Driving Under the Influence

November 15, 2011

Preposterous Pasadena DUI Stories: “Attention DUI Suspect in Kentucky — Your Car Is on Fire!”

Getting arrested for driving under the influence in Pasadena (or anywhere else) is no laughing matter. However, the things that certain suspects do under pressure can, in retrospect, seem amusing.

Case in point, consider what happened to 20-year old Becca Voss, who was arrested last Thursday morning near Louisville on a relatively standard DUI. According to a local station, WLKY Louisville, Ms. Voss had been driving 16 miles over the speed limit, weaving between lanes – symptoms that would clue officers here in the Southland onto the fact that someone might be driving under the influence in Pasadena.

Indeed, Voss, exhibited classic symptoms associated with Pasadena DUI (or DUI anywhere) including “red, glossy eyes… disorientation” and lack of coordination.

But the way in which her lack of coordination displayed itself is why her story has gotten so much attention. Apparently, Voss “dropped a cigarette in the car’s door, igniting papers in the door” and thus setting her car on fire.

Not exactly the kind of impression you want to make if you want to convince authorities that you are stone sober and not driving under the influence in Pasadena!

Ms. Voss also faced further setbacks when she “failed several field sobriety tests” and failed a blood alcohol test by blowing a BAC of over 0.20% (2.5 times the legal limit for Pasadena DUI).

Can we learn anything from Voss’s cigarette related flub, other than obvious lessons (you probably already knew) such as “try to avoid lighting your car on fire in front of the police, when you are being tested for DUI”?

Perhaps. The biggest lesson here is that DUI events often lead to hard to calculate, cascading situations. Obviously, very few people anticipate getting pulled over and arrested, prior to getting behind the wheel. But even after you do get stopped, “twist and turns” in your story can be fast and furious, and they can throw you off your game.

They can also induce needless stress and potentially significantly complicate your case. For instance, say you get into an accident and cause an injury Pasadena DUI. You might be tempted to immediately flee the scene or do something else stupid. Once you make that bad decision, you may make another bad decision, such as speeding away from the police or driving through a red light. Each one of these bad decisions further complicates your legal situation and makes the job of your Pasadena DUI criminal defense attorney that much harder.

Fortunately, no matter what happened, there is always room for clarity, strategy, and clear thinking. The Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899). Attorney Michael Kraut is an extremely experienced compassionate and successful Pasadena DUI lawyer. Not only is he Harvard law school educated, but he also worked for nearly a decade and half as a prosecutor, so he knows exactly how prosecution will likely come after you.

November 5, 2011

Los Angeles DUI Checkpoints for Halloween: Trying to Prevent True Halloween Horrors

by Michael Kraut

Over the weekend, Los Angeles DUI Saturation Patrols were on red alert looking for dangerous drivers on California’s freeways and surface streets.

A local police chief in Glendora issued a press statement summarizing the intent and purpose of the extra saturation patrols: “there isn’t a Halloween costume clever enough to hide an impaired driver who has made the poor decision to get behind the wheel.”

Halloween is notoriously a dangerous time for drivers. Like most national holidays, including Super Bowl Sunday, New Years Eve, Memorial Day Weekend, and 4th of July, Halloween is a time for community revelry. As a result, more people go out partying, and thus more DUI or near DUI drivers populate the roads, particularly at night.

National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics from 2009 found that nearly half of all Halloween night fatalities involved motorcycle riders or drivers who had BACs of 0.08% or higher – the legal limit for Los Angeles DUI, as per California Vehicle Code Section 23152.

The California Office of Traffic Safety, via the NHTSA, is funding the extra Los Angeles DUI Halloween saturation patrols.

What’s particularly scary about a Halloween DUI is the extra vulnerability of children.

While many conscientious parents make sure that their children wear highly visible costumes – like a white ghost or a princess with lots of silver glitter on her costume – some parents don’t give nearly enough thought to road safety and children. When you mix these two potentially dangerous elements – more “post-revelry” drivers on the road and lots of kids wandering around unfamiliar neighborhoods in difficult to see costumes – it’s not particularly surprising that you see accident rates spike and more people hurt and even killed.

What can be done to change the situation?

First of all, Halloween has always been a notoriously strange and unpredictable and in some ways dangerous holiday. Even the trick or treating itself – beyond the dangers posed by Los Angeles DUI drivers and potential child abusers – is risky in and of itself simply because of the nature of the treats given out to our children.

