Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog

October 2, 2013

Got a Los Angeles DUI After Something GOOD Happened to You? You’re Not Alone. Look What Happened to Armonty Bryant…

Your Los Angeles DUI came at a strange time. After years of struggling to achieve some goal – perhaps a raise at your job, a successful relationship, or the conception of a child – you finally “broke through” and “made it.” For instance, maybe after sweating away, writing spec screenplays for 10 years, you finally optioned an original creative work to a big studio.

Given the great news in your personal or business life, an outsider might think that you’d be at minimal risk for doing something dangerous and destructive, like driving under the influence in Los Angeles.

But sometimes, rapid positive change can stimulate destructive behavior, just like unexpected negative change can do.

That sounds paradoxical, so let’s take a look at example.

In early May, Armonty Bryant, a new defensive end drafted by the Cleveland Browns, got arrested near East Central University in Oklahoma and charged with DUI. Per the police report, he made a left without signaling, attracting the attention of a police officer. The officer tried to get Bryant to take a breathalyzer test 10 separate times before the athlete agreed. Both Bryant and his passenger got arrested.

Bryant is no stranger to legal trouble. In 2012, police arrested him for felony distribution of marijuana in a school zone, a charge to which he pleaded no contest. Cleveland nevertheless chose him in the seventh round (217th pick overall) because, as the Browns coach put it “[he has moved] passed the mistakes that he has made and he’s ready to move on. He has matured.”

Bryant even released a statement about his past activities, shortly after the draft: “I feel like it was just a stupid move on my part. I should have been more mature about the situation and more focused on football, which is something I really want to do with my life. Now that I’ve gotten that second chance, I feel like I won’t let anyone down.”

Given that Bryant had turned his life around – he went from nearly-going-to-jail to playing-in-the-NFL – why on Earth would he have jeopardized everything by driving DUI?

This brings us back to the earlier point, which is that stressful events (even positive, exciting events) can lead us to take dangerous actions.

It’s not necessarily that we “get lost in the celebration of the moment” but rather that the wrenching changes caused by big life events (positive and negative) can make us feel helpless and out of control.

So what can you do, now that you’ve been hit with a Los Angeles DUI?

The team here at the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. in Los Angeles has extensive experience helping people like you move beyond their mistakes and fight charges vigorously.

Mr. Kraut is a former very high level prosecutor. He rose to the ranks of Senior Deputy District Attorney for L.A. He can help you figure out exactly what to do next, so you can start the process of putting your arrest behind you.

September 30, 2013

Bishop’s DUI Arrest Puts Your Own Glendale DUI Charge in Perspective

by Michael Kraut

As someone arrested for DUI in Glendale, you’ve been beating yourself up pretty badly.

You’re not the only one showering you with negative emotions. Odds are high that you’ve encountered at least one friend or relative who responded to the news of your arrest in a less than congenial or compassionate manner – either judging you outright for “being a bad person who can’t get it together” or by making subtle but still painful digs.

The Glendale DUI experience is more diverse — and more human — than many people realize, however.

For instance, did you know that a Roman Catholic bishop from Rhode Island recently got arrested for DUI, after he consumed wine at dinner and then hopped in his car? It’s true. Out in South Kingston, Rhode Island, Robert McManus, a bishop for Worcester, got arrested for DUI and for leaving the scene of an accident. The 61-year-old bishop admitted that he “made a terrible error in judgment.” William Murphy, the former Speaker of the Rhode Island House, is representing McManus in court.

When most people think about Glendale DUI arrests, they conjure up caricatures.

They might picture a wastrel — a no-goodnik whose “life is a mess.” An irredeemable “criminal” who’s not at all like normal, law-abiding people. Or they think of “hot messes,” like Lindsay Lohan or presumptuous pols or narcissistic sports stars.

Does a 60-something high priest from Rhode Island fit your mental profile of “DUI driver”? Probably not! The reality is that the diversity of people arrested for this crime is astonishing, but that diversity is just not reflected in news stories or in tabloids.

Changing How You Think about And Reflect on Your Glendale DUI

We live in a society that emphasizes the judging, shaming and punishment of “wrongdoers.” This moralizing is built into the very fiber of our legal system. But this kind of thinking is not particularly resourceful. It can be downright destructive.

As we discussed above, Glendale DUIs are often the surface manifestations of deeper issues.

For instance, a person who loses his job might feel helpless and thus drawn down into a spiral of destructive behavior (including driving DUI). To turn things around, he will need not only to face down the charges but also to address the root issues making him feel helpless.

Of course, in some cases, DUIs really are “random.”

