DUI Crime and Punishment

June 17, 2013

How Does Your Los Angeles DUI Compare to the Following?

After consuming 15 beers, 28-year-old Kile Wygle, of Newark, Ohio, hopped onto a motorized bar stool that he had made himself out of a deconstructed lawnmower.

Unsurprisingly, he crashed.

Wygle’s friend called 911 and told police “I got a friend who wrecked a bar stool.” The dispatcher at first was confused and thought Wygle had hit his head on a bar. The friend said, “no, he was riding the bar stool … a motorized bar stool.”

Wygle had to go to the hospital for minor injuries. After the crash, he told a reporter “I drank quite a bit after I wrecked.” He also told police that his homemade contraption could reach speeds of up to 38 miles per hour.

Whether he overestimated his vehicle’s capacity or not, his statement indicates that he knew that the stool could be dangerous. Had he ridden it on an open road, he could have hurt other people.

Unfortunately, when you’re young — and trying to impress friends with a homemade, motorized gizmo — safety may not be at the top on your list of concerns. But you can still land a serious DUI charge, even if what you’re driving does not technically look like a car or truck.

Most Los Angeles DUI charges are relatively “boring” — they involve stops at checkpoints and commonplace violations of California Vehicle Code Sections 23152 or 23153. Perhaps your situation was more “exotic” than the standard DUI. Maybe you were at a UCLA or USC frat party. Some “new wild friends” got you to drive up to the Hollywood sign, but you drove your car into the woods and got stuck on a hiking trail – something like that.

No matter how ridiculous (or pedestrian) your charges are, you need two forms of clarity.

#1. Get Clear on Where You Are Now
What charges do you face? What might your punishments be? What options you have to deal with your legal crisis? etc.

#1. Get Clear on Your Ideal Outcome
Given the realities of your situation — from a best case scenario — what could you expect? How can you make that positive outcome occur?

While you’re certainly free to try to figure out the answers to these questions on your own, that’s not a particularly savvy strategy. Consider connecting with a Los Angeles DUI defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who retains very good relationships with his former prosecutorial colleagues… as well as with judges, police officers and other members of the Southern California legal community.

June 14, 2013

Crocs Founder, George Boedecker, Gives Clinic on How NOT to Handle a Los Angeles DUI Arrest

by Michael Kraut

If you’re a multimillion dollar entrepreneur, who can afford a 2010 Porsche Panamera, you’d probably be able to handle a Los Angeles DUI arrest with a fair amount of grace. Right?

Not necessarily.

Being rich, famous and well-connected does not inoculate you from behaving like a raving toddler. When those red and blue police lights light up behind you, anything can happen.

Case in point: George Boedecker, the founder of Crocs. The 51-year-old shoe mogul got arrested a few years ago in Colorado, after a witness saw him passed out behind the wheel of his black 2010 Porsche Panamera. According to the Denver Post, when police arrived, Boedecker greeted them with a slew of profanities. Reports from both TMZ and the Huffington Post suggested that Boedecker was on quite a blue streak that night:

• Per TMZ: “he told cops to “f**k” themselves “in the a**”;
• In response to a request for his address, he allegedly said “I have 17 f**king homes”;
• He also told police officer that he was dating pop singer Taylor Swift — his “really f**king famous” girlfriend;
• At first, Boedecker claimed that she (Swift) was driving the vehicle, but then the officer asked the shoe mogul where she was. He said “Nashville”… and then called Swift “bad s**t crazy.”
• In addition to being uncooperative, Boedecker exhibited other symptoms of being DUI. The police arrested him, his protest that he “knew [his] f**king rights” notwithstanding.
• In response to a request to complete a field sobriety test, Boedecker responded “I am not doing your f**king maneuvers”;
• He even told one police officer that he was “his enemy for life” and earnestly hoped that the officer would “f**king die.”

The DUI was not the first time Boedecker had run into problems with the law. Back in 2006, he called his sister’s ex-husband and threatened him, allegedly saying “I’m going to slit your throat.” After that, he was arrested and charged with threatening bodily injury and misdemeanor trespassing.

Ironically, he also heads up a philanthropy group, the Boedecker Foundation, which, per the foundation’s website, has “a broad charter to empower communities and inspire positive change around the world.”

Boedecker no doubt easily made his bond of $500.