Candy is not exactly the healthiest food. All parents know that. However, riveting and compelling new scientific research suggests that eating sugar may actually precipitate a gamut of long term, complicated health problems, including but not limited to: insulin resistance, obesity, Type II diabetes, heart disease, and even many kinds of cancer.

So we may need to protect children not only against Los Angeles DUI drivers but also against more insidious threats, such as high fructose corn syrup in their trick or treat bags.

If someone you know and care about has been recently arrested for Halloween Los Angeles DUI, the team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1520, Los Angeles, California 90028) can help. Attorney Michael Kraut is a former Deputy District Attorney with a fantastic success rate at jury trials and an impressive background – including 14 years as a former prosecutor and a Harvard Law School education.

October 24, 2011

Underage Burbank DUI for Hannah Montana Star – 20-Year Pulled Over in Mercedes with BAC “Well Over” the 0.08% Limit

by Michael Kraut

Last week, 20-year old actor Mitchel Musso was arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank underage near Chandler and Buena Vista, according to a report in the La Canada Valley Sun.

The actor, who appeared on Hannah Montana as well as in the 2003 movie, Secondhand Lions, allegedly “drove through the intersection [near an accident scene] and failed to do what the officer instructed him to do.”

Musso, who is probably best known for playing Oliver Oken in Hannah Montana, was pulled over at 3:45 A.M last Sunday morning. He had a BAC of substantially over the limit for driving under the influence in Burbank (0.08%). But since he was underage, any significant amount of alcohol in his system would constitute a crime. Per the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the actor was released after posting a bail of $5,000. No one else was in his 2007 Mercedes during the arrest.

Underage DUI in Burbank is not only a frustratingly serious crime, but it is also a crime that can ruin or cripple a young person’s future.

Obviously, any Burbank DUI is a potential (or actual) tragedy. In this case, Musso was fortunate, in that he did not cause injuries to anyone or to himself. But imagine if he had killed someone while driving DUI underage. Not only might he face hugely serious charges, such as vehicular manslaughter or worse, depending on his background and the circumstances, but he would also face the problem of being “sucked into the system.”

Once you accept the notion that you are a criminal or a DUI driver, you may have a difficult time changing that self image and returning to your previous model of yourself as “upstanding, law abiding citizen.” The way we view ourselves can have profound ramifications for our behaviors, thoughts, and life paths.

Underage Burbank DUI driving should be taken as a major warning sign – a clarion call that you need to get help. You may need the services of a respected, empathetic, and results driven Burbank DUI criminal defense lawyer, such as Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810). You also might need to do some inner work, such as therapy, meditation, and changing your peer group to reduce the negative influences on your behavior.

Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is a former prosecutor for the city of Los Angeles – he spent over 14-years in that role, in fact. Now, as a criminal defense attorney, he brings his wealth of prosecutorial knowledge and experience to bear to help Burbank DUI defendants understand their challenges and meet them in a principled, successful way.

October 14, 2011

Ghastly Los Angeles DUI Sends Six Children to Hospital: One Child is Critically Injured

by Michael Kraut

Amidst the circus of the Conrad Murray trial in Los Angeles Supreme Court (Murray, as you might know, is the infamous doctor accused of giving Michael Jackson the propofol and other drugs that ultimately killed him), our city recently witnessed some extremely disturbing, scary, and sad Los Angeles DUI accident news.

Last week, six children and one adult woman were injured in a Lancaster DUI crash. According to a Los Angeles Times report, 31-year-old Stanesha Allen crashed her 2002 Toyota Sequoia very early last Sunday morning on East Avenue I. Apparently, Allen was at a wedding the night before.

Here is the complete stomach-churning description straight from the Los Angeles Times story: after she lost control of her vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol, her “SUV flipped four times, leaving some of the children partially ejected… two of the children were airlifted to Antelope Valley Hospital with critical injuries. The other four and Allen were taken to the hospital by ambulance with minor to moderate injuries… the two seriously injured children, a 4-year-old girl and a 22-month-old boy, were transferred to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, respectively.”

Allen was arrested. But since she is injured, she is allowed to remain at the hospital for treatment.

