Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol

June 13, 2012

Got Multiple Pasadena DUI Charges? Lessons from NFL Debacles!

If you or someone you love was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Pasadena recently – and it was not your first arrest on such charges! – you are not alone. The National Football League had a “multiple DUI” week last week: the Detroit Lions’ Nick Fairley, the Jaguars’ Justin Blackmon, and the Vikings’ Jerome Felton all got tagged for driving under the influence within 48 hours of one another.

• Felton was stopped on June 1 and arrested under suspicion of DWI in Minnesota, after he refused to submit to a BAC test.
• Blackmon was hit on the morning of June 3rd – his second DUI in two years (we covered his arrest in detail in a separate blog post).
• Fairley, a defensive tackle for the Lions, was also hit for DUI on June 3rd – in Alabama.

According to reports, Fairley was arrested for DUI one month ago, too. His second arrest was fairly dramatic (no pun intended). Apparently, he had been piloting his Cadillac Escalade SUV at over 100 miles per hour while DUI and under the influence of marijuana. When a state trooper tried to pull him over, he refused to capitulate… and thus ultimately earned himself a charge of eluding the police. Finally, he also lacked insurance for his SUV, so he got stuck with “no proof of insurance charges” as a kind of proverbial cherry on top!

You can look at these three arrests and conclude that “something must be wrong” with the NFL. There very well might be. But understand that just looking at single weekend’s worth of arrests (or non arrests) can easily mislead. This is a myopic perspective – a narrow-minded one. We would need to look at the DUIs in context to understand their deeper meaning for the NFL.

Similarly, it would be narrow-minded to say anything definitive about your life or your personality or your potential for recovery just by looking at how you behaved during and immediately after your Pasadena DUI arrest.

That being said, if you don’t handle your DUI effectively and resourcefully, you could face profound punishments. These could go well beyond jail time and license suspension. (Those two punishments are the most prominent in many defendants’ minds.)

Think about what might happen to your insurance rates over the next several years as a result of a DUI conviction, for instance. And have you contemplated what will happen to your professional reputation and credentials if your Pasadena DUI charge sticks?

To resolve the stress, uncertainty, and fear, you need good allies and powerful resources. An experienced, savvy attorney with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899) can help you understand exactly what to do next to maximize your chances of a positive result – perhaps even a dismissal of the charges entirely.

June 7, 2012

Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana in Long Beach: How NOT Do It

by Michael Kraut

If you or someone you love was recently arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana in Long Beach or elsewhere in the Southland, odds are, you probably feel embarrassed — especially if you made certain decisions that, in retrospect, were careless or even stupid.

Take some comfort in that your arrest was (probably) less ignominious than the arrest of 19-year old Catalina Clauser. She was arrested in Phoenix last week for driving under the influence of marijuana – with her baby on the roof of her car!

Yikes.

Here’s how it went down.

The legal shenanigans began early. Early in the evening, Clauser’s boyfriend was busted for driving under the influence – with the baby in her Ford Focus. Apparently upset about what happened, the 19-year old drove to the home of a friend and smoked a significant amount of marijuana – up to two bowls’ worth.

According to reports, Clauser left the party at around midnight and drove home. At around 1’o clock in the morning, local police got a call: a baby had been found in the middle of the road, and his car seat.

Fortunately, the baby was “perfectly okay” – according to later hospital reports. The police initially suspected that the child had been thrown out of a car in an accident, given the shoddy, damaged state of the car seat. Only after an investigation did police realize what actually happened (probably): in her marijuana induced state, Clauser apparently left the car seat on the roof of the car. Once she took off, unsurprisingly, the unsecured car seat fell off the car and into the middle of the road. Clauser was later arrested for child abuse and aggravated DUI. Her child is now in the care of Child Protective Services.

All told, not exactly the best of nights for that child or for anyone involved, really. It’s actually a miracle the baby was not seriously harmed given everything that happened.

Whether or not your Long Beach DUI or marijuana DUI situation was as operatic as Clauser’s arrest, you likely face huge obstacles and surprises.

