DUI Field Sobriety Tests

July 17, 2013

Sam Donaldson Pleads Not Guilty to DUI Charge. Los Angeles Pundits React…

You might be surprised by the size of the list of “upright” celebrities, politicians, and public figures who’ve been arrested and convicted of driving under the influence in Los Angeles.

Veteran ABC News political correspondent and reporter, Sam Donaldson, for instance, got tagged for DUI last December in Delaware. Donaldson, by all accounts, seems to be the archetype of a sober headed, rational person. In addition to serving as a prominent ABC News correspondent during the Carter and Regan administrations, he also co-hosted a series of news programs with Diane Sawyer (“PrimeTime Live”) as well as a Sunday broadcast (“This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts”).

Nevertheless, Donaldson, like Nick Nolte and the ever-in-the-tabloids Lindsay Lohan, recently found himself blowing into a Los Angeles breathalyzer test, getting put into a cop car, and winding up behind bars.

In almost every respect, the 78-year-old defies the “stereotype” of someone arrested for DUI in Los Angeles. But there he was. (Okay, technically, he was arrested in Delaware. But still!).

He allegedly cooperated politely with officers, when they stopped him on Savannah Road on December 1st. Cops put him through the paces of a field sobriety test — probably similar to Los Angeles FSTs: e.g. finger to the nose test, stand on one leg test, walk the line test, horizontal gaze nystagmus test, etc.

On April 22nd, during his arraignment, he pled not guilty and asked for a non-jury trial. (He also faces a charge of improper lane change.) His DUI case will be heard on June 10th in Sussex.

As someone who’s recently been arrested for DUI, you likely feel pretty alone and isolated, even though your family has been understanding and empathetic. You never thought of yourself as the “type of person” who would get into trouble like this, and you’re scared and confused about what to do next.

Fortunately, former Los Angeles City prosecutor, Michael Kraut, and his adept team are standing by to help you come to terms with your charges and make an effective action plan to build a strong DUI defense. Connect with Harvard Law School educated Kraut and his team to get good help now.

June 24, 2013

Pasadena DUI Ridiculousness – Man Zipped by DUI Checkpoint at 70 Miles per Hour … to Get to Waffle House!

by Michael Kraut

If you got stopped at a DUI checkpoint in Pasadena, hopefully you had a better excuse than 50-year-old Steve Gosa, of Buford, Georgia. According to local reports from the Gwinnett County Police, Gosa awoke in the middle of the night on April 15 with a hankering for Waffle House.

He cruised passed a sobriety checkpoint on Braselton Highway, going 70 miles per hour in a 45 miles per hour zone — “then crossed over into the center lane, getting half the vehicle in the other lane” — according to the local police report.

An officer unsurprisingly took off after him and chased him into the parking lot of a local Publix Grocery Store, on the corner of Braselton Highway and Hamilton Mill Road.

One of the big symptoms of DUI in Pasadena is the “odor of alcohol,” and that’s exactly what this officer first noted about Gosa. Gosa admitted that he was heading to Waffle House because he woke up really hungry. He did not admit to consuming any alcohol.

Obviously, Waffle House’s waffles (and the other food there) is quite yummy. It’s certainly understandable why someone would want to head down to get waffles that have been smothered, covered, slathered, etc. Also, Waffle has a jukebox that plays some really fun, kitschy songs, extolling the glories of waffles.

Nevertheless, no matter how hungry you are, you are not allowed to drive DUI in Pasadena or anywhere else. Not to a Waffle House. Not to an IHOP. Not to any place at all.

Gosa surely understood this, after he failed his field sobriety test and got booked on DUI charges and a charge of an improper lane change. He made his $2074 bond that day, but he undoubtedly has a long road to face, legally speaking.

So what lessons does this Waffle House drama hold for you, if you’ve likewise been tagged for driving under the influence in Pasadena (or elsewhere)?

First of all, appreciate that, if you said something dumb or untoward to a police officer, you’re not the first person to make such an error. Strive to be compassionate with yourself and avoid beating yourself up too much for what happened.

Second of all, understand that your misjudgment has landed you in legal hot water. You may face charges per California Vehicle Code Section 23152 or even 23153 (the CVC for injury DUI).

