DUI Chemical Test Refusal

May 30, 2014

Police Out in Full Force to Crack Down on Los Angeles DUIs Over Memorial Day Weekend

Certain holidays seem to “breed” Los Angeles DUI driving behavior.

These include the big summer weekends – Memorial Day and Labor Day – as well as Thanksgiving, Halloween, Super Bowl Sunday, Cinco De Mayo and the 4th of July. Whether police busted you over Memorial Day weekend at a checkpoint or arrested you after a scary crash, you may have only been dimly aware of the vast scope of law enforcement’s push to contain DUI driving over the holiday.

A recent LA Weekly article explained the byzantine systems used to flag and contain DUI driving. For instance, on the 23rd, the LAPD set up DUI checkpoints at:

• Florence Avenue and Main Street in South L.A.;
• Highland and DeLongpre in Hollywood;
• Osborne and Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Pacoima;
• Ventura Boulevard and Big Oak Drive in Sherman Oaks;
• Undefined locations in Santa Clarita;
• Undefined locations in the Picos Rivera Area.

In addition, the Avoid the 100 DUI Task Force set up saturation patrols and checkpoints elsewhere in San Gabriel, Pamona, Arcadia, El Segundo, Pasadena, East LA, South LA, Lancaster, Hawthorne, Huntington Beach, Inglewood, Torrance, Vernon, Signal Hill, Palmdale, Azusa, Whittier, and beyond.

The “100” refers to the number of law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County devoted to stopping DUIs in the Southland.

Remember: all that fuss and bother was just for Friday night!

On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Avoid the 100 set up several dozen operations, some of which were publicized some of which weren’t. For instance, the Sheriff’s Department said that operations were set up in Manhattan Beach, Whittier, Antelope Valley, Baldwin Park, West Valley, Downey, San Gabriel, Alhambra, El Camino College, Azusa, Long Beach, Redondo Beach, Montebello, and beyond.

With so much law enforcement “buzz” going on over the Memorial Day weekend, it’s worthwhile to wonder what can be done to improve the system, so that police do not have to pull a code red every time a major holiday comes around.

Can citizens be taught to use designated drivers and/or to patrol themselves during the holidays? Can some of this process be automated or simplified? Maybe law enforcement officials have ideas. Maybe former DUI defendants have ideas. But right now, this process seems to consume so many resources and lead to so many arrests. It all seems profoundly wasteful.

Of course, if you wound up in the dragnet somehow, you are probably less concerned about fixing the system than you are with protecting your own rights and freedoms. To that end, call former Senior Deputy District Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for insight and a free consultation about your case. Mr. Kraut is a renowned, respected Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer.
Continue reading

November 27, 2013

Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog Analyses Ambitious New NTSB Guidelines

by Michael Kraut

In a recent blog post, this Los Angeles DUI defense blog summarized some of the dramatic anti-DUI recommendations proposed on May 14th by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The Board, together with groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), wants states like California to institute a rash of enforcement and policy measures, including:

• Mandatory interlock ignition installation for anyone convicted of DUI;
• More research on administrative license revocation (which lets police seize your license during an arrest);
• Most dramatically, lowering the DUI legal limit from 0.08% to 0.05%.

According to uncontested statistics, 30% of all fatalities on U.S. roads are tied to DUI driving. Three decades ago, 21,000 people annually lost their lives to DUI. That number has plummeted to around 10,000 deaths a year. That’s still 10,000 too many, but we’re certainly headed in the right direction.

President Obama has gotten behind strong anti-DUI laws. Since he committed to making U.S. roads safer, we’ve seen a substantial national decline in DUI accidents. But when taken in international context — over 100 other countries on the planet have DUI limits of 0.05% BAC or lower — our current laws and Los Angeles DUI limit of 0.08% seem downright lax by comparison.

Bill Maher sarcastically tweeted: “Nanny-staters, enough! Now they want to lower the legal blood alcohol limit from 0.08 to 0.05? I’m just glad George Jones isn’t alive to see it.”

But is there another side to this story?

Unsurprisingly, the American Beverage Institutes does not like the NTSB recommendations.

The group worries that lowering the BAC way down to 0.05% would criminalize perfectly responsible behavior. Depending on your height, genetics, metabolism, sex, and dozens of other factors, you could reach 0.05% after just one drink!

