DUI Category Archives — Page 9 of 24 — Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog Published by Los Angeles & Southern California Criminal & DUI Defense Attorney Michael Kraut

March 12, 2014

Horrific Alaska Tale: Driver Suspected of DUI Shot and Killed, After He Failed to Stop

When Los Angeles DUI stops “go wrong,” the consequences can be awful, even occasionally fatal.

Consider the following “worst case scenario” out of Wasilla, Alaska: local authorities say that an Alaska State Trooper shot and skilled a suspected DUI driver. According to reports, police stopped the vehicle north of Parks Highway, after troopers received a report that a DUI driver had been driving near the city limits of Wasilla.

Police tried to pull the vehicle over, but the driver wouldn’t stop. The trooper opened fire and shot at the driver. Authorities pronounced the driver dead on the scene. Another passenger was injured by the gunfire. Fortunately, the passenger’s injuries were not life threatening.

The shooting occurred near a Wal-Mart, east of the main section of the city, near a development called “Whispering Woods.” One local resident claimed that she heard “a lot of sirens” fired by a volley of gun shots. The debris left by the exchange included spray paint and shattered glass.

The last time a Wasilla police officer had needed to use a gun was way back in 2008. (Los Angeles Police, meanwhile, deal with gunfire virtually every day.)

Fortunately, tragedies like what happened up in Wasilla over the weekend are few and far between. However, altercations between DUI suspects and police do happen regularly. Many people, for instance, refuse to submit to a breath or blood test – prompting an arrest and charges per CVC Section 23152 (A) (for the DUI) and per CVC 23612 (for refusing the breath/blood test).

An officer must have probable cause to stop and search you, per the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If an officer cannot simply and clearly articulate why he (or she) stopped you and asked you to take a DUI test, the test may be rendered mood, for legal purposes. You will need to ask for a hearing per Penal Code Section 1538.5.

For technical help dealing with this issue (or with any other aspect of your Los Angeles DUI defense), call the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today for a free and systematic consultation.
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February 17, 2014

Driver in Fatal Los Angeles DUI Collision [That Killed 6] Had Been Convicted of DUI

by Michael Kraut

We recently reported on a horrifying Los Angeles DUI story: 21-year-old Olivia Carolee Culbreath allegedly caused a three car accident in Diamond Bar, which killed six people.

California Highway Patrol authorities say Culbreath had been driving in excess of 100 miles per hour, when she crashed her 2013 Camaro on the 60 Freeway while driving the wrong way. It turns out that Culbreath has a checkered driving history. In April 2010, a San Bernardino juvenile court convicted her of DUI in a previous incident. Before she got her license reinstated in December 2011, officers hit her with two other traffic violations. The California Department of Motor Vehicles says the DMV had lifted Culbreath’s license restrictions just a week before the awful, fatal wreck.

Four people in the Ford Explorer she hit — Gregorio Megia Martinez (47), Laticia Ibarra (42), Ester Delgado, and Jessica Jasmine Megia (20) — died. Joel Cortez (57), the driver of the third car involved in the wreck, escaped with just minor injuries. His daughter, Emma Cortez, later told reporters: “he remembers seeing part of an engine that hit him, pushed him against the wall, completely crushing both sides of the car … in shock, the first thing he does is look around. There’s a freeway, two cars completely destroyed. And there are bodies on the floor without heads … this is something you’d see out of a movie.”

In California, certain DUI cases that lead to death can be prosecuted as “Watson Murders.” This charge is the equivalent of second degree murder. If convicted, you face a severe sentence – up to life behind bars. The prosecution must hit a high bar to achieve a conviction.

It’s rare for prosecutors to charge someone with a Watson Murder. The majority of these cases involve people who have been convicted of DUI previously. After you are convicted of a DUI, you must sign a statement — known as a Watson Advisement — in which you acknowledge that you understand that driving DUI can cause people to die.

Prosecutors must also prove that you had “implied malice.” This basically means that you knew the harms of DUI driving, yet you decided to drive DUI anyway; and then you killed someone while behind the wheel.

Whether you face an egregious charge, like Los Angeles DUI manslaughter or murder; or you face a more minor (but still anxiety producing) charge, like misdemeanor DUI, the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can provide thorough, sensitive assistance.
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January 24, 2014

Justin Bieber Walloped with DUI Charge: Pop Singer Arrested in $250,000 Lamborghini

by Michael Kraut

If you recently got arrested for Los Angeles DUI, at least be grateful that your arrest is not international front page news.

