Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog

June 20, 2012

DUI in Los Angeles? No, But Commerce Secretary John Bryson Could Face a Felony Hit and Run Charges

The Saturday before last, US Commerce Secretary John Bryson got involved in two minor traffic accidents which may net him felony hit and run charges — and land him in jail for over a year!

Bryson’s situation technically does not involve DUI in Los Angeles — although alcohol tests are pending, according to the police. The case is fascinating in many ways; if you’ve been hit with a charge of driving under the influence in Los Angeles or Burbank or elsewhere, you can learn a lot from studying its nuances.

The Commerce Secretary, who oversees a $75 billion budget and nearly 50,000 employees, slammed into the rear of a Buick, which had been waiting for a train. Bryson apparently left the scene of that first accident and drove nearly two miles into Rosemead, where he hit a Honda Accord and minorly injured a passenger. The driver of the Buick (the first car that got hit) tailed Bryson and called 911.

Medical Condition? Was a Seizure to Blame?

Police found Bryson alone and unconscious at the scene of the second accident. Initial reports suggested that he suffered a seizure or some other medical problem. This issue possibly provoked both accidents. Reports indicated that he “appeared disoriented” after he hit the Buick. In the wake of the roadside drama, Bryson has taken medical leave. After the dust settled, the Obama administration weighed in with statements of (terse) support.

What Bryson’s situation might mean if you are facing DUI in Los Angeles charges.

First of all, no one’s immune to laws like California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) and 23152 (b). In other words, celebrities, high profile politicians, business tycoons and “everyday folk” are all required by law to avoid driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and to avoid driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or greater.

The second lesson is that Los Angeles DUI cases are often far more complicated than news summaries suggest. Indeed, Bryson’s case already seems fraught with nuances. What was his serious medical condition? If he had known that he had such condition, should he been driving in the first place? Did the condition cause or contribute to the first crash or just the second… or neither or both? And on and on. Likewise, speculation about your particular Los Angeles DUI case may be intense.

Lastly, your choice of Los Angeles DUI defense attorney – and the speed with which you make that choice – can have a significant impact on your capacity to handle legal speed bumps, protect your license, and shield your other rights. Former L.A. Deputy District Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. is providing a free and confidential consultation for drivers who are struggling with DUI charges. Attorney Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who has excellent relationships with his former colleagues and other legal peers; he is often quoted as a DUI authority on KTLA news, Fox News, New York Times and Los Angeles Times.

June 15, 2012

The Fallout of Justin Blackmon’s DUI: Urgent Lessons, If You’ve Been Booked for Burbank DUI

by Michael Kraut

Getting arrested for DUI in Burbank (or anywhere else in California) can feel terrible.

But the legal and logistical “hangover” from the arrest can often feel worse. The sense of uncertainty — the diverse and severe threats hanging over your head — can make you wish that Marty McFly’s “flux capacitor” existed in real life, so you could go back in time and prevent your DUI from ever happening.

It’s possible that ex-Oklahoma State football player, Justin Blackmon, feels this way, too.

Last weekend, Blackmon — who had just been drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars — got busted for driving under the influence in Stillwater, Oklahoma, after police saw him driving nearly twice the speed limit and swerving into oncoming cars. The officer who pulled Blackmon over reported noticing an odor of alcohol. He said that Blackmon had watery, red eyes, and that he admitted to consuming alcohol prior to driving. If you were recently put through the paces of a Burbank DUI field sobriety test, you probably could relate to the helplessness he likely felt.

After getting arrested, Blackmon blew a staggering 0.24% BAC on a breathalyzer test – that’s thrice the limit for Southern California DUI, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b). What’s worse, Blackmon reportedly argued with the police. Aside from his legal trouble, he now faces potential career trouble. Sports reports suggested that the Jaguars may now present with him with a lowball offer during his contract negotiations. An official with the Jaguars told a sports network that “[Blackmon is] going to have to fess up, take ownership of the situation, and lay out a course for dealing with this thing “head on” or potentially risk serious trouble with the Jags.”

In the wake of his misdemeanor DUI arrest, he was also asked to meet with the GM and head coach of the team.

