Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol

October 19, 2015

Notable October DUIs – John Stamos, Cre Moore and Tim Chambers

DUI arrests of sports and entertainment figures always make the news, and this October witnessed some serious charges.
The most prominent Los Angeles DUI arrest involved none other than “Grandfathered” actor John Stamos, whom police pulled over after receiving calls about an erratic driver.

The officers initially took Stamos to a hospital out of concern he had some medical condition. Police later charged slapped him with a DUI; tests allegedly determined that Stamos was under the influence of drugs while operating his vehicle. This misdemeanor charge could result in the former star of Full House spending six months in jail.

The sports world also saw two high-profile arrests this month. Cre Moore, the defensive back for the Kansas State football team, crashed his 2014 Ford F-15 in Riley County, Kansas, around 3 in the morning of October 4th. He left the road, hitting a pole and then a stone wall before coming to a stop. The 20-year-old Moore didn’t suffer any injuries, although his vehicle received major damage. But police who went to the scene allegedly did find several pills in Moore’s car, and they charged Moore with DUI and possession of depressants.

The head baseball coach at the University of Nevada, Tim Chambers, faces legal and job troubles after his arrest for arrest for driving under the influence on October 6th. After police charged Chambers with DUI, two counts of failure to maintain a lane and a violation of the proof of insurance requirement, the university immediately placed him on an administrative leave of absence until the courts resolve the charges against him. Chambers is in his fifth year of coaching the UNLV Rebels. The university has a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol for its athletes.

What should you do if you or someone you love faces a serious DUI count? Will you go to jail? Will you lose your license? Call Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer Michael Kraut immediately to understand your options and craft a strategic response.

October 12, 2015

DUI Drivers Who Demand Attention – Setting Off Fireworks Is Not a Way to Lay Low

by Michael Kraut

Intoxicated drivers trying to avoid charges of DUI in Los Angeles should always try to avoid calling attention to themselves. If they attract the eye of a police officer, a pedestrian or another driver, they may find themselves spending several hours in jail. One man in California and two men in Delaware learned this lesson the hard way.

In San Manteo County, California, 25-year-old Daniel Moran probably couldn’t have found a better way of getting the police to come to him. When he set off fireworks around quarter to four in the morning of October 3rd, neighbors complained to authorities because they thought someone was shooting a gun. When sheriff’s deputies arrived they found that Moran didn’t have a gun, just fireworks. But they claimed he was intoxicated and driving under the influence and charged him accordingly.

In Newark, Delaware, police officers found 57-year-old John R. Owens passed out in a school bus parking lot. Owens had driven his Dodge Caliber into the parking lot of the First Student Transportation bus yard and hit one bus before exiting the yard. Apparently not satisfied with this first attempt, he drove back into the yard, hit a fence, and promptly passed out. Although Owens wasn’t injured in the crash, emergency medical personnel had to remove him from the car. They then transported him to the hospital to get checked out.

Getting arrested for DUI appears to be a habit for Owens; it was the seventh time he’s been up on these charges.

Meanwhile, in the southern part of the state, Samuel E. Pu Tzoy hit a Jeep Cherokee—causing it to flip several times—before crashing into the rear of a Lewes Police Department vehicle. Pu Tzoy got a great deal of attention thanks to this accident, and he now faces a great many charges. They include vehicular assault, driving under the influence of alcohol, leaving the scene of a collision resulting in injury, failure to stop at a stop sign, driving without a valid license, disregarding a police officer’s signal, reckless driving and other traffic offenses.

Designing and executing an effective defense against DUI charges (even simple ones) is not intuitive. Fortunately, you can trust the seasoned, highly successful Michael Kraut. Call a DUI lawyer in Los Angeles with nearly two decades of experience.

September 30, 2015

Taking Care of Young Children After You’ve Been Arrested for Los Angeles DUI

by Michael Kraut

Many people have a cartoonish view of what a Los Angeles DUI defendant looks like.

Obviously, driving under the influence – or even close to under the influence – is dangerous business, and it can (and does) lead to thousands of death and countless injuries and traumas every year. However, DUI defendants are people too – people with jobs, lives and families.

