DUI Category Archives — Page 8 of 24 — Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog Published by Los Angeles & Southern California Criminal & DUI Defense Attorney Michael Kraut

September 8, 2014

What’s the Appropriate Punishment for 5 Los Angeles DUI Convictions in Less Than a Year?

If you’ve received a Los Angeles DUI, take note of the following cautionary tale. Even though it took place thousands of miles away, it contains important lessons for defendants and their familes.

In 2011, a driver named Joseph Lawless, who had been stopped for DUI driving four times prior in less than a year, was discovered passed out in his car with a dangerously high BAC of 0.30. Nevertheless, Lawless was allowed to maintain his job without spending more than 90 days total in prison for all five offenses.

In Pennsylvania, DUI laws have been getting tougher and tougher. Regardless, repeat offenders continue to drive, despite the fact that this practice is illegal and risky for everyone. The reason for this is Pennsylvania’s quirky and little-known DUI law, which requires a conviction prior to pulling someone’s license. As a result, Lawless slid by, pleading guilty for being a first time offender all five times.

In California, a driver who fails a sobriety test will have to contend with a license suspension. Not necessarily so in Pennsylvania! That state will soon hold legislative hearings to strengthen existing DUI laws. PA resident Patrick Crowley, whose son was killed in 2013 by a drunk driver with several convictions, believes “more people will die needlessly” without changes to the law.

What to Do in LA

If you were stopped in Los Angeles, odds are you were stopped for a traffic violation, such as weaving in and out of lanes, speeding, or running a traffic light or stop sign. An officer who notices symptoms like watery eyes, smell of alcohol on the breath, or slurred speech might conduct a field sobriety test. If you fail the test, the officer can arrest you.

If you’ve been arrested, you may face an array of scary charges, including license suspension. If this has happened to you, don’t try to represent yourself. Ensure fair and accurate results by hiring an experienced and qualified Los Angeles DUI attorney like Mr. Michael Kraut.
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August 27, 2014

Will Robot Drivers Solve the Problem of Los Angeles DUI?

by Michael Kraut

The problem of Los Angeles DUI, on some level, seems intractable.

After all, even if we collectively could reduce DUI incidences as low as possible, we’re never going to eliminate the problem completely. Even the very definition of the problem changes over time. How much marijuana do you have to smoke before you will be over the limit for a drug DUI, for instance? Will the National and Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) succeed in lowering the legal DUI limit to 0.05% BAC from 0.08% BAC, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (b)?

Human beings – and our laws – are both unpredictable and ever-changing. The best we could ever hope for, in terms of reducing DUIs, is probably some low, but non-zero number.

So can we ever get to a zero-DUI society?

Every few years, futurists speak grandly of the promise of “robot cars” and “robot drivers.” Some of this speculation is idle. Some of it involves good science and promising engineering (e.g. Google’s automated car experiment).

Unlike humans, robots are never tempted to drink alcohol or do drugs or take prescription medications. They do not fatigue, although their batteries can run out. They are not susceptible to road rage or depression, and they would never take their eyes of the road to text their robot friends behind the wheel.

In theory, therefore, if we all collectively switched to robotic driving (a la Google cars), we could probably get the DUI accident rate down to zero. Unfortunately, this utopian scenario may never come to pass, since even if a company like Google develops a perfect autonomous vehicle, human hackers may render the project fundamentally and intrinsically dangerous.

Until the time when we can solve all robot-car-related safety issues, we’ll be stuck with vexing human-driving issues, like DUI. As a defendant, you can trust the effective, ethical services of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Find out more about what sets Los Angeles DUI lawyer Michael Kraut apart, here on our website, or call or email the firm today to schedule your free consultation.
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August 13, 2014

Will “Big Data” Change the Way We Deal With Los Angeles DUI Arrests?

by Michael Kraut

Even though you’ve recently been arrested for Los Angeles DUI, you want to keep the Southland streets and freeways safe and to clamp down on dangerous driving behavior.

In fact, the odds are high that you are a first time offender who only got a misdemeanor — that is, you didn’t seriously hurt or kill anybody else or engage in other reckless behaviors, like hit and run. Odds are also high that you are, generally speaking, a law abiding citizen who never in a million years thought you would wind up sitting in a police station, getting your mug shot taken. You also have a vested interest in eradicating the problem of DUI driving. So what can be done? And what can you do?