For instance, Bishop McManus may, indeed, have just “had a bad night.” You never know.

In any case, it’s useful to at least probe your DUI to try to understand its root cause, so you can address it and save yourself hassle in the future.

Connect with Attorney Michael Kraut of Glendale’s Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. today for assistance with your case. A Harvard Law School educated ex-Deputy District Attorney, Mr. Kraut can offer powerful and comprehensive help with your Glendale DUI defense.

September 25, 2013

Beverly Hills DUI Sports News Update – Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies Pleads Guilty to DUI charges

by Michael Kraut

Time for your Beverly Hills DUI celebrity arrest fix…

Back in February, Rockies star Todd Helton whacked into a curve with his black Ford F-150 truck. Witnesses called police to report the likely-DUI driver.

In early May, Helton wound up in court and pled guilty to DUI charges stemming from that night. He told the judge: “I am very regretful to be here… I’ve taken many steps to prevent this from happening again.” The judge gave the major leaguer a minor league sentence: 24 hours of community service, a year probation, $1224 in fees, and a fine of $400.

Here’s how the events of Helton’s arrest unfolded, according to reports.

A witness saw Helton’s Ford weaving all over the road and called police at around 2 a.m. While officers were on their way, Helton hit a median and stopped at a Conoco Gas Station on the corner of Colorado Boulevard and 128th avenue. When police arrived to a strange sight: the truck was idling, empty, with the driver’s door open.

The baseball great soon emerged from the gas station with chewing tobacco and Lotto tickets… and dressed in camouflage. Officer Ty Deichert described the scene: “I could immediately smell a strong odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from this person, and he was unsteady on his feet. The male’s eyes were also bloodshot and watery…I asked the male where he was coming from, and he stated something about getting his truck washed.”

Helton later tested to have a BAC of 0.12% – that’s 1.5 times the Beverly Hills DUI limit of 0.08%, per California vehicle Code Section 23152.

Was Your Beverly Hills DUI Arrest One of the Most Embarrassing Moments of Your Life?

That Helton was dressed in camouflage seems absurd. The detail humanizes him, but it was probably a hugely embarrassing moment. When you’re a celebrity, you need to protect your brand. That logic applies to all of us, in a sense. You want to be seen in a certain light by your colleagues, by your family, by your friends, by society. When you got arrested for Beverly Hills DUI, odds are that you were “at your worst” — or at least close to that.

To deal with this complex issue strategically, get in touch with a Beverly Hills DUI attorney at the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc.. Attorney Kraut is an ex-prosecutor, who spent over 14 years at the service of the city, putting criminal defendants behind bars. He’s also roundly liked and respected in the local legal community.

September 23, 2013

Ironic Burbank DUI Stories: Woman Celebrates End of DUI Restrictions By Getting Arrested for, Wait for It…

by Michael Kraut

Getting arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank is a monstrously embarrassing and challenging experience.

You probably don’t want to think about the assortment of punishments that prosecutors can seek, such as extensive jail time, weeks of compulsory alcohol school, mandatory IID installation in your car, fines and fees, intensely restrictive probation terms, and, of course, the suspension of your California drivers license for a year. And that’s just if you committed a minor crime — one that did not involve injuries, other charges, or a past criminal history!

You can obviously understand why someone would want to celebrate the lifting of such restrictions – the finalizing of a Burbank DUI case. Unfortunately, some people take such celebrations too far.

The results can be quite ironic.

Consider, for instance, what happened to Riverside Illinois resident Erin James, a 58-year-old woman on the verge of getting her driver license back — a court suspended it back for a 2012 DUI. But James got ahead of herself, according to CBS Chicago. Riverside police pulled her over for speeding at around 2 a.m., the night of the end of her suspension. The officer suspected that she was DUI, and he put her through the paces of field sobriety test. She failed and later tested to have a BAC of 0.15%. (For those of you keeping score, that’s nearly twice the Burbank DUI limit of 0.08%.)

The bad news did not end there, for James.

After checking her driver’s license, police found that it was suspended in 2012. James also did not have a mandated interlock ignition device (IID) in her car, which was supposed to stop her from driving while under the influence.

Police handcuffed and arrested the woman and hit her with the charge of felony aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol. A very serious charge. As you probably already know, a felony can be punished with a jail sentence in excess of a year. Convicted felons permanently lose many rights that most people take for granted, such as the right to vote in elections. Plus convicted felons often struggle to get loans, secure housing, find employment, et cetera.

