DUI Punishment

August 17, 2015

Loophole Allows House Arrest For Repeat DUI Offender

Christopher Blair Gish, arrested three times for DUI in Pennsylvania, should be glad that he doesn’t live in California. If courts convict someone of a third DUI in Los Angeles, that offender is looking at a minimum of 120 days in jail. But the 39-year old Gish managed to avoid Pennsylvania’s minimum penalty of 90 days in jail thanks to a now-closed loophole in the state’s DUI laws.

Citizensvoice.com reports that police picked Gish up for DUI three separate times in an 11-day period during August and September 2014. If that happened in Pennsylvania today, as a three-time DUI offender, Gish could be looking at up to 10 years in prison. But Gish’s arrests came during a time when police could not charge drivers previously arrested on a DUI—but not yet convicted and sentenced—of a second or third offense. The officers could only charge them as if each incident was a first offense.
In the meantime, however, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a new law eliminating the repeat-offender loophole, and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed it into law on October 2014.

In January 2015, Gish, a resident of Dickson City in northeast Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to all three DUI charges. A judge sentenced him to 18 months of court supervision and six months of house arrest. But after a local newspaper carried a story about the case, the local district attorney asked the judge to reconsider Gish’s sentencing and apply the harsher penalties. Gish then withdrew his guilty plea.

In August 2015, a judge found Gish guilty of the charges but concluded that the original sentencing should apply since Gish had committed the DUI offenses before the new law took effect. Since Gish had already served the six months house arrest, he’s now free. But he will have to wear an alcohol-monitoring anklet, avoid drinking alcohol and attend 90 AA meetings in 90 days.

What should you do if you or someone you love faces a serious DUI count? Will you go to jail? Will you lose your license? Call Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer Michael Kraut immediately to understand your options and craft a strategic response.

August 10, 2015

Driver On DUI Probation Causes Fatal Crash

by Michael Kraut

Some people never seem to learn, no matter how many times they suffer the consequences of an arrest for a DUI in Los Angeles. Even as they’re paying the penalty for one DUI offense, they’re committing another.

Christopher Thomas Nash of Hesperia, California, may finally understand the consequences of driving while intoxicated. But that realization comes too late for 27-year-old Andrea Anderson, who died as a result of an accident that Nash allegedly caused.

The 31-year-old man was driving his white GMC truck south on Armagosa Road around 4:30 in the morning of July 30th when he crossed the double line and drove into oncoming traffic. The truck hit the red Kia Forte driven by Anderson, who suffered fatal injuries. Paramedics pronounced Anderson, who was an only child, dead at the scene.

The accident, which demolished the front end of the Kia, trapped Nash in his car. Emergency workers had to extricate him before a helicopter airlifted him to Loma Linda Medical Center. Police had to shut down traffic in the area for several hours while they investigated.

Witnesses who stopped to assist after the crash reported that Nash appeared to be out of it and that he smelled strongly of alcohol. They also said that they spotted a beer bottle among the wreckage.

The court had placed Nash on probation after his conviction on misdemeanor DUI charges stemming from incidents in April and July of 2014. He had actually gone to court in May 2015 to request modification of his probation on those charges. (Apparently the court didn’t grant that request.)

Police have charged Nash with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Since he can’t make bail of $250,000, he’s staying put in the West Valley Detention Center at present. He could face fines of up to $10,000 and/or four to six years in jail if convicted.

Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to offer critical insight into your case and potential defense options. Call him and his team today to begin regaining control over your case and your life.

August 5, 2015

Police Don’t Play Around With DUI Arrests

by Michael Kraut

When police officers arrest high-profile sports figures for DUI, it always makes the news, whether the charges involve a DUI in Los Angeles or in some small Midwest town.

A California Highway Patrol officer picked up Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson on July 14th. Lawson, who was driving his white Mercedes north on the 101 freeway, displayed signs of intoxication, according to police reports. The cop booked Lawson into Los Angeles County Jail after charging him with DUI. This is Lawson’s second arrest for DUI in 2015 and the fourth during his professional football career.

Jack Trudeau, who played quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts from 1986 until 1993, faces charges of operating while intoxicated. Police in Zionsville, Indiana, picked him up on Sunday, July 26th, and measured his blood alcohol content a .31—almost four times the legal limit.

