Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol

July 22, 2013

North Dakota Passes HB 1302, Ratcheting Up DUI Penalties. Implications for Burbank DUI Law?

As someone who has been recently stopped and arrested for Burbank DUI at a checkpoint (or elsewhere), your mind is obviously focused on your urgent situation and not on national news involvements. But you should try to understand the context of your arrest on a broader level, since that context can inform your defense strategy and what measures you might take going forward to prevent another Burbank DUI arrest.

To that end, let’s mentally traverse a few thousand miles up to North Dakota, where local Governor Jack Dalrymple just signed into law House Bill 1302, which ratchets up penalties for DUI in ND. The new laws, which will go into effect on August 1, are far more draconian than the state’s old laws. Governor Dalrymple signed HB 1302 into law while surrounded by victims and family members of victims of DUI accidents. Here are key highlights:

• Anyone who blows a BAC of 0.16% or higher (even first time offenders!) will be hit with an aggravated DUI charge;
• If you test at 0.16% or more (twice the limit for DUI in Burbank, by the way), and you’re a recidivist, you must enroll in a 24/7 sobriety program and face an increase in mandatory jail time;
• Even first time offenders convicted of aggravated DUI must perform 10 hours of community service and serve two days behind bars;
• If you kill someone while driving under the influence, you could be charged with the new type of felony called a Class A felony. If convicted, you face a mandatory 3 year jail sentence;
• If you’ve been convicted of reckless or DUI driving in the past, and then you kill someone, you face a mandatory decade-long prison sentence;
• The law also creates a Class C felony charge (one to two year mandatory sentence) if you injure someone while driving DUI.

A local North Dakota state representative, Kim Koppelman, applauded the new stringent DUI laws: “We’ve sent a powerful message, supported by so many…this marks the culmination of a long, collaborative effort involving law enforcement officials, prosecutors, defense attorneys, the Governor, the Attorney General, corrections officials and the families of victims of drunk driving.”

Reflecting on what’s happened at North Dakota leads to a few observations:

• First of all, Burbank DUI laws (and DUI laws everywhere) are fluid. They change over time.
• Secondly, all the stakeholders in the DUI process – DUI defendants; lawyers; insurance companies; lawmakers; victims; and the general public – have a mutual interest in making our roads safer and ensuring a proper balance of punishment and rehabilitation.
• Given the ever-changing and complex nature of DUI law, you should strongly consider finding a talented, effective Burbank DUI defense attorney to help you with your case.

There is just too much information – changing too quickly – for you to be able to process and deal with your case on your own, if you want optimal results. Connect with Mr. Kraut of Burbank’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for a thorough, strategic free consultation about your situation.

July 15, 2013

Glendale DUI Sports Drama: ex-NBA Star, Kenny Anderson, Busted For DUI in Broward County

by Michael Kraut

The act of driving under the influence in Glendale (or wherever) is a fundamentally dangerous and potentially destructive act. It’s often the tip of a more disturbing iceberg.

But DUI defendants are a diverse lot.

Some suspects just make simple “dumb” errors of judgment and wind up sitting in the back seat of a police cruiser. Others struggle mightily for years with psychological demons, and these struggles manifest as asocial behavior, like driving under the influence of medication or drugs.

As someone who was recently arrested for Glendale DUI, you may fit into either category. It’s helpful to “drill down” to understand why you got in trouble, so that you can remedy not only the charges but also the root problem that drove you to accrue the charges.

If were just “being careless,” that’s one thing. But if you got a DUI after struggling for years with alcohol, depression, anxiety, and other life problems, you might need serious help to uncover what’s gone wrong and take steps to fix thing.

In light of that preamble, consider the sad case of 42-year-old Kenny Anderson, a former basketball star with the Boston Celtics and New Jersey Nets. He was arrested recently in Broward County, FL, when Pembroke Pines police saw him weaving in and out of lanes in the middle of the night.