We’ve actually come a long, long way with respect to managing our collective DUI problems. In the 1950s and 1960s — before widespread public safety campaigns warned about the dangers of DUI driving — alcohol related accidents caused many more deaths and injuries, relative to the number of cars on the road and miles driven. More people drive today, but fewer people die and get seriously hurt in accidents, at least on a per-mile basis. We are making progress.

That said, when you analyze accident statistics collected over the past 5 to 10 years, it’s clear that we’ve hit a plateau. So how can we reduce the number of DUI incidents further? As Albert Einstein famously noted, you can’t solve problems with the same mindset that created them. A shift in perspective can lead to inspiring new solutions to old, prickly problems.

To that end, what “new solutions” might be able to help us?

Big Data — A Tool for DUI Prevention?

Per Moore’s Law, our computing power continues to increase at an amazing rate, year after year. This means that our ability to simulate traffic safety issues on the computer is also improving. It’s at least conceivable that better data may ultimately make our roads much safer.

For instance, by using certain types of computer analyses, we may be able to figure out which types of DUI drivers are most at risk for becoming recidivists and develop appropriate interventions.

Perhaps a study might show that a DUI driver who fails to complete all his alcohol education classes will be three times more likely to get arrested again for DUI than will someone who completes the program. If that’s the case, maybe a “flag” could automatically go up when a driver misses more than two classes to alert educators to get the student back into the program.

Solutions don’t have to be punitive! The more we understand what drives people to break DUI laws — as well as what keeps them in line — the less we’ll have to rely on brute force methods like jail time and license suspensions.

Of course, you’re probably much more concerned about how to build your defense than you are in these grander issues. For help responding effectively to your Los Angeles DUI charges, call or email the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today. Mr. Kraut is an ex-Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles; he leverages his Harvard Law School education and connections with people in the Southern California legal defense community to help his clients.

July 1, 2014

Crazy Accident on the 101 in Westside Village: DUI Truck Driver Suspected

by Michael Kraut

Not all Los Angeles DUI incidents are terrifying.

But when truck drivers get behind the wheel while DUI or under the influence of drugs — and then drive recklessly — they can endanger not just themselves but also dozens of people.

Witness what happened earlier this year, when a FedEx truck driver careened out of control on the 5 near San Francisco and hit a school bus, leading to dozens of injuries and many fatalities. Fortunately, a Sunday evening accident on the 101 at Lindero Canyon Road did not lead to fatalities, but it certainly could have.

The big rig driver — who was later arrested on suspicion of DUI — allegedly had some serious driving issues on Sunday night prior on the 101. According to California Highway Patrol Officer, Monica Posada, “the big rig was eastbound with an empty trailer and prior to the collision was reported reckless… the driver drifted to the right shoulder and travelled left across all lanes, colliding into the center divider. The driver exited the big rig, and it caught fire from the spilled diesel.”

In addition to burning up to concrete divider, the big rig spilled debris and diesel fuel all over the road, creating a big mess, not to mention serious hazards for police and cleanup crews.

Luckily, emergency workers did not have to navigate that hellish complex of obstructions and dangers to rescue anybody. However, in other similar accidents, the situation can be far grimmer.

If you’re a truck driver accused of driving DUI, you can lose your license, your job and your ability to drive other commercial trucks. Your insurance rates can spike, making you less hirable, and you can go to jail. You can also be subject to special approbation, if you drove a commercial or government vehicle.

The point is that you may face an amalgam of trouble.

Fortunately, the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can provide a confident, thorough and compassionate defense for you. Please contact us immediately to schedule your Los Angeles DUI truck defense, or peruse Mr. Kraut’s website to learn more about him, his team, and their approach.
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June 16, 2014

Justin Bieber Enters a Plea of “Reckless Driving” in His DUI Case

by Michael Kraut

The Los Angeles DUI blogosphere has been having a field day with the DUI case of pop singer, Justin Bieber.

Over the past several months, “the Biebs” has found himself in scads of trouble – legal and otherwise. We covered his January 2014 DUI arrest in Miami extensively. In case you forgot, the pop star had allegedly been drag racing with 19-year-old Khalil Sharieff on January 23rd in a rented sports car.

