DUI Near USC or UCLA

October 24, 2012

If Only Your Glendale DUI Punishment Would Be as Lenient: Pittsburgh Steelers’ Alameda Ta’amu Faces Two Games without Pay for DUI… and 14 Other Criminal Charges!

After recently getting arrested for driving under the influence in Glendale – and possibly for other charges on top of that – you face a scary and, quite frankly, fraught legal future.

But the world is unfair.

Sometimes, people can commit truly egregious actions and receive little to no penalties. Consider, for instance, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Alameda Ta’amu, who was arrested early Sunday morning (i.e. Saturday night) for 15 separate criminal charges, including DUI, aggravated assault, misdemeanor accident causing damage, resisting arrest, felony fleeing police, and other assorted “bad stuff.”

A sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review suggested that the Steelers should have cut Ta’amu for the DUI incident. But the management decided just simply to dock his pay for two games. Mike Tomlan, the Steelers’ coach, told a local radio station “we deem his actions as a detrimental effort and we are treating it as such… the other ramifications and so forth of the situation, I am not at liberty to discuss at this time, but we thought it was very important that we act quickly in terms of addressing this and we can focus our efforts on the men that are planning and getting ready to meet this week’s challenge… Obviously, it’s a disturbing incident, one that we take seriously as members of this community.”

How does this all relates back to your Glendale DUI charge?

If you committed far fewer violations than Ta’amu allegedly committed, you can nevertheless wind up with a variety of unpleasant punishments, not limited to a long time behind bars; huge fees and fines; a tremendous spike in the amount of money you pay for car insurance, if you can still get a car insurance; a suspension of your driver’s license; intense probation; and damage to your reputation at work and your social life that may take months or even years to rebuild.

Your Glendale DUI situation may seem unfair – and you may feel a range of emotions including but not limited to depression, overwhelm, frustration, fury, and helplessness. The key to moving forward in your life is to start to understand what options might be available to you.

To that end, you may benefit a lot by getting in touch with attorney Michael Kraut of Glendale’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. As a Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor of Glendale DUI crimes, Mr. Kraut understands on a firsthand basis how prosecutors will likely treat your case, and he can develop a DUI defense that’s most appropriate and that has the best chances of getting the best results.

October 12, 2012

Nightmare on the 10: Bad News Bears Actress, Sammi Kane Kraft, Killed in a Los Angeles DUI Accident

by Michael Kraut

Fatal Los Angeles DUI accidents are always horrific, but they are somehow more so when they involve young people and children.

Last week, Sammi Kane Kraft, one of the stars of the 2005 remake of the movie Bad News Bears (with Billy Bob Thornton as the coach), died when a car she was in got rear ended by a truck on the 10 Freeway at around 1.30 in the morning. Kraft was a passenger in the Audi – her friend, 21-year-old, Molly Kate Adams was driving. Police say that Adams had been driving under the influence in Los Angeles at the time of the crash – she survived with moderate injuries.

Kraft and Adams had been returning from a night out checking out bands, when the tragedy struck.

October 10, 2012

It Should Be Commonsense Not to Allow Your 14-Year-Old Daughter to Drive DUI in Los Angeles…

by Michael Kraut

Just because you’ve recently been arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles doesn’t mean that you have no knowledge of right and wrong or no standards. Far from it! In fact, odds are, you probably resent being lumped in with other DUI defendants!

Understand that there is an enormous spectrum, when it comes to DUI offenses. On the one hand, there are the perennial, serial DUI offenders who get arrested and convicted multiple times. But this “species” of Los Angeles DUI defendant is surprisingly rare, and even people who fall into this category generally deserve more respect, empathy, and support.

On the other end of the spectrum, you can find people who commit minor mistakes – or who actually make no mistakes at all but rather wind up as victims of overzealous officers at Los Angeles DUI check points.

But anyone with a moral compass might wonder about what happened recently up in Napavine, Washington, where local state patrol officers arrested a 14-year-old girl from Portland, who had allegedly flipped a van while driving under the influence. The incident took place the Sunday before last on Interstate 5, near the town of Chehalis.

