DUI Category Archives — Page 18 of 24 — Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog Published by Los Angeles & Southern California Criminal & DUI Defense Attorney Michael Kraut

September 13, 2010

Notorious BIG’s Widow, Faith Evans, Arrested for Los Angeles DUI

Faith Evans – singer and widow of hip hop superstar Notorious BIG – got pulled over for driving under the influence in Los Angeles (specifically Marina Del Rey) on September 4. Evans, who is known for songs such as “I Will Be Missing You” and “Way You Move,” got snagged at a DUI checkpoint in Marina Del Rey. Her arrest came just weeks in advance of her first album release in five years – “Something About Faith” – and it’s unclear whether the bad publicity will help or hurt album sales when the release goes live on October 5.

According to celebrity website TMZ, police released Evans on Sunday morning but impounded her car. The 37 year old R&B singer was arrested back in 2004 along with Todd Russaw, her second husband, for cocaine and marijuana possession.

Whether you are pulled over for a Long Beach DUI or driving under the influence in Beverly Hills, police officers will look for certain key “symptoms” of DUI. These can include but they are not necessarily limited to:

• Bad driving
• Smell of alcohol on the person
• Inability to answer officer questions
• Poor coordination or balance
• Slurred or incoherent speech
• Inconsistent stories of where you’ve been
• Bloodshot, watery eyes
• Inappropriate emotion reactions to situation
Of course, these behavioral cues may or may not be useful in determining whether someone was or was not driving under the influence in Long Beach. For instance, a person might get naturally nervous and stuttery around authority figures, or a person may have a naturally ruddy complexion. Or someone might have been out partying (not necessarily drinking) until late at night and thus look exhausted. All this is to say that, if you or someone you care about has been pulled over for Los Angeles DUI, you likely need substantial legal assistance to understand and respond effectively to the charges against you.

September 8, 2010

Will Lindsay Lohan’s Los Angeles DUI Prison Sentence Drive Her Out of Hollywood?

by Michael Kraut

Next to Mel Gibson’s infamous 2006 Southern California DUI arrest (and subsequent anti-Semitic rant), Lindsay Lohan’s 2007 Los Angeles DUI was probably the most talked about celebrity arrest in the past decade. As this blog (and thousands of outlets around the world) reported, Lohan recently served a multi-day jail sentence pursuant to charges that she violated the terms of her DUI probation. Now, after serving jail time and enrolling in a mandatory drug rehabilitation program, Ms. Lohan may abandon her Hollywood career and move back to New York City.

In separate articles, Lindsay’s mother (Dina Lohan) and father (Michael Lohan) have publicly stated that they think/hope that the actress will leave LA and go back to New York so that she can recuperate and permanently stay out of trouble.

Here is a quote from a recent report in People Magazine: “Lindsay Lohan will be leaving Hollywood behind and moving back to New York, her mother says.” According to People, Dina Lohan believes that Superior Court Judge Marsha Ravel played “hardball” with her daughter. Michael Lohan on Access Hollywood affirmed this message. “(Lindsay) needs a clean house to get away from all the people. She can’t go to the same places she used to go to. She can’t do the same things and go out and party at night. She’s got to change her life completely… I would like to see Lindsay step out of Hollywood. I would like to see her get her life back, then decide what she wants to do.”

Of course, media speculation – even speculation voiced by Lohan’s parents – may not amount to much, if anything. But the point we are trying to make is that a Los Angeles DUI conviction can be profoundly life altering. So that’s why it’s important to make sure you put your best defense forward — whether you are charged with driving under the influence in Hollywood or causing an injury DUI in Pasadena.

One way to battle back is to challenge the results of a breathalyzer test. Breath tests are the most common form of roadside testing for Los Angeles DUI. In theory, they should work like a charm. You simply blow into a device, and the device measures the amount of alcohol in your breath. From that number, you calculate your BAC percentage. In practice, however, breathalyzers can be extremely problematic. Diabetics and people on low carbohydrate diets, for instance, may have chemicals on their breath that can cause the breathalyzer to yield a false positive. Men and women process alcohol differently and at different rates, and the breathalyzer cannot discriminate between men and women. Even the depth at which you blow your sample can have ramifications for your reading. If you blow “too deeply,” you can actually potentially cause a false positive: the deeper the breath you blow, the higher the BAC reading will likely be – independent of what your BAC actually is in reality.