Police charged Marco Pappa, a midfielder for the Seattle Sounders soccer team, with suspicion of DUI and speeding after pulling him over in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 20th. Pappa had to take a playing time out; Major League Soccer bans players arrested for DUI from taking part in any matches until the league completes a substance abuse and behavioral health assessment.

National Hockey League star Ryan O’Reilly may win the prize for the most noticeable spots DUI arrest in July. He crashed a 1951 vintage Chevrolet truck into the Tim Horton’s in Lucan, a township in Ontario, Canada. O’Reilly drove off, but police officers located his vehicle through the assistance of witnesses. Police charged him with impaired driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

At least one sports figure managed to avoid a conviction on a DUI charge, however. Tim Jennings, a Chicago Bear player, pleaded guilty to reckless driving and speeding charges in a January 7th incident. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped the DUI charges against him.

Designing and executing an effective defense against DUI charges (even simple ones) is not intuitive. Fortunately, you can trust the seasoned, highly successful Michael Kraut. Call a DUI lawyer in Los Angeles with nearly two decades of experience.

July 27, 2015

Would You Buy a Popsicle From This Man? [Ice Cream Man DUI]

by Michael Kraut

It’s hard to imagine police arresting your friendly neighborhood ice cream man for a DUI in Los Angeles. However, police officers in one Oregon city had to perform that not-so-sweet duty one day in early July.

Residents of the Corneilus community had been accustomed to buying ice cream cones, popsicles and other frozen treats from Noe Andrade-Silva, age 38. They knew him by his distinctive ice cream sales vehicle, a 1994 Plymouth Voyager with a sliding door covered in colorful pictures of his products.

While neighborhood kids might have been keeping a hopeful eye out for Andrade-Silva on Friday, July 10th, adults in the area didn’t like what they saw his Voyager doing on the road. They called police, reporting that the colorful van had turned into oncoming traffic and had hit a curb twice.

Police pulled Andrade-Silva over, and the ice cream man allegedly failed several sobriety tests. Officers then took him to Washington County Jail after charging him with a DUI. Fortunately, the police did permit Andrade-Silva’s wife to take the van home, so that she could save the stock of ice cream treats that the vehicle carried.

In a related article on KATU.com, neighbors expressed concern about the ice cream driver operating under the influence in an area where so many children play. They thanked officers for responding so quickly and worried that, had Andrade-Silva’s truck gone out of control, neighborhood kids might have suffered injury.

It’s unlikely that Andrade-Silva will find many customers if he decides to return to that neighborhood. As one resident commented, “Nobody wants any DUI ice cream.”

How should you respond to your recent and disarming charges? Call a qualified Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer (and ex-prosecutor) with nearly two decades of relevant legal experience.

July 23, 2015

Illinois Bars Happy with New Law [But What Does It Mean for DUI Prevention?]

by Michael Kraut

California state legislators occasionally revisit laws against driving under the influence in an attempt to reduce the number of cases of DUI in Los Angeles and other locales around the state. But Illinois lawmakers appear to be moving in a different direction. They recently passed legislation—signed by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner—that allows the return of Happy Hour in bars around the state.

Don’t expect a free-for-all at local watering holes between the hours of four and seven, however. The new law comes with fairly restrictive provisions that should make it less likely that people will overindulge before they get behind the wheel.

When Illinois abolished happy hours in the state back in 1989, the law’s proponents hoped that the restrictions would reduce the number of people who drove under the influence. An Associated Press story reported, statistics suggest that the law did not do much to alter the number of DUI arrests. Backers of the new 2015 law, meanwhile, argued that the law’s passage would help increase alcohol sales, which in turn would increase money flowing into the state’s coffers.

According to the AP story, bars in Illinois can now offer drink specials up to four hours a day, as long as the number of happy hours for a bar or restaurant doesn’t exceed 14 a week. Establishments can’t, however, offer specials like two drinks for the price of one or unlimited drinks for a fixed price.