Anderson had been arrested a year and half ago, in December 2011, in Miramar, when he crashed his Escalade SUV into a tree. He left the scene of that crash, and police had to call him to return to the scene. He apparently had an odor of alcohol on him and had bloodshot eyes – typical symptoms of a DUI in Glendale – but police did not charge him for driving under the influence, because he could have argued that he had consumed the alcohol at his house. Nevertheless, he got a misdemeanor charge for leaving the scene of an accident.

Anderson has seen serious ups and downs in his life.

At one point, pundits estimate that he had earned over $60 million through basketball. Today, he’s apparently nearly broke. He coaches basketball at a private school. He also had been married to Tami Roman, who starred in VH1’s reality series, Basketball Wives.

Who knows whether the 46-year-old can rebound from his DUI charges to clean up his life and find clarity and peace. Hopefully, he can do so.

The point is that you may also need effective guidance with your Glendale DUI charges. Connect with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for a complementary, confidential consultation. Attorney Kraut is a highly regarded ex-prosecutor (also Harvard Law School educated) who has helped many people in situations similar to yours fix their problems and move on.

July 12, 2013

Beverly Hills DUI Golf Cart Stories: Back in the News! (Unfortunately, This One Involved a Significant Injury…)

by Michael Kraut

Our Beverly Hills DUI blog has catalogued numerous instances of “golf cart DUI.”

At first blush, this crime sounds funny – like something out of a Caddyshack outtake. But it can actually be a quite dangerous situation.

Consider, for instance, a recent scary case out of Charlotte County, Florida, where deputies arrested Nickoles Chanza (22) for driving a golf cart while DUI and injuring somebody. Chanza and three friends were tooling around in a golf cart in the neighborhood of Harbour Heights on Sunnybrook Road, when the driver took a rapid left turn and onto Marine Terrace and tipped the cart. Nicholas McDaniel, 21, was not strapped in; he fell off and hit his head hard on the pavement.

Rescue workers took McDaniel to Lee Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. Chanza, for his part, was arrested and hit with a DUI with serious bodily injury charge as well as improper operation of golf cart.

He was jailed on a $25,000 bond.

Not such a “funny situation” in this context.

And that leads us to a bigger point, which is that Beverly Hills DUIs often are “a lot less bad” than they could be:
• If you were under the influence — and you got stopped at a checkpoint — be thankful that you didn’t hurt anyone or do serious damage.
• If you did hurt someone, be thankful that you didn’t kill someone.
• And if you did kill someone – hopefully you didn’t, but if you did – be thankful that you didn’t kill more people or kill yourself.

The fact is that driving under the influence is fundamentally a dangerous act.

Fortunately, you can make progress towards not only “cleaning up” after your Beverly Hills DUI arrest but also with respect to improving your civic awareness.

Get in touch with ex-prosecutor and highly effective Beverly Hills DUI defense attorney, Michael Kraut, today to discuss your charges and develop an effective action plan going forward.

July 10, 2013

Talking to Your Kids about Your Long Beach DUI Arrest

by Michael Kraut

You just got arrested for DUI in Long Beach. You’re not happy about it. But you’re brave enough to acknowledge the difficulty of your reality.

Although you fear going to jail, losing your license, paying thousands of dollars in court costs and fees, and having to attend alcohol classes for weeks and months, what you fear most of all is talking to your children about what happened to you and why.

How do you broach the subject in an intelligent way that doesn’t make your kids too uncomfortable?

The answer obviously depends on the state of your relationship with your kids, their ages, and your own feelings of comfort about disclosing personal information. There is no one size fits all recipe here.

In some sense, you’re caught between a rock and a hard place:

“The rock” = you’re embarrassed.

Your children may be embarrassed. Your wife/partner/co-parent may be embarrassed. In an ideal world, no one would say anything, and you’d just clear the Long Beach DUI off your record and move on with your lives, as if nothing ever happened.

