DUI Expungements

December 17, 2012

Why Do You Keep Getting Arrested for Burbank DUI, Again and Again?

If you were recently arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank – yet again – you’re understandably terrified about what prosecutors might do to you this time. For instance, will they slap you with a felony count per California Vehicle Code section 23153?

You’re right to be concerned.

One might dismiss a single Burbank DUI as a product of bad luck, quirky circumstances, or a single lapse of judgment. However, if you get arrested multiple times, you may want to take a look in the mirror. Why do you keep getting into these situations, and what needs to change?

Obviously, you want to deal with the “legal stuff” in an effective, appropriate manner, as rapidly as possible. However, you also want to pay attention to your recurring patterns. These may be subtle to detect but may ultimately prove vital to solving your longer term issues.

It is often very difficult for us to instantly apprehend our own patterns, since we “live inside” them. Other people can look at us and judge: tell us to take certain actions or avoid certain behaviors. But as the saying goes, “it’s easy for you to say.” Outsiders can make these analyses simply, since they don’t have to live the consequences of said judgments, nor are they emotionally invested in your outcome one way or the other.

Here’s one way to start to understand your Burbank DUI recidivism — to learn the lessons from what’s happened to you, and to translate those lessons into better outcomes.

The first step is to understand WHY you got into your bad situation in the first place. Your intuitive answer may not be “deep” enough to give you this insight. For instance, say you had been partying in Burbank Center late at night, playing pool. You got behind the wheel without appreciating how under the influence you actually were, and then police busted you at a Burbank DUI checkpoint. You might initially think you got in trouble “because I was too lazy to get a ride home.”

Not deep enough! You must probe deeper. Ask yourself WHY.

WHY were you too lazy to get a ride home? Your answer then might be “because I don’t really know anyone in the city who I could trust to take me home and not judge me.” Then probe even deeper – WHY don’t you know anybody? And so forth.

This iterative exercise – asking why, over and over, to get deeper and deeper – inevitably gets you into deeper psychological “stuff.” This “stuff” might be underpinning not only why you made a poor driving decision but also why you might be feeling helpless or unhappy in various aspects of your life. Once you figure out that core reason — that deeper WHY — then you can take steps to address the constraint making your life miserable in many diverse was. Perhaps you just feel really lonely: you need a partner or even a close friend. We all have needs for companionship. Perhaps when you find a partner or a close friend, you’ll have a designated driver the next time. You’ll ALSO no longer feel as sad or helpless, and thus you will intuitively avoid dangerous/reckless situations in the future.

All that said, you have practical legal considerations that need to be addressed ASAP. Recidivism DUI in Burbank can lead to felony counts, long jail sentences, massive license suspensions, and more. Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Burbank can help you understand your legal options and make powerful defensive progress. Connect with attorney Kraut and his team today for a free, honest, and thorough evaluation of your case.

December 12, 2012

Nothing in the World Can Possibly Prepare You for Your Beverly Hill DUI Experience

by Michael Kraut

Whether you were pulled over for Beverly Hills DUI on the corner of Doheny and Wilshire near CVS or stopped on Beverly Drive right near where Islands used to be, you recognize that you’re in serious legal trouble. You need immediate assistance in diverse areas of your life.

Even if “all was well” in your world prior to your Beverly Hills DUI stop, your charges could wreak havoc on your life. You could lose your California driver’s license, get clobbered with massive fees and court costs, and find yourself serving a not-insubstantial amount of time behind bars. If you injured someone while driving DUI, prosecutors could ratchet up your charges pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 23153(a) and 23153(b) — escalate your misdemeanor charges into felony counts. And we haven’t even begun to talk about the longer-term repercussions regarding your professional life, your intimate relationships, your risk for escalated penalties if you ever break the law again, and spikes in your auto insurance rates.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know how this experience will transform your life, career, and capacity to deal with challenges. However, you can take the first step towards transforming this difficult experience into one of growth, self-compassion, and learning. Consider the DUI as an obstacle to a better life as opposed to the end of the line. You survived the event. You have the mental capacity to understand these words. So you already need to consider yourself extremely lucky. Many people who drive DUI in Beverly Hills just like you did (or allegedly did) never survive to get a second chance, get rehabilitated, and make amends to people they hurt or repair the damage they caused.