So far—and perhaps somewhat surprisingly—advocacy groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists have taken a neutral stance on the law. Along with the Illinois state legislators, they will probably be watching what happens to the number of DUI arrests in the state. In 1989, police in Illinois arrested more than 49,000 motorists for DUI. By 2013, that number had fallen to fewer than 35,000, mirroring a national trend.

Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to offer critical insight into your case and potential defense options. Call him and his team today to begin regaining control over your case and your life.

July 15, 2015

No Expert Witness? No DUI Charges!

by Michael Kraut

Prosecutors typically have no qualms about bringing charges against someone who’s operating a motor vehicle after drinking to excess. They rely on breathalyzer results to help them get convictions for DUI in Los Angeles and other California locales. If the BAC measures above .08 percent, prosecutors feel they have a good case.

But what if prosecutors have no good way to quantify just how impaired a driver is? That can occur when police pick up someone for a DUI charge that’s related to something besides alcohol. One California cop found that worked to his advantage in beating a DUI arrest.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported that sheriff’s deputies charged Montebello Police Sergeant Christopher Cervantes with DUI after he rammed his car into a tree in May. Cervantes claimed he had lost control of the vehicle when trying to avoid hitting another car. But the deputies said he appeared to be under the influence of a drug, and they arrested him.

A blood test revealed that Cervantes had a drug in his system that included codeine and morphine—a drug his doctor had prescribed. But the fact that he had a prescription would not normally get Cervantes off the DUI charge.

But on his scheduled arraignment day, Cervantes got a welcome surprise. Prosecutors said that field sobriety tests weren’t enough to gain a conviction against him. They admitted that they had no expert witnesses who could testify Cervantes had enough of the prescription drug in his bloodstream to leave him impaired. So the prosecutors declined to bring DUI charges against Cervantes due to insufficient evidence.

Do you need assistance constructing an appropriate response to a DUI charge? Look to the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’ Michael Kraut for insight and peace of mind. Mr. Kraut is an experienced Los Angeles DUI attorney with many relevant connections in the local legal community.

July 13, 2015

Two Strikes and He’s Out

by Michael Kraut

A good rule of thumb: if cops pick you up for a DUI in Los Angeles, don’t hit the road again before the intoxicating substance has left your bloodstream. If a West Virginia man had followed that advice, a teenager in that state might have avoided some unwelcome time at the hospital.

According to TV station WOWK in Charleston, police got a summons on July 6th to the vicinity of the Smiley Motel. A woman there told them that Randy Bailies was driving on Route 60 under the influence of alcohol. (It’s not clear whether she was Bailies wife or his ex-wife.)

The officers tracked Bailies down, pulled him over and found his blood alcohol content was .268, more than three times the legal limit. They booked him for DUI and released him—into the custody of a sober driver—after he posted a $600 bond.

That incident occurred around 9:30 a.m. Around 12 hours later, Bailies was driving along Route 62 near Poca City when he hit a teenager walking along the side of the road. Fortunately, the youth didn’t suffer life-threatening injuries, although he did end up at the hospital for treatment.

Bailies meanwhile fled the scene, but cops caught up with him at a gas station and arrested him. They charged him with DUI causing injury, leaving the scene of a crash with injuries and driving without insurance.

Under West Virginia law, Bailies could spend up to a year in jail, pay fines up to $3,000 and lose his license for a year if convicted of these two offenses.

Designing and executing an effective defense against DUI charges (even simple ones) is not intuitive. Fortunately, you can trust the seasoned, highly successful Michael Kraut. Call a DUI lawyer in Los Angeles with nearly two decades of experience.

July 8, 2015

DUI Charges Complicate Earlier Case Against Flavor Fav

by Michael Kraut

The Associated Press reported in late June that rapper/reality star Flavor Flav of Public Enemy was getting ready to settle a driving-related case in New York, when police picked him up on a DUI charge in Las Vegas. All he needs to complicate his life a little more is an arrest for a DUI in Los Angeles.

Flav was apparently speeding along at 73 MPH on a 45-mph freeway ramp near Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport when cops pulled him over. He allegedly had been driving on a suspended license, and his vehicle registration had expired. Cops booked him on a felony charge of driving on a suspended license, driving while DUI, possession of marijuana (they found a small amount in his car), speeding and having an open container of alcohol in his vehicle.

