most frequently detected psychoactive substance among drivers. Marijuana has been shown to impair performance on driving simulator tasks and on open and closed driving courses for up to approximately 3 hours.
“Decreased car handling performance, increased reaction times, impaired time and distance estimation, inability to maintain headway, lateral travel, subjective sleepiness, motor incoordination, and impaired sustained vigilance have all been reported,” according to the NHTSA. The organization has not taken a position, however on the use of THC levels to measure driver impairment.

Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. is standing by to offer critical insight into your case and potential defense options. Call him and his team today to begin regaining control over your case and your life.

October 12, 2015

DUI Drivers Who Demand Attention – Setting Off Fireworks Is Not a Way to Lay Low

by Michael Kraut

Intoxicated drivers trying to avoid charges of DUI in Los Angeles should always try to avoid calling attention to themselves. If they attract the eye of a police officer, a pedestrian or another driver, they may find themselves spending several hours in jail. One man in California and two men in Delaware learned this lesson the hard way.

In San Manteo County, California, 25-year-old Daniel Moran probably couldn’t have found a better way of getting the police to come to him. When he set off fireworks around quarter to four in the morning of October 3rd, neighbors complained to authorities because they thought someone was shooting a gun. When sheriff’s deputies arrived they found that Moran didn’t have a gun, just fireworks. But they claimed he was intoxicated and driving under the influence and charged him accordingly.

In Newark, Delaware, police officers found 57-year-old John R. Owens passed out in a school bus parking lot. Owens had driven his Dodge Caliber into the parking lot of the First Student Transportation bus yard and hit one bus before exiting the yard. Apparently not satisfied with this first attempt, he drove back into the yard, hit a fence, and promptly passed out. Although Owens wasn’t injured in the crash, emergency medical personnel had to remove him from the car. They then transported him to the hospital to get checked out.

Getting arrested for DUI appears to be a habit for Owens; it was the seventh time he’s been up on these charges.

Meanwhile, in the southern part of the state, Samuel E. Pu Tzoy hit a Jeep Cherokee—causing it to flip several times—before crashing into the rear of a Lewes Police Department vehicle. Pu Tzoy got a great deal of attention thanks to this accident, and he now faces a great many charges. They include vehicular assault, driving under the influence of alcohol, leaving the scene of a collision resulting in injury, failure to stop at a stop sign, driving without a valid license, disregarding a police officer’s signal, reckless driving and other traffic offenses.

Designing and executing an effective defense against DUI charges (even simple ones) is not intuitive. Fortunately, you can trust the seasoned, highly successful Michael Kraut. Call a DUI lawyer in Los Angeles with nearly two decades of 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 Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc.. As a former (and highly successful) Deputy District Attorney, Mr. Kraut has fought on behalf of defendants like you for nearly 20 years.

October 5, 2015

Five Times the Legal Limit for DUI Driver (a Police Officer): What Happens Next?

by Michael Kraut

Police officers see all kinds of BAC numbers when they arrest people for DUI in Los Angeles. But officers don’t often come across a person whose BAC measures five times the legal limit–especially when the driver turns out to be another policeman.
Newspaper accounts say that Officer John Finley of the New York Police Department is lucky to be alive after an accident in which alcohol contributed. Back on August 8th, Finley slammed into a guardrail on the West Shore Expressway on Staten Island. He suffered head injuries, but they weren’t life-threatening. He was even conscious enough to talk, although witnesses reported that Finley—perhaps unsurprisingly, given his charges–slurred his words.

John Finley From: https://www.facebook.com/search/str/John%20Finley%20nypd/keywords_top

The police officers who worked the scene deferred DUI charges against Finley pending a review of his blood alcohol content levels. While they must have suspected something out of the ordinary, they probably didn’t expect that Finley’s BAC would measure at 0.43–more than five times the legal limit for driving. According to the New York Post, a 200-pound man would have to drink 23 beers (or the equivalent in other types of alcoholic beverages) in two hours to achieve that high a BAC score.

Just how impaired was Finley? The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has a chart on its website listing the different effects of various levels of alcohol in the bloodstream. In the range of 0.31 to 0.45 percent the impairments include loss of consciousness, danger of life-threatening alcohol poisoning and significant risk of death in most drinkers due to the suppression of vital life functions. In other words–Finley was fortunate not only to have survived his encounter with a guardrail but also to be alive at all.

Police eventually arrested Finley, a 25-year veteran on the force, on a charge of aggravated DUI.

If you need to develop a sound, systematic defense to a Los Angeles DUI charge, call experienced Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc..

September 30, 2015

Taking Care of Young Children After You’ve Been Arrested for Los Angeles DUI

by Michael Kraut

Many people have a cartoonish view of what a Los Angeles DUI defendant looks like.

Obviously, driving under the influence – or even close to under the influence – is dangerous business, and it can (and does) lead to thousands of death and countless injuries and traumas every year. However, DUI defendants are people too – people with jobs, lives and families.

What happens if police arrest you for this crime, but you need to take care of young children?

September 28, 2015

The Very First Time You Get Behind the Wheel After a Los Angeles DUI Arrest

by Michael Kraut

Before your arrest for Los Angeles DUI, you probably never gave much thought to getting behind the wheel – what it would be like to pull out of your driveway, tool down Olympic Blvd., and park your car in a parking garage after muscling through traffic on the 405.

But whether police stopped you hours ago on Sawtelle at a checkpoint, or you crashed on the 10 and hurt yourself and a passenger, you now have a very new perspective. So what might it be like the next time you get behind the wheel? And what can you do to make that experience better? Here are some things to think about.

1. It might be a long, long time before you get the chance.

An automatic license suspension, pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 23152 or 23153 (if you injured someone), could prevent you from driving for six months, a year or even longer.

2. You might need to blow into an ignition device to start the car.

Several years ago, Los Angeles and other jurisdictions imposed a mandatory interlock ignition device (IID) element, which compels those convicted for even first time DUIs to install one of these devices. You can’t start your car without blowing a sober breath into the machine (like a breathalyzer device). IIDs can also be expensive to install and maintain.

3. You may have strange feelings, such as anxiety or fear, even if you are driving perfectly normally, and you are totally sober.

Standard DUI stops are known to cause post-traumatic stress syndrome. That said, the moment of your arrest is probably seared into your brain. It’s not uncommon for drivers convicted of DUI (or just arrested for DUI who later get the charges dismissed) to experience awkwardness and strange moments of depression and anxiety behind the wheel.

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