Attorney Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Beverly Hills would be happy to talk to you about what you can do to start to construct a systematic, intelligent defense to the charges against you. Attorney Kraut is a former prosecutor with a long and detailed history of success. The Harvard Law School educated Kraut also has lots of connections as well as deep, empirically validated insights into how to solve tricky legal issues. Connect with his team today to understand your rights.

August 20, 2012

After Your Burbank DUI, Hopefully, You Did Not Threaten to Kill the Officer Who Stopped You, Like Rick Springfield Allegedly Did…

by Michael Kraut

No doubt, your Burbank DUI arrest was one of the lowest moments of your life.

You’ve always worked hard, tried to do the right thing, and taken care of yourself. But you’ve also faced obstacles that a lot of people have never had to deal with. Now you’re facing a fresh new challenge that has the possibility of resulting in your imprisonment as well as all sorts of other inconveniences, such as fines, the suspension of your driver’s license, mandatory alcohol education classes, a spike in your already nearly usurious auto insurance rates, and on and on.

Take a step outside of your own situation for a second and consider the recent arrest and legal saga of “Jessie’s girl” singer Rick Springfield. If you recall from our reporting from May of 2011, Springfield was busted for DUI in Malibu in his gorgeous classic 63 Corvette.

During the stop, Springfield allegedly threatened to kill the deputy sheriff. If you’ve been reading our blog recently, you will note that this is apparently a common theme now among celebrities pulled over for DUI in Burbank and elsewhere. Consider, for instance, our recent story about country singer Randy Travis, who allegedly told the Texas troopers who pulled him over that he would kill them.

In any event… in spite of the charges against him and other difficulties, Springfield’s DUI case had a happy ending – as far as Springfield is concerned. He managed to cut a plea deal with Los Angeles prosecutors. He plead guilty to a reckless driving charge instead of a DUI.

Springfield, as part of that deal, will have to go to a two month traffic program and endure a 3 year probation stint. Plus, he still got hit with a reckless driving charge – a misdemeanor – so if he gets arrested again for a different crime, he could face serious issues because of his prior.

But there will not be an alcohol impairment charge on his record. He will get to keep his license. He won’t be spending time in jail. And he can begin to reassemble his reputation and move beyond the event.

Can an experienced and respected Burbank DUI criminal defense lawyer do the same for you – get your charges pled down or even dismissed?

So there is no “abstract” answer to this question. Opportunities to build an effective defense could abound. For instance, maybe the Burbank breathalyzer test used on you was flawed in some way or mis-calibrated, in which case you might be able to challenge that evidence. Or maybe the police made a mistake while booking you or did something Unconstitutional. Or maybe you can strategically work out a plea deal by demonstrating contrition and negotiating in a savvy, effective way with prosecutors.

The important thing to remember is that what’s past is past.

You cannot go back in time – even in a car as fast as Springfield’s 63 Corvette String Ray, unless it so happens to be equipped with a flux capacitor, which is highly unlikely. So you need to deal with your situation: what’s “true now” for you.

Odds are, however, that you’ve never faced a problem quite like the one you are facing now.

So what do you do?

You may need an experienced Los Angeles DUI lawyer yourself — someone who the empathy and compassion to listen to you and the experience and track record to get results.

Attorney Michael Kraut of Burbank’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers embodies both those elements. Mr. Kraut’s services embrace what business thinker Jim Collins might describe as the “Genius of the AND” – in that he is both a terrifically smart guy (Harvard Law School educated) and a compassionate advisor who helps clients really understand their challenges on a deep level.

Mr. Kraut would be happy to discuss your case and give you a powerful free consultation.

July 25, 2012

The Same Old Pasadena DUI Story, Different Place: 3 Doors Down Bassist Busted in Mississippi

by Michael Kraut

A Pasadena DUI arrest can be a folly or a tragedy, depending on your perspective.