On the surface, the NTSB recommendations sound smart. They could very well save lots of lives, if they were implemented effectively. But would the recommendations create more criminals? Would they criminalize normal and safe behavior?

Furthermore, are we focusing too much on Los Angeles DUI behavior? Why not crack down on people who chat and text on their cellphones while driving — or who drive while extremely fatigued? After all, many studies (such as a famous one done at Virginia Tech several years ago) suggest that texting while driving is actually MORE dangerous than driving DUI in Los Angeles.

Should texters be given the same punishments as DUI drivers? Should they be forced to spend years behind bars, pay thousands of dollars in fines, go through “texting behind the wheel rehabilitation” programs, and so forth?

This blog obviously cannot resolve or even articulate all the challenging questions raised by the NTSB recommendations. That said, you’re probably less interested in this general discussion and more keen on getting practical help with your DUI arrest and defense.

Look at the team here at Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for sensible, sensitive insight into your case. Call attorney Kraut and his team to help structure a DUI defense today.

October 4, 2013

Did You Really Say/Do That? (Your Pasadena DUI Symptoms)

by Michael Kraut

The night that you were arrested for DUI in Pasadena is a night that you would love to forget.

Unfortunately, the police officers who booked you likely kept a detailed, objective log of what happened – including what you said and did before, during, and after the arrest.

The so-called symptoms of DUI are in some sense universal. When a person consumes too much alcohol, he or she can develop “tell tale signs” of being under the influence, such as:

• Bloodshot eyes;
• Inhibited motor skills;
• Slow response to stimuli;
• Slower pupil reaction time (as measured by something called the horizontal gaze nystagmus test);
• Odor of alcohol on your person;
• Falling, stumbling and general clumsiness;
• Tendency to react emotionally and inappropriately to questions or circumstances.

Of course, there are more objective ways you can measure Pasadena DUI, such as a breathalyzer or blood test. But when you really examine this list of particulars, you might notice something peculiar: Barring the BAC numbers, any other “symptom” can be caused by numerous other things.

For instance, you can get bloodshot eyes if you hang upside down on a bar in gymnastics practice, spend too much time in a smoky room, get sick, get fatigued, or have an allergic reaction to food, medication, or pet dander. In other words, in and of itself, the Pasadena DUI “symptom” of bloodshot eyes doesn’t tell you that much.

You can go down the list!

There are many reasons why people stumble and fumble and get clumsy. Consuming alcohol can obviously cause this problem, but so can fatigue, a medical problem, muscular dysfunction, a seizure, etc. Maybe you’re just not very coordinated – even while sober!

This doesn’t mean that what you said or did following an arrest can all be “explained away” through exotic explanations. But it does mean that the court will want to see the totality of the evidence against you.

You can even exude the odor of alcohol, if you’ve been drinking mouthwash or cough syrup or working at a chemistry lab.

So what can you do now?

Your Pasadena DUI charge weighs heavily. You want to resolve the situation efficiently and legally, so you can get back to your “regularly scheduled” life. Connect with a Pasadena DUI criminal defense attorney with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to plan your strategy. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor (educated at Harvard Law School) who retains fantastic relationships with police officers and judges and other officials in the Southern California law community.

September 20, 2013

Drug DUI in Los Angeles: Does New Colorado Law Portend Our Future?

by Michael Kraut

Drug DUIs in Los Angeles are filed according to California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a), which makes it a crime if you operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of marijuana, alcohol, or any other type of drug, both illegal and prescription.

Marijuana law is changing at a rapid place, here in California and in other states. As you may be aware, Colorado recently became the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana, and the CO state legislature just passed two historic marijuana bills to regulate and tax the substance.

The Colorado Senate approved House Bill 13-1325 by a margin of 24 to 11 and sent the law to Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who supports the initiative. HB 13-1325 creates a testable, objective legal limit for DUI for marijuana of 5 nanograms (or more) of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol per liter of blood. That substance is marijuana’s major psychoactive ingredient.

For years, Colorado lawmakers debated this bill fiercely. Advocates say that police officers need to measure marijuana DUI impairment objectively, to keep the state’s road safer. Opponents respond that the 5 nanogram standard is inappropriate because different people process marijuana differently. Someone who is effectively totally sober may still have a positive or near positive reading on this type of blood test, for instance, because of their biochemistry; whereas another person who’s actually legitimately under the influence might not even test positive.

