DUI Probation Violation

March 26, 2012

Glendale DUI Lessons: Recognizing Your Patterns

Getting stopped, arrested and prosecuted for driving under the influence in Glendale is no picnic. Even if you emerge successfully from the experience – you manage to get the charges dropped or manage to get a favorable plea bargain – you likely you will have to spend significant time, money, effort and worry to right your ship. It’s easy to think of the experience as an ordeal – as a horrible thing you have to go through. And it may be. But you could also look at the challenges before you in a different light – think of them as opportunities to learn more about yourself, to grow, and to surface and eliminate negative beliefs and bad habits that have been holding you back from living a satisfying, fulfilling, productive life.

As any Los Angeles DUI attorney will tell you, the consequences of failing to surface and rectify these fundamental bad habits or misplaced beliefs can be pretty dire. If you’re arrested and convicted multiple times for Glendale DUI, for instance, your fines, fees, jail time, alcohol school penalties, probation terms, and et cetera can escalate wildly. If you’re convicted of a misdemeanor like DUI three times or more within ten years, prosecutors may be able to leverage California law to transmute what an ordinarily might be a misdemeanor into a felony. The difference between a felony and a misdemeanor is huge – it could mean a massively longer jail sentence, for instance.

Given all that, it certainly makes sense to try to fix your bad habits or proclivities before they cause you future problems. This is a challenge that’s aside and apart from the specific challenges that your Glendale DUI criminal defense attorney will help you work out. So how do you surface the fundamental causes of your troubles? And once you do surface them, what can you do to eliminate them or get beyond them somehow?

These are tough questions, and obviously there is no one size fits all answer here. But here’s one interesting exercise you can try. Get out a piece of paper and write down one behavior or act that you’ve committed in the past two weeks that you regret — that you believe might have caused you significant trouble. You can pick your Glendale DUI arrest, if you want. And then ask yourself a simple question: Why did you do it? What was the reason you drove DUI or got arrested or did whatever it was that you did that you now regret?

You might contrive an answer to the effect of: “I don’t know. I just wasn’t thinking and I was tired and I wanted to get home.” The next step is to ask yourself why you did that. Why did you “stop thinking” when you got so tired? Your answer will hopefully get you closer to the root cause. You might say something to the effect of “I don’t know. When I party, my judgment goes out the window a little bit.” So you would ask yourself “why” to that – drilling down deeper and deeper to get at your root proclivity. You might eventually get down to something to the effect of “I have a difficult time controlling my impulses.”

By drilling down like this – asking why and why and why over and over again – we’re often able to surface the root of a behavior that we would like to change. Once you know that you have impulse control problems, for instance, you can seek help for those problems, using therapy, hypnosis, meditation, or whatever, to change your fundamental beliefs and come more in line with how you want to be.

Of course, this “drilling down” exercise aside, you probably want immediate and actual advice about what to do regarding your Glendale DUI. Los Angeles DUI attorney Michael Kraut of Glendale’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (121 W Lexington Dr, Glendale, CA 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123) is here to take your call, provide a free consultation, and to help you build a compelling, aggressive, systematic strategy to get results.

February 27, 2012

Are Glendale DUI Defendants Being Treated Fairly?

by Michael Kraut

The typical Glendale DUI defendant often has a lot to complain about. Sketchy police behavior, a daunting bureaucracy, and less than sympathetic colleagues and family members can make your situation more complicated and fraught than it already is. However, the real problem may lie even deeper.

Say you have substance abuse issues. You might diagnose yourself as “addicted” to substances like alcohol, narcotics, pain killers, prescription drugs, et cetera. So the question of whether you’re being “treated fairly” has a double meaning. Are you being “treated fairly” by the Los Angeles DUI defense system? Are you being “treated fairly” for Glendale DUI rehab?

Addiction: Caused by Powerlessness… or a Misplaced Attempt to Empower?