But the most delicious piece of irony comes from the website The Smoking Gun, which said that the officer who tagged him for DUI said he was wearing flip-flops – not crocs!

Did you do “dumb stuff” after your Los Angeles DUI stop?

If so, appreciate that you’re not the only one in history to have “screwed up.” That said, the actions that you take now (or fail to take) can have an outsized effect on your ability to avoid jail time, and reduce your overall pain and frustration.

A Southern California DUI defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you get a handle on what your charges mean and what you can do to fight back against them. Connect with Harvard Law School educated Kraut and his experienced team now for assistance.

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.

June 10, 2013

Glendale DUI Blockbuster – Massive Software Glitch Puts Hundreds of AZ DUI Cases at Risk!

by Michael Kraut

As our regular Glendale DUI blog readers know, the system by which DUI suspects get pulled over, investigated, arrested, and prosecuted is – shall we say – less than perfect.

We all collectively assume that the situation isn’t “that” out of control. Sure, perhaps breathalyzer tests aren’t perfectly calibrated. Perhaps the occasional Glendale DUI suspect suffers violations of his or her Constitutional rights. But, by and large, the system works well.

Maybe we need to reconsider such assumptions!

Why?

For evidence, look to our sister state of Arizona. An error at the Scottsdale crime lab in Scottsdale Arizona may have put hundreds of DUI cases (stretching back to 2009) in jeopardy of being overturned. You read that right: hundreds.

According to a local attorney, Craig Rosenstein of the Rosenstein Law Group, the software that measures the blood alcohol test of suspected Scottsdale DUI drivers is glitchy – in a big way.

This attorney claims that this glitch has led to being people being wrongfully convicted, and many more could be wrongfully arrested/convicted unless the problem gets resolved.

The local police department, for now, is standing by the software and its crime lab. A spokesperson told reporters “We have met or exceeded the rigorous standards set by the American Society of Crime Lab Detectors.”

The Scottsdale Police will soon confront the accusations in Superior Court.

Do you believe that your Glendale DUI was a mistake? If so, you might feel deep pangs of sympathy for Christy Allen Lee, a single mom of two, who was wrongfully arrested for DUI. Lee told reporters “[the night of the arrest, I was] talking business, shared one bottle of sake, and I didn’t drive until four hours later.”

But when the police pulled her over, her blood test came back showing she had a BAC of nearly twice the legal limit (both Scottsdale and Glendale DUI legal limits are 0.08% BAC).

Lee recounted her harrowing ordeal: “I sat up all night panicking. Here I am, single mom of two, barely getting by as it is, now I’m charged with something I didn’t do. Pretty terrifying.” Not only did Lee spend thousands of dollars out of pocket fighting the charges, but she also lost her job.

Of course, it’s impossible to weigh in on this situation without closely examining the evidence (pro and con) regarding the alleged glitch. But the story does lead into a topic we’ve addressed on this Glendale DUI blog multiple times. And that’s that defendants often put way more faith in the so-called “objective” evidence of their DUIs than the evidence merits. (We’ve spilled a tremendous amount of virtual ink discussing the limitations of breathalyzer tests, for instance.)

Unpacking the truth about your Glendale DUI

For help understanding what really happened during your Glendale DUI arrest, get in touch with Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today. Mr. Kraut is not only an ex-prosecutor (he served 14 plus years as a Senior Deputy District Attorney), but he is also a widely respected figure in the Los Angeles criminal defense community, and he has appeared as a guest authority on DUI for the Los Angeles Times, KTLA News, and the New York Times.

June 7, 2013

DUI in Los Angeles News of the Weird (Part III)

by Michael Kraut

In this Los Angeles DUI blog’s last homage to Funny Or Die’s October 5, 2010 article, “The 6 Weirdest DUI Arrests Ever Made,” we’re going to take a look at two more crazy cases and extract general lessons from them.

Weird DUI #5: Russian soldier, under the influence, smashes a tank through a villager’s home.

At first blush, this story seems to be some kind of anti-Soviet propaganda. But apparently it happened.

June 5, 2013

DUI in Los Angeles News of the Weird (Part 2)

by Michael Kraut

Getting caught for driving DUI in Los Angeles is no fun.

