Celebrity DUI Arrests

May 24, 2013

Los Angeles DUI Charges for Comedian Kevin Hart – “This Is a Wakeup Call”

Thirty-two-year old comedian Kevin Hart (“Laugh at My Pain”) was arrested on suspicion of Los Angeles DUI on the 101 last Sunday morning. Kevin%20Hart%20DUI-los-angeles.jpg

According to local reports, a CHP officer pulled over Hart’s black Mercedes, after the officer saw Hart driving at over 90 miles per hour – nearly smashing into a tanker truck in the process.

Mr. Hart was put through the paces of a Los Angeles field sobriety test, which he allegedly failed. Police arrested him for misdemeanor DUI, and he posted a $5,000 bond that day. A female passenger in the Mercedes went home in a taxi cab. Hart took to Twitter the day after his arrest with a mea culpa: “this is a wakeup call for me… I have to be smarter & last night I wasn’t. Everything happens for a reason.”

Hart’s arrest prompted snarky responses from fellow comedians, including Damon Wayans. The actor has appeared in multiple movies as well as the TV show, Undeclared.

Driving DUI in Los Angeles

While Hart’s attempt to “come clean” and express regret for what happened is in many ways admirable, prosecutors take Los Angles DUI charges deadly seriously. After all, driving under the influence increases your risk of getting into injury crashes and causing substantial damage to public and private property. The city and state both have great interest in reducing DUI incidences, and violators can be punished with a spectrum of unpleasantries, including jail time, fines, fees, miscellaneous court costs, mandatory interlock ignition device installation, and harsh probation terms. Those punishments don’t even touch on the other scary long-term implications.

A DUI conviction can make any subsequent criminal act much more “punishable” – prosecutors like to bring the hammer down harder on recidivist offenders. It can also spike your insurance rates and damage and disrupt relationships.

The road back may not be easy, simple, or fast. But there are correct strategic paths and less effective ones.

The team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is extremely experienced at helping drivers like you understand and come to terms with charges and make intelligent decisions going forward. Get in touch with the Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor Kraut today for insightful assistance with your DUI in Los Angeles.

May 10, 2013

Celebrity Pasadena DUI News: Cat Cora Arrest Videos Surface: Host Makes Fun of “Two Nerds” She Hit While DUI

by Michael Kraut

We’ve covered some pretty hairy and scary Pasadena DUI mug shots on this blog.

Even if you’ve been hiding under a rock over the past decade, you likely still remember Nick Nolte’s grizzled DUI visage from several years ago. He looked like he had just gotten out of bed.

On the other end of the spectrum, you probably also remember Cat Cora’s humdinger of a mug shot from last year. The host of Iron Chef and “Around the World in 80 Plates” got stopped for DUI in Santa Barbara last July, after she bumped another vehicle from behind.

Her unusually gorgeous mug shot likely made the folks at TMZ literally dizzy with excitement over how many website hits they would get. Even though Cora said she only consumed three beers before she got behind the wheel, breathalyzer test results found her BAC to be a whopping 0.19%. Just for comparison: The legal limit for Pasadena DUI is 0.08% BAC, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (b).

Maybe Cora miscounted her beers. Or maybe her breathalyzer test had been off.

In any event, she later apologized for what happened in a statement: “I deeply regret my decision to drive that evening, after my designated driver became unavailable. I learned a very important lesson from this experience and take full accountability for my actions.”

That sober, reflective Cora was very different from the Cora that surfaced recently in a video taken right after the crash. The people inside the car that Cora hit shot some crazy footage of Cora, who apparently glibly dismissed their request for insurance information. “Just because I bumped your car?” she asked, indignantly.

She didn’t stop there:

“I’m being videotaped by two nerds who don’t want to go have dinner together … do something exciting with their lives … really … wow … sad.”

This kind of over-the-top reaction is surprisingly common in DUI cases in Pasadena and elsewhere. It’s not that offenders want to get into more trouble or hassle people. It’s that they are scared, confused, and emotionally ginned up. If, like Cora, you said or did “bad things” after your stop, do the right thing now and start researching effective legal help as soon as you can.