As any Los Angeles DUI attorney will tell you, the dominant treatment for drug and alcohol addiction is the 12 step program. One animating principle behind this approach is that addicts must admit that they are “powerless” over drugs and alcohol to regain control. Most treatment approaches build off this assumption. We believe that behaviors like drinking too much or eating too much or doing anything else in excess stem from impulse control. Unless you acknowledge that you are “acting out” in a destructive way – and work towards suppressing that “acting out” – you’ll likely fail to get your problems under control.

The bottom line: you’re likely to become a Glendale DUI recidivist. As we have talked before on this blog, the more times you get arrested for Glendale DUI, the more trouble you can get into – a person who gets a third misdemeanor conviction within 10 years, for instance, can see their charges bumped from misdemeanor to felony.

An alternate point of view suggests that addictive behaviors are rooted in our need for empowerment. Think back to the last time you “craved” a drink or a smoke or even some time to play video games on the internet. Odds are, you probably had an unhappy or frustrating thought prior to that impulse. Maybe you fought with your boss or spouse. Or maybe you got cut off in traffic.

Once you make the decision to have a drink — to do the addictive behavior — you automatically start to feel better. Taking this action reestablishes your sense of power and control over your life. Think about what that means! You are inspired to take these destructive actions because you need MORE power over your life – not less! Thus, treatment approaches rooted in trying to strip you or your power are going to encounter resistance, since they’re approaching the situation backwards. You need better STRATEGIES for finding how to get/maintain control that don’t involve alcohol or dangerous substances or behaviors.

For help dealing with a charge like driving under the influence in Glendale, connect with a prominent Los Angeles DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (121 W Lexington Dr, Glendale, CA 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123 ) now.

January 30, 2012

Could Lindsay Lohan’s Epic Los Angeles DUI Saga Finally Be Drawing to a Close?

by Michael Kraut

Per TMZ, Judge Stephanie Sautner recently told Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan: “keep doing what you’re doing… you appear to be doing very well.” It’s a shocking turn of events for anyone who has followed Lohan’s Los Angeles DUI saga, an epic tale that is nearly five years old at this point. The actress’ probationary report was practically filled with gold stars. It’s a huge difference from her November 2011 hearing, when prosecutors revealed that Lohan missed more than 75% of her scheduled therapy and neglected her community service at the L.A. County Coroner’s Department.

Could January 17, 2012, go down as a huge pivot point for Lohan?

Not only did Judge Sautner smile at the 25-year-old pop star, but the progress report was apparently “lightning fast,” and Lohan completed enough of her requirements to attend a Sunday night Golden Globes party hosted by none other than Harvey Weinstein. The next court date for Lohan is February 22. Before then, she needs to spend 15 more shifts at the morgue and undergo five more counseling sessions. Once she hits her March 29 deadline, she can move on to unsupervised probation.

Of course, as a Los Angeles DUI lawyer would tell you, many of Lohan’s troubles could have been avoided if she had never driven under the influence of alcohol in Los Angeles in the first place. But her ability to rise like a phoenix from her legal troubles suggests that even recidivist Los Angeles DUI offenders can repair the damage to their lives and make progress. They can manage their punishments (or potential punishments) and learn powerful lessons from their experiences.

One of the most difficult aspects of being a Los Angeles DUI defendant is figuring out what to do, how to do it, and when to do it.

If you lack a fluent understanding of how Los Angeles DUI law works, you may need help, such as a free, no obligation consultation with a Los Angeles DUI defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1520, Los Angeles, California 90028). Attorney Michael Kraut is a widely respected figure in the Los Angeles DUI defense community. He boasts a terrific record at jury trials. He has a Harvard Law School education. He served for nearly a decade and a half as a prosecutor. And he possesses a compassionate and attentive demeanor as a Los Angeles DUI attorney.

Attorney Kraut and his team can answer your questions, help you build a sound legal strategy, and deal with any challenges or opportunities that present themselves.