All this is to say that, if you face DUI charges, you may be able to challenge your breathalyzer or blood test results.

August 25, 2010

Celebrity Southern California DUI Bloggers Weigh in on Bengals Linebacker’s NFL Punishment

by Michael Kraut

As this blog reported earlier this year, NFL linebacker Rey Maualuga caused a stir in the sports celebrity Los Angeles DUI community in January when he got pulled over in Kentucky for DUI after he smashed into two parked cars and a parking meter. Maualuga ultimately pled guilty to driving under the influence and had to contend with the following penalties:

• Seven year suspended jail sentence.
• 90-day driver’s license suspension.
• Mandatory alcohol and drug education classes.
• Two years probation.
• Forced restitution for the property damage.

While Maualuga’s legal sentencing for his arrest has been long concluded, his NFL punishment was only doled out on August 17. The NFL had an opportunity to suspend the Bengals linebacker. Indeed, the Commissioner just recently reviewed whether to suspend one of Maualuga’s teammates, Cedric Benson, who got convicted of a misdemeanor for punching an bar employee in the face (the commissioner decided not to suspend Benson, either.)

But although Maualuga escaped league suspension, he had to forfeit two weeks of his signing bonus and pay two games’ worth of his checks to the NFL.

If someone like Maualuga had been pulled over for, say, driving under the influence in Long Beach, what penalties would he face here? Your Southern California DUI punishment will be determined by a constellation of complex factors, including whether or not you hurt anyone or did any property damage, whether this is your first offence or a second or a third, whether you have a criminal record, whether you were operating on a suspended license or not, whether you were under the legal drinking age, and whether you cooperated with police or fled the scene.

For the simplest Long Beach DUI offense, you might be convicted of a misdemeanor and get penalties like 48 hours of mandatory jail time, court costs and fines equal to a maximum of $1,000, a one-year license suspension with no possibility of restricted license, six weeks of mandatory alcohol school, probation, and forced installation of an interlock ignition device (IID) in your vehicle.

As you can see, even a conviction of misdemeanor Los Angeles DUI carries some pretty hefty penalties. To that end, you want to make sure that the defense you develop is well suited and appropriate. Indeed, the strategy that you pursue can have enormous ramifications both for your personal freedom and for your finances.

August 18, 2010

Celebrity Los Angeles DUI Blogs Debate Cleveland’s Rotten Luck as another Star Goes South

by Michael Kraut

Those in the Southern California DUI community who follow celebrity arrests and general misconduct have once again turned attention to the city of Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland has taken quite a PR hit over the past few months – in particular, the city’s former basketball phenom, LeBron James, ditched his Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in a televised conference on ESPN. The latest insult to Cleveland came last weekend when Gerard Lawson, a defensive back for the Browns, got into a hit and run DUI accident in Cleveland’s Warehouse District.

Local station WEWS-TV reported that Lawson smashed into a parked car and attempted a hit and run before being pulled over the police. He confessed to driving under the influence and got released early Sunday (just in time for practice). The 25-year-old Lawson signed with the Browns in 2008 and played five games in 2009.

From the WEWS-TV news report, it appears that Lawson did not hurt anyone (or himself), but what happens if someone drives DUI in Burbank (for instance) and does cause injury to someone else?

Southern California DUI law is very clear – if you cause what’s technically known as “DUI with injury,” a violation of California Vehicle Code Section 23153(a) or 23153(b), your punishment can be elevated above and beyond on a normal punishment for driving under the influence in Burbank.

What’s the difference?

A “typical” Los Angeles DUI arrest – e.g. for driving with a BAC of 0.12%, significantly over the state’s legal limit of 0.08% — might net you punishments like fines, mandatory interlock ignition device installation, a one year driver’s license suspension, probation, and a small amount of jail time. But if you commit the same exact crime and hurt someone in the process – even not that badly –your Burbank DUI could be bumped up to a felony. This means that if you are convicted, you could permanently lose the right to vote in elections, and all aspects of your sentence could be more extreme.

Another thing to take from this Gerard Lawson report is the idea of hit and run. If you hit a car or a person or a piece of property and then drive off without reporting it or without leaving a note, you could face substantial extra legal trouble – including a ratcheting up of all sorts of penalties.