You’re probably feeling scared, unsure, confused, and overwhelmed by the potential legal mess you might be in. Even if you didn’t hurt anyone — and even if this was your first time arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana in Los Angeles — you could face massive fines and court costs, points on your license, huge insurance headaches, a driver license suspension, mandatory alcohol ed classes (inconveniently timed, no doubt) and of course prison time.

Talk to a respected and experienced Los Angeles marijuana DUI defense attorney at Long Beach’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454 ) immediately regarding your legal options. Attorney Kraut is a widely respected lawyer who has served in both prosecutorial and defense capacities – this special vantage gives him a competitive advantage that he can put to work for you.

June 3, 2012

Could His Next “Ultimate Fight” Be A Battle Against Los Angeles DUI? Jon “Bones” Jones Totals Bentley in New York; DUI Suspected

by Michael Kraut

Not every Los Angeles DUI arrest involves a $190,000 Bentley getting wrapped around a telephone pole and a superstar athlete. But last Saturday, Jon “Bones” Jones, 24-year old UFC fighting champ, did just that in Binghamton, New York.

Jones was arrested by the Broome County Sheriff — the same agency for which he created a police training film a few months ago. An ironic twist of events, indeed. In the wake of the incident, the light heavyweight king – who bested Rashad Evans on April 21 in a unanimous decision – got called to the carpet by Dana White, the President of the UFC.

White told the Boston Herald, in blunt terms, how he felt about Jones’ situation: “[Jones] could… go down as the greatest ever – beat everybody, do all the stuff, be the first guy to break through and get a Nike deal… do you want to be that guy or do you want to go the other way?” White then proceeded to describe in graphic, expletive filled detail what precisely the “the other way” would entail.

Not good things.

If you’ve recently been arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles, you are probably facing a similar turning point in your life. How do you want to frame what’s happened to you? How are you going to respond? The question actually goes deeper than just “what will your legal response be?” It cuts to the heart of where you are in your life and how much responsibility you’re willing to take for your life trajectory from here on out.

Whether the arrest was fair or not, you need to make big picture, strategic, and tactical decisions in the days and months ahead. The quality of the decisions that you make – and the quality of your network of support people – could have tremendous implications, not just regarding scary questions like “will I go to jail or not for my Los Angeles DUI?” but for the grander questions like “will I get the help I need to get control of myself and rebuild my life?”

Compassionate, aggressive, experienced attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Los Angeles can help you deal with all aspect of your charges and situation. Attorney Kraut served as a prosecutor for the city for nearly a decade and a half, and he has deep insights into how to get his clients excellent results, even in complicated and scary circumstances.

June 1, 2012

Glendale DUI News Of The Weird: Did Driver Busted in Iowa Really Let Zebra and Parrot Drive His Truck?

by Michael Kraut

Occasionally, stories of DUI in Glendale and elsewhere get pretty weird.

Last week, the zany action took place not here at Southern California but rather in the generally staid Midwest – Dubuque, Iowa, to be more specific. 56-year old Jerald Reiter was arrested in the parking lot of a bar called “Dog House” (appropriate) after police saw him driving around with a parrot and a baby zebra in his truck.

Officers saw the circus-like situation and made Reiter go through the paces of a field sobriety test. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the FST came back positive, and he was arrested and booked. One report said that Reiter had a habit of taking the Macaw Parrot and baby Zebra into the bar – a situation which no doubt caused quite a scene in the Dog House. In any event, Reiter is claiming that he is innocent.

If you’ve been put through the paces of a field sobriety test in Glendale, Iowa, or anywhere else, you know it can be a scary experience, even if you are used to being around wild, loud animals — and even if you have enough courage and bombast to make something of a spectacle of yourself at a public bar.