Michael Kraut of Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is here to help you gather yourself, make sense of the charges, and resolve your stresses, anxieties, and concerns. Get in touch with Mr. Kraut and his responsible Pasadena DUI legal defense team today for much needed peace of mind.

May 3, 2013

Long Beach DUI Sports News: Trumaine Johnson of St. Louis Rams Busted for Misdemeanor DUI in Missoula

by Michael Kraut

Although this blog focuses on Long Beach DUI cases, we’ve been covering a surprisingly sizable number of cases out of the Big Sky State of Montana recently.

To wit, The Associated Press is reporting that Trumaine Johnson, a cornerback with the St. Louis Rams, got arrested for a misdemeanor DUI, after police saw him driving without his headlights.

Like many Long Beach DUI defendants do, he refused a breath test. Police booked him into jail. He later secured his released on a $700 bond. The former University of Montana star had a great first year with the Rams, racking up 31 tackles and 2 interceptions as a first year player. Not bad.

Obviously, without knowing any more details, we can only speculate on what happened — why he got the DUI. Perhaps, for instance, he would have passed the breath test had he chosen to take it. As we’ve reported in multiple posts, DUI breath tests are surprisingly unreliable – in both directions. For instance, if you exhale very lightly into a machine — or if the machine isn’t calibrated — you can blow a negative, when really you’re technically positive for Long Beach DUI. On the other hand, if you blow a very deep breath — or if you’re on an intense ketogenic diet, or if you have diabetes — you can easily blow a false positive.

It’s easy to get lost in technical details.

To that end, consider investigating your Long Beach DUI charges with the help of a qualified, respected attorney. You might also aim to focus on the deeper reasons for your Long Beach DUI stop. Perhaps the police treated you unfairly. Perhaps you weren’t even under the influence – or just barely under the influence.

In an ideal world, you want not only to beat the charges but also to prevent similarly embarrassing/danger situations from happening again.

To protect yourself (and others), you need to be very honest with yourself (and with your attorney) about what exactly happened, why, and what you can do to avoid trouble in the future.

These questions can touch on deep, troubling topics.

That’s why the most respected Long Beach DUI defense attorneys are excellent listeners – they often need to do both the “nuts and bolts” work of executing a defense and the “softer” work of counseling clients to help them become safer, more conscientious drivers.

For help managing your Long Beach DUI case, connect with the astute, thorough team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Attorney Michael Kraut is a former prosecutor (Senior Deputy District Attorney) who has tremendous experience on both sides of high level DUI cases.

April 29, 2013

Long Beach DUI Sports News Update: Josiah Turner Nets Two Days Behind Bars for April 2012 DUI Arrest

by Michael Kraut

Getting stopped and arrested for driving under the influence in Long Beach (or anywhere else) can have profound, long-lasting implications, even if you manage to reduce your charges.

Consider, for instance, the highly publicized ordeal of Josiah Turner.

The former guard for Arizona just received a two-day jail sentence in connection with an April 26, 2012 DUI arrest. The ex-Wildcat managed to get six other charges dismissed in his plea arrangement, but the court still fined him $1,529 and told him to go through a MADD program and alcohol evaluation.

Turner had been a solid performer for the Cats – he averaged nearly 7 points a game along with 3.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists before he transferred to SMU. After college, he pursued professional basketball both in Hungary and in Canada. He lost his slot on the Halifax Rainmen in mid-season and declared for the NBA draft last week.

A Justice of the Peace, Anne Segal, told the basketball star, “I hope this [the DUI and plea arrangement] was the lowest point in your life.”

If you’ve recently been arrested – or if you’re close to someone who’s been arrested for Long Beach DUI recently – you can probably relate to the sentiment.

Turner’s attorney, Jeffery Rogers, spoke highly of the plea agreement: “it’s pretty much what you could expect in this case…what’s important is that Josiah got what everyone else would get. There is no special treatment.”