But it is somewhat amusing – or at least educational – to read about “weird DUI stories.” Here are two more stories culled from a Funny or Die article (“the Six Weirdest DUI Arrests Ever Made,” published October 5, 2010)

Weird DUI #3: Driving under the influence in a wheelchair nets British man a DUI under obscure Victorian Law
As you probably recall from our last post, police in England (at least) will ding you for DUI, even if you’re driving slower than a pedestrian walks in a souped-up electrical Barbie car.

Our stern friends across the pond also saw fit to charge a disabled man from Darlington with “being drunk in charge of a carriage,” after a local authority saw him joyriding on his electric wheelchair, towing his friend behind him.

Nigel Drummond had been “racing” through the streets of his local town at 8 miles per hour, when a surveillance camera saw him weaving all over the road. Although scooters like his do not officially count as cars, an out of control or weaving vehicle is still a hazard to other vehicles and pedestrians. A local Darlington police officer, Kevin Salter, said of Drummond “he was very drunk.” His fine was nominal – 65 pounds and a six month conditional discharge.

Weird DUI #4: A man named Donald Duck arrested for DUI.

You’re no doubt familiar with the most famous Los Angeles DUI cases — e.g. Nick Nolte’s, Lindsay Lohan’s, Mel Gibson’s, Jim Toth’s, etc. But did you know that cartoon characters apparently can also get arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles (and elsewhere)?

Well, not quite.

But a recidivist offender, 59-year-old Donald Duck, actually did get arrested for DUI out in Massillon. Police say Duck was in a drive-through pizza line, when he rammed the car ahead of him multiple times. Police arrested Duck not only for DUI but also for possessing marijuana and for offenses related to drug paraphernalia.

Donald Duck, the man, obviously has one thing in common with Donald Duck, the cartoon character – a wicked temper.

Putting your Los Angeles DUI arrest in context
The Los Angeles criminal defense team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to help you appreciate the nature of your charges and put together an appropriate, systematic defense to them. Mr. Kraut is not only a widely respected authority on the topic of Los Angeles DUI – his commentary has been featured in the Los Angeles Time, KTLA, Fox News, CNN and other places – but he has also won the respect of the local judges and prosecutors. Mr. Kraut is a former prosecutor himself – he served nearly decade and a half as a Senior Deputy Sixth District Attorney.

June 3, 2013

DUI in Los Angeles News of the Weird (Part I)

by Michael Kraut

As someone who’s been arrested recently for DUI in Los Angeles, you’re probably not in a “joking” or jovial mood. But you might find it helpful to reflect on the following stories (culled in part from a Funny or Die article from 2010 called “The Six Weirdest DUI Arrests Ever Made”) not only to “feel better” about what you’ve been through but also to understand that crazy, strange stuff happens to everyone.

With that preamble, let’s dive into this catalogue of curiosities…
Weird DUI #1: DUI on a horse, of course!

Several years ago, Colorado police got a shock when they saw local man, Brian Drone, riding a horse through a local strip mall. Turns out, Mr. Drone had consumed a few alcoholic beverages before hopping on his steed, and officers arrested him. This makes sense. We don’t want people to drive DUI in Los Angeles (or anywhere) because they might lose control of their vehicles and cause injuries, property damage, etc. A DUI horse rider could easily wreak havoc and destroy a mall. Probably in the days of horse-drawn wagons — before the emergence of the automobile – “RUI” accidents were all too common…
Weird DUI#2: DUI on a Barbie car – going 3 miles per hour!

Our second ridiculous case comes out of England, where 40 year old Paul Hutton, a Ex-Royal Airforce Aeronautical Engineer, got arrested by police after driving a “souped-up” electric Barbie car at 3 miles per hour near his Essex home.

Mr. Hutton had been showing off for his four children (ages 11-17). He later admitted that he had been a “complete twit” for hopping in the car while being twice the legal limit. (The legal limit for DUI in Los Angeles, as you might remember is 0.08% BAC, per CVC 23152).

Mr. Hutton told the court in Colchester: “I was very surprised to get done for drink-driving, but I was a twit to say the least… I’m in the third year of my electrical engineering course, and it was a little project [I was doing] with my son, who’s doing a car mechanics course…When [the car] was done, I couldn’t resist the temptation to take it out.”

The magistrate who heard the case said that the Barbie car DUI was “most unusual…I have never seen the like of it in 15 years on the bench… The vehicle is not even capable of doing the speed of a mobility scooter and could be outrun by a pedestrian. Taking this into account, we feel we can impose a sentence of a conditional discharge for a period of 12 months.”