The potential punishments for your Burbank DUI conviction – even if you did not aggravate the DUI by harassing an officer, hitting someone, hurting someone, or doing something else flagrant and, in retrospect, dumb – can be terrifying and scary. It’s not just that you can face jail time, even if this is your first DUI, and you did nothing else wrong.

It’s that the long-term consequences for your license, your freedom, your insurance rates, your reputation, and your career prospects can dog you for years.

While a Burbank criminal defense DUI attorney at the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810) obviously cannot promise solutions, Attorney Kraut has a reputation for being able to deliver fantastic, aggressive, and empathetic service. As a former Deputy District Attorney (city prosecutor) and regular contributor to well-known media, like the Los Angeles Times, Fox News, KTLA News – Attorney Kraut has the knowledge and understanding to help you put up the stiffest possible defense.

June 13, 2012

Got Multiple Pasadena DUI Charges? Lessons from NFL Debacles!

by Michael Kraut

If you or someone you love was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Pasadena recently – and it was not your first arrest on such charges! – you are not alone. The National Football League had a “multiple DUI” week last week: the Detroit Lions’ Nick Fairley, the Jaguars’ Justin Blackmon, and the Vikings’ Jerome Felton all got tagged for driving under the influence within 48 hours of one another.

• Felton was stopped on June 1 and arrested under suspicion of DWI in Minnesota, after he refused to submit to a BAC test.
• Blackmon was hit on the morning of June 3rd – his second DUI in two years (we covered his arrest in detail in a separate blog post).
• Fairley, a defensive tackle for the Lions, was also hit for DUI on June 3rd – in Alabama.

According to reports, Fairley was arrested for DUI one month ago, too. His second arrest was fairly dramatic (no pun intended). Apparently, he had been piloting his Cadillac Escalade SUV at over 100 miles per hour while DUI and under the influence of marijuana. When a state trooper tried to pull him over, he refused to capitulate… and thus ultimately earned himself a charge of eluding the police. Finally, he also lacked insurance for his SUV, so he got stuck with “no proof of insurance charges” as a kind of proverbial cherry on top!

You can look at these three arrests and conclude that “something must be wrong” with the NFL. There very well might be. But understand that just looking at single weekend’s worth of arrests (or non arrests) can easily mislead. This is a myopic perspective – a narrow-minded one. We would need to look at the DUIs in context to understand their deeper meaning for the NFL.

Similarly, it would be narrow-minded to say anything definitive about your life or your personality or your potential for recovery just by looking at how you behaved during and immediately after your Pasadena DUI arrest.

That being said, if you don’t handle your DUI effectively and resourcefully, you could face profound punishments. These could go well beyond jail time and license suspension. (Those two punishments are the most prominent in many defendants’ minds.)

Think about what might happen to your insurance rates over the next several years as a result of a DUI conviction, for instance. And have you contemplated what will happen to your professional reputation and credentials if your Pasadena DUI charge sticks?

To resolve the stress, uncertainty, and fear, you need good allies and powerful resources. An experienced, savvy attorney with the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899) can help you understand exactly what to do next to maximize your chances of a positive result – perhaps even a dismissal of the charges entirely.

June 11, 2012

Another Beauty Queen Charged with DUI in Hollywood: Former Ms. Arizona Teen USA Faces Half Year Behind Bars

by Michael Kraut

18-year old Tori Vance, who was arrested for driving under the influence in Hollywood last month, was officially charged with two crimes last week.

The Miss California hopeful, who moved to LA to pursue a modeling career after winning her state’s beauty contest two years ago, apparently made an illegal U-turn, which caught the attention of the Hollywood PD. She failed her Hollywood field sobriety test (allegedly) and tested at just above 0.08% BAC. As regular readers of this blog know, that’s the cutoff point for DUI, according to California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b). A conviction can result in significant time behind bars (Vance faces up to six months in jail) as well as fees and fines, compulsory interlock ignition device installation, mandatory alcohol school, tough probation terms, and a slew of other inconvenient charges that could really put a damper on her modeling career.

Not ideal, in other words.

You may not have driven DUI with a baby on top of your car, but judging from the responses you’ve been getting from friends and family, you might feel like you did something along those lines.