You might think that this was just a case of a rebellious teenager borrowing her parents’ van and going for a joy ride. Nope. Initial report suggests that circumstances were far weirder. In the van with her was a 51-year-old Portland man and a 16-year-old runaway girl.

The driver and both passengers suffered minor injuries in the rollover. But local reports from KATU suggest that it’s not yet clear how the three people know each other.

The 14-year-old girl, meanwhile, faces charges of driving without a license, driving DUI, and being a minor in possession of marijuana.

Who knows what was actually going on up there?

If you’ve been tasks with defending against similar (or even more severe) charges pursuant to your Los Angeles DUI arrest, you might appreciate the revelation that this case appears to be far more complicated than superficial analysis reveals. Indeed, many DUI cases are wrapped up with strange subtleties, and only a thorough investigation and detailed legal work can help defendants get cleared or at least put up their best possible defense.

Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers spent a significant portion of his life working as a city prosecutor (14 plus years as Senior Deputy District Attorney), so he has a really good feel for how prosecutors like to go after Los Angeles DUI defendants.

Attorney Kraut now uses that knowledge to help people like you with creative, legally taut defenses to their DUI charges. Get in touch with attorney Kraut and his team today to go over what he can do to protect your interests.

October 3, 2012

Please Don’t Say That Your Burbank DUI Arrest Involved Speeds over 120 Miles Per Hour and Small Kids in the Back…

by Michael Kraut

Your recent arrest for driving under the influence in Burbank may have been humiliating, scary, and overwhelming. But hopefully you did not behave as carelessly as 25-year-old Derek L. Greene allegedly behaved. The Rhode Island native was arrested last Sunday night, after local police saw him speeding at 120 miles per hour on Interstate 95, with three kids in the back, ages 2, 3, and 4. Local troopers busted Greene for reckless driving and also tagged him with a DUI charge.

Your situation: uncomfortably similar to Greene’s?

If you just got stopped at a routine Burbank DUI checkpoint and busted for driving slightly over the limit, as defined by California Vehicle Code Sections 23152 (a) or 23152 (b), you might not put yourself in the same ìclassî as Greene. But be careful about ìexonerating yourselfî too quickly. When you drive recklessly – drive while on a cell phone, drive while fatigued, drive while DUI in Burbank, whatever – you’re not just affecting your own fate and the fate of your passengers. You’re potentially impacting strangers on the roads, including small children. So although you might not have driven 120 miles per hour with three small kids in the back – an obvious no-no in everyone’s book – you potentially committed a similar form of intransigence, only more indirectly dangerous.

The question before you now is: how do you clean up from your Burbank DUI arrest?

Obviously, prosecutors can hit you with a battery of charges, ranging from jail time to forced alcohol school to mandatory installation of an interlock ignition device in your car to huge fines and fees and so forth. And all of these punishments can have their own indirect repercussions. For instance, if you lose your California license, how will you get to work or school? How will you live your life?

You need to consider the legal implications – and your needs might be best met by connecting with the team here at Burbank’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Attorney Michael Kraut is a phenomenally experienced Burbank DUI criminal defense lawyer. After being educated at Harvard Law School, Attorney Kraut spent years (14+) working as a city prosecutor. His deep and diverse background helps him to provide extremely thorough and strategic assistance for his clients.

But beyond the immediate implications of your DUI in Burbank arrest, you also may want to think about what the event means in broader terms for your life, safety, and well-being.

For instance, maybe you were unfairly arrested – the breathalyzer test yielded a false positive, and you want to challenge that. If so, the team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help.

But what if this was your fifth arrest for Burbank DUI? What if you’ve gotten in trouble with the law before? If so, you might benefit from some introspection. What created the problems in your life? What can you do to take responsibility and solve your personal crises, so you can avoid getting in trouble in the future and start to build towards the life that you want?

October 1, 2012

Burbank DUI News Blotter: Three Year Jail Sentence for Women Who Caused Three Accidents in Just One Hour

by Michael Kraut

January 10th was not a good day for 23-year old Allison Smolinski. If you’ve been arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank or elsewhere in the Southland, chances are (hopefully) your event was less dramatic and devastating than Ms. Smolinski’s.