So whether you’ve been arrested for driving under the influence in Southern California – or a friend or relative got caught for a hit and run or injury DUI – you no doubt can use the counsel of an experienced DUI defense attorney.

August 2, 2010

Even Los Angeles DUI Veterans Stunned by Man’s 17th DUI Arrest

by Michael Kraut

You might think that Southern California DUI experts have seen at all – from celebrity arrests (e.g. Nick Nolte, Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson) to other bizarre stories we have covered here on this blog. But a breaking story out of Louisiana actually may take the cake for most jaw-dropping case of the year.

The Sun Herald reports that Jimmy Graves Jr. was sentenced last Wednesday to 5 years in jail pursuant to his 17th DUI arrest. The 40-year-old Gonzales got pulled over last May 11th with a BAC of 0.16% – exactly twice the legal limit of a Long Beach DUI. Initially, prosecutors charged Graves with a misdemeanor second DUI offense. But upon further consideration, prosecutors found that Graves had been pulled over for DUI 16 prior times (including both convictions and arrests) and sought to punish him more. The jury sided with the prosecutors and sentenced Graves to a day-for-day five-year prison sentence — without consideration for early release — due to his habitual offender status. Graves’ Long Beach DUI arrest (Long Beach, Louisiana that is) occurred at 12:30 A.M. while he was driving his wife to the beach for his birthday. He maintained up until the end that he was not guilty of the charge and that the breathalyzer Intoxilyzer 8000 had malfunctioned.

Now, in the case of a guy who had 16 prior DUI arrests, one might be very dubious of this defense. After all, fool me once, shame on you… fool me 16 times, shame on me.

However – although this blog obviously can’t say anything about this particular case – breathalyzer machines are far more fallible than most people (including most police officers and Los Angeles DUI defendants) realize. Breathalyzers fail to distinguish between men and women, who process alcohol at different rates. Breathalyzers have a hard time telling the difference between ethanol and other chemicals on the breath – particularly chemicals found in the breath of diabetics. The amount of food, the depth of the breath blown, the calibration of the machine, officer bias, and literally dozens of other factors can prejudice results, yielding false positives.

A savvy Long Beach DUI attorney can challenge your breathalyzer-related arrest. The key is retaining a Los Angeles DUI lawyer who has the knowhow, knowledge, and track record to get the job done.

July 26, 2010

Major Jail Sentence Slapped on Jani Lane for Los Angeles DUI

by Michael Kraut

Last week, Jani Lane – the embattled former singer of the band Warrant – was finally sentenced for his Woodland Hills DUI of May 9th. The hair band singer pled no contest to charges and got 120 days in jail. He was also ordered to spend 30 months in an alcohol education program, and his license will be suspended for three years. As this blog reported when the “Cherry Pie” singer got arrested two months ago, the officer who stopped Lane for driving under the influence in Los Angeles was the same cop who busted him for his last Southern California DUI in 2009. (If you recall, for that misdemeanor charge, Lane got three months in alcohol school and three years probation).

The rocker’s jail sentence comes on the heels of other major breaking news in the celebrity Los Angeles DUI world – actor Chris Klein (of American Pie fame) may be facing jail time for his 2010 Southern California DUI arrest. And, of course, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you no doubt read that Lindsey Lohan finally checked into jail last Wednesday after being sentenced for violating probation associated with her 2009 Los Angeles DUI arrest.

What happens when people like Jani Lane get arrested multiple times for driving under the influence in Burbank, Woodland Hills, or really anywhere else in Southern California?

In short, the court has leeway to impose greater and greater penalties every time you get an additional conviction, as long as your previous DUIs occurred within the past 10 years. A first time offender in a typical case might be charged with a misdemeanor. The court could impose 48 hours minimum jail time – as well as a maximum of six months in jail. Remember, that’s without any other complicating factors, such as an injury. 1st time fines can max out at $1000 on top of court costs. You can get a 1-year driver’s license suspension, mandatory alcohol school, probation, and – as of July 1st — mandatory interlock ignition device installation.

Second time Woodland Hills or Burbank DUI offenders get increased mandatory jail time – at minimum, four days; at maximum, 6 months. Your mandatory DUI alcohol school time goes up to 18 months, and your driver’s license suspension goes up to two years. Your fines and court costs will also bump up.

