DUI Crime and Punishment

October 25, 2013

Beverly Hills DUI Update: Amanda Bynes Not Fit To Stand Trial for Her Arrest, Claims Lawyer

Many Beverly Hills DUI stories are tragic-comic tales of celebrities upstaged by their own hubris and overreach.

Millions of Americans like to ponder the odd behavior of divas like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears – as well as the atrocious rants and acts committed by the likes of celebrities like Mel Gibson.

But sometimes Hollywood DUI stories aren’t funny. They aren’t object lessons. They’re just plain tragic.

Such appears to be the case with actress Amanda Bynes, who was arrested last April in West Hollywood for driving under the influence. As our Beverly Hills DUI law blog (and many other sources) reported at the time, Bynes tweeted to President Obama asking for lenience in her case: “Hey, @BarackObama…please fire the cop who arrested me. I also don’t hit and run. The end.”

At the time, many chided Bynes for her behavior — they considered it just another example of a bubble gum actress/pop star gone bad. However, Bynes’s behavior continued to deteriorate – but not in a “normal” celebrity meltdown kind of way.

Earlier in the year, she was found lighting a fire in the driveway of Los Angeles home, and she was admitted to a psychiatric ward in July for treatment. The 27-year-old was due in court at the end of September for her DUI, but her lawyer said that she was mentally unfit to go to trial for her DUI, per California Penal Code 1368, which states “If counsel informs the court that he or she believes the defendant is, or may be, mentally incompetent, the court shall order that the question of the defendant’s mental competence is to be determined in a hearing.”

Bynes’ mother, Lynn, has applied to be her conservator, which would give her some legal rights over the actress. The Beverly Hills DUI criminal procedure against Bynes has been paused, while the justice system deliberates to determine whether she is competent to go to trial.

Can Bynes’ case teach us something about how to defend against Beverly Hills DUIs?

One of the interesting lessons here is that a DUI is often a symptom of larger and more complex problems in the life of the defendant.

Many Beverly Hills DUI defendants don’t really look at their DUIs in context. They just want to get out of trouble and get back to their regularly scheduled lives. But really they should see the DUI as a wake up call to get much needed help.

Fortunately, you can start the process effectively today by connecting with Beverly Hills DUI criminal defense lawyer, Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Mr. Kraut is an experienced ex-prosecutor who has the wherewithal and experience to get results for you.

October 23, 2013

Arrested for DUI near USC or UCLA and Underage?

by Michael Kraut

Whether you’re a budding filmmaker at USC – hoping to become your generation’s next “George Lucas” — or you’re a UCLA grad student barely able to afford rent in Westwood, your recent UCLA DUI or USC DUI has been a catastrophe.

You’re afraid things are going to get worse, probably because you’re not yet 21-years-old.

It’s bad enough to get stopped for DUI “normally” – as someone who’s over 21, driving with a BAC of 0.08%. Even if you don’t hurt anybody, you can face license suspension, fees, fines, insurance rate spikes, jail time, tough probation terms, and beyond. (If you did hurt someone or did commit other crimes while DUI near USC or UCLA, prosecutors can have that much more to “throw at you.”)

If you’re a minor, your situation is actually even more complicated and fraught. According to CVC Section 23136 – the so-called “Zero Tolerance” Policy Section — if you’re younger than 21, and an officer stops you and tests your BAC at just 0.01%, you can lose your license for a full year, or suffer a full year delay in getting your license, if you haven’t passed your test yet.

0.01% is actually just one-eighth the limit of normal DUI in Los Angeles, as CVC 23152(b) defines it. An overly ambitious swig of mouthwash, a ketogenic (low carb) diet, or even a big helping of cough syrup can put you over this threshold.

Violating CVC 23136 is an infraction rather than a misdemeanor, but you can still lose your license.

Fortunately, you can talk to a UCLA or USC DUI defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers, to represent you at your DMV hearing and help you challenge the suspension.

(You only have 10 days to do so, so get busy!)

If you are under 21, and you get caught with a BAC between 0.05% and 0.07%, you can be hit with an infraction, per California Vehicle Code 23140. This leads to fines as opposed to jail, but it still triggers the Golden State Zero Tolerance Policy and can lead to a full year of suspension of driving privileges.

Lastly, if you are under 21 and you tip over the legal limit of 0.08%, not only can you face the standard charges that an adult driver might face – such as $2,000 in fines, a year behind bars, up to five years of summary probation, etc – but you also face a zero tolerance suspension.

The loss of driver’s license means a ton, if you’re a college or grad student. At an East Coast university campus, perhaps you could just “walk everywhere.” But it’s devilishly difficult to get around Los Angeles – to attend classes, have a social life, do your job, etc – if you have no vehicle.