Being a DUI defendant in Hollywood, Long Beach, Burbank or wherever is by no means is an easy proposition. Forget about the challenges that you potentially face: Suspended license, jail time, mandatory IID installation, compulsory probation, and on and on. You also need to deal with the potentially damaged relationships in your life!

Some people might be supportive of your DUI defense; others won’t be — perhaps sadly and surprisingly so.

The environment that you are in can be chaotic, uncomfortable, and confusing. Not only do you need creditable legal advice, but you also need more general support as you try to figure out what to do about your charges and how to deal with the many and diverse problems that have been either caused or worsened by the arrest or the accident.

An experienced Los Angeles criminal DUI attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. (Local: (323) 464-6453) can help you get to the heart of your issues. As a former prosecutor who understands what motivates prosecutors and how to negotiate with them, Mr. Kraut can provide a stellar defense. But he can also go further and give you resources, tools, and a general sense of equilibrium, so that you can regain your balance and get back to life and work.

June 7, 2012

Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana in Long Beach: How NOT Do It

by Michael Kraut

If you or someone you love was recently arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana in Long Beach or elsewhere in the Southland, odds are, you probably feel embarrassed — especially if you made certain decisions that, in retrospect, were careless or even stupid.

Take some comfort in that your arrest was (probably) less ignominious than the arrest of 19-year old Catalina Clauser. She was arrested in Phoenix last week for driving under the influence of marijuana – with her baby on the roof of her car!

Yikes.

Here’s how it went down.

The legal shenanigans began early. Early in the evening, Clauser’s boyfriend was busted for driving under the influence – with the baby in her Ford Focus. Apparently upset about what happened, the 19-year old drove to the home of a friend and smoked a significant amount of marijuana – up to two bowls’ worth.

According to reports, Clauser left the party at around midnight and drove home. At around 1’o clock in the morning, local police got a call: a baby had been found in the middle of the road, and his car seat.

Fortunately, the baby was “perfectly okay” – according to later hospital reports. The police initially suspected that the child had been thrown out of a car in an accident, given the shoddy, damaged state of the car seat. Only after an investigation did police realize what actually happened (probably): in her marijuana induced state, Clauser apparently left the car seat on the roof of the car. Once she took off, unsurprisingly, the unsecured car seat fell off the car and into the middle of the road. Clauser was later arrested for child abuse and aggravated DUI. Her child is now in the care of Child Protective Services.

All told, not exactly the best of nights for that child or for anyone involved, really. It’s actually a miracle the baby was not seriously harmed given everything that happened.

Whether or not your Long Beach DUI or marijuana DUI situation was as operatic as Clauser’s arrest, you likely face huge obstacles and surprises.

You’re probably feeling scared, unsure, confused, and overwhelmed by the potential legal mess you might be in. Even if you didn’t hurt anyone — and even if this was your first time arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana in Los Angeles — you could face massive fines and court costs, points on your license, huge insurance headaches, a driver license suspension, mandatory alcohol ed classes (inconveniently timed, no doubt) and of course prison time.

Talk to a respected and experienced Los Angeles marijuana DUI defense attorney at Long Beach’s Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454 ) immediately regarding your legal options. Attorney Kraut is a widely respected lawyer who has served in both prosecutorial and defense capacities – this special vantage gives him a competitive advantage that he can put to work for you.

June 3, 2012

Could His Next “Ultimate Fight” Be A Battle Against Los Angeles DUI? Jon “Bones” Jones Totals Bentley in New York; DUI Suspected

by Michael Kraut

Not every Los Angeles DUI arrest involves a $190,000 Bentley getting wrapped around a telephone pole and a superstar athlete. But last Saturday, Jon “Bones” Jones, 24-year old UFC fighting champ, did just that in Binghamton, New York.

Jones was arrested by the Broome County Sheriff — the same agency for which he created a police training film a few months ago. An ironic twist of events, indeed. In the wake of the incident, the light heavyweight king – who bested Rashad Evans on April 21 in a unanimous decision – got called to the carpet by Dana White, the President of the UFC.

