Police officers who suspect a driver of DUI in Los Angeles must have probable cause before they can ask that person to take a breathalyzer test. But what constitutes probable cause? In Kansas, at least, police officers can no longer use some of the indicators that they used to employ.…
When drivers arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles hire attorneys to represent them, they expect that their counsel will help them resolve issues quickly. But Jason William Gale had a different experience. He discovered—20 years after his DUI arrest!—that his attorney had not followed through in handling Gale’s 1995…
Kansas has joined the list of states where courts have ruled against laws requiring suspected DUI drivers to take a breathalyzer or blood test without police first getting a warrant. A similar decision by a California court would undoubtedly impact many of the cases against drivers arrested for a DUI…
A recent ruling in a case involving a DUI in Los Angeles County has overturned the second degree murder conviction of a woman who hit a pedestrian and kept driving—with the pedestrian stuck to her windshield. In February 2014, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury convicted Sherri Lynn Wilkins of…
Over the past year or so, anecdotal evidence suggests that lawyers who represent DUI drivers in states across the U.S. have been getting more aggressive in contesting their clients’ convictions. Now there’s another lawsuit–this time filed in Florida–which anyone who has lost a driver’s license because of a DUI in…
Can a police officer pull drivers over—and subsequently charge them with DUI—just because their vehicles crossed the center line? A Tennessee court has said yes. While it won’t affect anyone contesting a DUI in Los Angeles, the court’s ruling in the Volunteer State seems to be bucking a national trend…
Small words can have a big impact. Just ask the thousands of drivers in Missouri who could see their DUI convictions thrown out of court thanks to the substitution of “or” for “and” in the instructions for Breathalyzer calibration. If a judge made a similar ruling regarding DUIs in Los…
With the recent passage of a law permitting the use of medical marijuana in California, police officers will soon be dealing with its effects on arrests for DUI in Los Angeles. Will someone using cannabis for medical reasons be able to avoid DUI charges? A recent ruling by Arizona’s Supreme…
Can the DMV penalize someone for a DUI in Los Angeles based upon a police officer’s observation of their behavior? Can you lose your license even if your blood alcohol content is borderline for a DUI charge? A ruling earlier this year by the California State Supreme Court in the…