Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol

February 22, 2013

Arrest of Top Illinois Government Watchdog Proves No One’s Above Getting a DUI in Beverly Hills (Or Anywhere Else)

If you were recently busted for DUI in Beverly Hills, you’re probably hugely embarrassed as well as frightened about serving time in prison, seeing your license suspended, and so forth.

Whether you’re a film producer, celebrity, entertainment executive, or even somebody who works outside of the industry (believe it or not, people like that do exist here in Beverly Hills), you’re vexed. You are not the “type of person” who gets into trouble with the police.

Perhaps your arrest was a fluke. Maybe you had one too many cocktails at an advertiser’s fundraiser on Wilshire and then got behind the wheel when you really shouldn’t have. Then the police stopped you, and the drama began. Or maybe you only had one or two drinks but, for whatever reason, the police pulled you over and you blew a 0.09 BAC on the breathalyzer test–above the limit for Beverly Hills DUI. So now you’re in this awful situation.

Understand this: What happened to you can happen to anybody.

Consider the case of 61-year-old William Holland, the Auditor General for the State of Illinois, who was cited several weeks ago for driving under the influence in the town of Springfield. The arresting officers noted that the Auditor General “had a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath,” as well as “red bloodshot glassy eyes.” As regular readers of this blog know, these are classic symptoms of Beverly Hills DUI, as well.

Other common signifiers of potential alcohol use and DUI include:

• Slurred speech;
• Inability to answer officer questions;
• Failure to perform mentally or physically on field sobriety tests (like the finger to the nose test or the count backwards by 3 test;)
• Strange behavior–such as overly aggressive behavior towards officers.

Of course, as we’ve discussed before on this blog, alternative explanations for the “DUI symptoms” can exist.

For instance, if you’re exhausted from a hard day of negotiating with potential ad buyers, you might exhibit signs of fatigue, non-responsiveness, and bloodshot eyes. If you get really nervous in front of police, you might be unable to answer certain questions.

The point is not to suggest that your Beverly Hills DUI arrest wasn’t cut and dry–perhaps it was.

Rather, it’s that you should understand that anyone can make substantial errors behind the wheel. Holland was a powerful and widely respected (by both sides) watchdog–someone the government trusted to ensure and fair behavior. He helped prosecutors impeach and ultimately convict former state governor Rod Blagojevich, who began a 14 year prison sentence last year for a slew of corruption charges.

Connect with a Beverly Hills DUI defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for an insightful, thorough, and creditable defense help. Mr. Kraut and his team can help you get your life back on track and put the unfortunate and humiliating event behind you for good.

February 18, 2013

Long Beach DUI News Update: Country Singer Randy Travis Pleads Guilty to DUI, Won’t Get Jail Time

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve recently been arrested for driving under the influence in Long Beach, odds are that you’ve been too busy to read the celebrity gossip news.

To fill you in… last summer, country singer Randy drove his Trans Am off the road in Tioga, Texas, smashed into barricades, and then emerged and fell asleep on the ground… naked! When police found him, they tested him for DUI. Not shockingly, he had a 0.21% BAC — nearly three times the legal limit for driving under the influence in Long Beach (and Texas, for that matter).

Travis also allegedly threatened police officers, netting him a retaliation charge.

Last week, a judge in Sherman, Texas handed down a sentence based on the singer’s guilty plea. Travis will face two years of probation on top of a $2000 fine and a suspended jail sentence of 180 days. In addition, he will need to spend 30 days in an alcohol facility and do 100 hours of community service. During the probation, he must install an interlock ignition device (IID).

If he violates terms, he will go to jail.

These punishments are above and beyond what the typical DUI defendant might get in Texas. According to a local district attorney, Joe Brown, Travis “will be unable to leave the [alcohol treatment] facility for 30 days. His fine and community service requirements are more than double what is usually received, and his probation term is the maximum available, and longer than the usual 18 months. All of that is appropriate in light of his behavior with the officers.”

Travis also made headlines when he placed himself in the middle of an argument between a woman and her estranged husband. Also, back in February 2012, police arrested him for public intoxication near Dallas.

Travis recently split from his wife and ex-manager of many years; undoubtedly he’s going through some super emotionally turbulent times.

And that brings us to a key issue that Long Beach DUI defendants need to know!