Depending on the nature of your Burbank DUI charge, you, too, may face a felony, particularly if you hurt someone else while behind the wheel. The California Vehicle Code has actually a special section just for injury DUIs – 23153(a) and 23153(b). This CVC section is very similar to 23152 (the standard DUI misdemeanor), except that it elevates what would normally be misdemeanors to felonies.

Whether your Burbank DUI arrest was “ironic” or not, or “newsworthy” or not, you have a lot of work to do, legally speaking and otherwise. You want to forge an effective, appropriate, responsible Burbank DUI defense, but you’re not sure exactly how to start the process.

Get in touch with the reputable, results-focused team here at Burbank’s Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc.. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who has a long, successful track record of helping defendants like you meet their charges effectively and smartly.

September 20, 2013

Drug DUI in Los Angeles: Does New Colorado Law Portend Our Future?

by Michael Kraut

Drug DUIs in Los Angeles are filed according to California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a), which makes it a crime if you operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of marijuana, alcohol, or any other type of drug, both illegal and prescription.

Marijuana law is changing at a rapid place, here in California and in other states. As you may be aware, Colorado recently became the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana, and the CO state legislature just passed two historic marijuana bills to regulate and tax the substance.

The Colorado Senate approved House Bill 13-1325 by a margin of 24 to 11 and sent the law to Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who supports the initiative. HB 13-1325 creates a testable, objective legal limit for DUI for marijuana of 5 nanograms (or more) of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol per liter of blood. That substance is marijuana’s major psychoactive ingredient.

For years, Colorado lawmakers debated this bill fiercely. Advocates say that police officers need to measure marijuana DUI impairment objectively, to keep the state’s road safer. Opponents respond that the 5 nanogram standard is inappropriate because different people process marijuana differently. Someone who is effectively totally sober may still have a positive or near positive reading on this type of blood test, for instance, because of their biochemistry; whereas another person who’s actually legitimately under the influence might not even test positive.

In any event, the bill will almost certainly have reverberations throughout the nation, as more and more states push forward with efforts to legalize the drug. And the Golden State is almost certainly likely to proceed with legalization before, say, Georgia or Louisiana.

Los Angeles DUI drug testing
There are no breathalyzer tests for marijuana in Los Angeles. Instead, police officers can have you do a urine or blood test. Drug DUI cases are more difficult for prosecutors to win because many police lack the training to look for and catalog the objective signs of drug DUI. This lack of rigor gives an opportunity for an experienced Los Angeles DUI drug defense attorney to rip into the so-called science that prosecutors want to try to use against you.

Of course, if you fail in your efforts, the consequences can be pretty severe.

Not only can you earn jail time, fines, fees, and license suspension, but you also might be required to register as a narcotics offender with local police. You can lose your job or special security clearance, if you work in a classified job. And you can suffer tremendously due to the “downstream” effects of the conviction. For instance, if you lose your license and your job, you might not have money to support your family, which can add stress to your relationships and health.

Get in touch with Southern California drug DUI defense attorney Michael Kraut today for assistance with your case. Mr. Kraut has cultivated great relationships with law officials throughout the Southland, and he can provide a free and confidential consultation.

September 18, 2013

Los Angeles DUI Crackdown Nets Over 1,500 Arrests in Two-Week Period

by Michael Kraut

Over 100 anti-Los Angeles DUI operations throughout the county led to over 1,500 arrests in a 13 day span stretching from August 16th through Labor Day weekend.

The Sheriff’s Department said that the total number of arrestees – 1,546 – was up over last year’s numbers (1418). Police coordinated 100 different agencies throughout the Southland to deal with the problem of late summer DUI driving.

Per the Sheriff’s Department: “this Labor Day holiday weekend, extra DUI saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints were deployed in multiple cities in Los Angeles County.” Some of the cities where these DUI checkpoints took place include: Inglewood, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Vernon, East Los Angeles, Santa Fe Springs, West Valley Area, 77 Street Area, Malibu, Norwalk, Pomona, St. Gabriel, Whittier, El Monte, Long Beach, Torrance, Antelope Valley, West Los Angeles, Rampart Area, Northeast Area, Devonshire.

September 16, 2013

John Clark Gable, Son of Screen Icon Clark Gable, Charged With DUI Malibu. He Allegedly Hit 6 Cars and Left the Scene!

by Michael Kraut

Not every celebrity Malibu DUI story is as crazy as Mel Gibson or Nick Nolte’s.

But strange stuff seems to happen out there on PCH – often involving the most legendary icons of Tinsel Town. To wit, John Clark Gable – son of “old school” film star Clack Gable – was recently charged with DUI in Malibu and hit and run for some crazy driving he did back in April.

