Driving Under the Influence

January 6, 2016

Minnesota Court Rules Warrants Required For DUI Urine Tests

Under California law, police officers arresting a driver for a Los Angeles DUI don’t use a urine test for determining blood alcohol content at the time of an arrest. AB 2020, which became effective in January 2013, requires law enforcement officials to employ the more accurate blood test. The idea behind the law is that relying on the more reliable blood test will prevent DUI defendants from contesting the charges against them (if they’re based on a urine test).

But Minnesota still permits urine tests for DUI—and it just got a little harder for police officers to get that type of evidence when they suspect a driver of DUI. According to the Metropolitan News-Enterprise, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled on December 28th that a state law that makes it a crime for a driver to refuse a urine test without a warrant is unconstitutional. This court said that making it a crime to refuse a blood or urine test in a DUI case implicates a defendant’s fundamental right to be free from unconstitutional searches. The court reversed the conviction of a driver found guilty of refusing to submit to a blood or urine test.

December 23, 2015

DUI Driver Involved In Cover-Up Conspiracy

by Michael Kraut

Drivers convicted of a Los Angeles DUI may fear the consequences if they’re picked up a second or third time for driving under the influence and/or for causing an accident. Under the California Vehicle Code 23550, repeat DUI offenders could end up spending up to a year in jail and paying a fine of up to $1,000. If they severely injure or kill someone, the penalties are much more severe; under California Penal Code 191.5 a driver convicted of DUI with gross negligence could face up to 10 years in jail.

Joshua Daniel Taylor could be looking at that sentence if he ends up standing trial for the death of 38-year-old Rocio Leamon on August 13th. The mother of three was trying to safely cross a road in the Lake Murray/San Carolos area. She had done the right thing, pushing the signal button and waiting for the pedestrian signal before stepping into the roadway. Continue reading

December 21, 2015

Police Chief Calls for Tougher DUI Penalties After Officer’s Death

by Michael Kraut

The most devastating cases of DUI in Los Angeles involve the deaths of innocent bystanders. Every day, DUI drivers throughout the U.S. kill other motorists and pedestrians who have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Police officers, especially those working on traffic or DUI patrols, face even greater risks. They’re often the targets of DUI drivers who accidentally (or sometimes on purpose) run them down.

One of the most recent incidents involves a young, 24-year-old officer in Montgomery County, Maryland. Officer Noah Leotta, who had been with the department just two and a half years, tried to pull over Luis Gustavo Reluzco for a traffic stop. But Reluzco hit the officer instead, forcing him to the ground and causing a severe head injury. Leotta’s parents eventually had to make the heartbreaking decision to remove their son from life support. Leotta died on December 9, just six days after receiving his injuries.

December 18, 2015

Could Hawaii DUI Ruling Signal Changes in Other States’ DUI Laws?

by Michael Kraut

Have you been convicted of a Los Angeles DUI based on a breathalyzer test that you took only because you didn’t want to lose your license? You may be particularly interested in a recent decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court, which ruled that the state’s “implied consent” laws regarding BAC tests are unconstitutional.

In the case of the State of Hawaii vs. Yong Shik Won, the justices found that officers had coerced Won into taking the test. He originally refused but changed his mind when police had him sign an implied consent form that stated under Hawaii law he must take a breathalyzer test or face 30 days in prison and a $1,000 fine. Won took the test, which resulted in his DUI conviction.
Won appealed his conviction based on the fact that officers had not read him his rights before administering the BAC. His attorneys argued that this was a warrantless search, and that under Hawaii’s constitution the state cannot compel someone to submit to a search when consent was gained “by explicit or implicit coercion, implied threat or covert force.”

December 14, 2015

DUI Arrests in Los Angeles Drop But Fatalities Up in 2015

by Michael Kraut

While police are making fewer arrests for DUI in Los Angeles and the rest of the state, they’ve been seeing more deaths as a result of DUI-related accidents.

The Sacramento Bee took a look at California’s DUI statistics from 2013 (the latest figures available from the state) and compared them with results from previous years. It found that the number of DUI arrests had declined from 188, 327 in 1998 to 160,388 in 2013. The rate of DUI arrests decreased from 908 per 100,000 licensed drivers in 1998 to 651 per 100,000 licensed drivers.
That’s the good news. But there is a downside. The Bee analysis found that while there were 1,417 motor vehicle deaths related to drugs and alcohol in 2010, that number increased to 1,699 in 2013.

San Francisco had the smallest rate of DUI arrests in 2013, with a rate of just 2.5 percent per 1,000 drivers. But if you want to avoid sharing the road with a driver under the influence of drugs or alcohol, steer clear of Inyo County, where they have a DUI arrest rate of 16.3 percent.