Fortunately, you do not need to stand helplessly by as events unfold. An experienced, intelligent, compassionate UCLA and USC DUI defense lawyer with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you meet your challenges and rebound from unfortunate events.

October 21, 2013

Glendale DUI Cautionary Tale: Aldon Smith’s DUI Arrest and Legal Trouble

by Michael Kraut

Whether you got arrested for DUI in Glendale, after police stopped you for speeding on the 134, or police snagged you at a Pasadena DUI checkpoint near Old Town Pasadena, you’re facing a serious legal crisis.

Join the club.

Aldon Smith of the San Francisco 49ers also just got busted for driving under the influence in California, after he smashed his truck into a tree. While such an event would render many people unable to walk or engage in vigorous activity, Smith took to the field against the Colts just two days later… and made five tackles on the way to a 27 to 7 defeat.

Jed York, the CEO of the 49ers, said that the team had the right to play him, despite his DUI: “our opinion is, if you’re sitting someone down and paying them to sit down when they’re going to seek treatment in the future, we didn’t feel like that was an appropriate punishment. We’re not trying to circumvent what the NFL will do. This is about making sure that Aldon has the opportunity to work on something, to get better…”

Last season Smith had 19 1/2 sacks – a record for the 49ers, and the second most sacks in NFL. But he’s apparently equally aggressive on and off the gridiron.

• In 2012, Smith got into a car accident in Santa Clara County, and he sustained a deep cut on his face.
• In June 2012, Smith and Delanie Walker (also on the 49ers squad) allegedly got intoxicated at Smith’s house and shot guns into the air to stop their party. Unsurprisingly, in shooting off their guns in a crowded area, they allegedly hit a man, who later filed a lawsuit against Smith.

The NFL’s personal conduct policy takes a Glendale DUI violation (or DUI violation anywhere) extremely seriously. But since Smith’s case had not been adjudicated, he was allowed to play against the Colts. Following that game, however, he was put on the non-football-injury leave of absence list.

As we reported in a separate post on Jacoby Jones and Pacman Jones, NFL players have gotten into some horrendous legal turmoil recently. (To refresh your memory, Jacoby Jones got smashed over the head with a bottle of champion (by a stripper, no less!) on a party bus. Pacman Jones, meanwhile, got hit with DUI charges and mouthed off to the officer arresting him.)

But the mayhem is not restricted to the NFL. Taylor Olander, a UConn basketball hero, recently also got suspended, after police busted him for driving under the influence without a license.

If you or someone you love has been arrested for driving under the influence in Glendale (or elsewhere in Southern California), consider getting in touch immediately with an experienced Glendale DUI defense lawyer at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Mr. Kraut is a very experienced Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor. He is known for his excellent relationships with judges, prosecutors and other members of the Southern California legal system.

October 9, 2013

Uncommon Facts about Los Angeles DUI

by Michael Kraut

As someone who’s hoping to defend against a Los Angeles DUI charge, you need solid, objective facts.

According to one survey from 10 years ago, 1.4 million drivers on U.S. roads get busted for DUI annually, and crashes that are “alcohol related” lead to $45 billon of damages a year.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) reports that over 100,000 people died in alcohol related crashes between 2000 and 2005. Of course, the definition of “alcohol related” is somewhat misleading. A crash can be considered “alcohol related,” even if the driver who caused the accident had not been drinking. For instance, let’s say you consumed a few drinks (not enough to be over the legal limit for DUI in Los Angeles of 0.08%). Then a sober driver blew through a stop sign and hit your car. That would be an “alcohol related” accident, even though the sober driver caused it, and you weren’t over the limit.

Of course, unsurprisingly, drivers who are under the influence are much more likely to cause these crashes – one large study found that fewer than 70% of sober drivers caused their collisions, while 94% DUI drivers were deemed responsible.

If you drive at more than twice the legal limit (say, 0.16% BAC), you’re 300 times more likely to get into a crash that kills someone that you’d be if you were sober. A “sobering statistic,” if there ever was one.

Alcohol is not the only factor that can lead to dangerous driving.

A lack of sleep, distraction, drugs, prescription medications, and even negative volatile emotions scan all radically escalate your likelihood of getting into a serious collision. Some studies even suggest that certain common activities may be way worse than driving under the influence.

For instance, one Virginia Tech study from several years ago found that truckers who texted were something like 21 more times likely than non-texting truckers to get into collisions. That means, perhaps, the texting while driving is even more dangerous than DUI driving.

Of course, the stigma against texting is nothing compared to the stigma against DUI driving.