The same CAN’T be said for 19-year-old pop star, Justin Bieber, who was arrested Thursday morning in a rented Gallardo LP 550-2 Spyder Lamborghini in Miami Beach and charged with DUI, drag racing, and resisting arrest.

Apparently “the Biebs” left a club and hopped into his yellow Lamborghini to drag race 19 year-old rapper, Khalil Sharieff. (Incidentally, Sharieff was also arrested at the scene and hit with charges of drag racing and driving DUI.)

The teen crooner is no stranger to controversy. Beiber potentially faces felony vandalism charges for throwing eggs at his neighbor’s house in Southern California and causing upwards of $20,000 worth of damage to the property. That’s right — $20,000 worth of damage with eggs alone. How is that even possible? Was he chucking them right at chandeliers?

Beiber allegedly did not exactly react to the DUI stop with grace and poise. Reports say he berated the officer who stopped him at around 4 in the morning with a less than courteous: “What the f**k did I do? Why did you stop me?” and uttered a string of other profanities before he finally submitted to the arrest.

The pop star allegedly admitted to having smoked marijuana, taken prescription medications, and consumed alcohol.

Raymond Martinez, the Miami Beach Police Chief, told reporters that Bieber had been belligerent (at first), “using some choice words questioning why he was being stopped, why the officer was even questioning him.”

Two SUVs blocked traffic on Pine Tree Drive and 26th Street, creating an ad hoc strip for Bieber and Sharieff to drag race their Lamborghini and Ferrari.

Deputies in Los Angeles County have investigated reports of Bieber drag racing right here in Southern California in the normally sleepy town of Calabasas, and one neighbor said that Bieber one time spat in his face. However, police lacked evidence of the speeding and the spitting, so the L.A. County District Attorney decided not to prosecute.

If you drive after smoking marijuana – like Bieber allegedly did – you could be hit with a drug DUI charge per California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (a). Per this vehicle code, even if you have a doctor’s order to take a medication, you can still be hit with a Los Angeles DUI charge. Police do not use breath tests in drug DUIs, but they can test you with urine or blood tests, and this chemical analysis can convince a jury that you were driving under the influence of narcotics or medications.

The good news – at least from a defendant’s standpoint – is that prosecutors have a much harder time convicting in drug DUI cases, in general, and police officers often don’t know what to look for when investigating drug DUIs.

Connect with experienced ex-prosecutor, Michael Kraut, today to develop your Los Angeles DUI defense.

December 23, 2013

What If Your Beverly Hills DUI Never Happened?

by Michael Kraut

You recently got a Beverly Hills DUI charge. Ever since the cops’ red and blue flashing lights went off in your rear view mirror, you’ve been preoccupied with “what’s next?”

For instance:

• Will I have to go to jail? If so, for how long?

November 20, 2013

Burbank DUI Sports News: Cautionary Tale of Seahawks Erstwhile Backup QB, Josh Portis

by Michael Kraut

Driving under the influence in Burbank (or anywhere else) can have immediate, awful consequences, even if you ultimately clear your name and your record.

For instance, you could lose your job, get dumped, get kicked out of school, or struggle with business or personal issues because of the DUI.

Case in point, consider the sad situation of the Seattle Seahawks’ (former) quarterback, Josh Portis, who was arrested in early May in Washington State, after police saw him driving 80 miles per hour in a 60 mile per hour zone. The backup QB — who’s known for his deep arm and tireless athleticism — did not exactly pass his field sobriety tests with blazing colors. He also struggled on the breath test. He blew a 0.078% and a 0.092% in two tries. That’s right below and right above the legal limit for Burbank DUI, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152.

As regular readers of our Burbank DUI blog can tell you, the discrepancy between the two readings could actually be pretty important.

Especially when you are dealing with a liminal case (right around the legal limit), small errors can have a big effect. For instance, if Portis blew “harder than normal” into the machine, he might have registered a 0.092% BAC, even if, technically speaking, his BAC was below the 0.08% cutoff point.

Or his results could have been thrown off if he’s on a ketogenic diet, or if he had been swishing mouthwash. Chemicals on the breath can push a liminal BAC reading over the limit.

In any event, even if Portis manages to defend against the DUI misdemeanor charges, he’s out of a job. Portis scrambled to get resigned with the Seahawks in April, after he got released last November from the practice squad. But once news of the DUI hit, the Seahawks released him.

