los angeles dui attorney

Published on: August 21, 2016

Buggy Driver Gets DUI

When New York State passed the nation’s first DUI law back in 1910, automobile owners weren’t the only drivers that authorities were targeting. At that time, plenty of horse-drawn vehicles still traveled the roads, and their drivers could cause a fair amount of damage to people and property if they were under the influence while holding the reins. Fast forward more than 100 years, and police officers rarely (if ever) arrest someone for a DUI in Los Angeles when they’re riding a horse or driving a horse-drawn carriage. But it can and does happen elsewhere.

Pennsylvania, Lancaster County, Amish Horse And Buggy. (Photo by Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)

In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, police arrested Robert Miller, 18, on suspicion of DUI. Miller, a member of the Amish church, was driving one of the plain black buggies that the Amish favor.

Published on: July 25, 2016

Washington State Supreme Court Rules DUI Sobriety Tests Aren’t Unreasonable Search

by Michael Kraut

What evidence should a judge permit police to present during a DUI trial? If a driver suspected of DUI in Los Angeles refuses to take a field sobriety test, for example, should the court allow police officers to use that as evidence against him/her?

The Washington State Supreme Court thinks so. In a recent 5-4 vote, the court ruled that Mark Tracy Macham did not have a constitutional right to refuse a field sobriety test on the grounds that it was an unreasonable search.
According to King 5 News, police had pulled Mecham over back in 2011 because there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. After trying to talk to Mecham, the officer concluded that he was impaired and asked him to take a field sobriety test. Mecham refused. During his booking at the police station on DUI charges, Mecham also refused repeated requests to take a breathalyzer test.

Published on: July 13, 2016

Boating Under the Influence: As Dangerous As DUI

by Michael Kraut

The Port of Los Angeles has a total of 16 marinas with 3,795 recreational boat slips. Since a day on a boat often involves enjoyment of adult beverages, there are plenty of opportunities for boaters to face arrest on a water-related DUI in Los Angeles (technically a BUI–boating under the influence). The results of this behavior can be deadly; according to a U.S. Coast Guard Boating report, 16 percent of the boating-related fatalities in the Pacific region of the U.S. involved boating while intoxicated.

Other parts of the country have even worse records. In the Western region, which includes Oklahoma, 18 percent of the boating deaths were alcohol-related. Fortunately, the boating accident caused by Aaron Christopher Hux on July 6th didn’t cause any fatalities. But when the 39-year old Hux struck a concrete wall just north of a marina on Keystone Lake, the impact did plunge three of the four teenagers onboard into the water and sent them to the hospital for treatment.
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Published on: June 23, 2016

Texas Court: Implied Consent Valid for DUI Driver

by Michael Kraut

Under California’s vehicle codes, drivers suspected of a DUI in Los Angeles must submit to breathalyzer or blood tests or face a license suspension of one year for the first offense (two years for the second offense and three years for the third) and must pay a fine of $125.

Texas has a similar implied consent law, and the state’s appeals court has just upheld its constitutionality.

Officer Luis Villarreal of the McAllen, Texas, Police Department pulled John Andrew Rankin over on July 19, 2014, after the driver breezed through a blinking red light without stopping. The officer reported that Rankin smelled strongly of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and slurred his speech. When Rankin failed field sobriety tests, Villarreal arrested him for driving under the influence. At the police station, Rankin refused to take a breathalyzer test.

Published on: June 8, 2016

New Law Says No Tows for DUI Drivers: Is It Fair? Will It Help?

by Michael Kraut

Drivers at risk for DUI in Los Angles sometimes face dilemmas. They don’t want to drive when they suspect they’ve had a few too many, but if they don’t move their cars from a bar’s parking lot, they may risk a tow truck taking it to an impoundment lot. Would they be more inclined to seek alternative transportation if they knew that their cars would remain in place overnight?

The City of Tampa, Florida, thinks that they will. In 2008, the City adopted an ordinance that made it illegal for bars to have vehicles on their lot towed between 9 p.m. and noon the next day, unless they have signed an order authorizing its removal. The law also forbids tow truck drivers from removing any vehicle unless they have a signed order that gives the make, model, color and license plate of the vehicle and the name of the person in the bar who ordered the removal.

But the law has not worked as intended. According to a series of investigative reports by TV 10News in Tampa, neither bar owners nor customers are aware of the law. People interviewed for the news story said that fear of towing did play a role in their decision to drive their vehicles after they had been drinking.