“The hard place” = lessons must be learned.

On the other hand, you need address reality. Your family needs to plan. If you lose your license or go to jail, your spouse or co-parent will need to pick up responsibilities. Your kids may need to fend for themselves a little more. You might need to call in friends and relatives to help with child care and other household business.

Before you engage in any momentous conversations with your kids, sit down and think through – and even write out – how you’d like the conversation to go. It might seem unnatural to “prescript” an emotional conversation like this. But just like you’d prepare to have an intense business conversation with a prospective client or boss; so, too, can you benefit from preparing to have an intense personal conversation.

Begin with purpose. WHY are you disclosing this information? What is the point in talking about your Long Beach DUI.

For instance, you might need to have this conversation just because the kids’ lives will be radically altered if/when you go to jail. Or you just might want to have the conversation because you fundamentally believe in being honest and open with your kids.

Next, derive the principles that you use to have the conversation. Here is an easy “hack” to derive these. Think about all the ways the conversation could “go wrong.” The opposite elements would make up your principles. For instance, if everyone started yelling and screaming, that would be unpleasant and would violate your principles. So one rule for the conversation would be “keep as calm and emotionally balanced as possible.” You might have 6 to 10 principles that you derive during this exercise.

Finally, imagine the conversation from a place of “best outcome.” In other words, if this conversation went as well as it could go, what would that look like? What would you feel like? What would you do afterwards? Really try to be positive (yes, it’s hard considering your Long Beach DUI arrest!) and imagine a wildly successful result. For instance, maybe your kids would give you a hug, and they would step up in the wake of your trial or license suspension to help out around the house, and you would all grow from the experience.

Of course, you also want to give serious consideration to the next steps in your case. A Long Beach DUI defense attorney with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you appreciate the charges and challenges ahead and guide you resourcefully and compassionately.

June 28, 2013

Los Angeles DUI Celebrity News Update: Reese Witherspoon “So Sorry” About Disrespect to Officer After Her Husband’s DUI

by Michael Kraut

Stories about celebrity DUIs in Los Angeles typically focus on the drivers who wreak havoc, hurt people, or say or do dumb things at checkpoints.

But that’s not always the case.

Consider the fascinating DUI arrest of CAA agent, Jim Toth, husband of actress Reese Witherspoon. On April 19th (as this Los Angeles DUI blog and other sources reported), Toth got stopped in Atlanta on suspicion of DUI. Witherspoon, who was in the car, made ridiculous, panicked statements to the officer — including accusing him of not being a “real” police officer – comments which got her arrested for attempting to intervene and disorderly conduct.

She has since profusely apologized.

She recently appeared on Good Morning America to talk about her new independent film, Mud. Host George Stephanopoulos brought up the DUI — and Witherspoon’s less than elegant comments to the officer: “You’ve been under the spotlight your whole adult life, and this doesn’t sound like the Reese Witherspoon we’ve grown to know.” Witherspoon agreed and said “I have no idea what I was saying that night. I saw him arresting my husband, and I literally panicked. And I said all kinds of crazy things. I told him I was pregnant. I am not pregnant. I am so sorry.”

Witherspoon said she particularly regretted the disrespect, because she has police officers in her family, and she works with police every day: “I know better. It’s just unacceptable.”

She also discussed how difficult it was to talk to her young children about the acts. She told Stephanopoulos “we are taking responsibility and doing everything in our power to make it right. You just have to be honest with them [her kids].”

The Oscar winning actress’s weird post-DUI behavior is not atypical.

In fact, lot of people arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles behave in ways they never imaged they could behave. Some people leave the scene of accidents — obviously a big no-no. Others lash out at police officers or break down emotionally.