Field sobriety tests are no fun. It’s not that the actual test themselves are that physically demanding – balancing tests, walk the line tests, stand on one leg tests, finger to nose tests, and other FSTs are pretty basic stuff. But the emotional aspect of doing these tasks is difficult to metabolize. You realize that one small incorrect movement could mean a Glendale DUI arrest, followed by penalties such as jail time, driver’s license suspension, compulsory alcohol school, probation, points on your license, skyrocketing car insurance premiums, and on and on and on.

You might not be consciously aware of all those potential problems when you’re in the midst of an FST, but you are almost certainly subconsciously aware of what’s going on.

It’s difficult to enumerate all the factors that can make a sobriety test “go wrong” – nervousness, general lack of coordination, the whims of an officer, a legitimate stumble, fatigue, medications that are legal to use but which might interfere with your performance, etc.

All that said, the past is past.

If you or someone you care about has been arrested for DUI in Glendale, you almost certainly need the services of a professional, highly competent, and respected Glendale DUI criminal defense attorney. Look to the team here at The Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for guidance. Attorney Michael Kraut has a fantastic track record of helping defendants like you not only get results for their defense but also understand their rights, so they feel a degree of certainty and optimism throughout the whole process.

May 21, 2012

A Good Way to Make Beverly Hills DUI News – Drive 100 Miles per Hour to a Kid’s Birthday Party

by Michael Kraut

Whether you or someone you care about has been arrested for driving under the influence in Beverly Hills, or you’re just striving to be a better, safer parent, you can learn a lot from the story of Katherine Russell, a 34-year old Northern Californian mom, who was arrested last week after driving a 100 miles per hour in her SUV…because she was late to a child’s birthday party.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Russell tested at more than twice the Beverly Hills DUI limit of 0.08%. A California Highway Patrol officer saw her Toyota 4Runner zipping by a Sonoma County Road at around 90 miles per hour. When the officer approached her, the SUV allegedly sped up to a rocketing 100 miles per hour. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident – and especially no children were hurt.

Parents here in Beverly Hills do some crazy “stuff” to help give their children a leg up and meet their needs. We live in a stress inducing city — Beverly Hills takes “keeping up with the Joneses” to the next level. All parents can be tempted to do stupid and dangerous things in the name of protecting their kids and giving their kids what we think they want or need. But there is a danger in this mentality. Sometimes, people get arrested for crimes like driving under the influence in Beverly Hills or elsewhere because they are striving to “do the right thing.”

In other words, we might know they we’re not in the best state for driving – that we “should” take more precautions or find designated driver. But our better instincts get overpowered by the urges and needs of the moment. Only after the fact do we realize how our efforts have backfired. And then we’re forced to scramble to figure out what we might be able to do about our trouble — how we can run damage control. This is only speculation, but it is possible that the 34-year old was speeding because of a deep and understandable need to take care of her child – to pick him or her up from that late night party. The moral is that our positive, nurturing urges can have damaging effects – if we are not careful to measure them against the realities of our situations.

Fortunately, a Beverly Hills DUI charge – even a complicated one – does not have to be a life sentence. An experienced, able, and respected Los Angeles criminal defense attorney at Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (8484 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 660B Beverly Hills, CA 90211-3220 Phone: (310) 550-6935 ) in Beverly Hills can talk to you about what happened and give you some powerful advice to start to construct an effective defense.

May 16, 2012

You Think Your Long Beach DUI Arrest Was Bad: These Guys Strapped Their Kids to the Roof of a Car for an Alleged DUI Joyride!

by Michael Kraut

Getting pulled over for a charge of a driving under the influence in Long Beach can be a shocking, terrifying experience. Even if you did nothing wrong – or the breathalyzer malfunctioned, or the police failed to follow proper procedure, or you can produce exonerating evidence – developing a good Long Beach DUI defense can be an intimidating proposition, to say the least.

Fortunately, odds are that the charges against you are less insane than the charges against two Indianans: Jessica Clark and Aaron Stefanski got hit with charges of DUI in Fort Wayne, after police saw them strap their kids to the hood of an automobile while driving away from a liquor store.

Not so smart.