Everyone knows that the crime of driving under the influence in Los Angeles can be a terrible and scary crime. But the consequences for everyone involved and for your own future can ratchet up hugely if there are injuries involved – especially, injuries to children.

The California Vehicle Code sections actually spell out entirely different punishments for people who hurt others while DUI. California Vehicle Code Sections 23152 (a) and 23152 (b) are written to punish standard non-injury misdemeanor DUIs. The punishments can still be quite hefty and can include jail time, steep fines, mandatory alcohol classes, license suspension, probation, and mandatory installation of an IID device in your car.

But if you hurt someone while driving DUI in Los Angeles, two very different vehicle code sections might apply. Pay attention because they differ by only one number: 23153 (a) and 23153 (b) give prosecutors several extra legal “weapons” and allows them to elevate what ordinarily might be a simple misdemeanor to a felony. In case you don’t know the difference, a felony is a much, much more serious charge. Convicted felons lose the right to vote, among other things, and they can face multiple years behind bars.

Fortunately, a qualified Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, such as Michael Kraut of Los Angeles’ Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1520, Los Angeles, California 90028), can help you understand and organize a sound and ethical and logically thought defense. Attorney Kraut is an experienced, compassionate, Harvard Law School educated former prosecutor. He has the tools, connections and agility to help you fight to get to your charges dismissed or at least get the best deal possible – and help you figure out how to plan your future after you have put the incident behind you.

October 6, 2011

Pasadena DUI Process Waiting Game: How to Breathe Easier While Waiting for Big Decisions to Come Down

by Michael Kraut

Whether you were recently arrested for a misdemeanor Pasadena DUI or busted after a vivid and scary multi-car accident sent you and several other people to the hospital, chances are you are facing a gnawing feeling of uncertainty about your future. It is often worse “not to know” what will happen to you than it is actually to get punished, because you don’t know when the hammer will fall or how hard.

This post will explore this “uncertainty problem” and suggest a potent remedy to help you feel more in control of your life and your future.

Defining the Problem: Which is Worse – “Uncertain Outcomes” or “Bad Outcomes”?

The conventional wisdom will have you believe that ambiguity is not so bad, and what we really want to avoid are bad decisions and failure. In other words, human beings are rational operators. We strive for positive results, tolerate ambiguity, and kick ourselves when things don’t go our way. Indeed, much of our experience superficially supports this hypothesis.

But as anyone who has been through Pasadena DUI field sobriety tests will tell you, the worst part of the DUI experience is waiting to see whether you will be punished – and, if so, how badly. Once you hear the news – whether it’s good news, bad news, or something in between – your mind begins to process your new reality and helps you make sense of your situation. When you are left in limbo, on the other hand, your mind has nothing to cling to, and it engages in all sorts of wild scenario-making, considering both catastrophic scenarios and “too good to be true” scenarios.

Without some grounding in reality, your brain will explore the highs, the lows, and everything in between, creating fruitless exhaustion, stress, anger, and depression. This isn’t to say that you are bound to feel “good” if the judge hands down a harsh sentence and, for instance, mandates that you install an interlock ignition device. You might still feel crummy. But at least you can see the outline of your punishment and begin to think about life after it.

As a 2008 study published in the journal Psychological Science found, highly neurotic people, in particular, have difficulty dealing with uncertainty. Jacob Hirsch, a researcher at the University of Toronto, summarizes the findings of this study: “Objectively speaking, uncertainty is better than clearly negative information, but this is not true for people who are highly neurotic…those people do not deal with uncertainty very well.”

And one may make the case that certain events – e.g. getting arrested for driving under the influence in Pasadena – might make almost anyone temporarily neurotic.

Beyond the Uncertainty – Light at the End of the Tunnel

A Pasadena DUI defense attorney, such as the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’ Michael Kraut (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899), cannot banish all of the uncertainty from your future in one fell swoop.

But Attorney Kraut has helped many people in similarly complicated, emotionally difficult, and technically challenging legal situations, and you can draw on his powerful knowledge and experience as a former city prosecutor (14-plus years as a Los Angeles Senior Deputy District Attorney). He will help you unravel your challenges, make sense of your opportunities, and eliminate that nagging, pestering uncertainty that’s keeping you up at night, making you anxious, and impeding your ability to create a vision for your future. A Pasadena DUI should not mark the end of your life – it’s merely a challenge, and even an opportunity, to grow and become a better, more productive, more compassionate citizen.