Often, there are aspects of both folly and tragedy in the story. Consider, for instance, the arrest of Todd Harrell, the 40-year-old bassist for the rock group 3 Doors Down. According to a Mississippi police chief, Harrell was stopped at D’Iberville, MS after he flew through an intersection and hit a pickup truck. Harrell was not wearing his seatbelt.

The bassist just recently left 3 Doors Down due to reported health problems. Harrell helped form the group back in 1996 along with singer Brad Arnold and guitarist Matt Roberts. Harrell’s blood tests and toxicology report are both pending, according to the local Mississippi authorities. He was released on a $1,000 bond.

Fortunately, no one was serious hit or killed in the collision, although Pasadena DUI situations can often unfortunately end in disasters – like serious injury or death. In that case, a charge that ordinarily only be considered a misdemeanor DUI (per CVC 23152(a) or 23152(b)) would be ratcheted up to a felony charge per the Pasadena injury DUI statutes, CVC 23153(a) and 23153(b).

Even if you arrest was relatively straightforward — for instance, say you were stopped at a checkpoint near the 210 and you just barely failed a field sobriety test — you can still face suspension of your California driver’s license for over a year, major fees, court costs, fines, points on your license, a huge spike in insurance rates, and, yes, even jail time. Even first offenders who don’t hurt other people can be compelled to spend serious time behind bars.

And if there was anything that complicated your DUI charge — e.g. you were extremely intoxicated, you hurt someone, you have a conviction for DUI on your record – then prosecutors can really go after you and make your life very challenging. While even the most effective Pasadena DUI criminal defense attorney cannot make miracles happen, your choice of lawyer can be pivotal.

Turn to Pasadena DUI criminal defense lawyer – and former L.A. city prosecutor – Michael Kraut for help. Mr. Kraut has the wherewithal, skills, and resources to put together a powerful defense for you. Connect with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers team today for a free, confidential, and thorough consultation (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899).

June 25, 2012

Pasadena DUI News: Extreme BAC Level Shocks Arizona Cops

by Michael Kraut

Were you recently stopped and arrested for driving under the influence in Pasadena? Did you have to submit to a breath or blood alcohol test? If so, odds are that your BAC was substantially lower than 0.328% – the reported BAC level of a 52-year-old Arizona man caught speeding on County Route 1 in Mohave County, AZ.

According to reports, police pulled Scott Jarc over at around 4 AM and noticed an extreme smell of alcohol coming from his vehicle. “Odor of alcohol” is one of the classic symptoms of Pasadena DUI, by the way.

Jarc admitted to having consumed alcohol earlier in the evening, and field sobriety tests confirmed the suspicions. Jarc’s BAC reading of 0.328% was four times the legal limit for DUI in Pasadena, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b), of 0.08% BAC. As a result of this extreme BAC, he got hit with four different charges, including standard DUI of 0.08%, DUI over 0.15%, and DUI over 0.20%. Authorities said that Jarc was lucky to have survived that amount of alcohol in his system – guidebooks suggest that 0.35% BAC is the equivalent of a surgical anesthetic, and that level can lead to coma or death. At 0.40% BAC, you can suffer respiratory arrest and other serious medical problems, including death.

Jarc’s extreme BAC is actually not the most extreme BAC ever recorded on a DUI driver or other person. In fact, in one of our blog posts about a year ago, we reviewed even more extreme BAC cases – people who allegedly had BAC levels of over 0.80% or even above 1%! Seems impossible, but apparently people have sustained that level of intoxication and survived.

Bouncing back after a Pasadena DUI charge is not easy to do, particularly if your charge is complex or confusing. The positive news, if that’s even an appropriate word to use, is that the professionals at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Pasadena (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899) can help you manage your next steps effectively. Michael Kraut is an ex-prosecutor for Los Angeles – he actually served as a Senior Deputy District DA. Connect with Attorney Kraut today for an immediate, complete, and stress-reducing complimentary consultation about what to do next.