In fact, many of the stories that we discuss here on this Los Angeles DUI blog are “newsy” because they highlight this tendency that DUI drivers often exhibit — to exacerbate problems after the fact. It’s bad enough if you get stopped at a Los Angeles DUI checkpoint and blow a 0.16% BAC on the breath test (twice the limit, per California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b)). It’s worse if you complicate the situation by punching an officer, driving away from the scene of the crime, lying, or engaging in other fishy behavior.

So why do people do this? Why do they metaphorically “throw good money after bad” – i.e., put themselves at risk for enhanced/additional charges for no reason?

This is a Los Angeles DUI blog, not a psychology blog. But undoubtedly our primitive brain is (at least to a degree) responsible. When we see threats in nature (be they saber-tooth tigers or police cars with flashing red lights), we engage in defensive behaviors: freeze, flight, or fight.

• The “freeze” behavior corresponds to a driver’s failing to respond to officer questions.
• The “flight” response corresponds to hit and runs or attempts to flee Los Angeles DUI checkpoints.
• The “fight” behavior corresponds to the lashing out – ranging from Witherspoon’s verbal misbehavior in Atlanta to other suspects’ attempts to fight with officers.

To unpack what’s happened to you and figure out the best way forward, connect with a Los Angeles DUI defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Mr. Kraut is an experienced and battle-tested lawyer who worked work many years as prosecutor (Senior Deputy District Attorney for LA).

June 26, 2013

Are You a Repeat Burbank DUI Offender? Hopefully You’re Not As Bad As Timothy Morrow (8 Convictions!!)

by Michael Kraut

Perhaps you wrote off your first DUI in Burbank as “bad luck” or “bad karma” or whatever.

But now that you’re facing your second charge, you’re deeply worried that prosecutors will not take kindly to the recidivism. You are right to fear that. The Southern California justice system does not like it when drivers commit repeat crimes.

In that context, it’s astonishing when people like 43-year-old Timothy Morrow wind up with eight DUI convictions over a lifetime. That’s right: EIGHT DUIs.

The self-employed carpenter collected his first DUI at the age of 17. After that, he got arrested twice for boating under the influence and nine other times for driving while intoxicated. A local state attorney, Ben Dillon, noted “it defies the logic that an individual that has been arrested for DUI 10 times continues to drink alcohol…it’s clear this defendant just doesn’t get it and doesn’t care.”

A judge just handed down a 13 year prison sentence to Morrow, despite the fact that he admitted to the court that he had been abused as a child: “I have a 12-year-old son that I want to see grow up. I made a mistake, I apologize.” Circuit Judge, Brian Hughes, appreciated the confession but handed down the 13 year jail sentence anyway: “you said you made a mistake … you made mistake after mistake after mistake, for 25 years. You are still somebody that keeps making the same mistake.”

Do recidivists Burbank DUI offenders deserve a second chance? How about a third? A fourth? A fifth? Where does it end?

As the inimitable Will Rogers once said, “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.”

That’s sensible advice, but it’s often hard to follow in practice. It’s easy to look at somebody else who keeps “making the same mistake” and judging that person for being unable to get it together. But if you have a problem — be it a problem managing your relationship with alcohol or a deep seated psychological issue — you may not be able to figure out how to “stop digging” and approach your situation from a new and fresh vantage.

Fortunately, with the right help, Burbank DUI defendants like you can often not just rebound from serious charges but also restructure their lives, their careers and their finances in positive ways.

Let the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers help you with your Burbank DUI defense. Attorney Kraut is an experienced, trusted criminal defense lawyer. As an ex-prosecutor, he maintains excellent relationships with other prosecutors, judges and police officers, and he feels a great duty both to provide defendants with excellent counsel and to protect the public good.

June 17, 2013

How Does Your Los Angeles DUI Compare to the Following?

by Michael Kraut

Was your Los Angeles DUI this bad?

After consuming 15 beers, 28-year-old Kile Wygle, of Newark, Ohio, hopped onto a motorized bar stool that he had made himself out of a deconstructed lawnmower.

Unsurprisingly, he crashed.

