Articles Posted in DUI Punishment

If you were recently busted for DUI in Beverly Hills, you’re probably hugely embarrassed as well as frightened about serving time in prison, seeing your license suspended, and so forth. WILLIAM-HOLLAND-DUI.jpg

Whether you’re a film producer, celebrity, entertainment executive, or even somebody who works outside of the industry (believe it or not, people like that do exist here in Beverly Hills), you’re vexed. You are not the “type of person” who gets into trouble with the police.

Perhaps your arrest was a fluke. Maybe you had one too many cocktails at an advertiser’s fundraiser on Wilshire and then got behind the wheel when you really shouldn’t have. Then the police stopped you, and the drama began. Or maybe you only had one or two drinks but, for whatever reason, the police pulled you over and you blew a 0.09 BAC on the breathalyzer test–above the limit for Beverly Hills DUI. So now you’re in this awful situation.

Understand this: What happened to you can happen to anybody.

Consider the case of 61-year-old William Holland, the Auditor General for the State of Illinois, who was cited several weeks ago for driving under the influence in the town of Springfield. The arresting officers noted that the Auditor General “had a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath,” as well as “red bloodshot glassy eyes.” As regular readers of this blog know, these are classic symptoms of Beverly Hills DUI, as well.

Other common signifiers of potential alcohol use and DUI include:

• Slurred speech;
• Inability to answer officer questions;
• Failure to perform mentally or physically on field sobriety tests (like the finger to the nose test or the count backwards by 3 test;)
• Strange behavior–such as overly aggressive behavior towards officers.

Of course, as we’ve discussed before on this blog, alternative explanations for the “DUI symptoms” can exist.

For instance, if you’re exhausted from a hard day of negotiating with potential ad buyers, you might exhibit signs of fatigue, non-responsiveness, and bloodshot eyes. If you get really nervous in front of police, you might be unable to answer certain questions.

The point is not to suggest that your Beverly Hills DUI arrest wasn’t cut and dry–perhaps it was.

Rather, it’s that you should understand that anyone can make substantial errors behind the wheel. Holland was a powerful and widely respected (by both sides) watchdog–someone the government trusted to ensure and fair behavior. He helped prosecutors impeach and ultimately convict former state governor Rod Blagojevich, who began a 14 year prison sentence last year for a slew of corruption charges.

Connect with a Beverly Hills DUI defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for an insightful, thorough, and creditable defense help. Mr. Kraut and his team can help you get your life back on track and put the unfortunate and humiliating event behind you for good.

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Okay, this is a weird one — one of the strangest Pasadena DUI news stories of 2013, so far. weird-pasadena-dui.jpg

According to CBSLA.com, last Friday, police arrested a 22-year-old suspect in Panorama City for driving under the influence after a late morning slow speed chase. When the young driver pulled over, police observed him inhaling balloons full of nitrous — a recreational drug that can cause hallucinations, problems with depth perception, nausea, and other unpleasantness.

Per Lieutenant Mitzi Fierro, “when the officers initially approached [the driver], he appeared to be greatly intoxicated. He was rocking back and forth in his vehicle. He continued to inhale the gas in the balloon.”

Alarmed and obviously concerned for their own safety, officers eventually shot bean bags through the passenger side window to subdue the 22-year-old. Then broke the window with a baton, dragged him from the vehicle and arrested him for driving under the influence at around 11:15 AM.

The young man was taken to a local hospital for treatment. His father told the media that he has a history of drug use.

The story illustrates what we’ve been discussing a lot recently on this Pasadena DUI blog: namely, that defendants who get into “hot water” with authorities at a DUI checkpoint (or wherever) often make spur of the moment, dumb decisions. These “bad calls” endanger their own lives and the lives of others and also get them into serious legal trouble.

For instance, perhaps you hit someone with your vehicle while coming back from a cocktail party. Instead of stopping and exchanging information – i.e. doing the right thing – you drove off, hoping no one would recognize you. But then the police tracked you down and arrested you not only for the DUI but also for a hit and run. DUI suspects often make less than stellar decisions, like trying to elude police, fighting police, lying to police, and so forth.