What happens if police arrest you for this crime, but you need to take care of young children?

September 25, 2015

Dumb DUI Moves

by Michael Kraut

The last thing drivers arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles want to do is call attention to themselves; they don’t want friends, family or employers to know what’s happened. But stories about DUI incidents get a lot more play in the news media when they are out of the ordinary. Here are a few unusual stories that made local headlines.

The Chicago Tribune reported on 28-year-old Jeremy Walsh, who went into a grocery store, opened and chugged a bottle of vodka, left the store without paying for the liquor and then drove away. Officers called to assist observed Walsh’s vehicle crossing over the double yellow line on one of the roads in Naperville, Illinois. Walsh gave a false name and wouldn’t take a breathalyzer test or a field sobriety test. Police charged him with DUI, retail theft, driving without a license and obstructing identification. (Walsh really should have maintained a lower profile. After police arrested him, they found that the Kane County sheriff’s office already wanted him because he failed to appear at a court hearing on reckless driving and speeding charges.)

Then there’s Tara Monroe, a 20-year-old junior at Texas State University. After Monroe refused to take a breathalyzer test on her way home from a concert, her father came to campus and repossessed her car. Monroe’s solution—which gained national news attention—was to buy a kid-size, hot pink Barbie car to tool around campus. At least she can’t speed; the pink Barbie car doesn’t move above 5 miles per hour.

North Carolina resident Patrick Mercer, 29, made headlines when he taunted Tennessee police on Facebook. After Tennessee police posted photos of people wanted on outstanding domestic violence warrants, Mercer responded that he was in North Carolina and the police should come and get him. They did. Mercer ended up in jail charged not only with domestic assault but also with DUI, reckless driving, theft and harassment.

Designing and executing an effective defense against DUI charges (even simple ones) is not intuitive. Fortunately, you can trust the seasoned, highly successful Michael Kraut. Call a DUI lawyer in Los Angeles with nearly two decades of experience.

September 21, 2015

Missing Tires Result in DUI Arrests

by Michael Kraut

Note to drivers who want to avoid an arrest for a DUI in Los Angeles: Try to make sure that your vehicle has all its parts before you get on the road. A lack of important features—like tires–are a dead giveaway that you may not be operating at peak performance.

In Libertyville, Illinois, on September 5th, police arrested 20-year-old Lizette Diaz, who was driving a vehicle with no front tires. According to the Libertyville Patch, Diaz was making a U-turn and the wheel wells of her vehicle were dragging on the ground. Charges against Diaz included DUI, operating a vehicle with unsafe equipment, improper lane usage and driving an uninsured motor vehicle.

September was a busy month for driving under the influence and without tires. In San Antonio, Texas, Flor Rios headed to the nearby drive-through lane of a Whataburger fast food restaurant. But she had apparently forgotten that her SUV was missing a front tire. Police pulled her over and discovered an open container of beer in the vehicle. When they took her to the hospital to get a BAC blood test, Rios attacked the person trying to draw her blood. Officers eventually charged her with DUI and harassment of a public officer.

Police in Owatonna, Minnesota probably did a double-take before they picked up 33-year-old Bethany Brogan on DUI charges. Brogan was traveling in her car on Cedar Avenue with the right front tire detached and rolling alongside. When officers caught up with her, they discovered she smelled like alcohol and found an open alcohol container inside her car. Her blood alcohol content came back at .283, more than three times the legal limit.

In Levittown, Pennsylvania, it took several police cars to catch up with Rodney Kolison, whose Mitsubishi Gallant had only three tires. Officers said Kolison admitted that he had smoked marijuana earlier in the day.

How should you respond to your recent and disarming charges? Call a qualified Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer (and ex-prosecutor) with nearly two decades of relevant legal experience.

September 16, 2015

Drivers Attempt to Evade DUI Charges

by Michael Kraut

When it comes to DUI arrests, many drivers would like to avoid the consequences of their actions. Facing charges of DUI in Los Angeles, they may try to flee the scene (usually unsuccessfully) or find some alternate explanation for a crash.