Gable netted two misdemeanor charges, after he slammed into six (count them – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) parked cars on PCH. Law enforcement officials believe that Gable hadn’t consumed alcohol; rather, they think he was under the influence of prescription medications when he passed out behind the wheel.

So what happened?

The story is actually more sobering – and sad – than the tabloid headlines would suggest.

The 52-year-old had been driving his Ford pickup truck while (possibly) on prescription pain medications to deal with a mountain bike related leg injury. Police tested his blood alcohol concentration after the wreck. But his BAC was significantly under the 0.08% cut-off for Southern California DUI. Police representatives also told TMZ, flat out, that they did not believe Gable had consumed alcohol.

But a more major medical problem could have caused the event – an aneurism.

Gable has a history of brain aneurisms –scary incidents in which the blood vessels in the brain balloon. He had one in 2006 and then another in 2009 — problems which required surgery to correct. Aneurisms, particularly un-ruptured ones, don’t necessarily cause fainting, although they can create tunnel vision and induce seizures due to pressure from the build up of blood.

Gable is due in court on September 30th to face charges. If convicted, he could face jail time, loss of his license, and many other punishments.

One big takeaway here is that defendants often make bad situations worse by leaving the scene, fighting with officers, or engaging in aggressive or dangerous conduct, during or after a stop.

But even if you tried to evade officers at a DUI checkpoint or racked up a hit and run charge, all is not lost. You can advocate for yourself smartly by connecting with a seasoned Los Angeles DUI defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc.. Mr. Kraut is a Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor with decades of experience with these types of cases.

September 11, 2013

Man Loses Control of Bowels After DUI Arrest: Los Angeles Blogosphere Weighs In

by Michael Kraut

What’s a Burbank DUI worst-case scenario?

Your Burbank DUI arrest was probably pretty rough. In fact, it’s hard to imagine how it could have gone any worse. Whether police pulled you over on Olive, after you attended a cast party of a WB show; or you crashed into a cop car on the 101, your situation was pretty embarrassing and possibly painful and scary.

But could it have been worse?

Consider your Burbank DUI arrest in light of what happened to a 21-year-old man from Boulder, who was recently arrested on 11th Street near an area called University Hill. Police found the man vomiting all over himself at around 2 in the morning. But that’s not all. Apparently, he also defecated on himself. The officers’ report said: “he told [the officers] it was because he was scared.” The 21-year-old faces a variety of unpleasant charges, including obstructing a police officer, violating a protection order, DUI, and DUI per se.

Hopefully, that puts your Burbank DUI charge in context.

For more context, let’s look to the town of York, Pennsylvania, where a woman from Newberry Township just got arrested for DUI – her second of the week and third DUI since July 5th!

24 year-old Anna Elizabeth Spittler hit a car on Interstate 83 and left the scene. According to reports, two people suffered injuries in the crash. Ms. Spittler faces a variety of citations and charges, including violating the controlled substances law, hit and run and DUI. According to one of the victims, Spittler’s car approached rapidly from behind. It swerved at the last second and smashed into the rear of his driver side, forcing his vehicle into a spin that sent it down an embankment.

A local newspaper report details the rest of the story “the [Pennsylvania] trooper found a Volvo parked in the right shoulder of I-83 about a mile away … police found a card with Spittler’s name on it, an unmarked pill bottle and open bottle of Smirnoff in the car.”

Spittler later confessed to driving under the influence and hitting the vehicle and leaving. She said that she thought she hit a guardrail.

It sounds like a very unfortunate situation, although Spittler was very lucky that no one got seriously hurt or killed in the crash (or in her previous two DUI incidences).

What You Can Learn from These Stories about Your Burbank DUI Defense
No driver is perfect. For every crazy/sad/unbelievable DUI story out there, there’s always one that’s crazier/sadder/weirder.

The key is not to dwell on the past but rather to acknowledge the present and look forward to the future. An experienced Burbank DUI defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc., can help you make an effective plan of action. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who amassed a 99-plus percent success rate at jury trials as a prosecutor. He has the connections and wherewithal to create excellent defenses.

September 9, 2013

Will Lamar Odom’s Los Angeles DUI Break Up His Marriage with Khloe Kardashian?

by Michael Kraut

It’s been less than a week since Lamar Odom’s Los Angeles DUI sent the blogosphere and twittersphere into a reporting frenzy.

But, already, celebrity reporters and pundits are speculating on how Odom’s DUI will impact his marriage to reality star Khloe Kardashian. The 29 year-old Khloe has not been keeping quiet over her marital displeasures. She confessed over Twitter: “As much as I wish I were made of steel … I am not.” She then tweeted: “I’m pretty damn close to it though, hehe.”