February 20, 2012

Long Beach DUI News Blotter: Mel Gibson DUI Arresting Officer Settles Suit for 50K

by Michael Kraut

The Long Beach DUI news was rather pedestrian last week—but not the DUI news out of Malibu.

No, Mel Gibson did not get arrested yet again for driving under the influence on the PCH. However, the deputy who arrested him that fateful night back in 2006 has won a settlement of $50,000 in a religious discrimination lawsuit related to the Gibson stop.

Deputy Mee is Jewish. Allegedly, Gibson ripped into him with anti-Semitic comments, after Mee pulled him over. According to a Fox News report, “Mee… claims his superiors forced him to remove the anti-Semitic comments made by the actor at the time from a report… he later received negative performance reviews and was denied promotion opportunities.”

The settlement marks a victory for Mee. Earlier, a judge doubted that he would be able to prove his case. The judge had said that Gibson and Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca would not be called as witnesses.

Gibson expunged his Los Angeles DUI conviction in 2009, after he served his sentence. His public persona was damaged, particularly because of the alleged anti-semitic tirade. In 2011, Gibson again made national headlines when his taped rants against his ex-girlfriend were released on celebrity blog sites. Gibson sounded totally unhinged and scary on those tapes.

As the Gibson story illustrates, the quest to put your Long Beach DUI behind you can be an elusive one.

You may find success in the short-term only to relapse and be rearrested for DUI in Long Beach a month or a year or 5 years later. And every time you get arrested or get into trouble with the law, you are more likely to face steep fines and punishments.

As your Los Angeles DUI attorney will tell you, first-time offenders for misdemeanor DUI charges can face a large number of penalties (jail time, mandatory alcohol school, CA driver’s license suspension, major court costs and fines, etc). But these penalties pale in comparison to penalties for repeat offenders. For instance, if you commit three more DUIs within a 10-year period, your simple misdemeanor charge can get transformed into a felony charge. If convicted of that, you could face over a year in jail and other harsh punishments.

Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) will help you work through your struggles and develop the most reasonable, most strategic defense based on the facts of your arrest, your history, and your values.

Attorney Kraut is a former prosecutor with a Harvard Law School education who is well known in the community as a compassionate, yet aggressive, legal representative.

January 2, 2012

Direct Burbank DUI Penalties: The Scary Stuff You Fear Most

by Michael Kraut

If you or someone you care about has recently been pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank or elsewhere in Southern California, you are likely focused on potential penalties.

The punishments will depend on a vast and diverse constellation of factors. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the “level one” penalties you might expect. Southern California DUI penalties transcend simple issues of jail time, fees, and inconvenience. Unless you identify the root cause of your trouble and work with a responsible Burbank DUI criminal defense attorney, your crisis may only grow bigger.

But enough gloom and doom. Let’s get down to brass tacks. If you are a first time Burbank DUI offender and you get charged with a misdemeanor, the court can still impose a fearsome array of penalties. You may be held for 48 hours in custody with the possibility of up to six months behind bars. Your maximize fine: $1,000… on top of court costs, which can, in and of themselves, be way more than $1,000.

Your CA drivers license can be suspended for a full year. The court can impose six weeks (up to nine months) of alcohol school. You might face probation, both formal and informal, and, as of July 1, 2010, you may be forced to blow into a device called an interlock ignition device every single time you want to drive your car. Basically, the IID stops you from driving your car if you have alcohol on your breath.

The penalties for second-time, third-time, and fourth-time DUI offenders within 10 years ratchet up substantially. Again, the degree to which they will be elevated depends on the nature of the offense and the circumstances. For instance, if you just collect two, non-injury misdemeanor DUIs within an eight-year period, you may be able to battle back pretty effectively. On the other hand, if you hurt someone while driving DUI in Burbank, you may be subject to extra penalties under CVC 23153 (a) and 23153 (b). If you prove to be a recidivist offender, you could be forced to spend up to a year in jail, or your misdemeanor could be even be converted to a felony, and you could be forced to spend even longer behind bars.