After a third, fourth, and subsequent DUI convictions, you face incremental increases in your penalties as well as the potential for the court to elevate what would ordinarily be a standard misdemeanor Southern California DUI to a felony charge.

All this is to say that, if you face charges similar to Jani Lane’s, you probably want to consult with a credentialed Los Angeles DUI lawyer ASAP.

June 28, 2010

Nicole Richie’s Los Angeles DUI Probation Extended

by Michael Kraut

Last Tuesday, a judge extended celebutante Nicole Richie’s Los Angeles DUI probation until March 2011 to give her a chance to finish up her alcohol education courses. Richie – a former reality TV star (The Simple Life) and daughter of pop icon Lionel Richie – was pulled over for driving under the influence in Burbank in December 2006, after she piloted her black Mercedes the wrong way down the freeway. California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers pulled her over and gave her Field Sobriety Tests, which she failed. She later on pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

The 28-year-old failed to complete her Los Angeles DUI alcohol school according to schedule, and that’s why the judge ordered her probation extended. Theoretically, if Richie finishes her courses by March 2011, she will be dispatched of her legal obligations pursuant to this incident. She did not appear in court when the judge gave the order, because she was busy attending to her second child, who was born last September. (Richie is engaged to Joel Madden, the lead singer of the band Good Charlotte, and they have two children with each other.)

When the CHP pulled Richie over in 2006 for driving under the influence in Burbank, they gave her standard Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs). Clearly, they had a reason to suspect that something was amiss, since she had been driving the wrong way on the highway. But what kinds of tests did they do, exactly?

May 31, 2010

Actor Rip Torn in Court for Burglary Case — Celebrity Los Angeles DUI Blogs Have Taken Notice!

by Michael Kraut

Celebrity Los Angeles DUI blogs, such as TMZ.com, have lit up over the recent travails and tribulations of septuagenarian actor Rip Torn. Last week, the legendary actor showed up in court pursuant to a charge that he broke into a Connecticut bank while under the influence of alcohol – and while in possession of a loaded firearm. According to arrest reports, Torn smashed open a bank window and crawled inside. Police found him and held him in a North Canaan, Connecticut jail on a $100,000 bond. Torn (through his lawyer) later released a statement that said that he had been confused and had thought that the bank was actually his house.

Torn has famously dodged two charges of DUI within the past several years. In 2004, the actor crashed his car into a cab in New York City and got hit with a DWI charge. He allegedly went on a crazy rant at the police station but managed to get clear of the DWI charge. The actor got into more DWI trouble in North Salem, New York in December 2008 (while driving with a Christmas tree tied to the hood of a Subaru, no less!). Torn managed to escape significant penalties for that DUI because he completed his alcohol education program.

Speaking of blood alcohol tests, let’s segue into a practical discussion about one particular kind of BAC test – the breathalyzer – as it applies to cases of driving under the influence in Pasadena (and other places in Southern California).

The breathalyzer is typically administered after an officer has pulled over a suspect for Pasadena DUI. That said, police may defer administering a breathalyzer until after a suspect has been placed under arrest and taken to a station.

Remember: Just because breathalyzer test suggested that you were driving DUI in Glendale does not necessarily prove it.

Breathalyzers are far more flawed than most people – even most police officers – realize. A savvy Southern California DUI attorney can often pick apart bad police work, inconsistent testing, and other flawed police methodology. Common problems with breathalyzers include:

• They do not distinguish between men and women.
• Diabetics and other sick individuals may yield false positives due to chemicals in their breath.
• The BAC reading can depend significantly on the depth of your breath (a shallow breath can have a much lower BAC than a deep breath, e.g.).
• The machine can confuse other chemicals with ethanol (the active ingredient in alcohol).
• The machine may have been improperly calibrated, read, or administered.

So how can you (or a loved one) effectively respond to charges of driving under the influence in Southern California if you believe that your breathalyzer test was inaccurate or unfair? A prudent approach is to retain a top caliber Los Angeles DUI defense attorney to go over your options and plot out a strategy for you.