White told the Boston Herald, in blunt terms, how he felt about Jones’ situation: “[Jones] could… go down as the greatest ever – beat everybody, do all the stuff, be the first guy to break through and get a Nike deal… do you want to be that guy or do you want to go the other way?” White then proceeded to describe in graphic, expletive filled detail what precisely the “the other way” would entail.

Not good things.

If you’ve recently been arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles, you are probably facing a similar turning point in your life. How do you want to frame what’s happened to you? How are you going to respond? The question actually goes deeper than just “what will your legal response be?” It cuts to the heart of where you are in your life and how much responsibility you’re willing to take for your life trajectory from here on out.

Whether the arrest was fair or not, you need to make big picture, strategic, and tactical decisions in the days and months ahead. The quality of the decisions that you make – and the quality of your network of support people – could have tremendous implications, not just regarding scary questions like “will I go to jail or not for my Los Angeles DUI?” but for the grander questions like “will I get the help I need to get control of myself and rebuild my life?”

Compassionate, aggressive, experienced attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. in Los Angeles can help you deal with all aspect of your charges and situation. Attorney Kraut served as a prosecutor for the city for nearly a decade and a half, and he has deep insights into how to get his clients excellent results, even in complicated and scary circumstances.

June 1, 2012

Glendale DUI News Of The Weird: Did Driver Busted in Iowa Really Let Zebra and Parrot Drive His Truck?

by Michael Kraut

Occasionally, stories of DUI in Glendale and elsewhere get pretty weird.

Last week, the zany action took place not here at Southern California but rather in the generally staid Midwest – Dubuque, Iowa, to be more specific. 56-year old Jerald Reiter was arrested in the parking lot of a bar called “Dog House” (appropriate) after police saw him driving around with a parrot and a baby zebra in his truck.

Officers saw the circus-like situation and made Reiter go through the paces of a field sobriety test. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the FST came back positive, and he was arrested and booked. One report said that Reiter had a habit of taking the Macaw Parrot and baby Zebra into the bar – a situation which no doubt caused quite a scene in the Dog House. In any event, Reiter is claiming that he is innocent.

If you’ve been put through the paces of a field sobriety test in Glendale, Iowa, or anywhere else, you know it can be a scary experience, even if you are used to being around wild, loud animals — and even if you have enough courage and bombast to make something of a spectacle of yourself at a public bar.

Field sobriety tests are no fun. It’s not that the actual test themselves are that physically demanding – balancing tests, walk the line tests, stand on one leg tests, finger to nose tests, and other FSTs are pretty basic stuff. But the emotional aspect of doing these tasks is difficult to metabolize. You realize that one small incorrect movement could mean a Glendale DUI arrest, followed by penalties such as jail time, driver’s license suspension, compulsory alcohol school, probation, points on your license, skyrocketing car insurance premiums, and on and on and on.

You might not be consciously aware of all those potential problems when you’re in the midst of an FST, but you are almost certainly subconsciously aware of what’s going on.

It’s difficult to enumerate all the factors that can make a sobriety test “go wrong” – nervousness, general lack of coordination, the whims of an officer, a legitimate stumble, fatigue, medications that are legal to use but which might interfere with your performance, etc.

All that said, the past is past.

If you or someone you care about has been arrested for DUI in Glendale, you almost certainly need the services of a professional, highly competent, and respected Glendale DUI criminal defense attorney. Look to the team here at The Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. for guidance. Attorney Michael Kraut has a fantastic track record of helping defendants like you not only get results for their defense but also understand their rights, so they feel a degree of certainty and optimism throughout the whole process.

May 23, 2012

Got A Marijuana DUI in Long Beach? If So, Check Out What’s Happening in Colorado…

by Michael Kraut

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.

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 Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. (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.