You don’t need a blog post to make these penalties sound foreboding and scary.

The threat of jail time alone is enough to terrify most ordinary Angelenos. The threat of fines and court costs is disheartening and terrifying in its own right, particularly if you have a mortgage to pay, creditors nipping at your heels, kids in school, etc. The threat of having your license suspended is obviously horrifying. In Los Angeles, we depend on our cars to go to work, meet our obligations, and go grocery shopping. The threat of probation is annoying at best and a massive inconvenience at worst. Going to alcohol school is also inconvenient, even if it can be useful.

For help piecing together your best Burbank DUI defense, connect with attorney Michael Kraut at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810). Connect with this former prosecutor today to begin your journey to protect yourself against these frustrating and scary penalties.

October 6, 2011

Pasadena DUI Process Waiting Game: How to Breathe Easier While Waiting for Big Decisions to Come Down

by Michael Kraut

Whether you were recently arrested for a misdemeanor Pasadena DUI or busted after a vivid and scary multi-car accident sent you and several other people to the hospital, chances are you are facing a gnawing feeling of uncertainty about your future. It is often worse “not to know” what will happen to you than it is actually to get punished, because you don’t know when the hammer will fall or how hard.

This post will explore this “uncertainty problem” and suggest a potent remedy to help you feel more in control of your life and your future.

Defining the Problem: Which is Worse – “Uncertain Outcomes” or “Bad Outcomes”?

The conventional wisdom will have you believe that ambiguity is not so bad, and what we really want to avoid are bad decisions and failure. In other words, human beings are rational operators. We strive for positive results, tolerate ambiguity, and kick ourselves when things don’t go our way. Indeed, much of our experience superficially supports this hypothesis.

But as anyone who has been through Pasadena DUI field sobriety tests will tell you, the worst part of the DUI experience is waiting to see whether you will be punished – and, if so, how badly. Once you hear the news – whether it’s good news, bad news, or something in between – your mind begins to process your new reality and helps you make sense of your situation. When you are left in limbo, on the other hand, your mind has nothing to cling to, and it engages in all sorts of wild scenario-making, considering both catastrophic scenarios and “too good to be true” scenarios.

Without some grounding in reality, your brain will explore the highs, the lows, and everything in between, creating fruitless exhaustion, stress, anger, and depression. This isn’t to say that you are bound to feel “good” if the judge hands down a harsh sentence and, for instance, mandates that you install an interlock ignition device. You might still feel crummy. But at least you can see the outline of your punishment and begin to think about life after it.

As a 2008 study published in the journal Psychological Science found, highly neurotic people, in particular, have difficulty dealing with uncertainty. Jacob Hirsch, a researcher at the University of Toronto, summarizes the findings of this study: “Objectively speaking, uncertainty is better than clearly negative information, but this is not true for people who are highly neurotic…those people do not deal with uncertainty very well.”

And one may make the case that certain events – e.g. getting arrested for driving under the influence in Pasadena – might make almost anyone temporarily neurotic.

Beyond the Uncertainty – Light at the End of the Tunnel

A Pasadena DUI defense attorney, such as the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’ Michael Kraut (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899), cannot banish all of the uncertainty from your future in one fell swoop.

But Attorney Kraut has helped many people in similarly complicated, emotionally difficult, and technically challenging legal situations, and you can draw on his powerful knowledge and experience as a former city prosecutor (14-plus years as a Los Angeles Senior Deputy District Attorney). He will help you unravel your challenges, make sense of your opportunities, and eliminate that nagging, pestering uncertainty that’s keeping you up at night, making you anxious, and impeding your ability to create a vision for your future. A Pasadena DUI should not mark the end of your life – it’s merely a challenge, and even an opportunity, to grow and become a better, more productive, more compassionate citizen.

August 25, 2011

Pasadena DUI Penalties for Six-time DUI Offenders – Do they Match Penalties for Greenville, South Carolina, Offenders?

by Michael Kraut

What might happen if you got arrested and charged with driving under the influence in Pasadena six times in a single calendar year?