One of the witnesses to the event, Tom Nowak, told a local paper how the 4-to-7-year olds got lashed to the car: “with one of those straps you crank on a semi to hold down lumber, they were strapped with that thing, wiggling and wobbling down the street.”

Indiana Child Protective Services have since removed three of the children from the father’s custody and sent them to stay with their mother full time. Obviously, this story is like something out of “News of the Weird” – an interesting oddity, but you might be wondering how it could be relevant to your Long Beach DUI case.

Here are some of the lessons:

1: People who get stopped for DUI in Long Beach often do “multiple things wrong” at once.

Yes, there are certain situations in which “only one bad thing happens.” For instance, the driver has way too many drinks at a party before getting behind the wheel, and he or she gets tagged with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10%. But in many cases, drivers do stupid things upon stupid things, compounding their problems. For instance, the father in this case not only allegedly drove DUI, but he also endangered his children. His legal mess will be far more thorny and complicated.

2: Controlling perceptions is important.

What happened, happened. You (or someone you love) now faces a Long Beach DUI charge. You cannot go back in time and change that. But what you can do is to determine how to shape events going forward, so that you learn lessons from what happened, make reparations to anyone you hurt, leverage tools and strategies to minimize your punishments, and generally try to transform this obstacle in your life into an opportunity to become a better person, a better driver, a better citizen, and more self-knowing.

3. Good legal help — early on! — is crucial.

A Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) can help you deal with your situation, even if you made compounding errors during and after your arrest. Attorney Kraut is a former prosecutor – he knows how prosecutors will think about your case and want to charge you – and he can leverage that information and insight to get you better results.

May 14, 2012

Driving Under the Influence in Burbank (or Oregon): Can “Lost” Star Find His Way Out of This?

by Michael Kraut

It’s more typical for celebrities to get arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank than to get tagged for DUI in some far-flung region like Oregon. But life can be peculiar. In the case of “Lost” actor Matthew Fox, that’s exactly what happened.

Last Friday, police pulled Fox over in Bend, OR, after he failed to signal and remain in his lane. The gossip site TMZ.com reports that Fox had been on his way to a fast food joint. Fortunately for Fox’s publicist, the mugshot machine at the local Oregon station was out of order, so there will not be a Nick Nolte or Mel Gibson style Los Angeles DUI celebrity mugshot to follow him around. Fox’s career also seems to be pretty solid: even though Lost is wrapped, he’s still getting work. He will be appearing in WORLD WAR Z, an epic zombie film produced by Brad Pitt.

Not too shabby.

Fox’s celebrity DUI is not his first – but he does have a small history of legal problems. Last August, he got into an altercation with a bus driver in Los Angeles; he allegedly punched her in the face. The bus driver then sued Fox, who countersued, saying that she hit him first. It sounds a bit like grade school – but with higher stakes for the winners and losers.

Celebrities and non-celebrities alike must obey the Burbank DUI laws. The most critical laws to know – whether you’ve personally been stopped for DUI, or someone you love or care about has been arrested – are California Vehicle Code 23152(a) and 23152(b). These govern the so-called “standard” Burbank misdemeanor DUIs. For instance, if you got stopped at a checkpoint on Victory Boulevard or pulled over on the 5 after a night partying downtown, the odds are that you will be facing a CVC 23152(a) or 23152(b) charge.

But if you cause injury to someone else, prosecutors have a special trick up their sleeves – they can elevate your charge and try to get you convicted of violating 23153(a) and/or 23153(b). You will have to look twice the difference between these two codes – thery’re just one number different! But the difference for you could be dramatic. Instead of a misdemeanor Burbank DUI, you could face a felony Burbank DUI. That means that, instead of facing just a few days or weeks in jail, you could face over a year behind bars… as well as the loss to the right to vote and massive “post-felony conviction” problems that can trail you for years, decades, or perhaps the rest of your life.