Even though it’s not legal to text while behind the wheel in L.A., look around the next time you come to a stoplight on the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax (for instance). You will likely see at least one driver buried in his or her phone.

Technically speaking, why does DUI create such risk? Alcohol does multiple things to your capacities, none of them good:

• It inhibits co-ordination. If you see a deer or bike rider dart in front of you, you need to coordinate your body to avoid hitting that animal or person. But if you’re under the influence, your coordination is more slack, so you’re at greater risk for a collision;
• Alcohol damages your judgment. How fast is too fast on the road? It is that a stop sign or a yield sign? Your ability to make judgments like these are mission critical. Unfortunately, alcohol can deeply impair these abilities.
• Alcohol can affect your vision. We don’t let blind people drive for a reason – you need acute visual senses to navigate safely. Drinking a lot of alcohol can effectively render you — if not blind, than certainly less than 20/20 sighted –and thus make you more dangerous.

After Your Los Angeles DUI – What to Do Next?

The team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you appreciate the charges against you and build a strong defensive case. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor, who retains robust and friendly relationships with his former prosecutorial colleagues. He is well-known and respected by judges, police officers, and other important players in the Southern California legal defense community.

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.

October 2, 2013

Got a Los Angeles DUI After Something GOOD Happened to You? You’re Not Alone. Look What Happened to Armonty Bryant…

by Michael Kraut

Your Los Angeles DUI came at a strange time. After years of struggling to achieve some goal – perhaps a raise at your job, a successful relationship, or the conception of a child – you finally “broke through” and “made it.” For instance, maybe after sweating away, writing spec screenplays for 10 years, you finally optioned an original creative work to a big studio.

Given the great news in your personal or business life, an outsider might think that you’d be at minimal risk for doing something dangerous and destructive, like driving under the influence in Los Angeles.

But sometimes, rapid positive change can stimulate destructive behavior, just like unexpected negative change can do.

That sounds paradoxical, so let’s take a look at example.

In early May, Armonty Bryant, a new defensive end drafted by the Cleveland Browns, got arrested near East Central University in Oklahoma and charged with DUI. Per the police report, he made a left without signaling, attracting the attention of a police officer. The officer tried to get Bryant to take a breathalyzer test 10 separate times before the athlete agreed. Both Bryant and his passenger got arrested.

Bryant is no stranger to legal trouble. In 2012, police arrested him for felony distribution of marijuana in a school zone, a charge to which he pleaded no contest. Cleveland nevertheless chose him in the seventh round (217th pick overall) because, as the Browns coach put it “[he has moved] passed the mistakes that he has made and he’s ready to move on. He has matured.”

Bryant even released a statement about his past activities, shortly after the draft: “I feel like it was just a stupid move on my part. I should have been more mature about the situation and more focused on football, which is something I really want to do with my life. Now that I’ve gotten that second chance, I feel like I won’t let anyone down.”

Given that Bryant had turned his life around – he went from nearly-going-to-jail to playing-in-the-NFL – why on Earth would he have jeopardized everything by driving DUI?

This brings us back to the earlier point, which is that stressful events (even positive, exciting events) can lead us to take dangerous actions.

It’s not necessarily that we “get lost in the celebration of the moment” but rather that the wrenching changes caused by big life events (positive and negative) can make us feel helpless and out of control.

So what can you do, now that you’ve been hit with a Los Angeles DUI?

The team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Los Angeles has extensive experience helping people like you move beyond their mistakes and fight charges vigorously.

Mr. Kraut is a former very high level prosecutor. He rose to the ranks of Senior Deputy District Attorney for L.A. He can help you figure out exactly what to do next, so you can start the process of putting your arrest behind you.

September 25, 2013

Beverly Hills DUI Sports News Update – Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies Pleads Guilty to DUI charges

by Michael Kraut

Time for your Beverly Hills DUI celebrity arrest fix…

Back in February, Rockies star Todd Helton whacked into a curve with his black Ford F-150 truck. Witnesses called police to report the likely-DUI driver.

In early May, Helton wound up in court and pled guilty to DUI charges stemming from that night. He told the judge: “I am very regretful to be here… I’ve taken many steps to prevent this from happening again.” The judge gave the major leaguer a minor league sentence: 24 hours of community service, a year probation, $1224 in fees, and a fine of $400.

Here’s how the events of Helton’s arrest unfolded, according to reports.

A witness saw Helton’s Ford weaving all over the road and called police at around 2 a.m. While officers were on their way, Helton hit a median and stopped at a Conoco Gas Station on the corner of Colorado Boulevard and 128th avenue. When police arrived to a strange sight: the truck was idling, empty, with the driver’s door open.