According to TMZ, Bieber will soon be entering a guilty plea to “reckless driving” charges in that case in exchange for the dismissal of other charges against him. (Those counts had included driving without a license, resisting arrest and DUI). Although Bieber will have to go to anger management classes and pay a fine (which will obviously be nominal, given his income), he won’t have to serve jail time or even probation.

The judge initially wanted Bieber to star in an anti-DUI service announcement, but Bieber’s legal team suggested that that measure was “inappropriate,” given that his BAC tested at 0.014% – far below Florida’s (and California’s) legal limit for DUI of 0.08%. (However, he did test positive for traces of the drug Xanax, an antianxiety medication, and marijuana’s psychoactive compound, THC).

Meanwhile, he will apparently face criminal vandalism charges, in connection with allegations that he threw eggs at his neighbor’s property in Calabasas in January.

And last month, Bieber allegedly tried to steal a woman’s purse… but he won’t be facing felony counts in that case. (Bieber apparently got angry, when a woman tried to videotape him with her cellphone at a mini golf and batting cage establishment in the Valley.)

Also in May, Bieber earned public enmity, after recordings surfaced, in which he allegedly made racially insensitive remarks.

Bieber has been celebrating his recent legal exonerations: he recently Tweeted “new beginnings” to his followers.

An adroit Los Angeles DUI defense can, indeed, led to “new beginnings,” even for people who struggle mightily with diverse charges.

To that end, contact a Harvard Law School educated former city prosecutor (Senior Deputy District Attorney) with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today for a thorough, sensitive analysis of your defense options.
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June 4, 2014

How Many Drinks Can You Have Before You’re Above the Los Angeles DUI Limit?

by Michael Kraut

It’s a common question with a surprisingly subtle answer: How many alcoholic drinks can you consume before you’re over the Los Angeles DUI limit of 0.08% BAC – the cutoff point for misdemeanor DUI, as defined by the California Vehicle Code?

As you might remember from driver’s ed, you can roughly calculate the answer based on your gender and body weight. Key variables involved include your weight, the number of drinks you consume, and the time that elapses between drinking.

The following assumptions are usually correct:

•   The heavier you are, the more you’ll need to drink to become intoxicated;
•   The more drinks you consume, the more intoxicated you’ll be;
•   The more time that elapses after you start drinking, the less intoxicated you’ll be, since your liver will have more time to process the alcohol and clear it from your system.

As a general gauge, this system does a pretty good job. But these estimates are really just ballpark figures. You can follow the system to the letter and STILL wind up with a high blood alcohol concentration and a DUI on your record.

In some ways, this system is similar to the one that your doctor might use that shows the relationship between your BMI (body mass index) and health. In general, you want to avoid being obese – just like you want to avoid consuming massive amounts of alcohol and spiking your blood alcohol level above 0.30%.

But there is a lot of room in the middle. For instance, studies have shown that people who are moderately overweight may actually live longer than overly thin people. Likewise, a bodybuilder who has very low body fat and a lot of muscle may have the same BMI as someone who is very unmuscular but who has a lot of visceral adipose tissue (not a good thing). So just looking at BMI alone doesn’t give you enough good information. Likewise, just looking at the amount of alcohol you consume and the amount of time in between drinks may not give you enough good information. Other meaningful factors could include:

•   Whether you’re a man or woman (men and women process alcohol at different rates);
•   Your general alcohol metabolism;
•   Whether you’ve consumed other substances, such as prescription drugs or marijuana;
•   Whether you’re familiar with the vehicle that you’re driving and the roads that you’re driving on;
•   Whether you’ve consumed food or not;
•   Whether you’re sick or not;
•   Whether you’re fatigued, stressed, angry – or well-rested, calm, and in good spirits.

The moral is that trying to calibrate an ideal formula for everyone to prevent DUI driving is a bit silly and naïve; it ignores all the complexities of human biochemistry and the complex dynamics of safe driving.

For help dealing with your Los Angeles DUI arrest, look to the Harvard Law School educated Attorney Michael Kraut and his team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor with tremendous experience – in his capacity as Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles, he racked up a very impressive 99-plus percent success rate at jury trials.

