DUI Crime and Punishment

January 15, 2014

2,268 Los Angeles DUI Arrests Over Holiday – Up from Last Year – What Does it All Mean?

According to the L.A. Times, police around Los Angeles County arrested 2,268 people over the holiday period for driving under the influence in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said that the crackdown stretched from December 13 through New Year’s Day and involved diverse law enforcement agencies. The 20 day span utilized special saturation patrols, sobriety check points for Los Angeles DUI, and routine patrols. It netted 100 more people than did a similar crackdown during the 2012 holiday season. Authorities called the plan a success and boasted that the number of people busted for DUI in Los Angeles over the period was “significant.” Authorities plan to perform a similar anti-DUI canvasing during the Super Bowl holiday and St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

Taken out of context, the spike in number of Los Angeles DUI arrests may sound alarming. Are anti-DUI messages not resonating? What’s going on?

When analyzing statistics, you need to be careful to avoid over-interpreting data. Arrest numbers can vary due to random statistical noise. In other words, there may not be a “cause” for the fluctuation – randomness just happens. In fact, at one point over the holidays, CBS Los Angeles reported that seasonal DUIs were on a decline. Here’s a key quote from cbsla.com “the CHP tracked DUI related arrests from 6:01 PM Tuesday through 6:00 AM Wednesday and arrested 76 people in Los Angeles County during that time. During the same time last year, CHP officers arrested 86 people.”

The moral here is clear: statistics without context don’t lead to meaning. You need a guide to the Los Angeles DUI defense process that you can really trust. The good news is that former Deputy District Attorney, Michael Kraut, is standing by to help you make sense of what you’ve been through and plan a strategy to protect your rights.

January 13, 2014

Not All Beverly Hills DUI Stories End Like This (Police Officer Saves DUI Man Who Drove Car into a Pond)

by Michael Kraut

As someone who’s recently been arrested for DUI in Los Angeles, you probably have a negative opinion towards the police right now. As you reflect on the night (or day) of your arrest, you may ruminate about the punishments on deck for you, possibly including:

• Suspension of your California driver’s license;
• Forced installation of an Interlocking Ignition Device (IID) in your car or truck;
• Fines, fees, legal fees, and other sundry costs;
• Forced alcohol school;
• Restrictive probation terms;
• Jail time;
• Major spikes in your auto insurance premiums;
• Etc.

Consider, though, a tremendous story out of South Carolina. A Sumter police officer dove into a freezing pond to rescue a DUI driver, who had driven his vehicle into a pond. Officer Quentin Eley saw several cars gathered by the side of Second Millpond Bridge flashing their hazard lights. He approached and discovered that a car had driven into the water, and a person was trapped inside.

Officer Eley then made a daring decision to strip off his protective equipment and dive into the freezing pond, where he rescued 38-year-old Ioan Marcell Cimpean from what would have almost certainly been a drowning death. (Cimpean did not need any treatment at the hospital; authorities subsequently sent him to a local detention center on a DUI complaint. Cimpean secured his release, after paying a $2,267 bond.)

The Chief of the Sumter Police, Russell Roark, sung Officer Eley’s praises “he dove into the water without regard for his own safety… he was able to open the door and find Mr. Cimpean… for someone to take off their weapon and as much of their equipment as they can, and dive into freezing cold water to save somebody, it’s hard to put into words how proud I am actually of him and of the Sumter Police Department.”

This isn’t to say that the Beverly Hills police officer who arrested you for DUI was a hero. Police officers – like everyone else – can make egregious mistakes and even intentionally do things wrong to complicate DUI cases. However, it does illustrate the depth of humanity that many officers have… and the lengths to which good people will go to serve and protect.

If you’ve been struggling with Los Angeles DUI charges, what are your next steps? Will you go jail? What kind of defense can you put up? For help about answering those questions, connect with Harvard Law School educated, ex-Deputy District Attorney, Michael Kraut, today for a free consultation about your legal needs.