January 4, 2012

481 Long Beach DUI Convictions?? Not That Many, but Still a Ridiculously Large Number…

by Michael Kraut

How many Long Beach DUI convictions should a person be allowed to rack up before that person is removed permanently from society?

This is not a purely theoretical question. In fact, a Bloomingdale, Indiana man, 49-year-old William Dietrich, was sentenced last Monday with two decades behind bars for his 11th DUI conviction since 1982. A local newspaper summarized the checkered, disturbing history of the defendant: “In addition to the April charge, Dietrich received DUIs in McLean County in 1982, 1985, twice in 1986, 1989, 1991, 2000, 2002 and 2005. He also was cited for the offense in 2007…a conviction that resulted in an 8-year prison sentence.” Dietrich was released on parole in September 2010 on that charge, but returned to prison for violating the terms of his release after the 2011 charges.

Dietrich’s odyssey is not typical for a Long Beach DUI defendant. But his escalating punishments – and the reasons behind those punishments – serve as a powerful cautionary tale. Consider what Indiana attorney Jane Foster said about Dietrich’s situation: “[The State of Indiana] has made repeated efforts to stop and change this defendant’s behavior through fines, jail, prison, treatment, probation, parole and revocations of his license. Since he has refused to comply with the law and to stop driving under the influence, our office wanted him removed from society.”

California also has an escalating system of punishments. Any Long Beach DUI conviction is a blemish, and you could face jail time even for just one DUI event – particularly if you caused injury to someone else or engaged in other crimes while DUI, such as hit and run, assault, etc. If you get three or more Long Beach DUI convictions within a 10-year span, prosecutors might be able to charge with you a felony instead of a simple misdemeanor. This could be in addition to escalating penalties – hiking up your fines and fees, increasing the amount of mandatory alcohol school and the strictness of your probation, etc.

Dietrich’s odyssey raises questions about what can be done to stop and, ideally, treat seriously recidivist Long Beach DUI drivers. Why did treatment and rehab fail for him? Is Dietrich just a rotten apple? Or did the problems stem from ineffective punishment and/or treatment? All of the above? None of the above? Did he have brain damage or a mental illness? Without more information about his case, it’s impossible to judge.

And that, in essence, is the point.

If you or someone you care about has been arrested more than once for a Long Beach DUI, you need to drill down to the root of your problem. An experienced, compassionate Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) can help you come to terms with your charges and what to do about them. Attorney Michael Kraut is a well-known and well-respected former prosecutor.

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.

December 30, 2011

4 Biggest Beverly Hills DUI Stories of 2011

by Michael Kraut

Celebrities often do awful, and awfully crazy, things. In 2011, we saw some crazy and scary Beverly Hills DUI stories. In this post, we will review four of the year’s most scandalous celebrity moments.

1. Lindsay Lohan – Still Reeling from Her 2007 Los Angeles DUI
Unless you were living under a rock, you tuned into the Lindsay Lohan’s seemingly never-ending Los Angeles DUI probation violation saga. Ms. Lohan’s 2011 got off to a bad start on January 22, when she allegedly pilfered a necklace worth $2,500 from a store in Venice. She pleaded not guilty to the resultant felony grand theft charge, but the karmic dye had been cast for Ms. Lohan in 2011, and she proceeded to make headline after headline: she violated her probation, got sentenced, made tearful appeals, etc. Then she made headlines once again by agreeing to pose nude in Playboy for nearly $1 million. Her father, meanwhile, got arrested twice in one week for domestic violence charges.

Altogether, not a great scene for the Lohans in 2011.

2. Christina Aguilera – Watches as Her Boyfriend Gets Tagged for DUI
2011 was not a great year for pop princesses, was it?