June 2, 2014

Confused Woman Says “I’m So Sorry” After Getting Arrested Three Times for DUI… in One Week

by Michael Kraut

Forty-year-old Kimberly Micheloni had a very bad week earlier this month.

On May 13th, police pulled her over for driving under the influence with her 14-year-old daughter in the vehicle. In addition to being slapped with a DUI charge, Micheloni also faces a child abuse charge in connection with that stop.

Court records show that police arrested her again for DUI the very next day. And on May 20th, police caught her yet again for driving under the influence and proceed to hold her on a $225,000 bond. According to reports, Micheloni recently had to leave her job as an office manager for the Internal Revenue Service because of an illness.

She confided about her DUI arrests to a local TV news station, saying “I’m so sorry” for causing pain and potentially putting people’s lives in danger. She told reporters that her doctor had prescribed her a medication, which apparently made her unable to drive safely.

Normally, prescription medications like Vicodin come with warning labels urging patients to avoid driving. In Los Angeles, you can get arrested and charged per California Vehicle Code Section 23152 for a drug DUI. There are no breath tests for drug DUI; instead, police typically ask for a urine sample to test your blood for chemical residue of drugs. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to challenge the results of this urine test.

For instance, you can argue that:

•   The police didn’t follow proper procedure;
•   The test was poorly done or badly calibrated;
•   The test failed to show that you hit the DUI threshold;
•   Perhaps there was an error in your prescription. Maybe the pharmacist accidently gave you double the amount of medication that you should have been taking;
•   Maybe there was some weird interaction between your medication another med.

For help getting to the bottom of your Los Angeles DUI drug defense, call experienced former prosecutor Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. In addition to being a Harvard Law School educated attorney, Mr. Kraut retains excellent relationships with many people in the Los Angeles defense community, including judges, prosecutors, police officers, etc.
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May 30, 2014

Police Out in Full Force to Crack Down on Los Angeles DUIs Over Memorial Day Weekend

by Michael Kraut

Certain holidays seem to “breed” Los Angeles DUI driving behavior.

These include the big summer weekends – Memorial Day and Labor Day – as well as Thanksgiving, Halloween, Super Bowl Sunday, Cinco De Mayo and the 4th of July. Whether police busted you over Memorial Day weekend at a checkpoint or arrested you after a scary crash, you may have only been dimly aware of the vast scope of law enforcement’s push to contain DUI driving over the holiday.

A recent LA Weekly article explained the byzantine systems used to flag and contain DUI driving. For instance, on the 23rd, the LAPD set up DUI checkpoints at:

• Florence Avenue and Main Street in South L.A.;
• Highland and DeLongpre in Hollywood;
• Osborne and Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Pacoima;
• Ventura Boulevard and Big Oak Drive in Sherman Oaks;
• Undefined locations in Santa Clarita;
• Undefined locations in the Picos Rivera Area.

In addition, the Avoid the 100 DUI Task Force set up saturation patrols and checkpoints elsewhere in San Gabriel, Pamona, Arcadia, El Segundo, Pasadena, East LA, South LA, Lancaster, Hawthorne, Huntington Beach, Inglewood, Torrance, Vernon, Signal Hill, Palmdale, Azusa, Whittier, and beyond.

The “100” refers to the number of law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County devoted to stopping DUIs in the Southland.

Remember: all that fuss and bother was just for Friday night!

On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Avoid the 100 set up several dozen operations, some of which were publicized some of which weren’t. For instance, the Sheriff’s Department said that operations were set up in Manhattan Beach, Whittier, Antelope Valley, Baldwin Park, West Valley, Downey, San Gabriel, Alhambra, El Camino College, Azusa, Long Beach, Redondo Beach, Montebello, and beyond.

With so much law enforcement “buzz” going on over the Memorial Day weekend, it’s worthwhile to wonder what can be done to improve the system, so that police do not have to pull a code red every time a major holiday comes around.

Can citizens be taught to use designated drivers and/or to patrol themselves during the holidays? Can some of this process be automated or simplified? Maybe law enforcement officials have ideas. Maybe former DUI defendants have ideas. But right now, this process seems to consume so many resources and lead to so many arrests. It all seems profoundly wasteful.