So Tampa’s City Council is now considering another measure to require any bar or restaurant that serves alcohol to post signs telling customers that their vehicles cannot be towed before noon. According to 10News, the goal is to encourage anyone who’s had too much to drink to seek a lift from a cab, Uber, Lyft or a friend.

Published on: May 27, 2016

Unsuccess Leaves Clues: What DUI Drivers Leave Behind [For Instance: a Headless Vulture!]

by Michael Kraut

Pro tip: People who want to avoid charges for a DUI in Los Angeles (or for other criminal charges) should avoid gifting police officers powerful evidence against them.

In Tumwater, Washington, on May 17th, police charged 32-year-old Christopher Rieg with hit and run and with driving under the influence. Reportedly, Rieg traveled through an intersection, slammed into a black sedan and then took off. But he left behind something from his vehicle—his license plate. When a police officer found the tag in the intersection, he did a quick search and found that the plate belonged on a car owned by Rieg. The officer also uncovered a booking photo of Rieg from an earlier arrest.

Police officers discovered Rieg and a female companion standing by the side of the road not far from the crash scene. They administered a blood alcohol test and found his BAC level was .16 – twice the legal limit. After Rieg went to jail, a judge set his bail at $50,000.

Published on: May 25, 2016

A Round Up of Shocking High-Profile DUIs in May 2016

by Michael Kraut

Police arrested thousands of people for DUI in Los Angeles and other cities throughout the country this month. Here are a few that made national headlines.

• Authorities in Orlando, Florida, reported that they picked up a minivan with five underage teens—including a 17-year-old driver—obviously under the influence. This traffic stop was unusual, however, because teens were all Amish, and their vehicle had been traveling at speeds of more than 100 mph. The driver reportedly didn’t even have a license; he was operating the vehicle on a learner’s permit.

• The afternoon news anchor of KTNV-TV Channel 13 in Law Vegas made headlines when her own station reported on her arrest on a misdemeanor DUI charge. Rikki Cheese had a previous arrest for DUI in 2009.

Published on: April 20, 2016

Using Social Media to Expose Light DUI Sentences

by Michael Kraut

Should the public be informed if a judge gives a driver convicted of a Los Angeles DUI a very light sentence? The State of New Mexico thinks that’s what should happen in the Land of Enchantment.

New Mexico judges who routinely hand out lenient sentences to DUI drivers may soon have observers in their courtroom. Governor Susana Martine announced in mid-April that New Mexico plans to pay staffers from Mothers Against Drunk Driving to monitor these trials—and to report to state officials on what they’re seeing. State employees will tweet the names of the repeat offenders and the judges who let them off easily.

According to an Associated Press report, the state has given MADD an $800,000, two-year contract to carry out this work. Governor Martine said the program is necessary, because the justice system too often fails families whose suffer because they have lost loved ones in DUI-related crashes.

Published on: March 31, 2016

Horrifying Story: Did DUI Driver’s Travel Through Flood Cause Passenger’s Death?

by Michael Kraut

Over the years, this blog has reported on dozens of Los Angeles DUI stories involving fatal wrecks. In court and in news reports, drivers often lament that they think about their crashes with remorse every single day.

Nen Yang, 55, will have to live the rest of his life knowing that he likely caused the death of an unidentified woman passenger on March 5th. Rains flooded some of the roads in Yuba County, but Yang, instead of stopping at a closed-off section of road between Highways 65 and 70, reportedly plowed right through the water that was laying on it. Only when it was too late did he realize that the water was six to eight feet deep—enough to submerge his vehicle.

Los Angeles’ KTLA television station reported that while Yang managed to struggle out of the flooded car, his 52-year-old female passenger was not so lucky. She died, trapped in the car as the water poured in.

Published on: March 23, 2016

Court Rules 20 Year Delay Too Long for DUI Prosecution

by Michael Kraut

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 DUI arrest in Grand Forks, North Dakota. So when Grand Forks prosecutors (finally) caught up with Gale about a year ago, they took him to court, where the judge found him guilty and fined him $500.

Now the North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that the 20-year delay violated Gale’s right to a speedy trial.

According to the Bismarck Tribune, Gale’s attorney in 1995, Henry Howe, reported to his client that the case was resolved and closed. Gale left North Dakota shortly after that time. But a background check for a security job Gale was applying for turned up an outstanding arrest warrant for the DUI case. Cass County, which was prosecuting the case, said it had sent three notices to Gale. However, Gale said the court had his address because of other legal actions and claimed that he had never received any such notice.