It’s human to make mistakes. As human beings, when we get into a hole, sometimes we lack the sense and good judgment to “stop digging.”

This much is obvious. But what is not so obvious — for many Pasadena DUI defendants — is that you may STILL be digging that hole. Even though your arrest is concluded, you still run the risk of doing “dumb things” with respect to your case, such as missing your license suspension hearing.

Appreciate that you have an opportunity, even now, to turn things around.

The team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers understands how stressful and confusing it feels to get arrested. But you might be surprised by your strategic options. This doesn’t have to be the end of the world.

Connect with former city prosecutor Michael Kraut about your Pasadena DUI. The Harvard Law School educated Kraut and his team can provide a no nonsense, compassionate consultation about your case.

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Back in 2007, when Lindsay Lohan collected her first and infamous Los Angeles DUI arrest, many in the Hollywood community were shocked. How could such a sweet and promising performer behave so recklessly and out of character. Alas, five years later, after racking up arrest after arrest in diverse circumstances, even Lohan’s most ardent fans are beginning to wonder whether there will ever be an end to the 26-year-old’s legal woes.lindsay-lohan-arrested-los-angeles-dui.jpg

To wit, last Friday morning, Lohan got arrested yet AGAIN, this time at the New York City club Avenue, for allegedly punching psychic, Tiffany Mitchell, in the eye. The woman allegedly pursued Lohan to try to tell her fortune. Lohan first asked for space. When Mitchell kept pestering her, Lohan called the woman a “gypsy,” and the two exchanged other colorful words.

Mitchell has already “lawyered up” over the assault. She hired celebrity attorney Gloria Allred. Sensing the potential impending civil lawsuit, Lohan has gone on the offensive and hired a private detective to look into Mitchell’s history. Initial reports from celebrity gossips sites suggest that Mitchell may indeed have a checkered past: some of her psychic clients have allegedly come forward calling her a fraud, and she also may have had legal troubles with respect to non-payment of rent.

Lohan’s situation, however, is more diverse and more dire.

The actress earned huge notoriety over her struggles with her Los Angeles DUI probation revocation. That mini-drama ended with Lohan being compelled to serve a stint in jail and do community service work at a county morgue.

Lohan earned another dubious distinction: she faced four separate criminal charges on the same day, on both coasts, including charges that she resisted a police officer, gave false info to a police officer, and engaged in reckless driving. So Lohan’s legal plate is certainly full. She also received less than lackluster reviews for her performance in the made for TV movie, Liz and Dick.

A Los Angeles DUI charge is often just the tip of the iceberg
If you’ve been recently arrested on one or multiple or similar charges, you may be overly tempted to focus exclusively on your immediate defense and less on the long-term strategic ramifications for your life, career and health.

As a Harvard Law School educated former prosecutor who’s won high praise from peers and clients alike for his work as a Los Angeles DUI criminal defense attorney, Michael Kraut understands that defendants often need more than just “nuts and bolts” help. They also need to be listened to and to get educated about how to prevent recidivism.

This is particularly key, in that, if you get hit by multiple charges of Los Angeles DUI within a 10-year period, prosecutors can rapidly escalate your charges.

Connect with attorney Kraut and his team for incisive, insightful help with your L.A. DUI charge.

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Southern California DUI events are dangerous, in and of themselves.dui-with_pipe_bomb.jpg

If you drive under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or even prescription medications, your ability to react to unexpected conditions on the road, emergency signals, strange weather conditions, etc can be horrifically impaired.

Usually, the DUI driving is the most scary ‘part’ of any DUI stop. However, that’s not always the case! Consider a seemingly routine DUI stop up in San Jose that got totally out of control, when local police discovered that the driver had a bomb in his van.

According to news reports, the San Jose Police Department stopped a 1998 Ford Windstar van near the 101 and First Street at around 8:45 p.m. last Wednesday. Police became suspicious while chatting with the driver; and they searched the van. They discovered significant evidence to bust 35-year-old James Magill and hit him with narcotics charges and a DUI.

They also discovered a live pipe bomb!