Wygle’s friend called 911 and told police “I got a friend who wrecked a bar stool.” The dispatcher at first was confused and thought Wygle had hit his head on a bar. The friend said, “no, he was riding the bar stool … a motorized bar stool.”

Wygle had to go to the hospital for minor injuries. After the crash, he told a reporter “I drank quite a bit after I wrecked.” He also told police that his homemade contraption could reach speeds of up to 38 miles per hour.

Whether he overestimated his vehicle’s capacity or not, his statement indicates that he knew that the stool could be dangerous. Had he ridden it on an open road, he could have hurt other people.

Unfortunately, when you’re young — and trying to impress friends with a homemade, motorized gizmo — safety may not be at the top on your list of concerns. But you can still land a serious DUI charge, even if what you’re driving does not technically look like a car or truck.

Most Los Angeles DUI charges are relatively “boring” — they involve stops at checkpoints and commonplace violations of California Vehicle Code Sections 23152 or 23153. Perhaps your situation was more “exotic” than the standard DUI. Maybe you were at a UCLA or USC frat party. Some “new wild friends” got you to drive up to the Hollywood sign, but you drove your car into the woods and got stuck on a hiking trail – something like that.

No matter how ridiculous (or pedestrian) your charges are, you need two forms of clarity.

#1. Get Clear on Where You Are Now
What charges do you face? What might your punishments be? What options you have to deal with your legal crisis? etc.

#1. Get Clear on Your Ideal Outcome
Given the realities of your situation — from a best case scenario — what could you expect? How can you make that positive outcome occur?

While you’re certainly free to try to figure out the answers to these questions on your own, that’s not a particularly savvy strategy. Consider connecting with a Los Angeles DUI defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who retains very good relationships with his former prosecutorial colleagues… as well as with judges, police officers and other members of the Southern California legal community.

June 12, 2013

Pasadena DUI Trifecta: Man Gets 3 DUI Arrests in Just 5 Days… And Is Let Go!

by Michael Kraut

Imagine getting arrested for driving under the influence in Pasadena three times within ten years. You know what happened to you if that occurred?

Prosecutors could throw the book at you.

In fact, punishments for “just” a misdemeanor DUI can be pretty astonishingly diverse:

• a year’s suspension of your California license;
• mandatory alcohol school;
• difficult probation terms;
• jail time;
• fees and fines;
• those punishments don’t even scratch the surface.
• Often, the most painful aspects of a DUI arrest/conviction involve the indirect consequences, including the loss of a job, the devastation of a relationship, and the break down of self-esteem (not to mention higher insurance rates).

Again, that’s just for a standard misdemeanor Pasadena DUI. If you get three convictions within a 10 year period, prosecutors can “hit you” much harder with a mandatory minimum of 120 days jail time, 18 months of alcohol school and a three year suspended license (among other things). They can also elevate what would ordinarily just be a misdemeanor to a felony count, meaning that you could spend over a year in jail for a crime that once might only have netted you several hours behind bars.

Put that in context, as we talk about an astonishing situation up in Marin County, California, where 71-year-old Gary Arnone was arrested three times for DUI within a span of just five days.

You read that right. That’s not a typo.

The first arrest came on Thursday, May 16th at around 3 AM, after a witness told police about a possible DUI driver. The second arrest happened less than 12 hours later at 2:45 PM – again, after a witness told police about an erratic driver. The third arrest, on Monday the 20th, followed a similar pattern. Police in San Rafael got a report that a driver on the 400 Block of Las Gallinas Avenue had been driving erratically – very slowly, with difficulty braking. Local police stopped the vehicle and found Arnone once again at the helm.

First time misdemeanor DUI bail amounts at Marin Superior Court are typically around $2600. But when police found out about the multiple arrests, the local judge boosted the bail to $75,000.

