DUI Crime and Punishment

July 11, 2016

DUI Driver Hits Pedestrian, Keeps Traveling With Body

A horrific DUI incident in San Diego may serve as a warning to drivers at risk of DUI in Los Angeles.

Esteysi Sanchez Izazaga, who goes by Stacy Sanchez, had apparently been drinking in two establishments before she headed for home on the morning of June 29th. Sanchez was allegedly speeding when her car left the road and hit a 69-year-old homeless man, Jack Ray Tenhulzen, who was walking on the sidewalk.

The impact was so great that it forced Tenhulzen through the windshield and severed his leg, which flew through the back window and landed on the trunk of Sanchez’s car. Tenhulzen’s body ended up in the passenger seat beside Sanchez.

But Sanchez continued to drive for another mile or so before parking the car and walking two blocks to her home. Witnesses called police to report the incident, and the officers went to Sanchez’s home and arrested her after her live-in boyfriend also called them to report she was there.

July 8, 2016

Crusader for Tougher DUI Laws Faces DUI Charges

by Michael Kraut

Most people charged with DUI in Los Angeles never intended to break the laws against driving while intoxicated. But one drink too many can cloud their judgment, and they get behind the wheel not understanding that they really shouldn’t be driving.

Dr. Stephen Miller of Plymouth Township, Pennsylvania, may not have realized his condition when he got behind the wheel of the family vehicle one evening in June. But he should have been more attuned to the dangers of DUI than most people. Miller lost his five-year-old son Kevin in 2012 when a DUI driver stuck the child as the family was crossing a road. Instead of stopping to assist, the driver fled the scene.

After Miller learned that the driver could spend only a year in jail for his crime, he and his wife spent the next two years advocating for stronger penalties for those who flee the scene of fatal accidents. In 2014, the state legislature passed “Kevin’s Law,” raising the minimum penalty for that crime to three years. The Millers and their extended family were present to witness Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signing the bill in June 2014.

June 28, 2016

Study Confirms Uber Reduces DUI Arrests

by Michael Kraut

Could more widespread use of Uber cut the number of arrests for DUIs in Los Angeles and reduce injuries due to DUI accidents as well? Two university researchers have conducted extensive research suggesting that it has had that effect in dozens of jurisdictions in the U.S.

According to the Federalist, Angela Dills from Providence College and Sean Mullholland from Stonehill College looked at the impact Uber had made on 150 cities and counties over a three-year period. They found that when Uber enters an area, the rates of DUI arrests and traffic fatalities go down. So, too, do the arrest rates for assault and disorderly conduct.

The authors also found that Uber continues to have a positive effect even after its initial introduction: “For each additional year of operation, Uber’s continued presence is associated with a 16.6 percent decline in vehicular fatalities.”

June 27, 2016

Georgia Supreme Court Rules DUI Arrest Unlawful

by Michael Kraut

Is an arrest for a DUI in Los Angeles valid if the arresting officer happens to be from San Francisco? If the California Supreme Court had the same reaction as the Supreme Court in Georgia, the accused DUI driver would go free.
According to 41 NBC in Macon, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled on June 20th that police officers in that state can’t make arrests outside of their jurisdictions. The case that prompted that decision involved the arrest of Bajrodin Silke for DUI by Officer Decari Mason, a Kennewa State University police officer who was POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training Council) certified.

Back Row L-R David Nahmias, Robert Benham, Carol Hunstein, Keith Blackwell and Harold Melton. Front Row L-R Presiding Justice Harris Hines and Chief Justice Hugh Thompson. Handout Photo 7-14-2014

Mason was on his way back to the University on May 5, 2013, but 10 miles off campus when he noticed Zilke was swerving in and out of his lane and driving without lights. He pulled Zilke over and noticed that the young man smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and was unsteady on his feet. Zilke, who said he had drunk two beers, blew into a breathalyzer which registered .08, which is just at the state limit for DUI. Mason charged him with two counts of DUI and operating a vehicle without lights.

June 20, 2016

Police Expect DUI Rise with Marijuana Edibles: How Steep Will the Spike Get?

by Michael Kraut

Advocates for legalizing marijuana in California seem to be gaining supporters, and state voters are likely to see an initiative to change the state’s current ban on the November ballot. If the measure passes, police officers in California are going to have to find a better way to determine whether a driver is guilty of DUI in Los Angeles.

Oregon passed laws permitting the recreational use of marijuana in 2015, the state only recently okayed the sale of marijuana edibles. Police in Salem, Oregon, stepped up their DUI patrols over the first weekend in June, when stores started selling marijuana brownies and other delicacies containing THC.

