DUI Checkpoints

April 23, 2013

Al Michaels, Sportscasting Icon, Busted for DUI in Santa Monica

If you’ve recently been arrested for DUI in Santa Monica, you have company — famous company. In particular: legendary sportscaster, Al Michaels, who was busted last Friday night, after he made an illegal U-turn right in front of a police manning a DUI checkpoint.

The officers quickly pulled over the Sunday Night Football play-by-play man and gave him a blood alcohol test. Curiously, he was right at the cusp of the legal limit – 0.08% BAC exactly. Apparently, he was extremely nice to the officers, and he cooperated. Nevertheless, they booked him on suspicion of DUI and held him behind bars for five hours before releasing him on his own recognizance. NBC Sports spokesman, Greg Hughes, said “we are aware of the situation and we have been in contact with Al…we have no further comment at this time.”

The Emmy Award winning sportscaster has a court date on June 26th.

Michaels is probably best known for calling the so-called “miracle on ice” hockey game at the 1980 Olympics (where the U.S. team underdogs triumphed over the Soviet Union) as well as calling Game Three of the 1989 World Series, which got interrupted by an earthquake.

Santa Monica Police Department’s public information officer, Sgt. Richard Lewis, recounted the events for the media: “[Michaels] makes an illegal U-turn in the business district…two officers see that. They are staged in a gas station lot, they see the illegal U-turn, and they go after him.”

Lewis said that, after they stopped him, they “smelled alcohol” and put Michaels through the paces of a field sobriety test.

The Santa Monica PD put out a news release on April 12 announcing a driver’s license/DUI checkpoint on Friday (at an undisclosed location), citing the fact that “over the course of the past year, traffic collisions involving impaired drivers/riders were involved in 91 collisions, which have killed 3 and injured 28 people.”

Figuring out what to do after your Santa Monica DUI arrest

Whether you got behind the wheel while returning from a day at the Pier and Promenade; or got stopped on Montana while coming back from a Hollywood exec’s private party, you’re anxious about your future. You want straight talk about what to do next.

Fortunately, Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to help you untangle your mess and give you sound strategic DUI defense advice. Get in touch with the former Senior Deputy District Attorney and Harvard Law School educated Kraut today to craft a resilient defense.

April 15, 2013

Long Beach DUI News Update: Sad Case of South Beach’s Party Princess Takes Quirky Turn…

by Michael Kraut

In a recent Long Beach DUI post, we told the terrible story of 20-year-old Karlie Tomica, a self-described “party princess” in South Beach who allegedly hit and killed a chef while under the influence then fled the scene of the accident.

Tomica’s story made national headlines for many reasons. It wasn’t a “typical” DUI hit-and-run homicide case. For instance:

• Tomica allegedly had a BAC of over three times the legal limit for Long Beach DUI, 0.08% BAC, which is already pretty high;
• Tomica ignored a motorist’s frantic plea for her to pull over after the arrest, and police finally arrested her at her condo in Miami Beach;
• She fell asleep at the police station later and allegedly “snored loudly”;
• The 20-year-old called herself a “party princess” on Twitter.

After prosecutors got the toxicology reports in mid-February, they filed a DUI manslaughter charge against her. Now, Tomica’s lawyer is saying that the current judge should not be on her case because, from her statements, she had “pre-judged [Tomica] guilty.” Judge Migna Sanchez-Llorens said that Tomica “made choices to drink” — indicating that she [the judge] may not provide the young woman a fair trial.

Without diving deep into the facts and arguments (and counterarguments) of this case, it’s impossible to assess the intelligence of this defense strategy.

As any reputable Long Beach DUI defense lawyer will tell you, there are no one-size-fits-all rules for how to proceed. That’s why you want to find a lawyer who has both the experience and knowledge to help you manage your situation.

If you’re confused about how to proceed with your defense, get in touch with the team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today to discuss your options and to plan an effective, thorough and strategic response. Michael Kraut is a former Long Beach DUI prosecutor who spent 14 years on the other side of criminal cases, as a Senior Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles.

Find out more about Attorney Kraut and his credentials on this site, or call today to set your consultation about your Long Beach DUI.

March 15, 2013

Did You Try to Bribe Your Way Out of Your Los Angeles DUI? Hopefully Not! Look What Happened to This 24-Year Old…

by Michael Kraut

When you got pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence in Long Beach, you felt terrible and scared.