In any event, the bill will almost certainly have reverberations throughout the nation, as more and more states push forward with efforts to legalize the drug. And the Golden State is almost certainly likely to proceed with legalization before, say, Georgia or Louisiana.

Los Angeles DUI drug testing
There are no breathalyzer tests for marijuana in Los Angeles. Instead, police officers can have you do a urine or blood test. Drug DUI cases are more difficult for prosecutors to win because many police lack the training to look for and catalog the objective signs of drug DUI. This lack of rigor gives an opportunity for an experienced Los Angeles DUI drug defense attorney to rip into the so-called science that prosecutors want to try to use against you.

Of course, if you fail in your efforts, the consequences can be pretty severe.

Not only can you earn jail time, fines, fees, and license suspension, but you also might be required to register as a narcotics offender with local police. You can lose your job or special security clearance, if you work in a classified job. And you can suffer tremendously due to the “downstream” effects of the conviction. For instance, if you lose your license and your job, you might not have money to support your family, which can add stress to your relationships and health.

Get in touch with Southern California drug DUI defense attorney Michael Kraut today for assistance with your case. Mr. Kraut has cultivated great relationships with law officials throughout the Southland, and he can provide a free and confidential consultation.

August 5, 2013

Long Beach DUI Celebrity News: Rapper DMX Arrested for DUI

by Michael Kraut

As someone who’s been recently charged with DUI in Long Beach – or who knows a friend or family member recently charged – you might be inclined to be sympathetic to rapper DMX, who was busted for DUI recently in South Carolina.

According to reports, the 42-year-old rapper, who goes by DMX but whose given name is Earl Simmons, was busted near Greenville, South Carolina at around 3 AM Friday morning.

TMZ published dash cam footage of X in the car. The police officer who stopped X inquired about his drinking behavior. X originally said he only had single drink but later apparently confessed to having had four or five.

Confusion reigned after the DUI stop as well.

At first, X’s publicist fervently denied the charges. Dominic Niti told the press: “allegations about DMX being arrested for drunk driving are false … he was arrested early this morning but quickly released. X was given a breathalyzer test and he easily passed it.”

But that’s not what the Southern Carolina Highway Patrol said.

The rapper faces a DUI charge on top of charges that he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and that he didn’t have a driver’s license with him. X has faced a variety of legal challenges recently. In 2008, he was busted in Phoenix for reckless driving and for cruelty to animals. Last year, he got arrested in South Carolina for driving sans a driver’s license.

So how might DMX’s tale of woe influence your quest to deal with your own (or your family member’s) Long Beach DUI charges?

First of all, appreciate that no one is above the law. Even famous rappers, artists, business people, and politicians must follow the law of the land or face unpleasant consequences.

Second of all, appreciate that just because things seem bad right now doesn’t mean that you’re doomed to an unfair sentence or a life of struggle from here on out. The reality is that life is long. You should have opportunities to repair and apologize for the damage that you did and to rebuild your life.

If you haven’t yet connected with a Long Beach DUI defense attorney, like Mr. Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers, consider doing so, ASAP. While no attorney can guarantee results, you might be surprised by how much better you’ll feel after getting clear about your potential punishments and options. Mr. Kraut and his team are sensitive and compassionate. They’re also well-known for their aggressive, intelligent approaches to complex Long Beach DUI cases. Connect today to schedule a free and thorough consultation.

June 26, 2013

Are You a Repeat Burbank DUI Offender? Hopefully You’re Not As Bad As Timothy Morrow (8 Convictions!!)

by Michael Kraut

Perhaps you wrote off your first DUI in Burbank as “bad luck” or “bad karma” or whatever.

But now that you’re facing your second charge, you’re deeply worried that prosecutors will not take kindly to the recidivism. You are right to fear that. The Southern California justice system does not like it when drivers commit repeat crimes.

In that context, it’s astonishing when people like 43-year-old Timothy Morrow wind up with eight DUI convictions over a lifetime. That’s right: EIGHT DUIs.

The self-employed carpenter collected his first DUI at the age of 17. After that, he got arrested twice for boating under the influence and nine other times for driving while intoxicated. A local state attorney, Ben Dillon, noted “it defies the logic that an individual that has been arrested for DUI 10 times continues to drink alcohol…it’s clear this defendant just doesn’t get it and doesn’t care.”