October 5, 2011

Considering an Outrageous Long Beach DUI Defense? Ex-Detroit Lion Reggie Rogers Probably Has You Beat…

by Michael Kraut

If you or someone you love has been charged with the crime of driving under the influence in Long Beach, you might feel the urge to get a little creative in your defense.

After all, you’d like to shelter yourself from punishments like a long jail sentence, license suspension, mandatory alcohol education, fines, and the complete destruction of your personal reputation. But there are right ways and wrong ways to construct a Long Beach DUI defense. Ex-Detroit Lion Reggie Rogers, who’s facing a sixth DUI (in one of his earlier other DUI incidents, he killed three teenagers), is putting up a defense that has many commentators smacking their foreheads in disbelief: is he really doing this?

Here’s the scoop, per a local Detroit Fox News affiliate: “45-year-old Rogers was sentenced to one year in prison for his latest DUI, but his attorney is pleading with the judge to hear his cry and have Rogers serve his time under house arrest because the mattresses in prison will hurt his back.”

In November, Rogers’s attorney will make a case that the hard mattresses in prison will compel Rogers to undergo “another expensive surgery on his back.” The attorney is claiming that sending a patient with a bad back to prison is tantamount to “cruel and unusual punishment.”

The father/uncle of the three teens Rogers killed in a 1988 incident is not buying it. Robert Willett gave this rage-packed rebuttal: “If it’s only a mattress keeping him out of jail, I’ll buy him a mattress. So, don’t tell me because he had back surgery… if we had to let every prisoner go because they had back surgery, we’d have a lot of people out of them jails. So, it’s absolutely absurd… the only thing I ever been shocked about is he hasn’t killed anybody else.”

A legal analyst for the Fox 2 Detroit News team also found Rogers’s DUI defense preposterous: “I am outraged that he can even make such an argument… that he should be given some special treatment on a sixth drunken driving because he’s got a bad back. So, people with bad backs should get some special treatment? It’s not going to happen with this judge. It’s not going to happen with any judge. He should be in prison.”

These vitriolic responses illustrate what can happen if you concoct an absurd defense.

All that being said, you do have the right to a sound, compelling, and thorough defense; if you work with a strategic and knowledgeable Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney, you might be surprised with the quality of your results. And you won’t need to resort to making absurd, unwinnable arguments that only earn you public derision.

The Long Beach DUI defense team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) can help you understand the dos and don’ts of preparing your case. Attorney Kraut is a former prosecutor – with 14-plus years in the Deputy DA’s Office – so he knows how prosecutors think, what incentives they respond to, and how to negotiate with them. He also has a terrific rate at jury trials and a real understanding for how to build the most appropriate and successful Long Beach DUI defenses.

October 3, 2011

An Absolutely Guaranteed Way to Permanently End Beverly Hills DUI

by Michael Kraut

We can all agree: Southern California would be a much safer place if drivers no longer drove under the influence in Beverly Hills or anywhere else throughout the Southland.

If no one ever got behind the wheel with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of 0.08% or greater – no one violated CVC 23152 (a) or 23152 (b) – there would be fewer road deaths, fewer injuries, and significantly less property damage to boot.

And here is a foolproof way to ensure a future with a near zero rate of Beverly Hills DUI:

Reinstate Prohibition.

Our nation experimented with Prohibition back in the 1920s. Protests and entrepreneurial bootleggers’ games notwithstanding, alcohol consumption declined after national Prohibition laws passed. It stands to reason that, if there is enough willpower in Southern California to get similar legislation passed, we will likely see a similarly dramatic decline in alcohol consumption in our community. Obviously, we can never get to zero alcohol consumption because there would always be some people breaking the rules. But we can get pretty close.

Most people out there might write off this little thought experiment as silly. And it might be. But let’s think about the possible consequences, as far as Beverly Hills DUIs are concerned. How many lives would be saved every year throughout California if alcohol was legally forbidden (and the law was enforced)? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? How many accidents would be prevented?

Say there was a new pharmaceutical drug that killed dozens of people every year due to its side effects: there would be no end to the clamor and uproar about how the government would need to outlaw the drug ASAP and punish anyone who continued to try to sell it or market it. And there would be a decent moral case for doing so. If you are going to be morally equitable, then you need to admit there is also a decent case for enforcing this kind of draconian Prohibition.