January 10, 2014

Will Your Los Angeles DUI Charges Live Forever on the Internet?

by Michael Kraut

Whether you got stopped at a Los Angeles DUI checkpoint on Wilshire, or pulled over in the Valley after partying too hard at a TV animation company’s soirée, your recent arrest was embarrassing.

Many possible problems now confront you:

• Jail time;
• License suspension;
• Mandatory IID installation;
• Higher insurance rates;
• Loss of your job / relationship;
• Etc.

You also fear for your reputation. And rightly so.

Google your name right now. Odds are high that a news article featuring your DUI might come up on the first page of the Google results – or at least near enough to the first page to cause problems. Even if you ultimately clear the charges, what you can do to protect your reputation going forward? Will the specter of your DUI forever haunt you (online), whenever you develop new relationships, take out loans, apply for jobs, meet new friends, etc?

It’s a scary situation — not necessarily an easy one to resolve.

After all, the virtual world creates challenges for all of us.

Pictures taken years before the internet even existed now pop up regularly on Facebook and other social media sites. A friend or colleague from years ago can tag your name in these pictures. A potential client (or date) can now see you in a ridiculous or embarrassing light. Even “normal citizens” are vexed by this effect.

For people who’ve been arrested for a serious crime in Los Angeles, like DUI, the problem can be much worse. Fixing one’s virtual reputation is just no small task, particularly if your arrest involved major news, such as serious injury or death to somebody else.

Here’s the core problem that you face: Google ranks sites and search terms based on relevance as well as on the so-called “authority” of sites that use them. So if ABC News, KTLA News, the Los Angeles Times, and other big publications all run stories about your Los Angeles DUI arrest, Google will look first to these “authority sites” first when returning information about your name, when it’s entered as a search query.

The situation can get even more complicated – and difficult to fix – if your story generated a tremendous amount of interest in the blogosphere or in the social media world. For instance, perhaps you did or said something ironic or ridiculous after the stop. Or perhaps you’re a celebrity or major executive or corporate figure whose arrest was “newsworthy” in and of itself. All the commentary creates more relevance. In other words, when Google looks for your name, it won’t just find articles linking to big authority sites like ABC News, CNN, etc — it will also find threads on big blogs discussing your name and the incident/arrest.

We’ll dive into detail about what you might be able to do to reclaim your online reputation in a future post.

For now, the most important thing is to get exceptional legal input to protect your rights. Connect with widely respected Los Angeles DUI defense attorney, Michael Kraut, today for more insight into your case.

January 8, 2014

Los Angeles DUI Reputation Management, Part-II: Will Your DUI Always Be One of the First Things That Shows Up on Google?

by Michael Kraut

If you Google your name right now, does the search engine return results like the following?

“Jane Doe was arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles, Thursday night, when her Honda Civic hit a police cruiser at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevard.”

If so, you don’t just have a tough legal case – you also have a reputation management problem.

January 2, 2014

Seeing the Forest for the Trees Re: Your Beverly Hills DUI Arrest

by Michael Kraut

Taken out of context, your Beverly Hills DUI arrest – whether you got pulled over on the 405 after partying with friends or stopped at a checkpoint on Sepulveda – is a “100% negative.”

In other words, there is no silver lining to what happened, other than the fact that you survived the stop and/or accident and that, theoretically, the situation could have been even worse. While that attitude can be technically justified, it’s grim.

It may also be misleading, because it prevents you from seeing the forest for the trees.

Most people who get stopped and charged with a crime like Beverly Hills DUI, for whatever reason, refuse to consider the charges in a broader context. They see it as a “fluke” – either an out of character one-time mistake or an injustice perpetrated by a biased or irresponsible police force.

It’s certainly true that the police can make mistakes. For instance, we’ve spilled a great deal of digital ink cataloguing the whys and wherefores of DUI breath test failures.