On March 1, Christina Aguilera was arrested for public intoxication, while her boyfriend was tagged for DUI. Aguilera had come off of a rough 2010, but she rebounded magnificently in the latter half of 2011, thanks in part to her widely successful TV vehicle, The Voice. It goes to show that Beverly Hills DUI does not commit you to certain and permanent debauchery
3. Estella Warren’s Hit and Run DUI (with a Bit of Cop Kicking Thrown in There As Well)

Estella Warren, an actress in Planet of the Apes, was arrested for DUI back in May. She allegedly resisted arrest and kicked the cop who tried to handcuff her. Warren smashed her Prius into three separate cars and then drove away from the scene. All told, she got hit with charges of assault, felony escape, hit and run, and DUI.

4. Charlie Sheen – Not Busted for Beverly Hills DUI, but Might As Well Have Been
2011 was the year of Charlie Sheen’s epic, magnificent public meltdown. The year started out crazy, when Sheen was arrested after trashing his Las Vegas hotel room and partying with an adult film star. Charlie thus began a headline-grabbing rampage that included getting fired from Two and a Half Men after calling his boss “a contaminated maggot” among other things and then waxing similarly poetic (and vitriolic) about everyone from his ex-wife to Alcoholics Anonymous to Thomas Jefferson.

If you were arrested for driving under the influence in Beverly Hills in 2011, connect with a respected, highly successful Beverly Hills DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450, Beverly Hills, California 90210 Phone: (310) 550-6935). Attorney Michael Kraut is a former prosecutor with a terrific record at jury trials.

November 3, 2011

Lindsay Lohan’s Never Ending Los Angeles DUI Complications – Part 2

by Michael Kraut

Out of all the celebrities who’ve ever been arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles, few if any have generated more riveting legal headlines than Lindsay Lohan.

Ms. Lohan’s 2007 arrest for Los Angeles DUI was a relatively staid affair: she did not hurt anyone while driving DUI; she didn’t resist arrest in some crazy fashion; and didn’t have a BAC in an “out of this world” range (e.g. 0.48% or something). But in the years since her arrest, Lohan has returned again and again to the national spotlight for legal problems, including charges of probation violation, stealing jewelry, and even trying to duck out of her community service obligations at the County Morgue.

25-year-old Lohan’s parents have also earned a reputation for flouting the law. Last week, for instance, the actress’s father was arrested on two separate occasions for domestic violence and resisting arrest, after he allegedly beat-up and then subsequently harassed his ex-girlfriend, Kate Major.

Lindsay was long ago the picture of wholesomeness. She starred in movies like “Freaky Friday” and Disney TV specials. She has now upped the ante, in some sense, by offering to strip nude for Playboy Magazine for approximately $1 million.

TMZ.com reports that Playboy originally offered her $750,000, but she turned down that offer to ask for a cool million. Obviously, Lohan’s experience with Los Angeles DUI – and her other legal troubles – is not typical. In other words, if you or someone you care about has recently been arrested for a similar crime, you probably should look for other defendants to model. But the extravagant coda to her Los Angeles DUI arrest does give us some universal lessons about what to do (and what not to do) as a defendant.

The most crucial lesson is this: what you do after an arrest can magnify future punishments.

For instance, let’s say you got arrested for driving under the influence in Glendale after you got stopped at a checkpoint. Then you failed some Glendale field sobriety tests. If you go to a Glendale criminal defense attorney, like Michael Kraut at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (121 W Lexington Dr, Glendale, CA 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123), and you avoid doing or saying anything that might comprise your case or give police and prosecutors ammunition, you might be able to fight the charges successfully.

However, if you make mistakes or omissions after the fact – fight with the arresting officers, for instance, or ignore what your attorney tells you, or get into additional legal trouble – then your situation becomes more complicated. The courts will consider not only the facts of the arrest itself but also your character and how you’ve displayed contrition (or lack thereof) since the arrest.

Fortunately, you don’t have to navigate the whole post-Glendale DUI arrest situation by yourself. Michael Kraut, an experienced former prosecutor with great connections and a fantastic track record for success, can help you.

November 1, 2011

Lindsay Lohan’s Never Ending Los Angeles DUI Complications – Part 1

by Michael Kraut

In 2007, “Freaky Friday” actress Lindsay Lohan was arrested on a relatively routine charge of driving under the influence in Los Angeles.