November 30, 2015

The Worst Time to Get a Los Angeles DUI Charge: Christmas Eve

by Michael Kraut

As Black Friday recedes and Christmas rapidly approaches, Los Angeles DUI attorneys and law enforcement are bracing for a predictable but tragic escalation in the number of DUI arrests here in the southland.

Every year, as we’ve discussed numerous times, Angelinos (and others) find themselves arrested disproportionately during the holiday season. The best theory suggests that this uptick in arrests has to do with holiday revelry.

Here in Los Angeles, we are at least fortunate and that the roads don’t get covered with snow, ice and sleet during the holidays, although forecasters say that we might find ourselves doused with a rain shower or ten thanks to El Nino, and that can certainly make driving more treacherous.

November 23, 2015

DUI Arrests Declining in Chicago—But Is That Really A Good Sign?

by Michael Kraut

If the number of arrests for DUI in Los Angeles decreased, would it mean that the roads are getting safer? Maybe not. A recent article in Illinois’ Daily Herald newspaper raised some questions about the real meaning behind a decline in DUI arrests in several suburban Chicago neighborhoods.

Columnist Jack Griffin wrote in a November 18th column in the Daily Herald that DUI arrests in 79 Chicago suburbs have been declining since 2007. Surveys compiled by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM) reported that police made 12,166 DUI arrests in 2007 and only 6,955 in 2014.

But what’s the reason for the declining arrests? Griffin spoke with one Chicago area attorney who thinks people simply don’t have the money to go out drinking. The police chief in the Chicago suburb of Lake Hills, however, believes people are becoming more conscious of the need to take a cab or have a designated driver when they plan on drinking. (Arrests in this suburb declined from 100-plus each year between 2007-2012 to 86 in 2014.)

November 13, 2015

An Alternative and More Humane Approach to the Los Angeles DUI Problem?

by Michael Kraut

Drivers arrested for DUI in Los Angeles often have a history of repeated offenses. Taking away their drivers’ licenses doesn’t seem to prevent them from driving while intoxicated; neither does jail time. But each time they get behind the wheel, they not only put other people at risk of injury of death, but they also risk their own welfare and the well-being of any family members who depend on them for support.

What can be done, for real, to solve the problem at its root?

California’s Monterey County Superior Court is attempting a radically different approach that could, if successful, alter how we think about DUI treatment and prevention. According to reports on KSBW and in the Monterey County Weekly, the Court has recently launched a new Driving Under the Influence Court. Judge Sam Lavorto had the idea for this special court, which will operate on a therapeutic model, trying to get help for people who have alcohol problems so that they won’t repeat their offenses.

November 6, 2015

Was Your Los Angeles DUI Arrest a Freak Occurrence or a Symptom of a Deeper Problem?

by Michael Kraut

Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion famously quipped about the town of Lake Wobegon, “where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.”

This notion – that we all think that we are special – has pretty profound implications for your Los Angeles DUI defense.

Obviously, no two DUIs are exactly alike, and many factors might particularly distinguish your arrest from the pack. But rather than think that you are a unique defendant, it might help to take the opposite approach – to begin with the assumption that your case is standard.

November 2, 2015

Citizen Makes Arrest After Encounter with DUI Driver

by Michael Kraut

People who imbibe too much alcohol or operate a vehicle under the influence of illegal drugs in Los Angeles (or anywhere) can be unpredictable in their behavior. Would YOU confront a likely DUI driver if you had a close encounter with him or her?
A man in Chickasha, Oklahoma, did just that when a driver operating the influence threated his family. A report on television station KFOR 4 said that Jared Shepperd made a citizen’s arrest after chasing down the driver who almost hit his family’s vehicle head on.

Joley Schulte, age 44, allegedly had been traveling in the wrong direction (going south in the northbound lane) on a bridge over Country Club Road. Shepperd, with his wife and two-year old son in the car, was also traveling northbound, but in the proper lane. A collision seemed inevitable, but Shepperd acted quickly and reversed direction, backing up at 35 miles per hour. Even then, he only narrowly escaped Schulte slamming into his vehicle and his family. (The news report quoted Shepperd as saying his driving looked like something out of a Fast and Furious movie.)

Schulte kept driving along—she finally pulled into the right lane–but Shepperd, who is a volunteer firefighter, followed in hot pursuit, eventually catching up with at her at an intersection along Country Club Road. He managed to block her from leaving until the Chickasha police arrived. The police arrived and performed a sobriety test on Schulte.