According to news reports, Smolinski piloted her 1997 Nissan Pathfinder into three different accidents within a single hour, climaxing with her smashing the SUV into a house in Wheaton, Illinois. People inside the home had been watching TV, and fortunately no one inside was hurt.

But Smolinski suffered a neck injury, and her passenger, a 27-year old male, sustained a major gash to his head. Prior to the explosive conclusion to the accident-spree, Smolinski allegedly smashed a car on Blanchard Street and banged into another car on I-290. Reports suggest that she might also be implicated in a rollover crash on another highway, I-355, where witnesses said that some driver had been “swerving all over the road.”

Smolinski has been in jail since January. Since she has already served several months in prison, and she only need to serve 85% of the total jail sentence per state law, she might be eligible to get parole in only two years or so.

Nevertheless, Smolinski’s situation is a dramatic example of how Burbank DUIs or DUIs anywhere in Southern California or the rest of the country can radically alter one’s future in ways that you could hardly predict. Imagine, for instance, if your family member got hurt or even killed in the rollover accident on I-355. Imagine if Ms. Smolinski had smashed into your home instead of the home on Wheaton Street.

The big question before you is: How can you pick up the pieces of your life and reputation after your Burbank DUI arrest?

This is not an easy question to answer.

In fact, the relevant laws, such as California Vehicle Code Section 23153(a) and 23153(b), which cover injury DUIs in Burbank, are pretty subtle. If you don’t have a respected and compassionate Burbank DUI criminal defense lawyer on your side, such as Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers here in the Valley, you may have a difficult time intuiting the right way to build a defense and fight your charges.

Don’t make a major strategic mistake – get in touch with a member of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today to go over what you can do — and, even more key, what you shouldn’t do — to defend against your charges and start to pick up the pieces after your overwhelming experience.

September 21, 2012

Avoid Long Beach DUI by Using Your New iPhone 5 Safely

by Michael Kraut

No one wants to get charged with Long Beach DUI – or DUI anywhere in Southern California, for that matter. But if you’ve just recently bought a new iPhone 5, and you are drooling over the awesome features and making fun of your friends who still have “dinosaur” iPhones – it might behoove you to engage in a little prophylaxis.

As we talked about in our last blog post, people who text or otherwise manipulate their iPhone 5s while driving – particularly while driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs – are at a highly elevated risk for causing accidents and injuries. To prevent disaster — or to clean up your act after you’ve been charged with Los Angeles DUI — consider these tips for enjoying your iPhone 5 safely:

1. Shut off the phone – and the ringer – for short trips.

You need your iPhone 5 with you to provide an emergency communications channel for your family. But if you’re just hopping in the car for a short jaunt down the 405 — which means that you must be driving in middle of the night, since that’s the only time when the 405 is not log jammed with perpetual sig-alerts! — just turn off the phone. Don’t give yourself the temptation to check your phone or hear a call. Rip the band-aid off.

2. Track your “near misses.”

If you’ve become addicted to texting while driving or chatting on the phone while driving — and you know it’s time to stop before you get hit with a driving DUI while distracted in Long Beach charge — then start to notice/track your bad habits. Any time you catch yourself checking your phone — or even getting the urge to check your phone! — make a mental note, and then write in a journal afterwards about the experience. Get to understand yourself. Without appropriate self-knowledge – into your behaviors, habits, and yearnings – you’re going to be fighting an uphill battle. Pay attention to the triggers that drive you to make dangerous choices, and figure out how to deal with those triggers before you even get behind the wheel.

3. If you’ve gotten into a car crash while DUI in Long Beach or while texting, now is the time to begin to change your ways.

Yes, some damage might have been done – and you might have even caused injuries or damage. And, yes, you may inevitably have to face penalties, such as fines and fees, license suspension, insurance rate bumps, and even jail time. But you can choose to learn lessons from your experience and thus become a safer driver and a better Long Beach citizen.