This arrest clearly didn’t help much with the charges that Flav is dealing with in New York. The rapper was already looking at doing time—up to four years in jail—because of a January 2014 incident in that state. According to Fox News, Flav had been speeding on the way to his mother’s funeral when police officers pulled him over. They ran his license and found that it had been suspended 16 times for various offenses.

Flav had been trying to negotiate a plea deal with New York authorities, when news of his Las Vegas arrest broke. Prosecutors were apparently already dubious about Flav’s supposed reformation, and the new arrest hasn’t helped. New York prosecutors have said they will seek a six-month jail sentence if Flav’s case goes to court and he’s found guilty.

Do you or a family member need insight from a qualified Los Angeles DUI attorney? Contact Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to set up your free consultation.

July 6, 2015

Police Panicking about Drug DUIs as Prescription Drug Use Spikes Across Nation

by Michael Kraut

When you hear a report about someone arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles, your immediate thought might be that the person had been drinking too much alcohol before getting behind the wheel. But other substances can cause impairment similar to alcohol’s effects.

Television station WAFF in northern Alabama reported in June that state police are seeing more and more cases of motorists driving erratically after taking prescription drugs like Xanax. In one case, a man used Xanax and codeine before driving, eventually running off the road in an accident that killed his seven-year-old daughter.

Police officers have a problem when it comes to determining whether a motorist has been impaired because of prescription meds. They can immediately get a fairly good gauge of blood alcohol levels by administering a breathalyzer test. But the breathalyzer can’t detect the presence of prescription drugs. Police officers need a laboratory to conduct those tests, and long waits for processing samples at state labs gums up the system and leads to lots of delays.

Critics say this “how do we stop prescription drug DUI” problem now challenges law enforcement all over the country. In Fresno, California, on Friday, June 5th, police responded to two separate accidents that involved DUI and prescription drugs. ABC 30 reported that Alyssa Gonzales, age 18, slammed into David Torres when he was stopped at a red light. The accident killed Torres and resulted in charges against Gonzales, who allegedly had been taking a prescription for a spinal condition.

A few hours later, 38-year-old Denise Lago, under the influence of prescription drugs, swerved into oncoming traffic. She caused a four-vehicle accident that killed Ken and Jeannine Balderrama, who were riding a motorcycle. In an ironic twist of fate, the defense attorney representing Lago is a cousin of David Torres, the man killed in the earlier accident.

As a frequent contributor to respected media, like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Good Morning America, Los Angeles DUI attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers understands what it takes to build successful defenses in complex DUI cases. Contact him and his team today to schedule a consultation.

July 3, 2015

Recently Elected—and Soon Forced to Resign? [DUI Consequences!]

by Michael Kraut

People in big cities have grown fairly accustomed to the shenanigans of their elected officials. A politician’s arrest for a Los Angeles DUI might make the headlines one day, but the story would soon disappear to the back page.

But the same may not be true in smaller jurisdictions around the country. In the Village of Mundelein, a northern suburb of Chicago, DUI charges filed against one elected representative have caused a great deal of controversy, and the story isn’t going away.

Dakotah Norton, age 25, took office as one of the Village’s Trustees last April. (A trustee is the equivalent of a council member in other jurisdictions.) Two months later, a police officer patrolling in a neighboring jurisdiction noticed a car that had only one working taillight. It was Norton’s. The officer followed the car and observed the driver straddling the road’s center line. When

Norton came to a red light, he allegedly failed to stop and instead immediately made a turn. At that point, the cop pulled him over, administered a field sobriety test and took Norton to the police station. His blood alcohol content reportedly measured twice the legal limit.

Per reports, Norton had already earned a reputation as a bit of a controversial figure. His juvenile police record showed charges for retail theft and for possession of cannabis. At the age of 18, Norton served a sentence of probation and community service for a similar marijuana charge.

Although Norton insists he won’t resign because of his DUI arrest, other office holders in the Village have a different idea. The Mayor and three other Trustees have asked him to step down, but they have no legal way to force him out of office.

What should you do if you or someone you love faces a serious DUI count? Will you go to jail? Will you lose your license? Call Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer Michael Kraut immediately to understand your options and craft a strategic response.