Odom and Kardashian went home in different cars on Friday, August 30th, after Odom’s Los Angeles DUI arrest. Photographers have not seen Lamar or Khloe together, although one intrepid paparazzo saw Odom renting DVDs at a blockbuster in Calabasas.

The 33-year-old NBA superstar has been embroiled by private life problems, including an accident on the 101, before his August 30th DUI. Radar Online reports that Odom got kicked out of the house and had to retreat to his bachelor pad. Sources told Radar Online that the ex-Laker/Clipper “was on his way back to his bachelor pad in downtown, Los Angeles… Khloe… was [pretty likely] asleep and had no clue he left.” Radar Online also reported that Odom got kicked out of the couple’s mansion in Tarzana because he had an affair.

A California Highway Patrol spokesperson described additional details about Odom’s DUI arrest: “Lamar Odom was driving 50 miles per hour on the 101 freeway. He was driving in a serpentine manner, which is pretty bad… Across all lanes on the freeway. I’m surprised he wasn’t rear ended.”

Since Odom refused to take a chemical test for DUI (such as a Los Angeles DUI blood, breath or urine test), his license was automatically suspended for a full year. Bad decisions can compound themselves – that’s why it’s useful to speak to a Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer ASAP.

As Odom and others arrested for driving under the influence of Southern California can attest, situations can easily go from bad to worse. During of times of turmoil, it’s useful to turn to people with experience to get through your crisis.

That’s why so many defendants have had such good experiences working with attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc.. Mr. Kraut is a seasoned, battletested ex-prosecutor (Harvard Law School educated) who regularly serves as a commentator for ABC News, the Los Angeles Times, and other big media to discuss news stories about DUI in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

September 7, 2013

Sordid Southern California DUI Case – Sheriff’s Deputy “Sold His Badge” to Bust Three Men for “Dirty DUIs”?

by Michael Kraut

Most Southern California DUI arrests are fairly straightforward. For instance, maybe a police officer stopped you at a checkpoint on Westwood Boulevard after a UCLA game. Or maybe you got into a fender bender on Vermont near USC and got busted after you punted your field sobriety tests.

But some DUI stories are intense, enigmatic… almost worthy of their own mini series.

File in that second category the story of Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Deputy Stephen Tanabe!

The 50-year-old Tanabe stands accused of seven federal charges for his role in staging three separate DUI arrests. Tanabe allegedly worked with Christopher Butler, a private investigator. Butler worked for a string of divorced women, who wanted to make their ex-husbands look bad, so that they could have stronger positions in their divorce and custody cases.

Tanabe and his friends apparently worked with Butler to encourage these unassuming ex-husbands to consume alcohol at bars and then drive. Once the men left, waiting police officers immediately pulled them over and busted them for DUI. According to Tim Pori, Tanabe’s attorney, Butler was the real “masterful manipulator” behind the scenes. Indeed, the PI may have played a role in 9 other “dirty DUI” arrests in California on top of the ones that Tanabe allegedly participated in on November 2, 2010 and January 9 and 14, 2011.

As a reward for his participation, Tanabe apparently got a pricey Glock gun and cocaine.

Butler and Norman Wielsch, an ex-drug squad commander, are both testifying for the prosecution in Tanabe’s case to get a reduced sentence. Wielsch is serving 14 years in jail, and Butler faces an eight year prison sentence for crimes ranging from staging DUIs to extorting money from employees of an “illegal massage parlor” that the two men founded.

Tanabe, for his part, faces three wire fraud charges, three counts of extortion, and one count of “conspiring to deprive others of his honest services.”

Your Southern California DUI charges: Were you framed? Was any police misconduct involved?

Most Los Angeles DUI cases are straightforward. Most police officers are honest. They work hard to keep the community safe and protect people on the roads.

This isn’t to say that police officers don’t make mistakes (ranging from big Constitutional sized mistakes to smaller errors of process and procedure) or that the technologies they use (e.g. breathalyzers, blood tests, etcetera) are foolproof. Far from it!

But odds are high that your DUI was not “dirty.”

That said, you owe it to yourself and your family to explore all Los Angeles DUI defenses. For instance, if you blew a 0.10% on the breath test – well over the legal limit, as defined by California Vehicle Code 23152 (b) – your attorney might challenge the test results by a variety of strategies, outlined in this website.

For help, look to Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc.. As a Harvard Law School educated Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer who worked for 14+ years as a prosecutor, Mr. Kraut understands how to structure and execute effective defenses.