A judge just handed down a 13 year prison sentence to Morrow, despite the fact that he admitted to the court that he had been abused as a child: “I have a 12-year-old son that I want to see grow up. I made a mistake, I apologize.” Circuit Judge, Brian Hughes, appreciated the confession but handed down the 13 year jail sentence anyway: “you said you made a mistake … you made mistake after mistake after mistake, for 25 years. You are still somebody that keeps making the same mistake.”

Do recidivists Burbank DUI offenders deserve a second chance? How about a third? A fourth? A fifth? Where does it end?

As the inimitable Will Rogers once said, “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.”

That’s sensible advice, but it’s often hard to follow in practice. It’s easy to look at somebody else who keeps “making the same mistake” and judging that person for being unable to get it together. But if you have a problem — be it a problem managing your relationship with alcohol or a deep seated psychological issue — you may not be able to figure out how to “stop digging” and approach your situation from a new and fresh vantage.

Fortunately, with the right help, Burbank DUI defendants like you can often not just rebound from serious charges but also restructure their lives, their careers and their finances in positive ways.

Let the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers help you with your Burbank DUI defense. Attorney Kraut is an experienced, trusted criminal defense lawyer. As an ex-prosecutor, he maintains excellent relationships with other prosecutors, judges and police officers, and he feels a great duty both to provide defendants with excellent counsel and to protect the public good.

June 12, 2013

Pasadena DUI Trifecta: Man Gets 3 DUI Arrests in Just 5 Days… And Is Let Go!

by Michael Kraut

Imagine getting arrested for driving under the influence in Pasadena three times within ten years. You know what happened to you if that occurred?

Prosecutors could throw the book at you.

In fact, punishments for “just” a misdemeanor DUI can be pretty astonishingly diverse:

• a year’s suspension of your California license;
• mandatory alcohol school;
• difficult probation terms;
• jail time;
• fees and fines;
• those punishments don’t even scratch the surface.
• Often, the most painful aspects of a DUI arrest/conviction involve the indirect consequences, including the loss of a job, the devastation of a relationship, and the break down of self-esteem (not to mention higher insurance rates).

Again, that’s just for a standard misdemeanor Pasadena DUI. If you get three convictions within a 10 year period, prosecutors can “hit you” much harder with a mandatory minimum of 120 days jail time, 18 months of alcohol school and a three year suspended license (among other things). They can also elevate what would ordinarily just be a misdemeanor to a felony count, meaning that you could spend over a year in jail for a crime that once might only have netted you several hours behind bars.

Put that in context, as we talk about an astonishing situation up in Marin County, California, where 71-year-old Gary Arnone was arrested three times for DUI within a span of just five days.

You read that right. That’s not a typo.

The first arrest came on Thursday, May 16th at around 3 AM, after a witness told police about a possible DUI driver. The second arrest happened less than 12 hours later at 2:45 PM – again, after a witness told police about an erratic driver. The third arrest, on Monday the 20th, followed a similar pattern. Police in San Rafael got a report that a driver on the 400 Block of Las Gallinas Avenue had been driving erratically – very slowly, with difficulty braking. Local police stopped the vehicle and found Arnone once again at the helm.

First time misdemeanor DUI bail amounts at Marin Superior Court are typically around $2600. But when police found out about the multiple arrests, the local judge boosted the bail to $75,000.

Arnone’s tangled tale was overshadowed by other Pasadena DUI news – mostly notably the arrest of Barbara Walter’s daughter, Jacqueline, which we covered in a separate post. But the implications of Arnone’s case are arguably more interesting and relevant to your situation.

After all, these multiple arrests raise questions that you may consider asking yourself, such as:

• Why might someone commit a crime like Pasadena DUI again and again within a short span of time?
• What types of psychological, financial or emotional crises fuel this kind of “DUI binging” behavior, and are you at risk for engaging in similar recidivism?
• What steps can you take – or processes can you put in place – to prevent you from heading down a similar path?
• Given your charges, can you avoid the worst penalties and protect key interests, like your freedom and your driver’s license?

The answers obviously depend on what Pasadena DUI crime you allegedly committed and other factors, such as your driving history, criminal record, and whether anyone was hurt or not in the crash.