A SWAT team was summoned to the scene, and police shut down streets around the area. The SWAT team prepped for hours before detonating the pipe bomb in a controlled explosion. Local residents felt and heard the blast. One person living nearby said he felt his entire apartment shake from the controlled detonation. No damage or injuries resulted, fortunately, and the ‘uncooperative’ Magill got booked on a number of charges, including DUI and possession of a destructive device. He was held without bail at County jail.

An investigation into the situation is ongoing.

Hopefully, your Southern California DUI was less scary. The vast, vast majority of people who are arrested for driving under the influence intend no harm. They either misjudge their own ability to metabolize alcohol or make other poor judgment calls.

To manage the aftermath of your DUI arrest effectively, you likely need substantial help from an experienced Los Angeles DUI criminal defense attorney.

The Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’s Michael Kraut has a wealth of resources, experience, and connections to inform you and help you fight back against the charges. The best defenses involve both a deep and realistic appreciation of exactly how much trouble you are in as well as a success focused vision of an ideal conclusion to your case. Attorney Kraut is an ex prosecutor with a Harvard Law School background. He has the common sense, intuition, and experience to help you maximize your likelihood of prevailing.

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When the police officer arrested you for driving under the influence in Burbank, you were perplexed – shocked, even. Perhaps you hadn’t been drinking that much. Perhaps you hadn’t been drinking at all! But the police officer said that you failed your field sobriety tests and/or that you registered positive for Burbank DUI per a breathalyzer test (BAC greater than 0.08%, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b)).dui_mistake-police-officer.jpg

Despite the seemingly incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, you maintain your innocence – or at least you believe that the arrest and/or the charges you face are not quite fair.

They may be, or they may not be. Only a thorough inspection of the evidence can determine the truth, either way. However, if you suspect that the arresting officer mistreated you or misbehaved in some fashion, you may not be delusional. Consider, for instance, some amazing – frankly, terrifying – news out of the state of Utah. A Utah Highway Patrol Trooper, Lisa Steed, is on the verge of being fired, after two separate judges found that she lied on the witness stand when testifying about drug possession and DUI cases.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Steed’s trustworthiness has been under fire since April, when a Third District Judge concluded that she suppressed evidence and lied during a case. Another judge, in the Second District, also said that she suppressed evidence, prompting the prosecutor in that county to abandon prosecuting any DUI cases in which Steed had been a substantial witness.

The Salt Lake Tribune also reported on a memo from back in 2010, which found that Steed had provided conflicting info regarding lab results and arrest reports.

That memo also insinuated that Steed arrested four drivers with no drugs or alcohol in their system!

The story serves as a red flag: bad police behavior like this can happen in any city, under any circumstances. This obviously isn’t to say that the officers who arrested you acted inappropriately. That’s possible, but it’s not necessarily likely.

The bigger takeaway lesson is that Burbank DUI defendants can benefit from having a thorough, effective advocate examine evidence from multiple angles and probe to see whether an idiosyncratic factor – such as police incompetence or deliberate suppression of evidence – may have played a role.

Attorney Michael Kraut of Burbank’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers has spent years fighting Southern California DUI cases from both the prosecutorial and the defense side. His diverse background allows him to develop and execute powerful and highly effective defenses for his clients.

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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. taamu_dui-glendale.jpg

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.

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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.dui-burbank-kids-in-back.jpg

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?

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You just bought a new iPhone 5 — you want to immerse yourself in your new toy, not dwell on something somber, like Burbank DUI law. iphone-5-burbank-dui-distraction.jpg

But understand that cell phones and other personal digital devices can not only endanger your life (and the lives of other motorists) but the can also complicate your Southern California driving under the influence charges, especially if you hurt someone in a crash.

The iPhone 5 offers a fantastic bevy of features and updates – even if it isn’t as revolutionary and paradigm shifting as some of Apple’s other offerings from the past 5 to 10 years. There is a time and a place to explore those innovations. But behind the wheel is not that time or place!

In fact, if you text or update social media sites or “explore new apps” while driving, your risk for getting into an injury accident spikes substantially. In fact, research out of places like Virginia Tech and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests that people who text while driving are actually more dangerous than people who drive under the influence in Burbank and elsewhere.