Take the case of a 38-year-old, who lives in Kodiak, Alaska. He called police on a Sunday evening not long ago to report that thieves had taken his car. But just about that time, police officers also received a report of a vehicle hitting a power pole. Not so coincidentally, the accident took place on the street where he lived.

The police concluded that his Ford pickup hadn’t been stolen and determined that the driver himself had made up the story after crashing the vehicle. The police ended up charging the driver with DUI, making a false report and failure to notify police immediately after an accident.

But not everyone tries to lie their way out of a DUI. An unidentified man in Allegan County, Michigan, took one look at police trying to pull him over and decided not to stick around to talk with them. He sped off along a local highway, eventually making a sharp turn into a parking lot. Once there, he refused to get out of his vehicle.

As officers were trying to pry him loose from the car, they noticed open containers of alcohol in the vehicle. They measured the man’s blood alcohol content and discovered it was .22, almost three times the legal limit for driving, which is .08 percent. So the unknown motorist ended up in jail, charged with DUI. Because his BAC was so high, he fits Michigan’s “super drunk” criteria, meaning he could face harsher penalties if convicted.

Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to offer critical insight into your case and potential defense options. Call him and his team today to begin regaining control over your case and your life.

September 7, 2015

Manhattan DUI Driver Was No Real Friend

by Michael Kraut

You may remember the old public service campaign from the Ad Council that stated “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk.” A recent story from the Hamptons–the New York playground of the rich and famous–suggests an addendum to that saying: “Friends don’t drive off leaving friends lying in the road after a DUI accident.” That’s not something that cops see every day, no matter how many Los Angeles DUI incidents they handle.

The purported friends in this case were 42-year old Manhattan real estate developer Sean Ludwick and 53-year-old real estate agent Paul Hansen. Ludwig was driving his Porsche around on 2 a.m. Sunday, August 30th, with Hansen a passenger in the car. Ludwick crashed the vehicle into a utility pole in Sag Harbor, on a corner not far from the front of Hansen’s family home. The accident ejected Hansen from the car, but instead of staying to assist him (and face police), Ludwig allegedly took off, leaving Hansen’s body in the road.

(It couldn’t have been an easy trip; according to the New York Post, the Porsche had two flat tires and other damages.)
The police caught up with Ludwick about a quarter mile away. They retraced his route and found the accident scene and Hansen’s body.

Police arrested Ludwig and charged him with DWI and leaving the scene of an accident. His bond, initially set at $500,000, is now $1 million since prosecutors have argued that he could be a flight risk. Ludwig may eventually face charges of vehicular homicide.

Ludwig has had problems with the law before. Earlier this year, he pled guilty to assault and battery charges for hitting his girlfriend and for destruction of property for ripping her phone out of the wall. He broke into another ex-girlfriend’s apartment and destroyed artwork he had painted for her.

Respond strategically to your arrest and charges by calling a former Senior Deputy D.A. and highly successful Los Angeles DUI defense attorney with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today for a complimentary consultation.

August 19, 2015

DUI Is Least of Naked Driver’s Problems

by Michael Kraut

Excessive drinking can reduce inhibitions, so when police officers pick someone up for a Los Angeles DUI, they probably aren’t too surprised if they find the suspect has shed a few items of clothing along the way. But police officers in Waukesha, Wisconsin, were startled when they finally caught up with a DUI suspect after a high-speed chase and found that he had taken everything off.
According to TV station Fox 6, Leif Erickson crashed through a chain link fence enclosing a parking lot on the night of August 11th. Unfortunately for him, two police officers had parked their squad cars on the lot, and Erickson hit one of them. The 21-year-old Erickson ignored the officers’ commands to stop, backed out of the fence and took off, hitting speeds up 70 mph. He ran stop signs and hit curbs repeatedly as he attempted to evade police.

Erickson did brake hard for one stoplight, which sent his vehicle into a 180-degree spin. An officer attempted to stop him, but Erickson accelerated towards him and his squad car. The chase continued, this time reaching speeds up to 90 mph, before Erickson took a turn too fast, flipped the car and went airborne. He managed to climb out of his car, however, and that’s when the police discovered he was nude. They managed to subdue him after shooting him with a bean bag round (instead of deadlier bullets).