Of course, not all Los Angeles DUIs are trivial matters – or laughing matters, for that matter.

For astute, thorough, and ethical assistance with your case, look to Mr. Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Attorney Kraut has a Harvard Law School education, and he has worked as a City Prosecutor (Senior Deputy District Attorney) and as a highly regarded LA criminal defense lawyer.

May 29, 2013

Pasadena DUI Quiz (Part I) — 10 Cases (Made up or Real)?

by Michael Kraut

Pasadena DUI arrests can get dramatic and colorful. But you probably think you can “tease apart” fact from fiction. Well, let’s test your mettle. Here are 10 DUI items – 5 of which are made up, 5 of which actually happened. What’s true? What’s made up? (Answers are at the bottom).

Good luck!

1. Waxwing birds became wickedly intoxicated, after they ate fermented Scandinavian berries. Dozens of these perished as they “flew DUI” into local windows.

2. Two men in England broke into a dolphin sanctuary and wrestled down a dolphin and road it around while under the influence of alcohol. Local police in Kent arrested them and charged them with the local equivalent of DUI.

3. A hipster unicyclist in Brooklyn intentionally consumed an entire bottle of Vodka before performing a street act on his unicycle on a busy street. Several police officers watched him do this. Instead of arresting him, they clapped and cheered with the other passersby.

4. A man commandeered a Christmas float while under the influence of alcohol. He smashed into a second float, battled officers, and hit another float before police apprehended and arrested him. In addition to DUI, he got gobsmacked with three dozen criminal charges.

5. As part of a hazing prank, 12 freshman rushes at a University of Mississippi frat crammed into a Dodge Dart. Police saw the swerving vehicle on a local campus road and pulled it over. The unlucky freshman driver had a BAC of 0.38% — over 4.5 times the legal limit for DUI in Pasadena.

6. In Uruguay, it’s legal to drive under the influence of alcohol. In several other countries, the offence is a capital crime. Unlike here in Southern California, where a Pasadena DUI without injury is generally a misdemeanor, in some parts of the world, you can literally be put to death for DUI driving.

7. Nearly 20% of all currently serving members of the United States Congress and Senate have, at one point in their lives, been charged with driving under the influence.

8. The term “Three sheets to the wind” was coined by Teddy Roosevelt. When the ex-President toured the Amazonian jungle, he witnessed native tribesmen play a drinking game with three colorful sheets. The rest is history.

9. In Virginia beach, Virginia, if you let someone else drive your car while that person is under the influence, you can get a DUI charge, too, even if you were just standing and watching!

10. For reasons that scientists have yet to understand, lefties are far less likely than righties to get arrested for DUI, even accounting for the fact that there are fewer lefties in the population.

Need help with your Pasadena DUI defense? If so, connect with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today. Attorney Kraut is an ex-prosecutor and Harvard Law School educated attorney with a fantastic track record for helping clients like you put up a robust defense.

1. T 2. T 3. F 4. T 5. F 6. T. 7. F 8. F 9. T 10. F

May 27, 2013

Beverly Hills DUI Quiz, Part II — 11 More Cases (Made up or Real)?

by Michael Kraut

Hopefully, you’ve taken our first Beverly Hills DUI “true or false” quiz. If not, skip back to the previous post to do so. Today, we’re going to test your knowledge of DUI trivia yet again by giving you another 11 scenarios and letting you guess which ones are true and which are false.

1. Police have arrested people for driving under the influence:

• on motor scooters (driving at 6 miles per hour);
• on pink electrical Barbie cars (driving 3 miles per hour);
• on skateboards;
• on lawnmowers;
• on adult tricycles;
• and on tiny pocket bikes!

2. After consuming a dozen beers, an Amish man “got behind the wheel” of a horse-drawn buggy and promptly got arrested for driving while intoxicated. He apologized, calling himself a “bad amish.”

3. During a party at Kappa Delta Sorority in Missouri, a 20-year-old woman consumed 20 “non-alcoholic” beers for her birthday and then got behind the wheel of a car. She was pulled over by police and tested to have a BAC of 0.06% — a BAC spike driven entirely by the small amounts of alcohol in the supposedly “non-alcoholic” beverages! (For reference, the legal limit for Beverly Hills DUI is 0.08% BAC, per CVC 23152.)