The 20-year-old (he was 19 when he was arrested) got pulled over for going through a red light at around 1.30 in the morning in his 1993 Infiniti sedan. Police saw that Turner had no license plate on his car, and he didn’t have a driver’s license, insurance, or registration with him. In addition to charges for blowing through the red light, failing to have a driver’s license, and DUI (for having BAC of over 0.08%), he was charged with driving a vehicle while under the influence and being under 21 with alcohol in his system.

According to sports reports, Turner has had a challenging last few years. He was one of the top U of A basketball recruits in 2011, but he got suspended twice for unpublished reasons. The second suspension happened during the crucial Pac-12 Tournament. His lawyer summed up the situation “he is an extreme talent…I just hope he learned a lesson and uses this as a building block.”

Often, a Long Beach DUI charge is the tip of a much larger iceberg – a sign of more deeply rooted problems. To milk the lessons from your arrest, you need to confront the charges strategically, introspect and get appropriate help to avoid recidivism or other future problems. Fortunately, the astute, connected team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you get on a smart path. Connect with Mr. Kraut and his associates today to begin building your Long Beach DUI defense.

April 25, 2013

Hollywood DUI Mega Drama – Reese Witherspoon Arrested for Disorderly Conduct After Husband, James Toth, Gets DUI

by Michael Kraut

Our Hollywood DUI story of the week is clearly the Reese Witherspoon incident. The “Legally Blonde” actress didn’t nab the DUI, though. That honor goes to her husband, CAA uber-agent, James Toth.

Witherspoon and Toth had been in Atlanta, where the actress was shooting a movie (The Good Lie), when an Atlanta trooper saw Toth’s Ford Focus weaving in and out of lanes. Trooper First Class, J. Pyland, 42, stopped the vehicle. He reported that Toth’s eyes looked bloodshot and that his clothing looked disheveled.

After the agent allegedly failed his field sobriety tests, Pyland gave him a breathalyzer test. Toth blew a 0.139% BAC, which is nearly double the limit for Hollywood DUI of 0.08%, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b). (Even though the couple got arrested in Atlanta, the “0.08% limit” is basically the national standard.)

The drama did not stop with Toth’s arrest, however.

Witherspoon allegedly stuck her head out the window and lashed out at Pyland, accusing him of not being “a real police officer.”

Per Pyland’s report: “I told Mrs. Witherspoon to sit on her butt and be quiet.” When she refused and instead got out of the vehicle — exercising her self-declared right to “stand on American ground” — Pyland handcuffed her. He wrote: “I put my hands on Mrs. Witherspoon’s arms to arrest her…[she] was resistant, but I was able to put handcuffs on her without incident due to Mr. Toth calming her.”

Witherspoon allegedly asked him “Do you know my name?” He said he didn’t. She told him “You are about to find out who I am…you are going to be on national news.” The officer impounded their car and sent both Toth and Witherspoon to jail in Atlanta.

A passenger in the back – who has not been identified yet – went home in a cab.

The celebrity power couple made bail the next morning, and Witherspoon’s attorney hammered out a deal to prevent her from getting a criminal conviction by doing a pretrial intervention program. She will need to check in with the judge on May 22nd to determine her compliance with the program.

The 37-year-old actress did walk on the Red Carpet at the NYC premiere of her new film, Mud, but she did not give fodder to the media afterwards by taking questions.

Mrs. Witherspoon’s post-arrest trauma overshadowed Toth’s DUI arrest. Lucky, in some sense, for him: it’s a pretty big deal when a major Hollywood agent gets arrested for DUI in Hollywood. It’s a bigger deal – at least from the national media’s perspective – when an actress of Witherspoon’s stature winds up behind bars.

Implications for your Hollywood DUI defense

This story does a good job of highlighting how no one is above the law. And no one is above doing “stupid things” before, during, or after a Hollywood DUI arrest. In the sober light of day, it’s easy to regret what you did or didn’t do. The challenge now for you is to figure out how to make your life simpler and how to be strategic going forward.

Connect with the Hollywood DUI attorneys at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to understand the implications of your arrest and develop a strategy. Mr. Kraut is a Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor with the means and technique to provide you an excellent defense.