The basic problem
When your attention is elsewhere – i.e., not on the road – your reaction time slows down.

We’re all used to the concept of “multi-tasking.” But humans did not evolve to multi-task. If you are typing in a number or a snarky tweet, your full attention is not on the road. Most of the time, that won’t matter. But if you have to make a sudden stop or deceleration or acceleration, you might lose several milliseconds – or even full seconds! – on your reaction time. And that loss of time can mean the difference between a safe trip home and a life ending catastrophe.

For instance, some studies suggest that steering capability decreases by over 90% when you text on your iPhone 5 (or other device). Another famous study out of Virginia Tech said that your risk of crashing increases by over 20 times (!!) when you text. Yet other research suggests that someone who is above the Burbank legal limit for DUI (0.08%) will have a reaction time decreased by around 12%; whereas a texting driver will have a reaction time decreased by 35%.

A big difference!

Driving under the influence and texting simultaneously can lead to DUI with distraction.

When you combine DUI with texting, you can create a super lethal cocktail – and you can also get into extra trouble with the law. Both DUI and texting/dialing your iPhone 5 can impede your reaction time and general thought process – but it’s unclear just exactly how much more dangerous this cocktail of behaviors might be.

Are the risks just additive? In other words… say your risk for getting into an accident increases by 10% if you text and 5% if you drive DUI. Does that mean your overall risk increases by 15% when you combine those behaviors? Or does the combination actually jack up your risk even more – by, say, 30%? Nobody knows, since science on the subject is pretty new.

Getting help
The team here at Burbank’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you understand what you need to do to battle back against your charges, whether you have been hit with a DUI while distracted in Burbank charge or other DUI charges. Attorney Kraut is a former city prosecutor, and he can leverage his connections, intuition, and knowledge of the law to help you greatly.

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If you’ve recently been pulled over for driving under the influence in Los Angeles (e.g. in or around the USC or UCLA campuses), you’ve got some pretty famous company. sally-struthers-burbank-dui.jpg

According to Fox News and the Huffington Post, 65-year-old actress, Sally Struthers — best known for playing Archie Bunker’s daughter in the 1970s sitcom All In The Family — was arrested on Route 1 in Ogunquit Maine on September 12th for driving under the influence.

Here in California, Sally would have likely been charged under California Vehicle Code Sections 23152(a) or 23152(b) for Los Angeles DUI. But in Maine the laws are slightly different. She was hit with something called “OUI” — operating under the influence — a special kind of law that’s used in primarily in East Coast States (e.g. Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, etc) and makes it illegal for you to even sit, parked, while under the influence, if the motor is running.

Struthers had been in the Portland area performing in a local production of “9 to 5” as Roz. The two-time Emmy Award winner is also famous for her work advocating for the Christian Children’s Fund (Child Fund), a charity that helps poor children in Africa and other developing nations. Struthers has denied the OUI, according to her publicist, and she had no problem making her $160 bail. She has a December court date, so stay tuned to the news to learn more about what happens to the actress.

Are there any practical lessons that Struthers’ arrest might have for you, if you or someone you love currently faces Southern California DUI charges, either for a standard misdemeanor DUI or an injury DUI?

Perhaps.

First of all, the situation highlights how easy it is for literally anyone to become a “DUI driver.” Even if you’ve hewed close to law all of your life – never broken any rules – a single bad decision or unlucky night or tough break can lead to jail time and a whole basket of other problems and challenges.

Being famous doesn’t protect you, either. And it can actually create additional stresses and problems, since celebrities must carefully manage their images.

Bad press can have career repercussions – that can cost an actress a job, a politician the chance at reelection, and an executive the “keys to the kingdom.”

Even if your charges are minor, and you are not particularly concerned about the publicity, you still need to worry about punishments like jail time, license suspension, mandatory alcohol classes (time consuming), fines and fees, hiked up insurance rates, and beyond.

Turn to the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Los Angeles for powerful, effective legal guidance. Mr. Kraut is a former prosecutor – educated at Harvard Law School – and he can help you develop and move forward with a strong DUI with alcohol defense.

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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-dui-long-beach-laguna-beach.jpg

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.

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