But the Beverly Hills DUI criminal defense lawyers at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers also believe that defendants should spend time introspecting — trying to figure out what, if anything, the DUI crisis means for them. For instance:

• Perhaps you only started getting in trouble (e.g. collecting DUIs) after you started to hanging out with certain friends. Upon reflection, maybe you should stop hanging out with those people!
• Perhaps you turned to alcohol and prescription medications after you hit a slump with your career. Perhaps you need to restrategize with respect your business, so you can deal with the helplessness and thus feel less seduced by the need to use the substances;
• Perhaps the police pulled you over multiple times because your car is missing a tail light and looks like a hunk of junk. Perhaps if you just fixed up your car, you would be less of a target for authorities (and you would be a safer driver, as well)

The point of this article is not to blame you, unnecessarily, for your Beverly Hills DUI arrest. As discussed above, you might be completely innocent – just like the 60-year-old Surprise, Arizona man who was arrested for DUI, despite blowing a 0.000 % BAC on his breath test!

But no matter what happened, by drilling down to figure out what went wrong in your case, you can feel more empowered and more excited to move on with your life. To start making progress, talk to the thorough, sensitive Beverly Hills DUI defense lawyers at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers now to schedule a free evaluation of your case.

December 30, 2013

The Pasadena DUI Vortex: What’s Your Risk for Recidivism?

by Michael Kraut

The statistics paint a scary picture. If you’re arrested just one time for driving under the influence in Pasadena, your odds of getting arrested again for the same crime spike — a lot.

A week ago, prior to your arrest, you might have had a 1% chance of ever being arrested for DUI. Today, your chance of getting re-arrested might be 4%. (Those numbers are made up to illustrate the point).

Every DUI arrest is different. Perhaps you will “learn your lesson” (if, indeed, you have a lesson to learn). But to understand your Southern California DUI arrest in context, you need to focus attention not just on the past but also on the present and the future.

Even if you didn’t hurt someone while driving DUI in Pasadena, you likely found the whole experience traumatic and a bit weird. If you’ve been replaying the stop/accident in your head, over and over again, don’t worry. You’re not going crazy. This is a natural cognitive response many people have.

To construct an effective defense — and at the same time reduce your risk for getting in similar trouble in the future — you may need to investigate the DUI in great detail. Sometimes, this close analysis can lead to evidence that can exonerate you. For instance, perhaps your breathalyzer test malfunctioned. Or perhaps you drove off the road because of a man-made obstructed or bad signage. A Pasadena DUI criminal defense attorney can help you with this investigation and analysis.

Moving on with Your Life — Safely — After Your DUI

Recognize that the past is past. Perhaps you screwed up. Perhaps you were just unlucky. Focus not on the past but rather on your current and future decisions. What steps can you take to fix your problems with alcohol (if you have any) and prevent future run-ins with the law?

To start the process, get in touch with a seasoned Pasadena DUI criminal defense lawyer. The team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers has the wherewithal, sensitivity and track record to deliver results. Find out more about what we do on our website, or call us to schedule a free consultation now.

December 25, 2013

Will You Lose Your Job After Your Glendale DUI Arrest?

by Michael Kraut

Perhaps police pulled you over on the 134, after noticing a missing taillight, and arrested you for Glendale DUI. Or maybe you got snagged at a checkpoint near the Galleria.

In either case, you face a slate of challenges. You’re worried about the jail time, fees and fines, and the embarrassment.

But most of all, you’re worried about your job.

After all, it’s a tough economy. You need to earn a fair wage to pay for your kid’s education, to save for retirement, to put food on the table and to pay your rent. If you lose your job, you could face quite an unpleasant financial picture.

A job loss is one of the most unpleasant, unexpected side effects of a Glendale DUI arrest/conviction.

Think about this way. Let’s say you committed a misdemeanor DUI in Glendale. Your fines and fees might total $1,000. That’s no small amount of money.

But what if your DUI leads to your getting fired? Let’s say you earn $2,000 a week. You then get fired and spend four months out of work. Without factoring in unemployment, if you’re out of work 16 weeks, and you miss out on that $2,000 a week income for 16 weeks, that’s a loss to your bottom line of about $32,000. That’s 32 times the DUI fines!