April 23, 2013

Al Michaels, Sportscasting Icon, Busted for DUI in Santa Monica

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve recently been arrested for DUI in Santa Monica, you have company — famous company. In particular: legendary sportscaster, Al Michaels, who was busted last Friday night, after he made an illegal U-turn right in front of a police manning a DUI checkpoint.

The officers quickly pulled over the Sunday Night Football play-by-play man and gave him a blood alcohol test. Curiously, he was right at the cusp of the legal limit – 0.08% BAC exactly. Apparently, he was extremely nice to the officers, and he cooperated. Nevertheless, they booked him on suspicion of DUI and held him behind bars for five hours before releasing him on his own recognizance. NBC Sports spokesman, Greg Hughes, said “we are aware of the situation and we have been in contact with Al…we have no further comment at this time.”

The Emmy Award winning sportscaster has a court date on June 26th.

Michaels is probably best known for calling the so-called “miracle on ice” hockey game at the 1980 Olympics (where the U.S. team underdogs triumphed over the Soviet Union) as well as calling Game Three of the 1989 World Series, which got interrupted by an earthquake.

Santa Monica Police Department’s public information officer, Sgt. Richard Lewis, recounted the events for the media: “[Michaels] makes an illegal U-turn in the business district…two officers see that. They are staged in a gas station lot, they see the illegal U-turn, and they go after him.”

Lewis said that, after they stopped him, they “smelled alcohol” and put Michaels through the paces of a field sobriety test.

The Santa Monica PD put out a news release on April 12 announcing a driver’s license/DUI checkpoint on Friday (at an undisclosed location), citing the fact that “over the course of the past year, traffic collisions involving impaired drivers/riders were involved in 91 collisions, which have killed 3 and injured 28 people.”

Figuring out what to do after your Santa Monica DUI arrest

Whether you got behind the wheel while returning from a day at the Pier and Promenade; or got stopped on Montana while coming back from a Hollywood exec’s private party, you’re anxious about your future. You want straight talk about what to do next.

Fortunately, Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to help you untangle your mess and give you sound strategic DUI defense advice. Get in touch with the former Senior Deputy District Attorney and Harvard Law School educated Kraut today to craft a resilient defense.

April 21, 2013

Bobby Brown Los Angeles DUI Redux — My Prerogative to Wear an Ankle Bracelet?

by Michael Kraut

Driving DUI in Los Angeles just doesn’t pay. And celebrity musician, Bobby Brown, would probably be the first to tell you why.

After pleading no contest to October 2012 charges in February, Brown finally received his sentence: 55 days behind bars and an electronic surveillance ankle bracelet. Although Brown only served 8 hours in “real time” behind bars – due to prison overcrowding and other factors – he will still need to spend 18 months in alcohol treatment program and go to AA meetings three times a week.

As we reported when his arrest happened, 2012 was a very rough year for Brown. Not only was he arrested twice for driving under the influence in the Valley – once on March 26th, when CHP officer saw him chatting on a cell phone while driving (also a no-no) and once on October 24th – but he also lost his ex-wife Whitney Houston, AND he endured less than thrilled reviews of his first big music project in many years.

All that said, time does heal wounds. It’s spring time now — a time for rebirth and positive reckoning.

Even if you really screwed up and injured yourself while driving under the influence in Los Angeles – and/or committed other illegal acts, such as hit and run, resisting arrest, etcetera, DUI — you can reboot your life. You can leverage the experience of the arrest/accident to become a better human being, more insightful about yourself, and even a better driver.

Of course, DUI defense can get complicated, particularly if your case is challenging. If you hurt someone while driving DUI, for instance, you could be facing felony charges per California Vehicle Code Section 23153(a) or 23153(b). Likewise, if this was your second or third arrest, prosecutors might be far less lenient on you. You may face steeper fines, greater problems with your insurance, a longer license suspension, more time in alcohol school, and beyond.

To get a handle on what you need to do, get in touch with a Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers.

What sets attorney Kraut apart from the crowd?

First of all, he is a former high level prosecutor – he served as a Senior Deputy District Attorney. That means he understands prosecutors on a very deep level.