To get a handle on your challenges, and to make the most appropriate, strategic steps towards protecting your rights and eliminating uncertainty, connect with a tested Burbank DUI criminal defense attorney of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810). Mr. Kraut served honorably as a prosecutor of Los Angeles DUI crimes for more than 14-years in the capacity of a Senior Deputy District Attorney. Since he has experience as both the criminal defense attorney and a prosecutor, he understands the criminal justice landscape from different perspectives.

May 7, 2012

Glendale DUI Ridiculousness – East Haven CT Women Crashes into Liquor Store for Possibly DUI

by Michael Kraut

The typical Glendale DUI stop is pretty tame by objective measures. An outside observer might, for instance, see you get stopped at a check point and pass through an array of field sobriety tests and then get cuffed and taken away. Not that much excitement.

But some examples of DUI are shocking, unusual, and packed with coincidences.

Last week, for instance, a 63-year old woman, Sharon Brooks, careened into a local liquor store (which she frequented!) and smashed the shop up in a major way. The accident occurred at 2:30 p.m. in East Haven at the Yankee Discount Liquor on Foxon Road. According to local reports, the car drove “halfway into the store” and caused not only property damage but also injury to a store worker that was significant enough to require his hospitalization.

As regular readers of this blog know, if you injure someone while driving DUI in Glendale, you can be subjected to charges under California Vehicle Code 23153(a) or 23153(b) – charges which carry significantly more “heft” than do standard misdemeanor Glendale DUI charges per CVC 23152 (a) or 23152(b).

In any event, Ms. Brooks said that she had “a cold” and had taken Nyquil prior to the accident. She also said that she just gotten her car detailed and that her foot slipped off the brake due to the slippery Armor All treatment. Brooks told the reporters “I never had the whole inside of my car cleaned before and this time I did so it would look really nice, and my foot slipped off the brake.”

Will Brooks’ various defenses hold water? That remains to be seen. But before you judge either way, understand that most charges of driving under the influence in Glendale (or wherever) often hold subtle secrets – evidence that can help/hurt both sides.

The point is that, if you have been charged with the crime like this, you really put yourself at a huge disadvantage if you fail to connect with a Glendale DUI defense attorney, such as the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’ Michael Kraut (121 W Lexington Dr, Glendale, CA 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123). A great attorney can explain your charges in context, help you construct an appropriate response, and deal with the nagging questions and concerns you have along the way. You can feel more focused, put up a stiff defense to the charges, and feel less anxiety about what’s going to happen to your car, your driver license, and your future.

April 25, 2012

Odds Are, Your Burbank DUI Arrest Didn’t Have This Much Drama (or At Least, Let’s Hope Not!)

by Michael Kraut

You recently got stopped for driving under the influence in Burbank – perhaps while thoughtlessly cruising on Olive after partying in Burbank Center.

Your life has been higgledy-piggledy ever since.

You are scared about possibly losing your license, serving jail time, paying fines and fees that you can barely afford, even though you live in the Valley and get a discounted rent (compared with what folks pay down in Westwood and Beverly Hills). You face a ton of drama.

Fortunately, your Burbank DUI drama almost certainly pales in comparison to an insane story out of the Washington D.C. area. Last Sunday morning, three men were arrested after a crazy police chase on the Germanna Highway. According to an NBC Washington News report, the mayhem all began at 2.30 in the morning, when a deputy stopped and approached a 1996 Ford Explorer. Instead of responding in an orderly fashion, the driver lurched the vehicle in reverse, slammed into the deputy’s car, and took off. The officer pulled his gun and demanded that the truck stop… but to no avail.

The Chase Is On
According to reports, the chase led across numerous local roads and highways, including Carrico Mills Road, James Madison Highway and beyond. Eventually, the Ford ran out of room on Auburn Road and drove into a ditch. But that wasn’t the end. David Lee Story, Jr., the 23-year-old driver, fled his vehicle. Police officers pursued him on foot and eventually wrangled him. He faces a monstrous battery of charges, including DUI, hit and run, and most disturbingly, felony assault of an officer. His two passengers in the Ford, Zuyan Zhang and Bradley Settle, were also arrested on charges of being drunk in public. They subsequently have been let go. Story Jr., on the other hand, is almost certain to face some seriously difficult months (perhaps years) ahead.