So what can you do?

Your options depend in a very sensitive way on the Glendale DUI charges you face, your past criminal history, if you have any, the nature of your job, the relationship you have with your employer, and so on.

To make a strategic plan to battle back against your Glendale DUI charges, get in touch with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today. Attorney Michael Kraut is a former prosecutor, who spent nearly 15 years in the Deputy District Attorney’s office, where he racked up a very impressive 99+% success rate at jury trials.

December 20, 2013

License Suspended Due to a Los Angeles DUI? 3 Tips to Deal with the Annoyances

by Michael Kraut

One of the most stinging, annoying punishments for a DUI in Los Angeles is the license suspension.

Even if this is your first ever DUI – indeed, your first time doing anything illegal – prosecutors can ask the Court to suspend your license for six months or a year or even longer, depending on what happened. Whether you’re a UCLA or USC student, who needs a California driver’s license to attend class; or you’re a single mom of three who needs a license to get to and from work, you want to avoid or at least minimize the suspension.

Here are 3 strategic ideas:

1. Retain a Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, sooner than later.

Don’t wait. The clock is ticking, and a suspension may soon automatically go into effect. A seasoned attorney can tell you how you can fight back. Perhaps you can stop the suspension or at least obtain more lenient terms.

2. Once you know how many days (or months) you’ll need to go without a license, make an action plan.

First, determine your ideal outcome. How do you want the next four months (or however long the suspension will last) to work? Make a list of goals. For instance:

• Keep my job;
• Make sure I can get the kids to and from school and doctors appointments, etc.
• Stay out of legal trouble (i.e.. don’t violate the terms of the suspension);
• Arrange alternative transportation, so all bases are covered.

Once you’ve got a solid list of goals, work backwards to try to achieve them resourcefully. Ask yourself questions. For instance:

• Can the kids take the bus for the next three months?
• Can a neighbor or nanny help with errands?
• Can your spouse or partner help with childcare responsibilities?

An experienced Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer can advise you about this plan.

3. Execute your action plan, and stay the course.

Setbacks may happen, no matter how well you plan. For instance, you may not be able to anticipate an illness in the family. Or your boss who originally agreed to let you telecommute may change her mind and demand you come to the office every day. Solve such problems when they occur, and be creative and resourceful.

For help dealing with your Los Angeles DUI charges, connect with Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to schedule a free, no pressure consultation.

December 16, 2013

Glendale DUI Debacle: Did DUI Firefighter Nearly Kill a Motorcyclist?

by Michael Kraut

Picture in your mind someone who’s been charged with driving under the influence in Glendale. Odds are, you’ll conjure up a stereotype, like:

• A recidivist alcoholic;
• A college student at UCLA or USC who got busted after a night of partying;
• A debouched celebrity who’s been in and out of rehab.

Odds are, you did not picture a firefighter on a rescue mission.

But disturbing new reports from the San Francisco Chronicle suggest that DUI driving may actually be common among Bay Area firefighters.

Two fire chiefs and a battalion chief may be on the verge of suspension, after a firefighter drove DUI in a fire truck and slammed into a motorcyclist at the intersection of Howard Street and 5th Street. Michael Quinn, a lower level firefighter, allegedly had been drinking at a bar before he hopped into his truck to respond to what turned out to be a false alarm.

During the rescue mission, the fire truck smashed into motorcyclist, Jack Frazier, and catapulted him into a fire hydrant. Frazier broke many bones and suffered a collapsed lung. Amazingly (and fortunately) he survived the crash, but he’s still struggling and in pain from his injuries.

After the crash, the firefighter’s blood alcohol concentration level was measured; it came back at 0.13 percent. That’s just 0.03% percent shy of double the California (and Glendale DUI) limit of 0.08%. Other firefighters involved in the crash tested negative for DUI and drug consumption.

Frazier’s attorney pointed out that, while the firefighter “made an incredible … egregious mistake,” the problem of firefighter DUI driving appears to be “systematic.”