Of course, if you wound up in the dragnet somehow, you are probably less concerned about fixing the system than you are with protecting your own rights and freedoms. To that end, call former Senior Deputy District Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for insight and a free consultation about your case. Mr. Kraut is a renowned, respected Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer.
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April 25, 2014

The Promise Versus the Reality of Los Angeles DUI Defense

by Michael Kraut

We live in a world that, through no fault of any one person, has created stiff and unfair challenges for DUI defendants in Los Angeles.

Why? Because we are all totally blitzed with marketing messages about DUI defense (and everything else under the sun). We have limited, attention and skills to tell truth from fiction.

For a dramatic illustration of just how many DUI-related marketing messages are out there — and how conflicting these messages are — do a Google search about the effectiveness of breathalyzer tests.

We won’t discuss their merit (or lack thereof) now — we’ve already spilled plenty of virtual ink on the subject. Just recognize that just trying to parse the truth about that debate alone can take you hours and hours and hours.

And if you’re someone who has been recently arrested, you may not have hours and hours and hours. In fact, you may not have much time at all before “bad things” start to happen in your life, such as a CA driver’s license suspension, your boss firing you, your girlfriend or boyfriend breaking up with you because of your Los Angeles DUI, and so forth.

As a result, many defendants make decisions based on hearsay, random materials they find online or elsewhere, or intuition borne not out of science but out of desperation.

It’s tricky because, when you take bad advice about your Los Angeles DUI, based on some random snippet of news or argument you read online, the consequences could be severe. You could face massive jail time, fines and the your loss of your driver’s license – all of which, in retrospect, might not be strictly necessary.

So how can you break out of this morass? The simplest and easiest method, always, is to find a very experienced, highly qualified person or company — one who has demonstrated results in situations similar to yours — and retain that person or company to help you.

The good news is that, in the case of Los Angeles DUI defense, attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is available for consultation. Mr. Kraut has a great track record of success. Please connect with him and his team today to set up your effective, efficient defense. Continue reading

April 23, 2014

Two Insane, Unrelated DUI Incidences — a Drag Race Car Flip and a Fast Food Drive-Thru (Literally)

by Michael Kraut

Most Los Angeles DUI incidences don’t make the news because they are mundane and commonplace. Cases involving celebrities, politicians, athletes, etc., do get media attention, but some of the most interesting cases are also the most bizarre events.

Today, we’re going to look at two such “wild DUI” crashes.

The first occurred in Urbana, Illinois, when 47-year-old Leslie Srajek allegedly drove her car into McDonalds. No, she didn’t use the drive-thru to order food. She literally “drove through” the restaurant, knocking over a booth and a table as she tried to extract her vehicle.

Rescue workers took her to the Carle Foundation Hospital, and authorities later hit her with charges of driving without license and DUI. She faces a court date on May 16th. Her Honda Coupe was destroyed in the crash.

Kate Garbacz, an eyewitness, described what happened in detail: “The Honda was close to a stop, then [Srajek] gunned it and crossed into the McDonald’s parking lot entrance and accelerated quickly… It looked like [she] accelerated, cut the wheel, no slowing, no attempt at stopping, just boom, straight in … She went over that parking hump and the sidewalk and literally took out that whole wall. The car was three-quarters of the way into the dining room.”

Fortunately, no one in the restaurant was injured.

Meanwhile, out in South Dakota, a local man named Heith Jibben lost control of his vehicle while drag racing another driver on a local road. During the “race,” Jibben’s Taurus hit a white SUV, causing the car to flip over three times, like something out of The Dukes of Hazzard. Authorities took the SUV driver to the hospital: fortunately, he suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Jibben reportedly tested at a BAC level of 0.167 percent – that’s more than double the legal limit in SD and here in Southern California.

Jibben collected his fifth lifetime DUI arrest.

In Los Angeles, if you are convicted multiple times of DUI within a 10 year period, your punishments can become quite intense. For instance, a first time offender (for a misdemeanor) may face just a few hours to a few days behind bars. A third time offender, meanwhile, can face up to 180 days behind bars (minimum); and prosecutors can even ask that what normally be a misdemeanor charge be elevated to a felony charge.

For help understanding what to do to construct a defense to your Los Angeles DUI charges, call attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers. Mr. Kraut is a former city prosecutor (senior deputy district attorney) with close relationships with many people in the Southern California justice community. Mr. Kraut can advise you effectively and help you develop a strategic plan.
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