Story, Jr.’s story (sorry for the wordplay there) illustrates a very important truism about Burbank DUI arrests. Many drivers who get stopped engage in activities that needlessly and dangerously complicate their potential defenses and also put their own lives – and the lives of officers and innocents — at risk. If you have already been arrested for a complex Burbank DUI charge, you obviously cannot go back in time and undo the stupid things you did. You panicked, perhaps, and fled an accident scene or said dumb things to the police. So what now? What do you do?

The key is two-fold:

1. Recognize that the past is past: you cannot go back in time and erase your Burbank DUI.

And if you engaged in other dumb actions – such as a hit and run or an assault on a police officer – you also cannot change that. You can, however, respond to your present situation with compassion and wisdom. And that means working with a Beverly Hills DUI criminal defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450, Beverly Hills, California 90210 Phone: (310) 550-6935), and connecting with an attorney for insight into your problems as soon as possible.

2. You need to start making smarter decisions. As we’ve talked about in other blog posts, introspection and reflection can help you understand some of the problems that drove you to get in trouble with law in the first place.

It’s not as if there is nothing you can do about your current Burbank DUI. In fact, the actions that you take — whether you were arrested last night, last week, or last month — can help you improve your situation, fight for your rights, and rebuild. The first step is getting over the “activation energy hump” that’s blocking you from getting the help you need. Connect with Attorney Michael Kraut today, and let this seasoned former prosecutor guide your defense.

April 23, 2012

DUI in Los Angeles? “No Thanks” says Bobby Brown, “Not For Me”

by Michael Kraut

Last Monday, hip-hop icon Bobby Brown pled not guilty to charges of driving under the influence in Los Angeles and additional charges stemming from his March 26th arrest. On top of driving DUI, Brown got slapped with driving under a suspended license and driving with an illegal BAC content. As regular readers of this blog know, the limit for driving under the influence in Los Angeles, per California Vehicle Section 23152(B), is 0.08%.

(Interesting and random note! Did you know that sleep researchers in Australia found that people who stay awake for 24 hours or longer may be as impaired behind the wheel as are people who drive with a 0.10% BAC?!)

Getting back to the main story… Bobby Brown has obviously had a hard 2012. His ex-wife, Whitney Houston, died, and he could serve half a year behind bars if he gets convicted. Brown’s pretrial hearing has been scheduled for May 16th. In the meantime, he is forbidden from drinking alcohol. His Los Angeles DUI attorney tried to get that requirement dropped – to no avail.

Brown allegedly blew a 0.12&% BAC on his Los Angeles DUI breathalyzer test – one and a half times the state’s legal limit.

California Highway Patrol got suspicious when they saw Brown yapping on his cell phone while driving (never a good idea). He allegedly exhibited classic symptoms of Los Angeles DUI (such as smelling like alcohol) and he also performed less than stellarly on his field sobriety tests.

Having said all that, be aware that Los Angeles field sobriety tests can be scary and confusing… even for stone cold sober drivers. So just because you can’t “walk the line” or balance correctly does not mean that you are under the influence or you should be punished. Conversely, it’s very possible to be under the influence of alcohol – to have a high BAC, for instance — and to pass your field sobriety tests with flying colors.

In other words, DUI charges are not as cut and dry as the tabloids would make them sound. Yes, there are certain instances where it’s pretty obvious that the driver has done not just one but many stupid things behind the wheel, and he almost certainly will face punishment.

That being said, every case is different. Fortunately, a responsible and highly astute Los Angeles DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you understand your rights and fight for justice – whether you are a high profile celebrity like Brown, a UCLA or USC student stopped at checkpoint on the 5, or someone who got arrested for DUI while visiting the City of Angels. Connect with the Harvard Law School educated former prosecutor Kraut now to get powerful results to protect your rights.