You can be forgiven if you allowed yourself to envision doing “something, anything” to escape the charges, the humiliation, and the punishment. But there is a difference between thinking such thoughts (e.g. “if I hightail it out of here, I could reach the Mexico border by sunrise!”) and actually ACTING on them.

Unfortunately, sometimes when we’re extremely intoxicated or nervous, we can act impulsively on not-so-smart thoughts.

Consider, for instance, the following recent New York City DUI debacle. A 24-year old resident slammed his car into a mailbox in Lower Southampton. Witnesses saw the vehicle driving without its lights on in the middle of the night. When police finally pulled the young man over, he was “slumped in the seat and looked upset when he saw the authorities who stopped him.” The police tried to put him through the paces of a field sobriety test, but “he failed them all” and didn’t even “lift his feet off the ground when [the police] asked him to.”

After police arrested the man and took him into custody, he still failed to cooperate.

He later blew a 0.18% on a breath test (well over two times the legal limit for Long Beach DUI) and agreed to do a blood test at St. Mary Medical Center. But then he recanted and decided not to give blood. Finally, he was thrown back into police vehicle and taken to a station in Lower Southampton, where he shouted at a police officer and even bribed him with $1,000 to let him go.

Ultimately, police showered him with a litany of charges, including hit and run, property damage, DUI and refusal. His parents later picked him up at the station.

When you read a story like this, you probably feel some compassion. Unfortunately, many Long Beach DUI defendants do not get nearly enough empathy from society, from prosecutors, from bosses and colleagues, and even from spouses and family members.

You’ve been through a tremendous amount. You’d really like someone to listen to your concerns and help you develop a battle plan to fight back against the Long Beach DUI charges.

Look to the experienced team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to help you get a handle on your Long Beach DUI defense, and to move beyond this difficult and unexpected chapter in your life.

February 25, 2013

Miscellaneous Los Angeles DUI News–Crazy DUI Induced Explosion on the 10 and Other Astonishing Stories…

by Michael Kraut

If you thought your Los Angeles DUI arrest was hair-raising, think again.

On February 7th, a DUI suspect fled police on the 10 and crashed into the sidewall after losing control of his red Mustang. The car literally exploded and burst into flames. The suspect had been fleeing police. Officers thought he was trying to hop onto the 60 East Bound or try I-5. The man would have almost certainly perished in the fire, but police bravely pulled him from the wreckage–saving his life after they risked their own to get him to stop driving recklessly.

Hopefully your Los Angeles DUI arrest was less fraught and drama filled.

Meanwhile out in Connecticut, 46-year-old Jeffrey Cull got arrested following a string of strange events, involving dumped shingles, laser engraving thievery, and tree hitting. According to local news reports from the town of Monroe, a woman saw a 2009 BMW smash into a tree near her house on a local route, 111. She called police, who found the driver and owner, Mr. Cull. He had a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on him.” Officers said that Mr. Cull did not cooperate and refused to answer questions. Local police put him through the paces of field sobriety tests, which he failed. He refused the breathalyzer test. In addition to the DUI charge, Cull faces charges for evading responsively in an accident, failure to hold his lane, and driving without auto insurance.

Hopefully, your Los Angeles DUI arrest involved neither your car bursting into flame nor your hitting a tree and then getting aggressive with police after the fact.

But no matter what happened, you are entitled by law to a sturdy defense. The team here at the Law Offices of Michael Kraut can help you understand what you might be facing and develop a strategic Los Angeles DUI defense based on deep knowledge of the law and practical experience.

Attorney Kraut knows how to help drivers like you. As an ex-prosecutor, he maintains excellent relationships with local judges, police officers, and prosecutors–all while providing his Los Angeles DUI defense clients with the highest service. Trust attorney Kraut and his team to guide you appropriately–to make informed decisions–and to avoid getting into further trouble or accidentally complicating your case.

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 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.

January 16, 2013

Burbank DUI News: Will Supreme Court Allow Unwarranted Blood Test? What Effect Will SCOTUS’ Imminent Ruling Have On You?

by Michael Kraut

Were you recently arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank, after being given a blood test by a police officer?

If so, some legal “goings on” at the United States Supreme Court may interest you.

Last Wednesday, the court heard arguments regarding a Missouri case. At issue: whether police should be allowed to compel DUI suspects to participate in DUI blood tests without a warrant. Prosecutors in this case had compelling arguments. Here’s how a Huffington Post article summarized the situation: “against the backdrop of a serious national problem of more than 10,000 deaths from crashes involving alcohol-impaired drivers in 2010…lawyers for Missouri and the Obama administration argued that dispensing with a warrant requirement would further the effort [to reduce the number of DUI injuries] because any delay in testing the suspect’s blood alcohol content allows alcohol to dissipate in the blood.”