If you’re going through an emotional struggle, you are not alone. You may need help not only with your Long Beach DUI defense but also with the core problems causing the helplessness in your life that’s driving you to make bad decisions and self-medicate with alcohol or drugs.

Begin the journey towards healing and rehabilitation by connecting with a Long Beach DUI defense attorney at The Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for a sensible, effective and free case consultation.

February 15, 2013

Vivid Illustration of Why Beverly Hill DUIs Do Not Happen in the Vacuum: Woman Busted for Hit-and-Run and DUI After Police See Her Hit a Car with 10-Month Old in it …

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve been arrested for driving under the influence in Beverly Hills (or elsewhere in Southern California), you might be inclined to think that your incident was an isolated one — i.e., it had no relationship to your history, habits, behaviors, beliefs, etc.

You might want to reconsider that belief.

While some Beverly Hills DUIs do, indeed, “come out of nowhere,” where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. To that end, you might find it resourceful to identify patterns in your bad decisions. If you can articulate why you act badly (when you do), you can strategically plan your life to avoid getting into trouble.

Consider that lesson in light of a scary story out in Oklahoma, where 26-year-old Ashley Stahl just got arrested for her third felony DUI charge — on top of charges of eluding arrest, hit-and-run, obstructing a police officer, violating multiple traffic laws, etc.

On Thursday, January 31st, a police officer saw Stahl swerve into a Toyota, at around Fifth and Harvard. The Toyota tried to get out of the way but couldn’t do so in time. The Red GMC Jimmy that caused the crash backed up and took off. Patrol officers saw the whole thing and followed the SUV to Roger’s High School, where they pulled over Stahl and convinced her to give herself up, after talking her off of the ledge for 10 minutes.

Scarily, a 10 month old child had been riding in the back of the Toyota.

Fortunately, neither the child, nor the child’s parents suffered injury. But this poor 26-yaear-old woman could have caused an epic catastrophe, had the accident played out in a slightly different and (less lucky) fashion.

The law can be very punitive, especially towards recidivist offenders.

If this is your second or third arrest for driving under the influence in Beverly Hills, expect prosecutors to be far less lenient this time. Potential punishments increase and diversify. Prosecutors can hit you with additional probation time, mandatory alcohol school time, driver’s license suspension time, jail time, fines and fees, and on and on.

On some level, it’s too bad that the system is so punitive. Many people who rack up multiple Beverly Hills DUI charges need help and compassion, not just judgment and punishment.

Fortunately, good resources abound to help you deal with your charges and manage your emotional and financial crises. Connect with the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for a free case evaluation. Attorney Kraut and his team can help you craft a compelling and thorough defense for your DUI charge.

February 13, 2013

Could This Distant Event Portend the End of Breathalyzer Tests in Glendale (And the Rest of Los Angeles)?

by Michael Kraut

This Glendale DUI blog has long highlighted the shortcomings of breathalyzer tests. As we’ve reported on multiple occasions, most people (including the vast majority of police officers) have far more faith in these machines than the science and research warrant.

Some police are now beginning to pay attention to this research.

Unfortunately, they are not here in Southern California: they’re all the way out in Pennsylvania, where state police have temporarily stopped using these devices in wake of an appeal on a prominent case. January 9 marked the beginning of the breath test suspension, after a judge in Dauphin County nixed 20 DUI charges. A local lawyer effectively demonstrated that the test calibration procedures used were way off.

Here’s a quote from an article in the Lehigh Valley newspaper, The Morning Call, “Judge Clark wrote in his decision on Thursday that the failure of a manufacturer to use an independent laboratory in the initial calibration of the machines raised serious questions about the accuracy of their results, rendering them inadmissible as evidence in court. Furthermore, Clark said, an oversight in the regulations governing monthly calibration of the machines by police means that breath test results for very low and very high levels of intoxication are also unreliable.”

In the wake of the suspension, police are using DUI blood tests, which can be more accurate but which also have shortcomings.

Here’s the big lesson, if you or a close family member or a friend stands accused of Glendale DUI: avoid assuming anything about your potential defense.

The police may or may not have made a procedural or calibration error with your test. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. But you need to comb through the details of your case to determine what, if anything, you can do to challenge the evidence and charges against you.

Get in touch with Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to develop a thorough and clearheaded defense against your Glendale DUI charges.