June 13, 2016

DUI Arrest In Okinawa Leads to U.S. Military Drinking Ban

by Michael Kraut

The arrest of one person for DUI in Los Angeles usually affects several people: the driver, his/her family and his/her coworkers (if the driver ends up spending time in jail). If the driver causes injury or death, the victim’s family also feels the pain. But a single DUI arrest generally does not impact the entire city or state.

On the island of Okinawa, Japan, however, an American sailor’s arrest is having a very large effect on the 19,000 U.S. military personnel stationed there. According to the New York Times, Japanese police are holding Petty Officer Aimee Mejia, age 21, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Mejia allegedly crossed the center line of a highway on the island and struck two other vehicles, hurting a 35-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man.

As a result of the DUI incident, which occurred on June 4th, the U.S. military brass have banned all drinking for its service members in Japan and have confined those on Okinawa to base.

June 10, 2016

Crazy Strange DUI Cases Making Headlines

by Michael Kraut

Celebrity arrests for DUI in Los Angeles attract a great deal of attention, but they are not the only DUI-related incidents making the news. Here’s what’s happening in other areas of the country.

• In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a judge ordered Thomas Candler Felts, 25, to serve from 30 days to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to providing alcohol to a group of Amish teenagers. According to Fox 43 News, Felts had pulled into a parking lot of a convenience store next to the young men, who were riding in a horse-drawn buggy. He talked to them about “Rumspringa,” which is the time when Amish adolescents have more freedom to explore the world outside the Amish culture.

The buggy left the parking lot and traveled down a road, but Felts eventually passed them yelling “Rumspringa.” He then stopped his car abruptly, causing the buggy to crash into his vehicle’s rear. Police called to the scene measured Felts’ BAC at .126.
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June 8, 2016

California Legislators Consider DUI Legislation Related to Interlock Ignition Devices (IIDs)

by Michael Kraut

The Golden State already has many laws dealing with DUI in Los Angeles and its other cities. But state legislators are often looking for ways to refine those statutes with the goal of reducing the number of DUI incidents even further.

For the past several years, Los Angeles, Alameda, Tulare and Sacramento counties have required anyone convicted of a DUI—even first time offenders—to install an ignition interlock device (IID) on their vehicles. According to a study released in December 2015 by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, interlocks prevented 1,900 DUI driving incidents per month in California.

Many legislators want to extend the IID requirement to the entire state, and they are halfway towards achieving that goal. On May 31st, the Senate unanimously passed SB 1046, which requires anyone convicted of DUI in California to install the IID. That bill now goes to the California Assembly, and MADD has promised to lobby for it extensively.

June 6, 2016

Terrifying Highway Encounter: Unlicensed DUI Teen Leads Police on High Speed Chase

by Michael Kraut

A growing number of drivers charged with DUI in Los Angeles and throughout California have been accused of operating under the influence of some drug other than alcohol. In one recent case in Los Banos, California, police arrested a young driver and charged him with operating under the influence of marijuana.

On Friday, May 28th, Los Banos police officers investigating a crash on Dove Street at Highway 165 called on the California Highway Patrol for assistance. According to the Merced Sun Star, a Los Banos officer had pulled over a 1998 Ford Windstar after he saw it swerving on the road. The driver did pull over and opened the sliding door of the vehicle, but then took off at high speed. The officer, who said the vehicle smelled strongly of pot, pursued the vehicle for a short distance, but it drove into an irrigation ditch and hit a dirt embankment.

May 30, 2016

What a Mess: Missouri Legislature Fails to Fix DUI Law

by Michael Kraut

Changes to California’s DUI laws can affect hundreds or even thousands of drivers accused of DUI in Los Angeles.
To that point, consider the big legal dust up currently transpiring in the Show Me state. Missouri legislators recently ended their 2016 legislative session without addressing a typo in regulations regarding calibration of breathalyzers used to measure blood alcohol content. The regulations, written by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, should have read that breathalyzers had to be calibrated to 0.10 percent, 0.08 percent OR 0.04 percent.

Instead the regulations said that the calibration had to be to 0.10 percent, 0.08 percent AND 0.04 percent.

The regulations were in effect from December 30, 2013 until April 2014, when the DHHS corrected the error. Missouri’s Supreme Court ruled that drivers charged with DUI during that time could get their breathalyzer results thrown out as evidence, if the instrument had not been calibrated at all three levels.

According to local reports, however, the court suggested a way that the state legislature could fix the issue. While the Missouri Senate and the Missouri House of Representatives had actually both passed laws to that effect, these different bills were never reconciled.