Since then, Lohan has engaged in bizarre behavior, faced probation violations, and generally conducted herself publicly in what one might charitably describe as an “unusual” manner.

In a two part series, we are going to take a look at some of the most recent developments in Lindsay Lohan’s post 2007 Los Angeles DUI saga.

In this article, we will discuss the latest legal trouble facing her father, Michael Lohan. In a post later on this week, we will talk about Lohan’s amazing offer from Playboy Magazine to strip naked for the magazine for $1 million.

But first, let’s review what happened to Michael Lohan. According to TMZ.com and other outlets in the blogosphere and major media, Lohan was arrested in Florida last week… twice!

Early in the week, Michael allegedly hit his ex-girlfriend, Kate Major, at her apartment, sparking an arrest on charges of domestic violence. Barely 12 hours later, Michael called Kate and harassed her. Concerned for her safety, she called the Tampa police, who responded. Officers considered Michael to be a threat, so they headed to place him under arrest.

What happened next? Something completely amazing: instead of submitting quietly to the arrest, “Michael tried to escaping by hopping his third store balcony…but fell 34 feet to the ground, crashing onto some wooden chairs…and then he try to hide in some trees.”

Needless to say, Michael was ultimately apprehended and placed under arrest for violating the condition for his pretrial release and resisting arrest. Kate later told TMZ, clearly in fit of pique: “he [Lohan] has no regard for the justice system. He can beat up women, but Mr. Tough guy who slurred his words calling me five times after getting into jail wasn’t too tough by jumping off a third floor balcony into a tree to try to flee from going back to the same jail he just got released from less than 12-hours ago.”

Wow. It’s a big mess, and it appears to be getting bigger.

Of course, it’s important to try to draw some lessons from the sordid public tales of the Lohans’ runs-ins with the law, as opposed to merely mindlessly spectating the downward spiral.

Driving under the influence in Los Angeles or anywhere else in California is a crime punishable according to California Vehicle Code Sections 23152(a) or 23152(b). The punishments can be quite severe – they can include jail time, forced probation, loss of driver’s license, mandatory alcohol classes, indirect bad effects on your insurance rates, etc. If you complicate the situation by, for instance, hurting someone while DUI, resisting arrest, etc, you could face additional charges, including the possibility of having a misdemeanor charge elevated to a felony charge.

Not good news.

Fortunately, an experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1520, Los Angeles, California 90028) can help you. Michael Kraut, the lead attorney, is a former city prosecutor (14 plus years as a Senior Deputy DA), and he has great relationships with prosecutors and a deep understanding of how the legal system works on a practical level.

September 9, 2011

Pasadena DUI Process and the News Media: When Is it Appropriate and Fair to Cover Someone’s DUI Arrest?

by Michael Kraut

If you have been recently tagged for driving under the influence in Pasadena, you might have had the quite unwelcome surprise of finding your face and the intimate details of your arrest plastered all around the internet on blogs and perhaps even on local news reports. Whether your arrest was highly publicized or not, the media and blogosphere needs to start a general conversation about what exactly constitutes a “newsworthy” Pasadena DUI arrest.

Factors that typically seem to be considered include:

• The defendant’s status e.g. – celebrity, politician, athlete, rich person, CEO of a major company;
• The severity of the charges – e.g. Pasadena DUI murder or manslaughter story is generally more newsworthy than a standard arrest for simple violation of CVC 23152(a);
• Whether anything about the story was bizarre, eclectic, or otherwise newsworthy – e.g. maybe the defendant was arrested for driving under the influence on a lawnmower; or maybe he or she was arrested for the seventh time in 10 years; or maybe he or she caused a 20-car pileup on a lonely mountain road.
• Story serves as a lesson to prove a political point, open a discussion about broader ramifications of Pasadena DUI policy, etc.