Lastly, know that you CAN start taking responsibility and being strategic about how you approach your case. An astute, well-formed defense can help you get out of trouble – or at least minimize your punishments. Get in touch with well-established Los Angeles DUI defense attorney, Michael Kraut, today to explore your options and create an effective defense.

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 10, 2013

Celebrity Pasadena DUI News: Cat Cora Arrest Videos Surface: Host Makes Fun of “Two Nerds” She Hit While DUI

by Michael Kraut

We’ve covered some pretty hairy and scary Pasadena DUI mug shots on this blog.

Even if you’ve been hiding under a rock over the past decade, you likely still remember Nick Nolte’s grizzled DUI visage from several years ago. He looked like he had just gotten out of bed.

On the other end of the spectrum, you probably also remember Cat Cora’s humdinger of a mug shot from last year. The host of Iron Chef and “Around the World in 80 Plates” got stopped for DUI in Santa Barbara last July, after she bumped another vehicle from behind.

Her unusually gorgeous mug shot likely made the folks at TMZ literally dizzy with excitement over how many website hits they would get. Even though Cora said she only consumed three beers before she got behind the wheel, breathalyzer test results found her BAC to be a whopping 0.19%. Just for comparison: The legal limit for Pasadena DUI is 0.08% BAC, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (b).

Maybe Cora miscounted her beers. Or maybe her breathalyzer test had been off.

In any event, she later apologized for what happened in a statement: “I deeply regret my decision to drive that evening, after my designated driver became unavailable. I learned a very important lesson from this experience and take full accountability for my actions.”

That sober, reflective Cora was very different from the Cora that surfaced recently in a video taken right after the crash. The people inside the car that Cora hit shot some crazy footage of Cora, who apparently glibly dismissed their request for insurance information. “Just because I bumped your car?” she asked, indignantly.

She didn’t stop there:

“I’m being videotaped by two nerds who don’t want to go have dinner together … do something exciting with their lives … really … wow … sad.”

This kind of over-the-top reaction is surprisingly common in DUI cases in Pasadena and elsewhere. It’s not that offenders want to get into more trouble or hassle people. It’s that they are scared, confused, and emotionally ginned up. If, like Cora, you said or did “bad things” after your stop, do the right thing now and start researching effective legal help as soon as you can.

Michael Kraut of Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is here to help you gather yourself, make sense of the charges, and resolve your stresses, anxieties, and concerns. Get in touch with Mr. Kraut and his responsible Pasadena DUI legal defense team today for much needed peace of mind.

May 1, 2013

Lucky for Yovani Gallardo, Brewers Pitcher Got Arrested in Milwaukee, Not Burbank, for DUI

by Michael Kraut

A first offense for driving under the influence in Burbank is punishable as a misdemeanor (or felony if you hurt someone). But a first time DUI in Wisconsin is just a citation.

That’s probably very good news to Yovani Gallardo, a pitcher for Milwaukee Brewers who was busted last Tuesday on a Milwaukee highway near Miller Park. His BAC – at least according to a breathalyzer test – was a monumental 0.22%.

To put that in perspective (long time readers know this), that’s nearly thrice the legal limit for DUI in Burbank of 0.08%. A local sheriff said that Gallardo was swerving between lanes on the freeway. He was going substantially under the 55 mile per hour speed limit (around 40 miles per hour), which can be a “red flag” for police officers. While some DUI drivers speed, others go way too slowly – either approach can be extremely dangerous and cause accidents.

The Brewers released a statement re: Gallardo’s arrest: “we have expressed our disappointment to him and he understands that behavior of this nature is of great concern to everyone in the organization. Yovani has acknowledged the seriousness of this incident and is taking full accountability for his actions.”

The 16-game winner (from 2012) lost a brutal battle to St. Louis just three days before his arrest. His ERA in 2013 stands at an unfortunate 6.61. Gallardo is not the only Brewer who’s struggling. The team as a whole racked up 32 consecutive innings without scoring before their Tuesday game. They have the worst record in the Central Division. Gallardo will have to pay fines for unsafe driving and DUI driving. But certainly worst things could have happened.

So how do you defend against a Burbank DUI charge?

The answer obviously depends hugely on the minute details of your arrest.

In some cases, it might make sense to challenge the breathalyzer test results. For instance, say you blew 0.10 or 0.09% – i.e. you were just above the cusp for DUI. If you’re also diabetic or on a strange diet that could have affected your breath ketone levels (ketones are chemicals that can interfere with breath tests), you and your Burbank DUI defense lawyer might think long and hard about whether to challenge the results.