This hypothetical is meant to illustrate a point about Beverly Hills DUI policy: Draconian, “sweep all the pieces off the chess board” gestures might sound good in theory, depending on how you frame the statistics, but they come at a cost that is too great for (most) people to swallow. Like it or not, alcohol consumption is in some ways an intrinsic component of the American social landscape.

The solution to Beverly Hills DUI is not necessarily to throw the baby out with the bath water – to ban all alcohol consumption – but instead to come up with creative, strategic, scientifically grounded, and morally and ethically acceptable solutions to deter DUIs, make road safer, educate drivers, and generally work with every player in the system to protect people’s rights.

A Beverly Hills criminal defense attorney, such as Attorney Michael Kraut of Beverly Hills’ Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450, Beverly Hills, California 90210 Phone: (310) 550-6935), can help you make progress. Mr. Kraut is a regular TV and news media analyst who specializes in Los Angeles DUI and criminal defense matters, and he is also a Harvard Law School educated former prosecutor. He brings a diverse wealth of experience (and connections) to bear to help his clients make the progress they want.

August 29, 2011

Long Beach DUI Field Sobriety Test with Rodney King: How Did the Police Handle It?

by Michael Kraut

Last week, Rodney King – the man whose videotaped beating ultimately sparked race riots that left 55 people dead and $1 billion worth of property damaged in its wake – was charged with DUI near Long Beach.

Twenty years ago, King was stopped by LAPD officers and then beaten to near death – the tragic beating was captured on video, and it led to the indictment of four officers involved. When three of the officers were acquitted, the verdicts touched off race riots that tarnished Los Angeles’ name for over a decade.

So how did police handle the King near Long Beach DUI stop this time?

According to news reports: relatively smoothly. CNN reported this blow by blow: “A Moreno Valley traffic enforcement unit observed King commit “several traffic violations,” although he was not cited for speeding. After questioning King, a patrol officer noted King exhibited signs of behavior that might involve alcohol or drug consumption.”

King was asked to step out of the car and submit to a voluntary field sobriety test. He was “cooperative and compliant.” So no drama on either King’s part or the LAPD’s part.

Is that a sign that the LAPD has evolved or that race relationships have changed in the city?

Pundits can say what they will, but a single stop is a single stop. It’s hard to extrapolate patterns from single data points, as any good scientist would tell you.

It’s pretty amazing – given what King went through 20 years ago – that he managed to behave calmly and rationally. A Long Beach field sobriety test can be a very scary ordeal. You might be asked to engage in a series of physical and mental coordination tests, such as walk the line, finger to the nose, horizontal gaze nystagmus, counting backwards, and other balance tests. If you underperform – trip or stumble – officers might interpret your lack of coordination as a sign that you were indeed driving under the influence in Long Beach, and you could be arrested and charged pursuant to California Vehicle Code Sections 23152(a) or 23152(b).

And that’s just if you were stopped without any other complications, such as an accident, injury, hit and run, or other traffic infraction.

If you or someone you love got pulled over for Long Beach DUI, you may be bedazzled by questions, like:

• What is the best way to navigate the Southern California legal system?
• How do you build your best defense?
• How do you make sure that the police and prosecutors treat you fairly?
• How do you avoid making mistakes or giving statements that could compound your legal woes?

A Long Beach 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 understand what to do – and, possibly more importantly, what not to do. Attorney Michel Kraut spent over 14 years as a Senior Deputy District Attorney for the City of Los Angeles (a prosecutor of crimes like DUI), and he has a fantastic track record for developing strategic, effective, and aggressive defenses for DUI clients.

August 12, 2011

Pasadena DUI Arrest and Political Drama: PA Representative Joe Brennan Arrested with a BAC of 0.30%!

by Michael Kraut

The law says, quite clearly, that driving under the influence in Pasadena is illegal. If you are caught breaking the law, you can face an unpalatable gamut of punishments, including jail time, fines, fees, a damaged reputation, suspended license, mandatory interlock ignition device installation in your car, and so on and so on. Yikes.

The point is: the law is crystal clear. As it is elsewhere in the United States.

Nevertheless, even lawmakers themselves time-to-time violate it!