A Justice Department lawyer argued that police in DUI situations might “face the certain destruction of blood alcohol evidence” eithout such tests. The SCOTUS Justices appeared skeptical of the prosecution’s case. On the one hand, they agreed that collecting blood samples should be a priority — a delayed collection could be a problem. On the other hand, they recognized that sticking someone with a needle to collect blood — without a judge’s approval! — is a highly intrusive act.

Justice Scalia, for instance, asked prosecutors “why shouldn’t that determination be made case by case?” Scalia’s point was that, if the test can be delayed, then it should be delayed until a warrant is acquired. If waiting would create a evidentiary problem, then “it’s okay.”

Tyler McNeely was arrested in rural Missouri after he failed multiple sobriety tests and appeared unsteady and presented with slurred speech – typical symptoms of Burbank DUI.

The officer had enough evidence to obtain a warrant to get a blood test — McNeely refused the breathalyzer. Instead, he took McNeely to the hospital, where a technician drew blood from him and found that his BAC was 0.154% — nearly twice the legal limit for driving under the influence in Burbank, Missouri, and elsewhere.

Both the lower court and the Supreme Court of Missouri said the blood test results should be thrown out because they violated the Constitution’s restrictions against unreasonable search and seizure. This legal fracas could redound to change how police, prosecutors, and Los Angeles DUI lawyers operate, albeit in a nuanced fashion. But if you’re facing a charge, you probably care less about obscure rulings out of Washington and more about your own situation. What should you do to manage your charges, protect your license and your rights, and avoid the harsh punishments that prosecutors may be bringing against you?

The Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you make better decisions. Get in touch with Mr. Kraut and his team for a free, thorough and confidential consultation about your best next steps.

January 14, 2013

Beverly Hills DUI News Blogger: Gérard Depardieu a No Show at DUI Trial, As He Escalates His Bizarre Behavior

by Michael Kraut

This Beverly Hills DUI blog is not above covering international news, especially news that concerns celebrities like renowned French actor Gérard Depardieu – perhaps the greatest French actor of all time.

The 64-year-old Depardieu, however, has also had a colorful, if bizarre, recent history of criminal wrongdoings. Two years ago, he was arrested after he urinated in his seat on a plane, despite the pleas of fellow passengers and flight attendants. More recently, last November 29th, he drove his scooter while under the influence of alcohol to the tune of over four times the legal limit!

If you’re arrested for a way-over-the-limit DUI in Beverly Hills, you can be hit with additional penalties, such as a harsher jail sentence, longer license suspension, more alcohol school, and other sundry penalties. According to news sources, Depardieu could have pled guilty to the charges, got dinged with a small fine, and been on his way.

Instead, the eclectic actor absconded from the country to Belgium. Not only did he ditch his January 8 hearing, but he now faces more serious criminal charges, which could net him up to two years behind bars on top of fines totaling nearly $6,000.

The actor’s citizenship changes require a flowchart to track. Last December, he moved to Belgium to protest the high tax rates in France, prompting the leader of France’s Socialist party to call him names. Meanwhile, Depardieu recently accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to make him a citizen of Russia, and he may move to Mordovia to become that region’s Minister of Culture. Depardieu released a statement from Switzerland (confused yet?) regarding his status: “I have a Russian passport, but I remain French and I’ll probably have dual Belgium nationality.”

Good grief.

Obviously, Depardieu’s legal fate – along with where he will ultimately reside – remain up in the air. But his legal situation is certainly fascinating. Of course, if you’re facing a Beverly Hills DUI charge, you’re much less concerned about being entertained and much more concerned about finding an appropriate, sharp Los Angeles DUI lawyer to deal with your charges in a sensible way.

The team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you. Michael Kraut is a highly esteemed lawyer with a great track record. Connect with him and his team for a free consultation today.

December 25, 2012

Long Beach DUI Debacle: Wrongfully Accused DUI Defendants File Class Action against Utah Trooper, Lisa Steed

by Michael Kraut

In a recent piece we did on this Long Beach DUI blog several months ago, we discussed the peculiar case of Utah Highway Patrol trooper, Lisa Steed, who was fired in November for unfairly arresting innocent people on charges of driving under the influence.