Sports watchers say that the club was at least partially motivated to “teach a lesson” to other players. The Several Seahawks have gotten in trouble recently for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. Marshawn Lynch, for instance, also has a DUI case pending.

The Seahawks released Portis before the verdict even came in. That’s telling.

Fortunately, you may still have time to save your job, protect your relationships, avoid a license suspension and minimize/avoid jail time. But the clock is ticking. Your options may be dwindling by the hour.

 The good news is that a Burbank DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to talk to you about what happened and give you a sound, confidential, free consultation. The Harvard Law School educated Michael Kraut is a widely respected ex-prosecutor who has a deep sense of compassion and an encyclopedic knowledge of the practical aspects of Burbank DUI defense.

November 6, 2013

Hollywood DUI Update: Happy Gilmore Star, Christopher McDonald (a.k.a. Shooter McGavin), Busted in North Carolina for DUI

by Michael Kraut

Some late breaking Hollywood DUI news: 50-year-old actor, Christopher McDonald, was just arrested for DUI in North Carolina, after he blew 0.15% on a breathalyzer test.

0.15% BAC is nearly twice the legal limit, as stipulated by California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (b). McDonald, who’s been a working actor for decades (168 separate credits), is perhaps best known for his role as Shooter McGavin in Adam Sandler’s epic golf comedy, Happy Gilmore.

WECT in North Carolina reports that police pulled McDonald over in Wilmington at 4:30 a.m. The actor cooperated with the officer and blew into a breathalyzer test, where he registered that 0.15% BAC number. He was arrested and later released on $1,000 bond.

This incident was McDonald’s first brush with the law. He is married, and he has four children. Not exactly your typical, tabloid-y Hollywood DUI story.

Case analysts believe that McDonald will likely get off with a light sentence and a plea bargain… although you never can tell with Hollywood DUI cases.

In fact, it’s really important not to assume that your case will be easy and simple. Subtle details about your Hollywood DUI arrest can make an enormous difference. These include:

• Your criminal history, if you have one;
• The police work done on your DUI arrest;
• Whether or not you caused any collateral damage. (For instance, did you leave the scene of an accident; get into an altercation with a police officer; or otherwise engage in any illegal or unethical behavior?)

Fortunately, no matter what you did (or allegedly did), you are entitled to a fair and thorough Hollywood DUI defense per California law.

The team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Hollywood can help you deal with your charges in a sound, ethical, and thorough way. Mr. Kraut is a former prosecutor who spent 14 years on the other side of the law, helping to put DUI defendants behind bars. He uses his detailed knowledge and relationships with ex-colleagues to deliver excellent service to his defense clients.

November 4, 2013

Glendale DUI Quiz: Which of These Three DUI Stories are True, Which are False?

by Michael Kraut

Now for another Glendale DUI “true or false” quiz. Here’s how it works. You read the synopsis of six stories that may or may not have happened. Try to guess which three stories are made up and which actually occurred in real life.

Here we go:

1. Only in China: 10 employees shove their boss’s vehicle home, after he gets too inebriated to drive.

If you think punishments for Glendale DUI are harsh, they’re nothing compared to what the country of China metes out. Not only do convicted offenders get steep fines, but they also can spend six months or longer in jail for first misdemeanor DUI offenses. In any event… 10 Chinese workers and their boss partied too hard at a restaurant. Soon, no one was sober enough to drive. So the boss convinced his workers to push his car all the way home. The journey took 45 minutes!

2. Woman who did not like the results of her breathalyzer bites off cop’s thumb.

A woman in Louisiana was displeased with the results on her breathalyzer, which found her to be over 2.5 times the legal limit for Glendale DUI (0.08% BAC). She exhibited her displeasure by mangling the thumb of the arresting officer with her teeth. She later told authorities that she was “confused” and thought he had actually instructed her to bite him. Two years after her arrest, she was sadly institutionalized.

3. A woman arrested for DUI had 23 cats in the car with her!

A Meriden, Connecticut woman was pulled over on I-95, when an officer saw her veer suddenly across three lanes of traffic. During her subsequent field sobriety test, officers heard strange noises coming from the car. Upon inspection, they found 23 different cats in her car. Only 5 of them were in cages. The rest were freely moving through the vehicle. Obviously, the woman was arrested on animal cruelty charges. But the big kicker is that she blew a 0.23 on her breath test – the same as the number of cats in her vehicle!