Arnone’s tangled tale was overshadowed by other Pasadena DUI news – mostly notably the arrest of Barbara Walter’s daughter, Jacqueline, which we covered in a separate post. But the implications of Arnone’s case are arguably more interesting and relevant to your situation.

After all, these multiple arrests raise questions that you may consider asking yourself, such as:

• Why might someone commit a crime like Pasadena DUI again and again within a short span of time?
• What types of psychological, financial or emotional crises fuel this kind of “DUI binging” behavior, and are you at risk for engaging in similar recidivism?
• What steps can you take – or processes can you put in place – to prevent you from heading down a similar path?
• Given your charges, can you avoid the worst penalties and protect key interests, like your freedom and your driver’s license?

The answers obviously depend on what Pasadena DUI crime you allegedly committed and other factors, such as your driving history, criminal record, and whether anyone was hurt or not in the crash.

Get in touch with attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for insightful, thorough free consultation about your matter. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who attended Harvard Law School, and he maintains terrific relationships with important people in the Southern California legal community.

June 7, 2013

DUI in Los Angeles News of the Weird (Part III)

by Michael Kraut

In this Los Angeles DUI blog’s last homage to Funny Or Die’s October 5, 2010 article, “The 6 Weirdest DUI Arrests Ever Made,” we’re going to take a look at two more crazy cases and extract general lessons from them.

Weird DUI #5: Russian soldier, under the influence, smashes a tank through a villager’s home.

At first blush, this story seems to be some kind of anti-Soviet propaganda. But apparently it happened.

June 5, 2013

DUI in Los Angeles News of the Weird (Part 2)

by Michael Kraut

Getting caught for driving DUI in Los Angeles is no fun.

But it is somewhat amusing – or at least educational – to read about “weird DUI stories.” Here are two more stories culled from a Funny or Die article (“the Six Weirdest DUI Arrests Ever Made,” published October 5, 2010)

Weird DUI #3: Driving under the influence in a wheelchair nets British man a DUI under obscure Victorian Law
As you probably recall from our last post, police in England (at least) will ding you for DUI, even if you’re driving slower than a pedestrian walks in a souped-up electrical Barbie car.

Our stern friends across the pond also saw fit to charge a disabled man from Darlington with “being drunk in charge of a carriage,” after a local authority saw him joyriding on his electric wheelchair, towing his friend behind him.

Nigel Drummond had been “racing” through the streets of his local town at 8 miles per hour, when a surveillance camera saw him weaving all over the road. Although scooters like his do not officially count as cars, an out of control or weaving vehicle is still a hazard to other vehicles and pedestrians. A local Darlington police officer, Kevin Salter, said of Drummond “he was very drunk.” His fine was nominal – 65 pounds and a six month conditional discharge.

Weird DUI #4: A man named Donald Duck arrested for DUI.

You’re no doubt familiar with the most famous Los Angeles DUI cases — e.g. Nick Nolte’s, Lindsay Lohan’s, Mel Gibson’s, Jim Toth’s, etc. But did you know that cartoon characters apparently can also get arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles (and elsewhere)?

Well, not quite.

But a recidivist offender, 59-year-old Donald Duck, actually did get arrested for DUI out in Massillon. Police say Duck was in a drive-through pizza line, when he rammed the car ahead of him multiple times. Police arrested Duck not only for DUI but also for possessing marijuana and for offenses related to drug paraphernalia.

Donald Duck, the man, obviously has one thing in common with Donald Duck, the cartoon character – a wicked temper.

Putting your Los Angeles DUI arrest in context
The Los Angeles criminal defense team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to help you appreciate the nature of your charges and put together an appropriate, systematic defense to them. Mr. Kraut is not only a widely respected authority on the topic of Los Angeles DUI – his commentary has been featured in the Los Angeles Time, KTLA, Fox News, CNN and other places – but he has also won the respect of the local judges and prosecutors. Mr. Kraut is a former prosecutor himself – he served nearly decade and a half as a Senior Deputy Sixth District Attorney.