February 6, 2013

Were You Arrested for Driving Under the Influence in Glendale on Super Bowl Sunday? (You’re Not Alone!)

by Michael Kraut

Everyone can admit that the Har-bowl was pretty epic, and kudos to Joe Flacco and the Ravens for pulling off a crazy playoff streak. But Super Bowl Sunday is traditionally one of the most dangerous days of the year for DUI. Other than New Year’s Eve and a handful of other holidays – like St. Patrick’s Day, Labor Day weekend, the 4th of July, et cetera – the Super Bowl is one of the scariest days to navigate the 101 (or any freeway or surface street, for that matter) because of all the unsafe drivers out there.

Why is this so? Why do so many people get arrested during the holiday?

Perhaps it has to something to do with all the Bud Light commercials. Statistically, when more people drink and party, more people drive DUI and get arrested for the crime – it’s just a number’s game.

Of course, you’re not just “a number” – you’re a human being whose California driver’s license now may be on the line. You may also be at risk for serious fines, probation, jail time, spikes in your insurance rate, and a variety of other unpleasantries. So what can you do?

First of all, recognize that you may have a lot of legal resources available. For instance, let’s say that you failed a Glendale breathalyzer test — you blew a 0.12%, which is 1.5 times the legal limit for Glendale DUI, as codified by California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (a) and 23152 (b). You might be under the (false) impression that the breathalyzer results are set in stone. That is, they cannot be challenged because breathalyzers are technical instruments and thus never fail.

That’s not true. Surprisingly compelling research suggests that breath tests fail way more often than most people believe. On this Glendale DUI blog, we’ve talked a lot about how different factors (such as your dietary habits, gender, medications you might be on, etc) can throw off your breath test readings one way or another.

One really fascinating (and illustrative) way this can happen involves the depth of your test breath. If you breathe in really deeply, and then blast out a huge jet of air into the breathalyzer test, you can score a BAC reading that’s way higher than your legitimate BAC reading (if you were to measure it perfectly). This is often why police officers ask you to take a deep breath before you blow into a breath test – they know the game.

To understand how to deconstruct the case against you and build a powerful defense, get in touch with the Glendale DUI defense team at The Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Attorney Michael Kraut is not only a scholar of the law — he is Harvard Law School educated — but he is also renowned in the community for being able to take on tough, complex cases.

February 4, 2013

Jason London and Carmine Giovinazzo: A Tale of Two Celebrity DUIs

by Michael Kraut

Our Burbank DUI news blotter often rehashes intriguing stories about celebrities arrested for driving under the influence and other crimes.

We’re not trying to be a poor man’s “TMZ” — rather, we write to help defendants (and their loved ones) understand the law little better and to find resources and new ways of thinking about their DUI charges.

But nothing teaches better than a good story.

January 29, 2013

Arrested for DUI in Hollywood? The Saturation Patrol Might Have Gotten You!

by Michael Kraut

If you were recently stopped and arrested for driving under the influence in Hollywood at a checkpoint or outside a bar or a club, odds are that you encountered police on one of the following locations:

• Alvarado Street and Beverly Boulevard
• Roscoe Boulevard and Noble Avenue
• 77th Street
• Atwater Village
If you indeed got arrested at one of those places, you might be wondering… how did we know that?

The answer is simple: a recent LA Weekly article published the Los Angeles Police Department’s most recent saturation patrols and checkpoint planning. These patrols are designed to nab drivers who are out partying. Note the hours of the patrols (e.g. 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.; 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., etc). These hours are the most “fecund,” if you’re trying to find and arrest drivers under the influence of alcohol in Hollywood or basically anywhere else.

What exactly happens at a DUI checkpoint? Or what’s supposed to happen?

First, police will look for symptoms of Hollywood DUI, which can include but are not limited to: slurred speech, loss of balance, trouble answering officer questions, incongruencies in your answers, strange emotional behavior, bloodshot eyes, loss of words (aphasia), inability of your pupils to follow a light (a.k.a. failure of the horizontal gaze Nystagmus test), and an odor of alcohol on your breath.

These “symptoms” may seem obvious enough. If you saw someone exhibiting some or all of them, you might easily suspect that that person was under the influence.

However, the situation is not always so clear cut!

Imagine you’re driving home on Hollywood Boulevard at 3 a.m. after a long TV show shoot. Your brain is totally fried because you’ve been screaming at your line producer all day. You’re not thinking clearly because the caffeine from all those grande mocha lattes has worn off. So you make up a bad lane change.