Secondly, he has great relationships with many people in the Los Angeles legal and police community, and he also has a Harvard Law School background and deep sense of compassion and service.

He genuinely cares both about protecting his clients and serving the community.

April 19, 2013

Note to Prospective Burbank DUI Defendants: Make Sure Your Story is Plausible! (Lessons from “Teen Mom” Farrah Abraham’s DUI Arrest)

by Michael Kraut

When you got arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank, you might have been tempted to “fight back” against the police or engage in destructive (perhaps illegal) behavior.

Hopefully, you restrained yourself from making your situation worse.

For an object lesson about what can happen, let’s take a look at the recent DUI arrest of “Teen Mom” star Farrah Abraham. The 21-year old mother (of a 4-year old girl) got busted for DUI in Nebraska on St. Patrick’s Day. She “fought cops tooth and nail” – literally – according to TMZ reports.

March 25, 2013

Not a Good Adventure for Bonaventura: Constable Charged With DUI… Implications for Your Los Angeles DUI Defense?

by Michael Kraut

As someone who was recently arrested and charged with driving under the influence in Los Angeles, you’re feeling pretty sheepish and scared and regretful.

You wish you had use more common sense — handed the keys to a friend or associate or just cabbed it home. As much as you want to take responsibility for events — and speak with an experienced Los Angeles DUI attorney, ASAP — appreciate that you’re not the first person who’s ever been in this compromised position.

Plenty of other, normally law abiding folks get into DUI trouble in Los Angeles all the time. In fact, if you’ve been following our blog for any length of time, you’ve read endless accounts of celebrities, sport stars, politicians, and even legislators who’ve been busted for DUI.

Even police officers get in trouble for the crime!

Case in point. Consider the sad story of 50-year old John M. Bonaventura, the head of the Constable’s Office for Las Vegas Township. A Nevada highway trooper pulled over Bonaventura on US 95 near Boulder Highway, after he saw the “official constable vehicle” driving pell-mell all over the freeway.

Bonaventura’s speeding and DUI charges are actually just the tip of the iceberg.

Commissioners for Clark County (the home of Las Vegas — a.k.a. the “City of Sin”) are about ready to abolish the entire Constable’s office, which employs over 20 deputies. These officials perform work ranging from serving paperwork to evicting people. According to a local paper, the Las Vegas Review Journal, critics have hammered the Constable’s office for “creative accounting practices that circumvent county oversight, as well as for filming a profanity-laced pilot for a reality television show.” (quote from an AP article)

Perhaps the deputies were jealous of the modern day Keystone Cops on Reno 911. Maybe they didn’t realize that that show is actually a fictional comedy.

On a more serious note, as a Los Angeles DUI defendant, you may or may not have been negatively affected by police errors or bad police behavior. The vast majority of officers in Los Angeles County are hardworking and fair. Yet you should pull out all the stops during your Los Angeles DUI defense — investigate any angle that could lead to a reduction in your sentence or a dismissal of the charges.

Of course, this is no small task, even for experienced attorneys. Fortunately, you can turn to former city prosecutor Michael Kraut and his team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Los Angeles for adept, thorough, and insightful guidance on your case.

Mr. Kraut has a special vantage on L.A. DUI cases because he served for nearly a decade and a half as a prosecutor. He maintains good relationships with his old prosecutorial colleagues as well as with other key people in the system.

March 20, 2013

Hollywood DUI Disaster for American Idol Winner’s Family — Phillip Phillips’ Mom Busted in Albany, Georgia

by Michael Kraut

If you recently got arrested for drug DUI in Hollywood or elsewhere in the Southland, you have plenty of company.

Often, DUI events represent the tip of the iceberg — the manifestation of longer brewing and ultimately very tragic situations.

Consider, in that context, the recent stop and arrest of Cheryl Phillips, mother of singer Phillip Phillips, who won Season 11 of American Idol. Phillip Phillips has been very public about his troubled relationship with his family. Last November, his parents needed financial help. But the newly crowned American Idol winner refused to pitch in. So the parents had to sell their pawn shop.