May 26, 2010

Standard Los Angeles DUI Stop Turns Scary as Passenger Shoots Police Officer

by Michael Kraut

A standard Los Angeles DUI stop in Santa Monica last Tuesday escalated to gunfire. The passenger in a vehicle stopped at 1.30 a.m. on the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Bay Street shot a police officer while the driver was being put through the paces of a field sobriety test. Fortunately, the 16-year veteran officer did not sustain life-threatening injuries, although a bullet wound to the abdomen sent him to the hospital for extensive treatment.

Assailant caught after all-night chase
After shooting the police officer, the passenger fled. K-9 officers, police, and SWAT team members descended on the area and managed to track down the suspect three hours later. At 5:10 a.m., the suspect again engaged the police in gunfire. Officers shot the suspect, wounding him, and then took him into custody. The driver who was originally pulled over for Southern California DUI suspicion was arrested for DUI. Charges against both men are pending.

During the chase, police urged local Santa Monica residents to stay inside as dozens of armed officers patrolled the neighborhood. KABC News quoted sergeant Jay Trisler: “There was somebody who shot an officer, and we were really concerned about the public safety.”

Fortunately, most arrests for driving under the influence in Southern California do not escalate to violence and do not involve serious injuries. Field Sobriety Tests, on the other hand, are extremely common – whether you get pulled over for DUI in Burbank, DUI in Long Beach, or DUI elsewhere in the Southland.

So what are Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs) and how do they work?

Sobriety tests are tests that police officers conduct in the field, ostensibly to determine whether there is enough evidence to make a DUI arrest. In practice, however, officers often conduct these tests merely to gather evidence to potentially use against you in a court of law.

Officers use a Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) Test to get an unofficial reading of your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). They can also put you through the paces of several mental and physical exams. The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test measures pupil reaction time. Other tests — such as the Walk the Line, the One Leg Stand, the Rhomberg, and the Finger to the Nose — measure coordination and balance.

An officer who pulls you over for suspicion of driving under the influence in Long Beach may test your mental coordination by asking you (for instance) to recite the ABCs in reverse. The results of FSTs are by definition subjective – they are the officer’s opinion. Be aware that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recognizes only 3 FSTs that yield significant results: The Horizontal Gaze Test, the One Leg Stand Test, and The Walk and Turn Test. But even these “gold standard” FSTs can yield a flawed diagnosis.

So what should you do if you or a loved one has been arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank (or elsewhere)?

May 17, 2010

Warrant Singer Tagged for Second Southern California DUI in a Year

by Michael Kraut

Jani Lane, the 46-year old former front man of the ‘80s glam band Warrant, was arrested for driving under the influence in Southern California last Sunday at 3 in the morning after he plowed his black Infiniti into a parked car. Police who arrived on the scene found the ex-rocker — famous for hits like Cherry Pie, Heaven and Down Boys — in a bad state. Lane allegedly blew more than twice California’s legal limit of 0.08% on a breathalyzer test. According to California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b), driving with a BAC of more than 0.08% is an offense punishable by jail time, among other things.

Ironically, the officer who arrested Lane in Woodland Hills was the same officer who arrested him in 2009. As this blog reported, his July 2009 arrest led to a plea of “no contest,” and Lane was convicted of a misdemeanor DUI. Fortunately, no one was hurt at the scene, but if Lane is convicted of this latest charge, he will obviously be in violation of his probation.

If you are arrested for multiple charges of DUI in Burbank or DUI in Glendale, what punishments should you expect above and beyond those “typical” for a first misdemeanor DUI?

Obviously, penalties depend upon the context of the arrest and whether complicating factors exist. For instance, did you injure somebody in either of your Los Angeles DUI arrests? If so, you could be charged instantly with a felony. This would lead to penalties such as substantial jail time and steep fines. Plus, a felony charge can make it difficult for you to find employment and impossible to vote in elections. But even if both Burbank DUI convictions were not complicated by any other factors, your penalties can still go up significantly.

For instance, your mandatory jail time will go up, as will your court cost and fines. Instead of a one year mandatory California driver’s license suspension, you will face a two year suspension. Your probation will likely be stricter. You will face longer mandatory alcohol school. And so on.

So if, like Jani Lane, you’ve been cited more than once for driving under the influence in Southern California, it’s in your interest to retain a reputable and trial-proven attorney.