May 21, 2012

A Good Way to Make Beverly Hills DUI News – Drive 100 Miles per Hour to a Kid’s Birthday Party

by Michael Kraut

Whether you or someone you care about has been arrested for driving under the influence in Beverly Hills, or you’re just striving to be a better, safer parent, you can learn a lot from the story of Katherine Russell, a 34-year old Northern Californian mom, who was arrested last week after driving a 100 miles per hour in her SUV…because she was late to a child’s birthday party.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Russell tested at more than twice the Beverly Hills DUI limit of 0.08%. A California Highway Patrol officer saw her Toyota 4Runner zipping by a Sonoma County Road at around 90 miles per hour. When the officer approached her, the SUV allegedly sped up to a rocketing 100 miles per hour. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident – and especially no children were hurt.

Parents here in Beverly Hills do some crazy “stuff” to help give their children a leg up and meet their needs. We live in a stress inducing city — Beverly Hills takes “keeping up with the Joneses” to the next level. All parents can be tempted to do stupid and dangerous things in the name of protecting their kids and giving their kids what we think they want or need. But there is a danger in this mentality. Sometimes, people get arrested for crimes like driving under the influence in Beverly Hills or elsewhere because they are striving to “do the right thing.”

In other words, we might know they we’re not in the best state for driving – that we “should” take more precautions or find designated driver. But our better instincts get overpowered by the urges and needs of the moment. Only after the fact do we realize how our efforts have backfired. And then we’re forced to scramble to figure out what we might be able to do about our trouble — how we can run damage control. This is only speculation, but it is possible that the 34-year old was speeding because of a deep and understandable need to take care of her child – to pick him or her up from that late night party. The moral is that our positive, nurturing urges can have damaging effects – if we are not careful to measure them against the realities of our situations.

Fortunately, a Beverly Hills DUI charge – even a complicated one – does not have to be a life sentence. An experienced, able, and respected Los Angeles criminal defense attorney at Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. (8484 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 660B Beverly Hills, CA 90211-3220 Phone: (310) 550-6935 ) in Beverly Hills can talk to you about what happened and give you some powerful advice to start to construct an effective defense.

May 16, 2012

You Think Your Long Beach DUI Arrest Was Bad: These Guys Strapped Their Kids to the Roof of a Car for an Alleged DUI Joyride!

by Michael Kraut

Getting pulled over for a charge of a driving under the influence in Long Beach can be a shocking, terrifying experience. Even if you did nothing wrong – or the breathalyzer malfunctioned, or the police failed to follow proper procedure, or you can produce exonerating evidence – developing a good Long Beach DUI defense can be an intimidating proposition, to say the least.

Fortunately, odds are that the charges against you are less insane than the charges against two Indianans: Jessica Clark and Aaron Stefanski got hit with charges of DUI in Fort Wayne, after police saw them strap their kids to the hood of an automobile while driving away from a liquor store.

Not so smart.

One of the witnesses to the event, Tom Nowak, told a local paper how the 4-to-7-year olds got lashed to the car: “with one of those straps you crank on a semi to hold down lumber, they were strapped with that thing, wiggling and wobbling down the street.”

Indiana Child Protective Services have since removed three of the children from the father’s custody and sent them to stay with their mother full time. Obviously, this story is like something out of “News of the Weird” – an interesting oddity, but you might be wondering how it could be relevant to your Long Beach DUI case.

Here are some of the lessons:

1: People who get stopped for DUI in Long Beach often do “multiple things wrong” at once.

Yes, there are certain situations in which “only one bad thing happens.” For instance, the driver has way too many drinks at a party before getting behind the wheel, and he or she gets tagged with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10%. But in many cases, drivers do stupid things upon stupid things, compounding their problems. For instance, the father in this case not only allegedly drove DUI, but he also endangered his children. His legal mess will be far more thorny and complicated.

2: Controlling perceptions is important.

What happened, happened. You (or someone you love) now faces a Long Beach DUI charge. You cannot go back in time and change that. But what you can do is to determine how to shape events going forward, so that you learn lessons from what happened, make reparations to anyone you hurt, leverage tools and strategies to minimize your punishments, and generally try to transform this obstacle in your life into an opportunity to become a better person, a better driver, a better citizen, and more self-knowing.

3. Good legal help — early on! — is crucial.

A Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) can help you deal with your situation, even if you made compounding errors during and after your arrest. Attorney Kraut is a former prosecutor – he knows how prosecutors will think about your case and want to charge you – and he can leverage that information and insight to get you better results.