You don’t have to go through this by yourself!

Connect with the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Long Beach for powerful assistance. Attorney Michael Kraut is a former prosecutor and well respected Long Beach DUI criminal defense lawyer. Get in touch with him and his team to coordinate an appropriate strategy.

September 19, 2012

Even President Obama Cannot Save Amanda Bynes from Los Angeles DUI Charges

by Michael Kraut

Actress Amanda Bynes, star of Easy A and What I Like About You, has encountered some serious Los Angeles DUI troubles.

The CA Department of Motor Vehicles officially stripped her license last week, and prosecutors also formally hammered her with double hit and run counts. Bynes allegedly caused two accidents:

One where she banged in the back of a woman’s Toyota and then drove off, after she unilaterally “assured” the woman that no damage had been done;
One where she smashed into a sheriff’s patrol car with her BMW.

If convicted, Bynes could face up to half a year in jail and a fine of $1,000… on top of the full year license suspension.

Bynes’ response to her April Los Angeles DUI arrest earned her an additional few 15 minutes of fame. First, she refused both the breathalyzer and field sobriety tests, claiming “I don’t drink.” Secondly, and perhaps more infamously, she twittered her case to President Barack Obama: “Hey @BarackObama… I don’t drink…. please fire the cop who arrested me. I also don’t hit and run. The end.”

Bynes has denied any wrongdoing, and she has accused critics in the media of “writing fake stories about me.”

Although many did mock Bynes’ press strategy after her Obama tweet, her angry/impetuous reaction is not uncommon. In fact, most DUI in Los Angeles defendants struggle to communicate their situation to friends, family members, co-workers/clients and the public at large. It’s easy to overreact or underreact — to allow your reputation problems to consume you and to fall victim to additional stress, anxiety and potential legal trouble.

The best antidote to the confusion/frustration is to get strategic representation from a respected Los Angeles DUI criminal defense attorney. Mr. Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers worked as a prosecutor of DUIs and similar cases for the city for nearly 15 years. Prior to that, he attended Harvard Law School.

His sharp but compassionate approach to DUI defense may be just what you need to get your life back in order and to deal with your myriad stresses and potential punishments.

September 12, 2012

Beverly Hills DUI Cop Arrested for Driving Under the Influence… And Crashing into a House While Doing So!

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve recently been charged with a Beverly Hills DUI, you can take some solace from strange news out of Simi Valley. Last Tuesday, an off-duty police officer for the City of Beverly Hills got arrested for DUI after he smashed his pick-up into power pole and house.

The force of the crash was so intense that his vehicle flipped over and landed on a wall. 42-year-old officer Jeffrey Sweet smashed up his car at Blackstock and Royal Avenue in Simi Valley. He complained about pain to responding officers and got treated at a local hospital in Simi Valley. Fortunately, no one else suffered injuries.

Sweet also exhibited the classic symptoms associated with Beverly Hills DUI, allegedly, and he was booked into jail in Ventura County after he got cleared from the hospital. The truck severed a gas line, stimulating a local evacuation. Investigators think that the officer failed to see a curve on Blackstock Avenue. The BHPD helped the Simi Valley police deal with the situation.

If you’ve been arrested for driving under the influence in Beverly Hills, you can probably relate to Sweet’s frustrations and challenges ahead. It is indeed fortunate that no one got hurt in this crash – if you did hurt someone, even mildly, your charges could be escalated from a simple misdemeanor to a felony, pursuant to California Vehicle Code Sections 22153(a) or 22153(b).

Other factors that could complicate your legal situation include:

• Whether it’s your first time arrested for Beverly Hills DUI or whether you are a recidivist;
• Whether you’ve been arrested and convicted of other criminal charges unrelated to driving under the influence;
• How you behaved after you were stopped by police – that is, were you belligerent or did you try to flee the scene;
• Did you cooperate with officers and rescue workers?
• Just how ìunder the influenceî were you?
• How powerful is the evidence that you, indeed, violated the law?