Here’s a case in point. Way out in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, PA State Rep Joe Brennan got arrested for driving with a BAC of 0.30% – nearly four times the legal limit for Pasadena DUI, according to California Vehicle Code Section 23152. Last Tuesday, the Democrat abandoned his right to a preliminary hearing, and his stunningly high BAC was made public.

Due to the extremely high BAC, Brennan faces steeper charges that could net him fines of up to $5,000, a full year license suspension, and up to half a year in jail. This judge called the Rep’s BAC “alarming.”

The 47-year-old got arrested back in late June. According to court reports, he had been weaving all over the road. His driving was so horrific that another driver, Angel Hernandez, called 911 to report him. Eventually, he pulled into a parking space, hopped out of his car and promptly fell and hit his head really badly. Another driver, Angela Cartwright, saw Brennan fall. Bystanders helped him up… and he hopped into his car and drove away.

Later, police reported that Brennan “had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.” He also had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes. These are all common symptoms of Pasadena DUI. (Other common symptoms include loss of coordination, inability to answer police questions coherently, conflicting stories, aggressive or odd behavior, inability to complete field sobriety tests, and failure to pass a breathalyzer test.)

A competent Pasadena criminal defense attorney, such as Mr. Michael Kraut of Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899), can help you identify and address the problems you face, so you can begin to constructively deal with them – and avoid causing yourself new problems.

If you did get pulled over with a very high Pasadena DUI BAC — or you destroyed property, committed a hit and run, or even hurt another person while under the influence — now is the time to make resourceful, appropriate, sensible decisions. Connect with Mr. Kraut (a former city prosecutor) to discuss your concerns and a better way forward.

July 27, 2011

Pasadena DUI Arrest Propensity: Does It Run the Family??

by Michael Kraut

If you or someone you know has been recently arrested for driving under the influence in Pasadena, inevitably, when you discuss your situation, you and your fellow armchair pundits will bring up the concept of “genetics.”

How might your genes (or your friend or family member’s genes) have played a role in the accident and/or arrest? Might there one day be a gene that scientists can target to eliminate problems like DUI in Pasadena, Burbank DUI, Glendale DUI, and Los Angeles DUI?

There is obviously some link between alcoholism and genetics. But how sturdy a link? No one really knows.

A crazy story last week out of Idaho Falls, Idaho suggests that genes may have a lot more relevance than the policy community acknowledges. 51-year Diana Gardner and her daughter, 28-year old Alisha Gardner, got arrested for DUI in Idaho Falls in totally separate incidents within a single hour of one another! Amazing.

A blog post at gather.com can fill us in on the details. Allegedly, a sheriff’s officer had seen the younger daughter “swerving and crossing the central line, posing an extreme threat to other drivers in the area. Her blood alcohol level was measured to be twice the legal limit. Within that same hour of time, [Alisha’s mom] drove out to her daughter’s car in order to retrieve the dog. When she arrived, the same officer smelled alcohol on her and had her go through a test as well. Diana Gardner’s blood alcohol level came back at twice the legal limit as well, netting her a jail cell right along with her daughter.”

At first blush, you might immediately leap to judgment: something is clearly wrong with both the mother and the daughter! Maybe they both have a genetic propensity to alcoholism, you might muse. Or maybe they both have genetic propensity to make poor driving decisions. Who knows.

But a deeper and more subtle (and interesting) reading of the story could be as follows. We all know that biochemistry can impact your Pasadena DUI breath test. Some people, for instance, process alcohol differently than others. It’s been proven that men process alcohol differently than women do. And that diabetics underperform on breath tests.

So maybe — just maybe — both Gardners have a genetic propensity to perform poorly on breath tests. In other words, maybe these women are genetically predisposed to process alcohol in a way that makes “false positives” for DUI more likely. Now, since these women were both allegedly twice the legal limit for Idaho Falls DUI, this hypothetical is probably moot.

But say they both tested right at the cutoff line for DUI – 0.08% BAC for a Pasadena DUI. Then more subtle factors, like a genetic predisposition to “test badly” on breathalyzers, might come into more play.

The general point here is that, when it comes to DUI charges, there is often more than meets the eye. But to probe your case and tease out “out of the box” defenses, you want to be sure to work with a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who has plenty of experience, a great reputation, and a deep understanding of the applicable law. Michael Kraut of Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899) can guide you and help you build a strong case.