Get in touch with attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for insightful, thorough free consultation about your matter. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who attended Harvard Law School, and he maintains terrific relationships with important people in the Southern California legal community.

May 8, 2013

Ridiculous Long Beach DUI Exploits: DUI Suspect Ignores Officer’s Pleas to Pull Over…and Heads to Burger King Drive-In, Instead!

by Michael Kraut

At first blush, many of the Glendale DUI stories that we’ve recently reported on sound almost made up – as if they were something ripped from the pages of The Onion (Jim Anchower’s “The Cruise” column, perhaps?)

But sometimes real life is actually more ridiculous than satire.

Case in point: According to the Sandusky Register, a 34-year-old man, Scott Sims, is in big trouble not just for allegedly driving under the influence but also for ignoring a police officer’s order to stop…and instead rolling up to Burger King to order a hearty, greasy meal.

The officer told reporters: “the operator was observed to have his window down and to be placing an order with the restaurant…I ordered the subject two times over my PA system to pull out of the drive-thru line.” Eventually, a Perkins Township officer flagged Sims down. The man confessed that he was “f**ked up” and agreed that “I should have just rode my bike to Burger King, but I was too hungry.”

Sims refused to take a breathalyzer test. He was arrested on multiple charges, including operating a vehicle under the influence, speeding, violating the open container law, and driving under suspension.

Not very good news for Sims.

In the abstract, it’s easy to snicker at this situation – to make fun of what happened. However, if you recently got arrested for driving under the influence in Glendale, you’re probably more sympathetic.

Why?

Because you know – from personal experience – what that incredible stress and heightened emotional state feels like. Even rational, professional people often make grievously bad decisions during and after DUI stops because of the animal-like emotional state that overtakes them.

Consider, for instance, the video footage that just emerged of Cat Cora’s DUI behavior. The Around the World in 80 Plates hostess called the people whom she rear-ended – while DUI in Santa Barbara with a 0.19% BAC! – “two nerds.”

Cora and Sims’ strange responses to their DUIs make more sense when you look at their stories in context. If you peruse the archives of our Glendale DUI blog, you will notice that story after story features a similar plotline:

1. Suspect does something stupid (like drives DUI);
2. Suspect compounds that stupidity by evading arrest, commiting a hit and run, saying dumb things to officers, and so on and so forth.

The question is: Now that you are sober and contemplative, what can you do? How can you respond smartly to your Glendale DUI charges?

Every situation is different, and the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is prepared to help you approach your situation systematically and alertly. Get in touch with ex-Senior Deputy District Attorney Kraut and his team now to schedule your free consultation.

February 13, 2013

Could This Distant Event Portend the End of Breathalyzer Tests in Glendale (And the Rest of Los Angeles)?

by Michael Kraut

This Glendale DUI blog has long highlighted the shortcomings of breathalyzer tests. As we’ve reported on multiple occasions, most people (including the vast majority of police officers) have far more faith in these machines than the science and research warrant.

Some police are now beginning to pay attention to this research.

Unfortunately, they are not here in Southern California: they’re all the way out in Pennsylvania, where state police have temporarily stopped using these devices in wake of an appeal on a prominent case. January 9 marked the beginning of the breath test suspension, after a judge in Dauphin County nixed 20 DUI charges. A local lawyer effectively demonstrated that the test calibration procedures used were way off.

Here’s a quote from an article in the Lehigh Valley newspaper, The Morning Call, “Judge Clark wrote in his decision on Thursday that the failure of a manufacturer to use an independent laboratory in the initial calibration of the machines raised serious questions about the accuracy of their results, rendering them inadmissible as evidence in court. Furthermore, Clark said, an oversight in the regulations governing monthly calibration of the machines by police means that breath test results for very low and very high levels of intoxication are also unreliable.”

In the wake of the suspension, police are using DUI blood tests, which can be more accurate but which also have shortcomings.

Here’s the big lesson, if you or a close family member or a friend stands accused of Glendale DUI: avoid assuming anything about your potential defense.

The police may or may not have made a procedural or calibration error with your test. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. But you need to comb through the details of your case to determine what, if anything, you can do to challenge the evidence and charges against you.

Get in touch with Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to develop a thorough and clearheaded defense against your Glendale DUI charges.

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.