Steed had actually been named a Utah Highway Patrol “trooper of the year” – owing in part to her big arrest numbers. Documents filed with Utah’s Third District Judicial Court suggest that she might have wrongfully charged and arrested literally HUNDREDS of people over the years.

Some of these people pled guilty in court because they could not afford to pay for a DUI defense. The class action against Steed argues that State of Utah owes these DUI defendants substantial damages: they lost property and jobs and suffered untold toil. For instance, one of Steed’s victims, Thomas Romero, said he got pulled over because he had a burned out taillight. Steed suspected he was DUI, but a blood alcohol test revealed that he had a 0.00% BAC.

That’s right: 0.00% BAC. Nada.

Nevertheless, Romero lost his truck to the impound lot. He told reporters “that night when I got pulled over, lost my truck, lost everything I have, my motor home, everything. That hurts.”

Another supposed victim of Steed’s zealousness, Julie Tapia, recounted her horrific tale: “[Steed] never did give me a sobriety test on the spot, even though I asked for it, because I’m like, I haven’t done anything wrong unless I’m drunk on a hamburger, fries and a milkshake. I don’t even drink.”

Steed, meanwhile, has appealed with Utah’s State Personnel Office to try to regain her employment in the Police Department.

If you’ve recently been arrested for driving under the influence in Long Beach or elsewhere in the Southland, odds are the trooper who pulled you over did not flagrantly flout rules of conduct, like Steed allegedly did.

However, officer mistakes are less uncommon than you may realize!

For instance, as we have talked numerous times on this Long Beach DUI blog, breathalyzer tests are notoriously troubled. Diabetics, for instance, release chemical compounds on their breath called ketones, which can adversely affect BAC reading. In other words, you can have consumed zero alcohol and still score a positive on a breath test because of those ketones. Likewise, if you are on certain special diets, you can register a false positive.

Other factors that can throw off your Long Beach DUI breathalyzer test results include: your gender, whether you’re on any medications, whether you have certain medical conditions, the depth into which you blow into the machine (super deep breaths can cause an exaggeratedly positive BAC reading), and much more.

Given that the difference between a dismissal of your charge and a conviction according to California Vehicle Code Section 23152 can hang in the balance, you likely can benefit hugely from a creditable, thorough Long Beach DUI Criminal Defense. Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers and his team would be happy to provide a free and confidential case evaluation to help you strategize and make sound decisions regarding your legal future.

December 23, 2012

Los Angeles DUI Vehicular Manslaughter News: Cowboys’ Brent Arrested after Teammate and Friend Killed in Crash

by Michael Kraut

Los Angeles DUI with vehicular manslaughter is a terrible crime. If you’re convicted of such charges, you could potentially spend the rest of your life behind bars. Consider, for instance, some horrific news that shook up the NFL. Josh Brent, a defensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, flipped his vehicle on a state highway outside of Dallas, while allegedly DUI. His passenger and fellow teammate Jerry Brown, Jr., died in the crash.

Here are the details:

The police say that the 24-year-old Brent hit a curb, which caused his car to flip at least once before settling on a service road. Brent only suffered minor scrapes, but Brown was unresponsive at the scene and ultimately was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Local police put Brent through the paces of a Field Sobriety Test and arrested him for driving while intoxicated.

Brent remained in jail over the weekend, as his DWI charge got upgraded to intoxication manslaughter. In Texas, that’s charged as a second degree felony, and it can be punished by up to two decades behind bars on top of a fine of $10,000. The 25-year-old Brown was a linebacker who had only played one NFL game with the Colts prior to being traded to Cowboys.

Brent released a statement the day after the crash and arrest, through his agent: “I am devastated and filled with grief…filled with grief for the loss of my close friend and teammate, Jerry Brown. I am also grief-stricken for his family, friends and all who were ever blessed to know him.”

It’s difficult to even know how begin to respond when an event like this occurs.

A fatal crash raises so many questions and opens up so many tragic lines of thinking.

If you or someone you care about was hurt (or hurt other people) while DUI in Los Angeles, you really need to think about the legal implications and begin to approach your situation strategically.

The team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Los Angeles has the wherewithal, savvy and track record to come up with and deliver powerful legal assistance. Yes, tragedy can be difficult to manage, and there is no such thing as a magic button or “turn back the clock machine.” But Attorney Kraut and his team can provide you with powerful help. Get in touch with them today for more help.