And then a police officer stops you and pulls you over.

Even though you haven’t touched alcohol in days, surprisingly enough, you exhibit many so-called “classic” symptoms of DUI, such as bloodshot eyes, inability to remember words, irascibility, perhaps even trouble balancing. If you haven’t eaten in a while, you may look bad or stumble due to blood sugar issues.

Believe it or not, even if you haven’t consumed alcohol, if you’ve been producing ketone bodies – i.e. if you’re diabetic or on a very low calorie or low carb diet – you may register as positive for alcohol consumption on a breathalyzer.

Of course, your situation is possibly different.

Maybe you did indeed drink alcohol — or even do marijuana or take prescription drugs — before you hopped into your vehicle. You want to minimize your penalties and optimize your chances for getting gentle treatment from the court system.

Every Hollywood DUI defendant’s case is a unique puzzle.

You need customized, insightful, and knowledgeable help with the defense. Fortunately, you have a possible ally: Harvard Law School educated Hollywood DUI criminal defense attorney, Michael Kraut. He and his esteemed team can help you battle back against your charges and regain peace of mind.

January 23, 2013

Criminal Minds Actor Now a Criminal Defendant: Thomas Gibson Busted for Driving Under the Influence in Downtown Los Angeles

by Michael Kraut

If you were recently arrested for driving under the influence in downtown Los Angeles or USC, you may relate to the travails of 50-year old Thomas Gibson, a local actor famous for his roles in Dharma & Greg and Criminal Minds.

On January 6, Gibson steered his Audi SUV onto a race course sectioned off from traffic. Witnesses told news sources that Gibson scared several runners in the half-marathon.

Fortunately, no one was hit or injured.

When police asked Gibson to take a different route, he failed to heed their warnings and drove off. Ultimately, the police stopped him under suspicion of Los Angeles DUI at 1:37 a.m. Police noticed that Gibson had the odor of alcohol on his breath. The actor refused to take a breathalyzer test. The police took him into custody and held him on a bail of $15,000.

It’s understandable why Gibson might have refused the breathalyzer test.

As we’ve discussed multiple times before, breathalyzers yield surprisingly inaccurate results, given their ubiquity both in real life and “in the movies.” Breathalyzer tests, for instance, do not discriminate between men and women. They can yield artificially false positives if you blow into them too hard. In other words, let’s say you’ve had a few drinks, but you’re not technically over the legal limit for Los Angeles DUI, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b), of 0.08% BAC.

Perhaps your “real” BAC is more along lines of 0.06% — borderline, but not over the limit.

A police officer, however, may ask you to blow as hard as you can into the breathalyzer. So you do, but because you blow so hard, you force the machine to give you a reading of, say, 0.09% BAC. Now you’re considered technically “over the limit,” and you could be prosecuted and convicted of a misdemeanor – or a felony under certain circumstances – and subject to all sorts of horrific punishments, such as jail time, the stripping of your CA license, fines and fees, and other inconveniences.

Breathalyzers can also be thrown off if you’re on a special weight loss diet.

When the body goes into so-called “fat burning mode” – and/or if you’re a type II diabetic – your body produces metabolic compounds known as ketone bodies. When you have enough of these ketone bodies floating around in your system, they can influence a breathalyzer test and fool the test into thinking that you’re under the influence, even when you’re stone-cold sober or just borderline. For instance, a ketogenic dieter who has a real BAC of 0.06% might end up tripping a positive for DUI because of her metabolic byproducts.

If you or somebody you know has experienced a legal crisis that’s similar to Thomas Gibson’s, consider getting in touch with the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Michael Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who is well-known and respected for his insight and successes with DUI cases. News sources like the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, KTLA and CBS all routinely ask Mr. Kraut for his opinions on important DUI stories, and he has won respect not only from clients, but also from judges and prosecutors.

January 21, 2013

Serious Pasadena DUI Drama – Sacramento Man Says “Not Guilty” to Violent Hit-and-Run on Girlfriend, Her Companion, and Her Four Dogs

by Michael Kraut

As someone who’s recently been arrested for driving under the influence in Pasadena, you’re probably worried about being classified with far more aggressive, recidivist offenders in people’s minds. Maybe you’re a student at UCLA who just “did something stupid” after partying with friends out in Old Pasadena or having one too many drinks at the Cheesecake Factory. Or maybe you’re an executive who got arrested for Pasadena DUI unfairly (you believe) at a checkpoint.