The baseball great soon emerged from the gas station with chewing tobacco and Lotto tickets… and dressed in camouflage. Officer Ty Deichert described the scene: “I could immediately smell a strong odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from this person, and he was unsteady on his feet. The male’s eyes were also bloodshot and watery…I asked the male where he was coming from, and he stated something about getting his truck washed.”

Helton later tested to have a BAC of 0.12% – that’s 1.5 times the Beverly Hills DUI limit of 0.08%, per California vehicle Code Section 23152.

Was Your Beverly Hills DUI Arrest One of the Most Embarrassing Moments of Your Life?

That Helton was dressed in camouflage seems absurd. The detail humanizes him, but it was probably a hugely embarrassing moment. When you’re a celebrity, you need to protect your brand. That logic applies to all of us, in a sense. You want to be seen in a certain light by your colleagues, by your family, by your friends, by society. When you got arrested for Beverly Hills DUI, odds are that you were “at your worst” — or at least close to that.

To deal with this complex issue strategically, get in touch with a Beverly Hills DUI attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Attorney Kraut is an ex-prosecutor, who spent over 14 years at the service of the city, putting criminal defendants behind bars. He’s also roundly liked and respected in the local legal 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.

September 18, 2013

Los Angeles DUI Crackdown Nets Over 1,500 Arrests in Two-Week Period

by Michael Kraut

Over 100 anti-Los Angeles DUI operations throughout the county led to over 1,500 arrests in a 13 day span stretching from August 16th through Labor Day weekend.

The Sheriff’s Department said that the total number of arrestees – 1,546 – was up over last year’s numbers (1418). Police coordinated 100 different agencies throughout the Southland to deal with the problem of late summer DUI driving.

Per the Sheriff’s Department: “this Labor Day holiday weekend, extra DUI saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints were deployed in multiple cities in Los Angeles County.” Some of the cities where these DUI checkpoints took place include: Inglewood, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Vernon, East Los Angeles, Santa Fe Springs, West Valley Area, 77 Street Area, Malibu, Norwalk, Pomona, St. Gabriel, Whittier, El Monte, Long Beach, Torrance, Antelope Valley, West Los Angeles, Rampart Area, Northeast Area, Devonshire.

September 11, 2013

Man Loses Control of Bowels After DUI Arrest: Los Angeles Blogosphere Weighs In

by Michael Kraut

What’s a Burbank DUI worst-case scenario?

Your Burbank DUI arrest was probably pretty rough. In fact, it’s hard to imagine how it could have gone any worse. Whether police pulled you over on Olive, after you attended a cast party of a WB show; or you crashed into a cop car on the 101, your situation was pretty embarrassing and possibly painful and scary.

But could it have been worse?

Consider your Burbank DUI arrest in light of what happened to a 21-year-old man from Boulder, who was recently arrested on 11th Street near an area called University Hill. Police found the man vomiting all over himself at around 2 in the morning. But that’s not all. Apparently, he also defecated on himself. The officers’ report said: “he told [the officers] it was because he was scared.” The 21-year-old faces a variety of unpleasant charges, including obstructing a police officer, violating a protection order, DUI, and DUI per se.

Hopefully, that puts your Burbank DUI charge in context.

For more context, let’s look to the town of York, Pennsylvania, where a woman from Newberry Township just got arrested for DUI – her second of the week and third DUI since July 5th!

24 year-old Anna Elizabeth Spittler hit a car on Interstate 83 and left the scene. According to reports, two people suffered injuries in the crash. Ms. Spittler faces a variety of citations and charges, including violating the controlled substances law, hit and run and DUI. According to one of the victims, Spittler’s car approached rapidly from behind. It swerved at the last second and smashed into the rear of his driver side, forcing his vehicle into a spin that sent it down an embankment.

A local newspaper report details the rest of the story “the [Pennsylvania] trooper found a Volvo parked in the right shoulder of I-83 about a mile away … police found a card with Spittler’s name on it, an unmarked pill bottle and open bottle of Smirnoff in the car.”

Spittler later confessed to driving under the influence and hitting the vehicle and leaving. She said that she thought she hit a guardrail.

It sounds like a very unfortunate situation, although Spittler was very lucky that no one got seriously hurt or killed in the crash (or in her previous two DUI incidences).

What You Can Learn from These Stories about Your Burbank DUI Defense
No driver is perfect. For every crazy/sad/unbelievable DUI story out there, there’s always one that’s crazier/sadder/weirder.

The key is not to dwell on the past but rather to acknowledge the present and look forward to the future. An experienced Burbank DUI defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers, can help you make an effective plan of action. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who amassed a 99-plus percent success rate at jury trials as a prosecutor. He has the connections and wherewithal to create excellent defenses.