What can we take away from all this?

1. First of all, if you’ve been arrested for driving DUI in Glendale, appreciate that you’re not the only “ordinarily upstanding citizen” who’s ever been charged with a similar crime.
2. Secondly, use the incident as a wake up call. Strive to understand what’s going in your life that may have motivated you to act carelessly (if you did indeed act carelessly).
3. Third, if you have not already done so, take time to connect with a DUI defense attorney to construct your defense. Mr. Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is an experienced, respected Glendale DUI defense lawyer; he and his team can help you put together a sound, results-focused case.

December 13, 2013

Los Angeles DUI Legal Update: National Transportation Safety Board wants BAC Cutoff Dropped from 0.08% to 0.05%

by Michael Kraut

As regular readers know, the Los Angeles DUI limit, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b), is 0.08% BAC, as it is for most of the country.

However, that might all be about to change, thanks to a new initiative spearheaded by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). According to the NTSB Chairman, Deborah Hersman, “most Americans think we have solved the problem of impaired driving, but in fact, it’s still a national epidemic … on average, every hour one person is killed and 20 more are injured.” Investigators want to alter the recommendations to reduce alcohol impaired crashes, citing research that suggest that cognitive and visual impairment begins to decline at a BAC of 0.05%, rather than at 0.08%. The NTSB also says that America is behind the pack: over 100 countries worldwide have their BAC max set at 0.05% or lower.

It’s understandable why the NTSB wants to crack down and enforce more draconian Los Angeles DUI rules. But let there be no doubt – at least compared to the current paradigm, the measures the safety board wants to pass are, indeed, draconian. They include:

• Mandatory installation of interlock ignition devices (IIDs) for all offenders (currently, only one in four DUI offenders, nationwide, gets an IID);
• Stricter compliance with IID rules;
• The Board wants to boost the number of high visibility anti-DUI enforcement efforts, such as saturation patrols and sobriety check points;
• The NTSB wants police in Los Angeles and elsewhere to utilize passive alcohol sensors to look for alcohol in the ambient environment.

The NTSB and other concerned groups cite scary facts. Some statistics suggest that people who are under the influence of alcohol cause 60% of all wrong way accidents. Check out the report for yourself at http://go-usa-gov/Te: “reachingzero:actionstoreducealcoholimpaireddriving.”

The NTSB and the National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration (NHTSA) want to help states like California improve the effectiveness of their anti-DUI programs by finding and communicating best practices.

But not everyone is on board with the proposed changes to Los Angeles DUI limits.

The American Beverage Institute’s Managing Director, Sarah Longwell, lashed out against the NTSB’s recommendations, calling them “ludicrous.” She told reporters “moving from 0.08% to 0.05% would criminalize perfectly responsible behavior … further restriction of moderate consumption of alcohol by responsible adults prior to driving does nothing to stop hardcore drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel.”

Per government statistics, if you’re at or above 0.08% BAC, you’re 169% more likely to get into a crash than a sober driver would be. But if you’re at 0.05%, you’re just 38% more likely. That may make the NTSB’s case seem bulletproof. But consider that drivers who do not sleep for 24 hours are at least as impaired as Los Angeles DUI drivers.

By that logic, should we criminalize “insomniac driving” the same way that we criminalize DUI? If not, why not? After all, studies show that driving while exhausted is just as dangerous as driving DUI.

It’s easy to gin up moral outrage at DUI driving. Obviously, it’s a problem that any responsible Los Angeles DUI defense attorney wants to stamp out as well. We all want to drive on safer roads and protect ourselves, our friends, and loved ones. The question is: how do we do this? What laws and rules and societal norms should be adopted and enforced? Furthermore, HOW should those rules and norms be enforced?

If you’ve recently been arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles, these questions are far from theoretical for you. Fortunately, the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Los Angeles is standing by to provide sensible, accurate Los Angeles DUI defense help. Connect with us today for a free consultation with an experienced ex-prosecutor.