Police charged Erickson with a first offense of operating while intoxicated, since he admitted to them he had taken two hits of acid a few hours before. But he’s also looking at more serious charges. They include three felony counts of reckless endangerment, one count of hit and run causing injury, one count of fleeing and eluding and one count of felony heroin possession.

Yikes.

As a frequent contributor to respected media, like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Good Morning America, Los Angeles DUI attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers understands what it takes to build successful defenses in complex DUI cases. Contact him and his team today to schedule a consultation.

August 17, 2015

Loophole Allows House Arrest For Repeat DUI Offender

by Michael Kraut

Christopher Blair Gish, arrested three times for DUI in Pennsylvania, should be glad that he doesn’t live in California. If courts convict someone of a third DUI in Los Angeles, that offender is looking at a minimum of 120 days in jail. But the 39-year old Gish managed to avoid Pennsylvania’s minimum penalty of 90 days in jail thanks to a now-closed loophole in the state’s DUI laws.

Citizensvoice.com reports that police picked Gish up for DUI three separate times in an 11-day period during August and September 2014. If that happened in Pennsylvania today, as a three-time DUI offender, Gish could be looking at up to 10 years in prison. But Gish’s arrests came during a time when police could not charge drivers previously arrested on a DUI—but not yet convicted and sentenced—of a second or third offense. The officers could only charge them as if each incident was a first offense.
In the meantime, however, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a new law eliminating the repeat-offender loophole, and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed it into law on October 2014.

In January 2015, Gish, a resident of Dickson City in northeast Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to all three DUI charges. A judge sentenced him to 18 months of court supervision and six months of house arrest. But after a local newspaper carried a story about the case, the local district attorney asked the judge to reconsider Gish’s sentencing and apply the harsher penalties. Gish then withdrew his guilty plea.

In August 2015, a judge found Gish guilty of the charges but concluded that the original sentencing should apply since Gish had committed the DUI offenses before the new law took effect. Since Gish had already served the six months house arrest, he’s now free. But he will have to wear an alcohol-monitoring anklet, avoid drinking alcohol and attend 90 AA meetings in 90 days.

What should you do if you or someone you love faces a serious DUI count? Will you go to jail? Will you lose your license? Call Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer Michael Kraut immediately to understand your options and craft a strategic response.

August 3, 2015

Tennessee’s Anti-DUI Campaign Called Sexist

by Michael Kraut

If trends for arrests for DUI in Los Angeles follow national averages, police pick up more men than women for the offense. (According to DrunkDrivingStats.org, the ratio for the arrests is four to one.) In addition, males between the ages of 21 and 34 are responsible for 32 percent of all DUI episodes.

Statistics gathered by the Tennessee Department of Security and Homeland Security showed similar trends in the Volunteer State, where police officers arrested three times as many men as women for DUI from 2010 to 2014.

So you can understand the reasoning of Tennessee officials who thought that anti-DUI advertisements should aim at catching the attention of young men. However, the way that the Governor’s Highway Safety Office approached the task of spreading the message brought widespread criticism.

The advertising campaign featured TV and radio ads, social media and table tents, coasters and fliers distributed to bars across Nashville. The ads offered messages like “After a few drinks, the girls look hotter and the music sounds better. Just remember: If your judgment is impaired, so is your driving.” Another read: “Buy a drink for a marginally good-lucking girl only to find out she’s chatty, clingy and your boss’s daughter. If this sounds like something you would do, your judgment is impaired.”

Needless to say, the campaign soon drew fire from women and from public officials who denounced it as sexist. The controversy grew even more heated when news sources found—under the Freedom of Information Act—that the state had spent $800,000 for advertising blitz. State officials quickly apologized and stopped the advertising.

Do you need assistance constructing an appropriate response to a DUI charge? Look to the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’ Michael Kraut for insight and peace of mind. Mr. Kraut is an experienced Los Angeles DUI attorney with many relevant connections in the local legal community.