A small story out of the Kalamazoo Gazette, of all places, examined the criteria that the media and the blogosphere use to report on DUI stories. Last Tuesday, the Gazette took a closer look at the reporting done about the DUI arrest of a public school curriculum director, Denise Bresson. The arrest was her second DUI in four years.

Was Bresson’s arrest newsworthy or not?

Regular readers of the Gazette weighed in on both sides. Some argued that, of course, her arrest should have been newsworthy, since she is part of the public school system, and her behavior could impact the community’s educational system. Readers debated the pros and cons of exhibiting this official’s dirty laundry – what’s the ultimate purpose of this reporting? Should she be held to higher standards since she works in education? Is the Gazette “just picking on educators” or not?

While this blog obviously is not going to weigh in on the case, it is heartening to see vigorous “meta discussion” about the nature of Pasadena DUI coverage.

The news media filters the public’s understanding of DUI law, process, practice, and penalties. And everyone – especially Pasadena DUI criminal defense attorneys – wants to educate the public about the risks and dangers of driving under the influence. So the more that we can open up the discussion about how best to report DUI news, the better.

On a less heady level, if someone you care about has been arrested for DUI, attorney Michael Kraut of Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899) is here to serve you. Attorney Kraut is a widely respected Harvard Law School-educated former prosecutor who has the talent, skills, and tactical know-how to deliver optimized results for your case.

April 26, 2011

Los Angeles DUI Tragedy That is Lindsay Lohan… and What We Can All Learn from Her

by Michael Kraut

Last Friday, a judge made the call to sentence starlet Lindsay Lohan to 120 days behind bars for violating probation connected with her 2007 Los Angeles DUI bust. As one might predict, news outlets across the nation lit up with provocative (and at times unseemly) discussions about the “Freaky Friday” star’s punishments, which also include 480 hours of mandatory community service.

Perhaps no other story about Pasadena DUI, Glendale DUI, Burbank DUI, or Los Angeles DUI has come close to generating this many headlines – even Mel Gibson’s famous anti-Semitic tirade (connected with his 2006 arrest for DUI on the PCH) doesn’t compare. Why are people so fascinated by the starlet’s continued legal troubles? And what does her punishment for probation violation tell us about how DUI law?

Before we get into these thorny questions, we should mention that Lohan might even suffer more. In June, she’ll go to trial pursuant to charges that she stole a $2,500 necklace from an L.A. jewelry shop. Video of Lohan trying on the necklace has gone viral; and the jewelry store owner herself has received brutal press from fans of Lohan, who allege the owner is simply pressing her grand theft charges to drum up business and notoriety.

Nathan Folks, a producer friend of Lohan, expressed his dismay over the sentence: “(Lohan) wants to go to AA and NA and serve 400 hours…she has already been doing lots of charity work.”

Some bloggers have suggested that Lohan’s “Riches to Rags” tale attracts us because of its archetypal nature. In other words, it resonates with a kind of story that we are all used to – that of someone obtaining money/fame/fortune, then losing it due to some bugbear or fatal flaw. Often, there is redemption angle at the end of the story, where the hero (or in this case heroine) rises from the ashes of turmoil and flourishes again. Hopefully, Lohan will indeed get that “happy ending” and regain her stamina, stability, and positivity.

As for the legal implications – the case probably best illustrates that no one is above the law. Your Los Angeles DUI penalties will go up if you violate your probation, hurt someone while driving DUI, or commit multiple offenses (i.e. become a recidivist). Although a reputable and smart Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can help you escape some of the worst penalties and develop a plan to rehabilitate yourself – no attorney is a miracle worker. If, like Lohan allegedly has, you continue to flout the terms of your release/probation, the law eventually will catch up to you, and you will pay costs.

Fortunately, there are amazing resources out there that can help you. The Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (offices in LA at: 6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1520, Los Angeles, California 90028) can provide a free and totally confidential consultation today. Michael Kraut is a former L.A. city prosecutor (senior deputy D.A.) – he uses his knowledge of prosecutorial tactics and his deep relationships to generate effective defense strategies for his clients.