4. Out in Indiana, a man who was severely under the influence of alcohol hijacked a plane to show off to his girlfriend. He was so out of it that he missed the runway and had to make an emergency landing in a field of soybeans. Unsurprisingly, he was arrested.

5. One of the earliest Barnum & Bailey Circus attractions featured a stuntman, whose act involved drinking a flaming bottle of rum while riding a lion bareback. During one show, the stuntman caught the lion’s mane on fire, prompting the big cat to throw him off its back, killing him in front of a packed house. Curious fact: The stuntman was a former police officer!

6. Like something out of “A Fish Called Wanda,” a man hopped into a steamroller while significantly under the influence of alcohol. He then proceeded to ram the steamroller into a nearby car, in an attempt to flatten it. Police stopped him and arrested him for DUI.

7. The highest blood alcohol concentration for anyone ever stopped for a DUI in Southern California (or elsewhere) was 1.67% BAC. The woman lapsed into coma, but she miraculously recovered from a BAC level more than three times what’s normally considered a lethal BAC level.

8. Out in Spain, a disabled man who had a yen to visit a local house of prostitution drove his mechanical bed down the streets, while under the influence. Police stopped and arrested him.

9. If you bring any amount of alcohol into the state of Utah — unless you are a licensed dealer of said alcohol — you can be arrested and charged with a crime.

10. The winner of the 1994 Iditarod Dog Sled Race in Alaska had his championship crown stripped, when race officials discovered that he had been drinking whisky while driving his dogs through the finish line.

11. In Soviet Russia, Joseph Stalin’s KGB ran a secret program that encouraged agents to drink vodka and then drive around the streets of big cities, like Moscow and Leningrad, to terrify the populace and make people crave the “law and order” of the regime.

Hopefully you enjoyed these DUI curiosities. If you need assistance dealing with a recent Beverly Hills DUI charge, please connect with the experienced, highly capable team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Mr. Kraut is a former Senior Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles (a high level prosecutor) who worked in that capacity 14 plus years. He and his team can help you construct a vigorous defense.

1. T 2. T. 3. F 4. T. 5. F. 6. T 7. F 8. T 9. T 10. F 11. F

May 24, 2013

Los Angeles DUI Charges for Comedian Kevin Hart – “This Is a Wakeup Call”

by Michael Kraut

Thirty-two-year old comedian Kevin Hart (“Laugh at My Pain”) was arrested on suspicion of Los Angeles DUI on the 101 last Sunday morning. Kevin%20Hart%20DUI-los-angeles.jpg

According to local reports, a CHP officer pulled over Hart’s black Mercedes, after the officer saw Hart driving at over 90 miles per hour – nearly smashing into a tanker truck in the process.

Mr. Hart was put through the paces of a Los Angeles field sobriety test, which he allegedly failed. Police arrested him for misdemeanor DUI, and he posted a $5,000 bond that day. A female passenger in the Mercedes went home in a taxi cab. Hart took to Twitter the day after his arrest with a mea culpa: “this is a wakeup call for me… I have to be smarter & last night I wasn’t. Everything happens for a reason.”

Hart’s arrest prompted snarky responses from fellow comedians, including Damon Wayans. The actor has appeared in multiple movies as well as the TV show, Undeclared.

Driving DUI in Los Angeles

While Hart’s attempt to “come clean” and express regret for what happened is in many ways admirable, prosecutors take Los Angles DUI charges deadly seriously. After all, driving under the influence increases your risk of getting into injury crashes and causing substantial damage to public and private property. The city and state both have great interest in reducing DUI incidences, and violators can be punished with a spectrum of unpleasantries, including jail time, fines, fees, miscellaneous court costs, mandatory interlock ignition device installation, and harsh probation terms. Those punishments don’t even touch on the other scary long-term implications.

A DUI conviction can make any subsequent criminal act much more “punishable” – prosecutors like to bring the hammer down harder on recidivist offenders. It can also spike your insurance rates and damage and disrupt relationships.

The road back may not be easy, simple, or fast. But there are correct strategic paths and less effective ones.

The team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is extremely experienced at helping drivers like you understand and come to terms with charges and make intelligent decisions going forward. Get in touch with the Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor Kraut today for insightful assistance with your DUI in Los Angeles.