What might that experience teach you?

Let’s not jump to conclusions. There is always the possibility that you were just unlucky. Or maybe a local police officer has it out for you because you two got into a bar fight once, and he hasn’t let the grudge go. It’s possible. But if you’ve been arrested and charged with DUI six separate times in a single year – like Greenville, South Carolina, resident Warren Brooks – maybe it’s time to have a serious heart-to-heart with a therapist to find out what’s at the core of your bad decision making and risky behavior.

That’s right – this actually happened to somebody.

Accordingly to WSOCTV.com (a South Carolina-based TV station website), Brooks was pulled over and arrested for DUI six times within a calendar year.

Here is a quote: “Brooks’ first driving the under influence charge occurred in August 2010. The second charge came in May. His third and fourth followed within two weeks. The fifth charge in June involved a hit and run, and he had to post higher bond amounts of $25,000 for DUI and $10,000 in the hit and run charge. The sixth DUI charge was in July, according to police reports and court records.” Greenville County Chief Prosecutor Walt Wilkins criticized Brooks’ behavior: “This is one of the most egregious cases that we’ve seen in a long time…obviously, he has an issue with alcohol.”

Brooks’ lawyer publicly stated that his client has never been in legal trouble prior to this spate of charges: “He is a very intelligent man…his life just spiraled out of control.”

Look, sometimes in life we face unlucky streaks: we make bad decisions often. That’s life.

Unfortunately for defendants, Pasadena DUI penalties ratchet up every time you are convicted of an offense. For instance, if you are a first time offender, you might face a misdemeanor. The consequence could be dire, but not end-of-the-world dire: 40 hours in jail, $1,000 fine on top of court costs, six weeks to nine months of DUI alcohol school, one year suspended license, mandatory installation of an interlock device in your car in some cases, and tough probation terms.

But if you are arrested for a second time, third time, fourth time, or, unbelievably, sixth time, the penalties become harsher. For instance, a fourth-time Pasadena DUI offender – someone who commits four DUIs within a 10-year span — faces a minimum of 180 days in a jail, just for a misdemeanor! Stack on: a four-year license suspension, 30 months of alcohol school, three year license suspension, and a variety of other punishments, including the possibility of escalating that misdemeanor charge to a felony.

Once you get on this rollercoaster of multiple charges and losing control in general, it’s hard to hit the metaphorical brakes in your life.

That’s why attorney Michael Kraut of Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899) is a strong advocate for strategic defense thinking. You need to think long term. It’s not just about getting yourself exonerated from, or minimizing, your current penalties. Yes, those are important. But your challenge is also about probing deeper, trying to identify the fundamental causes driving your Pasadena DUIs or criminal behavior, addressing those, rebuilding your confidence, and getting your life back on track. You don’t have to figure this out all on your own. A Pasadena criminal defense attorney can help you understand your rights and figure out what to do next.

May 2, 2011

Beverly Hills DUI Drama No More (At Least for Christina Aguilera’s BF – Not So Much for Lindsay Lohan)

by Michael Kraut

Last week’s news about driving under the influence in Beverly Hills was not all about Lindsay Lohan – although the blogosphere did once again erupt in an avalanche of comments after Lohan got sentenced to serve her community service as a janitor at a morgue.

If you’re like most people, you’re probably sick and tired of hearing “Lohan, Lohan, Lohan” all the time – and you would like some more diverse stories about things like Glendale DUI, driving under the influence in Pasadena, Los Angeles DUI, and DUI in Burbank.

Some good news on the DUI front – at least for pop star Christina Aguilera, whose boyfriend, Matthew Ruthler, will not be charged with the crime of DUI. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office rejected the prosecution’s case against Ruthler, citing insufficient evidence. To recap: on March 1, police pulled Ruthler over on suspicion of DUI. He blew a breathalyzer reading of 0.06% – 0.02% under the Beverly Hills DUI limit of 0.08%, as quantified by California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (b).