In no way, shape or form does your case resemble the situation of Paul William Walden, a 31-year-old man who stands accused of driving into his girlfriend, a companion, and the girlfriend’s four dogs last July 16th. According to the Sacramento Bee, the accident – which occurred at 80 miles per hour (!) in broad daylight on a well-lit crosswalk – took the life of a 21-year-old man and killed all four dogs belonging to 23-year-old Gemily West. Last week, Walden pled not guilty to a spate of charges that included DUI, hit-and-run, vehicular manslaughter, and murder.

Walden had been a three time DUI recidivist.

The Sacramento Bee said he killed 21-year-old Harison Long-Randall, who was walking with Gemily and her dogs “in a well-lit Carmichael Crosswalk…witnesses said the car that hit Long-Randall and his girlfriend…was traveling at about 80 miles per hour and never slowed down before or after impact.”

The CHP arrested Walden several days after the accident. He had been driving under a suspended license. Since his arrest, he has been held in custody. Long-Randall’s parents, Chris and Gail, have attended all 18 hearings.

This is a very sad and difficult situation. We cannot obviously comment intelligently about the case without examining the evidence in detail. However, if you face a charge of driving under the influence in Pasadena, you may feel resentful that you would in any way be lumped in as somehow “the same” as someone who purposely ran over his girlfriend and her dogs and her companion at 80 miles per hour.

So what can you do?

One of the most resourceful steps you can take is to connect with an experienced Pasadena DUI criminal defense lawyer, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Mr. Kraut spent a substantial part of his career (14+ years) working for the city as a prosecutor. He rose to the level of Senior Deputy District Attorney before becoming a specialist in criminal defense. He knows what prosecutors typically do in cases like yours, and he can equip you to make a precise and accurate defense.

Your life ever since your arrest has been undoubtedly difficult and disconcerting. But you do not need to struggle with your uncertainties alone. Get in touch with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today for a free consultation about your best next steps.

January 18, 2013

A Los Angeles DUI Defense Attorney Is Not a Miracle Worker

by Michael Kraut

Many people mistakenly believe that Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys do not care about public safety or have an overly laissez-faire attitude about personal liberties.

Perhaps some attorneys hold this attitude. But the reality is that the vast majority of good DUI lawyers in Los Angeles and Southern California have strong moral compasses. They have families and friends as well. They know all too well the horrors that can result when the wrong person gets behind the wheel or vehicle at the wrong time.

Not all cases of driving under the influence are equal – not by a long shot
This blog has covered some extremely colorful DUI cases involving, for instance, recidivist offenders who’ve been arrested 9+ times. A recent blog post told the story of a 31-year-old who allegedly drove DUI at 80 miles per hour into his girlfriend and her companion, killing the 21-year-old man, severely hurting the girl, and killing all four of her dogs – all while driving under a suspended license after being dinged with three DUI convictions.

A great attorney can help defendants understand what they are up against and construct extremely sturdy and solid legal responses. But there is no such thing as a miracle worker. If you drove with a 0.45% BAC, and purposely hit a nun pushing a baby, odds are you will face massively serious penalties. As well you should!

The reality, however, is that many people who get arrested for crimes like Los Angeles DUI are borderline or near borderline. Maybe you had one too many drinks at a Hollywood industry party and thought you could “make it home” to Santa Monica because you felt pretty good. But then a trooper saw you changing lanes without signaling. He pulled you over, and then one thing led to another, and you found yourself behind bars. Alternately, maybe you’re a student at UCLA who got a little wild at a party. You decided to sleep in your car, but then a police officer found you with your keys in your hand and arrested you for DUI anyway.

Small, borderline cases like these are far more common than the catastrophic, horrific cases you read about in the news. Obviously, all defendants deserve a good defense. Likewise, DUI victims’ rights obviously must be protected, and justice needs to be done.

We as a society also have an obligation to help DUI convicts get rehabilitated, make reparations if possible, regain control over their lives, and get some clarity about how they can be better citizens.

If you know someone who has recently been arrested for DUI in Los Angeles, or if you yourself have been arrested, connect with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for a free consultation. Attorney Michael Kraut is an ex-prosecutor, who’s routinely featured as a DUI expert in major media outlets, like KTLA Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, etc. Mr. Kraut will be happy to talk with you about your DUI case and suggest a way forward.