On the other hand, if, like Gallardo, you blew 0.22% BAC, you’re going to have a much harder time breaking down the breath test (unless you can find some flagrant problem with it, such as a major calibration error or police incompetence/unconstitutional move). That doesn’t mean that “all hope is lost.” But it does mean that you need to calibrate your defense sensitively to the specifics of your arrest, your criminal background and other “you specific” factors.

Fortunately, a thorough, highly knowledgeable Burbank DUI defense attorney with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you. Get in touch with Attorney Michael Kraut and his team right now to get started on the path to rehabilitation and getting your life back.

April 25, 2013

Hollywood DUI Mega Drama – Reese Witherspoon Arrested for Disorderly Conduct After Husband, James Toth, Gets DUI

by Michael Kraut

Our Hollywood DUI story of the week is clearly the Reese Witherspoon incident. The “Legally Blonde” actress didn’t nab the DUI, though. That honor goes to her husband, CAA uber-agent, James Toth.

Witherspoon and Toth had been in Atlanta, where the actress was shooting a movie (The Good Lie), when an Atlanta trooper saw Toth’s Ford Focus weaving in and out of lanes. Trooper First Class, J. Pyland, 42, stopped the vehicle. He reported that Toth’s eyes looked bloodshot and that his clothing looked disheveled.

After the agent allegedly failed his field sobriety tests, Pyland gave him a breathalyzer test. Toth blew a 0.139% BAC, which is nearly double the limit for Hollywood DUI of 0.08%, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b). (Even though the couple got arrested in Atlanta, the “0.08% limit” is basically the national standard.)

The drama did not stop with Toth’s arrest, however.

Witherspoon allegedly stuck her head out the window and lashed out at Pyland, accusing him of not being “a real police officer.”

Per Pyland’s report: “I told Mrs. Witherspoon to sit on her butt and be quiet.” When she refused and instead got out of the vehicle — exercising her self-declared right to “stand on American ground” — Pyland handcuffed her. He wrote: “I put my hands on Mrs. Witherspoon’s arms to arrest her…[she] was resistant, but I was able to put handcuffs on her without incident due to Mr. Toth calming her.”

Witherspoon allegedly asked him “Do you know my name?” He said he didn’t. She told him “You are about to find out who I am…you are going to be on national news.” The officer impounded their car and sent both Toth and Witherspoon to jail in Atlanta.

A passenger in the back – who has not been identified yet – went home in a cab.

The celebrity power couple made bail the next morning, and Witherspoon’s attorney hammered out a deal to prevent her from getting a criminal conviction by doing a pretrial intervention program. She will need to check in with the judge on May 22nd to determine her compliance with the program.

The 37-year-old actress did walk on the Red Carpet at the NYC premiere of her new film, Mud, but she did not give fodder to the media afterwards by taking questions.

Mrs. Witherspoon’s post-arrest trauma overshadowed Toth’s DUI arrest. Lucky, in some sense, for him: it’s a pretty big deal when a major Hollywood agent gets arrested for DUI in Hollywood. It’s a bigger deal – at least from the national media’s perspective – when an actress of Witherspoon’s stature winds up behind bars.

Implications for your Hollywood DUI defense

This story does a good job of highlighting how no one is above the law. And no one is above doing “stupid things” before, during, or after a Hollywood DUI arrest. In the sober light of day, it’s easy to regret what you did or didn’t do. The challenge now for you is to figure out how to make your life simpler and how to be strategic going forward.

Connect with the Hollywood DUI attorneys at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to understand the implications of your arrest and develop a strategy. Mr. Kraut is a Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor with the means and technique to provide you an excellent defense.

April 23, 2013

Al Michaels, Sportscasting Icon, Busted for DUI in Santa Monica

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve recently been arrested for DUI in Santa Monica, you have company — famous company. In particular: legendary sportscaster, Al Michaels, who was busted last Friday night, after he made an illegal U-turn right in front of a police manning a DUI checkpoint.

The officers quickly pulled over the Sunday Night Football play-by-play man and gave him a blood alcohol test. Curiously, he was right at the cusp of the legal limit – 0.08% BAC exactly. Apparently, he was extremely nice to the officers, and he cooperated. Nevertheless, they booked him on suspicion of DUI and held him behind bars for five hours before releasing him on his own recognizance. NBC Sports spokesman, Greg Hughes, said “we are aware of the situation and we have been in contact with Al…we have no further comment at this time.”