For instance, just because you failed a breathalyzer test – or even a blood test – does not mean that the test effectively measured your degree of DUI. An experienced Beverly Hills DUI criminal defense lawyer, like the Harvard Law School educated Michael Kraut, 8484 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 660B Beverly Hills, CA 90211-3220 Phone: (310) 550-6935, can help you develop a powerful strategy to manage all of your charges and your legal journey ahead. Connect with attorney Kraut today to get experienced assistance.

September 10, 2012

Laguna Beach and Long Beach DUI News – Talan Torriero, Star of Laguna Beach Reality Show, Busted For DUI

by Michael Kraut

25-year-old Talan Torriero was arrested for driving under the influence in Laguna Beach last Wednesday morning. Police pulled him over around midnight, after they saw the reality show star take a left against signs that prohibited left turns. Per the Los Angeles Times, after the police stopped Torriero, they saw signs characteristic of a Long Beach DUI – presumably red, bloodshot eyes; slurred speech; sluggish answers to officer questions, etc.

Torriero was then subjected to DUI field sobriety tests – like the finger-to-nose test, the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk the line test, count backwards by threes test, etc. Apparently, the actor did not exactly pass with flying colors, and he was booked on DUI charges.

Torriero, who works as an actor, is known for his high profile liaisons with Kimberly Stewart (daughter of rocker Rod Stewart) and Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls. His court date has been set for October 15th at Harbor Court in Newport Beach.

August 27, 2012

Sherman Oaks DUI Arrest for Joe Simpson (Jessica Simpson’s Dad)

by Michael Kraut

Fifty four-year-old Joe Simpson, father of iconic singer and TV personality Jessica Simpson, was arrested for driving under the influence in Sherman Oaks earlier this month.

The LAPD tagged Joe around 10 P.M. when they saw him driving strangely on Ventura Boulevard. Officers noticed symptoms of Sherman Oaks DUI and decided to take him to the station. Criminal charges have yet to be filed against Simpson, and the 54-year-old does not have any offences on his record. So his prospects for dealing with the situation seem pretty good. After all, it’s not like he got into an injury DUI in Sherman Oaks – which can be prosecuted as a felony per California Vehicle Code Sections 23153(a) and 23153(b). And there were no other complicating factors, such as multiple priors, evading arrest, hit and run, etc.

Nevertheless, even if you get tagged for something as simple as a misdemeanor Sherman Oaks DUI at a routine DUI checkpoint or traffic stop, the consequences for your career, license, insurance rates, and even personal freedom could be drastic.

For instance:

• You could wind up spending a not insignificant amount of time behind bars;
• You could get your California license suspended;
• Once a conviction is on your record, any crimes you may commit in future can be punished much more harshly.

So Simpson is likely not sweating the fines that he might have to pay: his multi-multimillionaire daughter could probably help him with that. But the crime could influence many other aspects of his life. For instance, if your driver’s license is suspended, your ability to get around L.A. is obviously really limited. Unless you’re wealthy enough to hire a chauffeur to drive you around town every time you want fresh eggs and milk (or whatever), you have a problem.

Likewise, no matter how wealthy you are, the threat of a jail sentence always lurks. No matter how many millions or billions of dollars you have in the bank, you are not immune to Southern California or federal law.

Perhaps you are in a similar situation to Joe’s. Or maybe you’re facing a far more devious and frustrating bind. In either case, you want to find a Sherman Oaks DUI criminal defense attorney who has lot of practical experience and knowledge dealing with your type of case.

More than that… you want to find someone who can help you meet your diverse challenges simultaneously. Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Los Angeles and the Valley has ample experience and resources to help you. Mr. Kraut has a special background, which few others in his industry have. He worked as a prosecutor for the city of Los Angeles for 14 years.

This perspective – along with his Harvard Law School education – has helped Mr. Kraut creatively deal with complex, multidimensional cases. It’s why he is recognized by his peers for his excellent service and why he is often called upon to speak about DUI matters on KCLA News and why he has been featured in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and beyond. Connect with attorney Kraut today to get a free and fair consultation about how to manage your challenges. (121 W Lexington Dr, Glendale, CA 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123)