The Emmy Award winning sportscaster has a court date on June 26th.

Michaels is probably best known for calling the so-called “miracle on ice” hockey game at the 1980 Olympics (where the U.S. team underdogs triumphed over the Soviet Union) as well as calling Game Three of the 1989 World Series, which got interrupted by an earthquake.

Santa Monica Police Department’s public information officer, Sgt. Richard Lewis, recounted the events for the media: “[Michaels] makes an illegal U-turn in the business district…two officers see that. They are staged in a gas station lot, they see the illegal U-turn, and they go after him.”

Lewis said that, after they stopped him, they “smelled alcohol” and put Michaels through the paces of a field sobriety test.

The Santa Monica PD put out a news release on April 12 announcing a driver’s license/DUI checkpoint on Friday (at an undisclosed location), citing the fact that “over the course of the past year, traffic collisions involving impaired drivers/riders were involved in 91 collisions, which have killed 3 and injured 28 people.”

Figuring out what to do after your Santa Monica DUI arrest

Whether you got behind the wheel while returning from a day at the Pier and Promenade; or got stopped on Montana while coming back from a Hollywood exec’s private party, you’re anxious about your future. You want straight talk about what to do next.

Fortunately, Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to help you untangle your mess and give you sound strategic DUI defense advice. Get in touch with the former Senior Deputy District Attorney and Harvard Law School educated Kraut today to craft a resilient defense.

January 23, 2013

Criminal Minds Actor Now a Criminal Defendant: Thomas Gibson Busted for Driving Under the Influence in Downtown Los Angeles

by Michael Kraut

If you were recently arrested for driving under the influence in downtown Los Angeles or USC, you may relate to the travails of 50-year old Thomas Gibson, a local actor famous for his roles in Dharma & Greg and Criminal Minds.

On January 6, Gibson steered his Audi SUV onto a race course sectioned off from traffic. Witnesses told news sources that Gibson scared several runners in the half-marathon.

Fortunately, no one was hit or injured.

When police asked Gibson to take a different route, he failed to heed their warnings and drove off. Ultimately, the police stopped him under suspicion of Los Angeles DUI at 1:37 a.m. Police noticed that Gibson had the odor of alcohol on his breath. The actor refused to take a breathalyzer test. The police took him into custody and held him on a bail of $15,000.

It’s understandable why Gibson might have refused the breathalyzer test.

As we’ve discussed multiple times before, breathalyzers yield surprisingly inaccurate results, given their ubiquity both in real life and “in the movies.” Breathalyzer tests, for instance, do not discriminate between men and women. They can yield artificially false positives if you blow into them too hard. In other words, let’s say you’ve had a few drinks, but you’re not technically over the legal limit for Los Angeles DUI, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b), of 0.08% BAC.

Perhaps your “real” BAC is more along lines of 0.06% — borderline, but not over the limit.

A police officer, however, may ask you to blow as hard as you can into the breathalyzer. So you do, but because you blow so hard, you force the machine to give you a reading of, say, 0.09% BAC. Now you’re considered technically “over the limit,” and you could be prosecuted and convicted of a misdemeanor – or a felony under certain circumstances – and subject to all sorts of horrific punishments, such as jail time, the stripping of your CA license, fines and fees, and other inconveniences.

Breathalyzers can also be thrown off if you’re on a special weight loss diet.

When the body goes into so-called “fat burning mode” – and/or if you’re a type II diabetic – your body produces metabolic compounds known as ketone bodies. When you have enough of these ketone bodies floating around in your system, they can influence a breathalyzer test and fool the test into thinking that you’re under the influence, even when you’re stone-cold sober or just borderline. For instance, a ketogenic dieter who has a real BAC of 0.06% might end up tripping a positive for DUI because of her metabolic byproducts.

If you or somebody you know has experienced a legal crisis that’s similar to Thomas Gibson’s, consider getting in touch with the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Michael Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who is well-known and respected for his insight and successes with DUI cases. News sources like the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, KTLA and CBS all routinely ask Mr. Kraut for his opinions on important DUI stories, and he has won respect not only from clients, but also from judges and prosecutors.