4. Vladimir Putin often purposefully drove drunk to “sharpen his driving skills.”

Former Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, is famous for his rigorous self-discipline and eccentric forms of self-improvement. The ex-KGB op taught himself to drive under the influence “just in case” he ever needed that skill. The former Russian President even had advisers videotape his performances so he could improve his response times.

5. Man shows up for driving test while insanely under the influence.

A man in Romania had his license suspended for two years for driving under the influence. When he returned to the Romanian version of the DMV to retest, the organizers saw him stumbling around. Officers gave him an alcohol test, which he promptly failed.

6. Mother and her boyfriend force 13-year-old to drive, because both adults were DUI.

A 32-year-old woman and her boyfriend downed tons of wine at a local pizzeria. Since both the mom and her boyfriend had multiple DUIs on their record, they forced the woman’s 13-year-old son to drive them home. The young man became confused and disoriented and started driving in the wrong way. But his mom and her boyfriend were too busy making out in the back seat to pay any heed.

If you need help with your Glendale DUI case, connect with the team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today for an insightful, useful free consultation.

ANSWER KEY:

1 (true); 2 (false); 3 (false); 4 (false); 5 (true); 6 (true)

November 1, 2013

Beverly Hills DUI Quiz: Are These Crazy DUI Stories Real or Made Up?

by Michael Kraut

Beverly Hills DUI stories have a reputation for being pretty outlandish. The real-life antics of movie stars like Lindsay Lohan and Mel Gibson – along with the strange, wild behavior that we’ve catalogued in hundreds of posts — speak to our weird collective proclivities.

Let’s test your mettle: try to figure out which DUI stories are true and which are false.

1. Son and both his parents all separately arrested for DUI on the same day.

A family in South Canterbury scored the ultimate DUI trifecta. The 15-year-old son got arrested at 12:15 a.m. for DUI, testing at nearly 3.5 times over the legal limit. Police took him to the station, where he called his mom. While on her way to the station to pick him up, the mom was stopped and busted for DUI (nearly twice the legal limit). She then called her husband, who came to get both offenders. The husband in turn was stopped and arrested for DUI!

2. 49-year-old Wisconsin woman called the police on herself after calling 911.

The dispatcher asked her if she was driving behind a DUI driver. She responded: “no, I am them.” BAC tests later showed that she had twice the legally acceptable amount of alcohol in her system.

3. Vermont man charged with DUI after letting his dog drive his pickup.

A 39-year-old farmer and dog trainer in rural Vermont rigged his truck so that his dog could operate the vehicle. Unfortunately, police spotted him “training” the dog on a rural road and found that the erstwhile owner had a BAC of nearly 0.20% — nearly three times the Beverly Hills DUI limit!

4. Woman claims that she couldn’t have been DUI because she is a “breatharian.”

Police in Arizona arrested a woman for driving under the influence – testing her to have a BAC of 0.12%. She denied the charges, claiming that she couldn’t have consumed alcohol, since she lives off of only air and sunlight. This bizarre “diet” – known as breatharianism — has a rich, chequered history going back thousands of years. (It’s obviously impossible, since the human body cannot survive for more than a few days without water or more than a few weeks without food). But the woman may have been the first breatharian ever arrested for DUI.

5. Student arrested for DUI while dressed as a breathalyzer test.

Irony alert! A student in Ohio got arrested for DUI while dressed as the very test that he later failed (he blew a 0.158% — nearly twice the Beverly Hills DUI limit). His costume different drunkenness levels including “boring,” “life of the party,” and “sotally tober.”

6. Police officer singlehandedly arrests 18 different people (in different cars!) for DUI.

In the outskirts of Dublin, an officer was tired of taking flak from patrons at a local pub.

Many people in the pub apparently knew the police officer since he was a child and didn’t respect his authority. To mess with them, nearly two dozen patrons decided to leave the pub at once (while DUI) and drive away. Rather than call back-up, the officer proceeded to find and ticket each one of the drivers.

If you need help deal with your Beverly Hills DUI case, connect with an experienced and highly respected attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for a free consultation.

ANSWER KEY:

1 (true); 2 (true); 3 (false); 4 (false); 5 (true); 6 (false)

October 16, 2013

Long Beach DUI Blotter: A Tale of Two Joneses

by Michael Kraut

As someone who has recently been stopped for DUI in Long Beach, you may or may not be a football fan. But before you construct your defense, you might be well served to stop and consider the fate of two NFL Players named Jones, both of whom recently got into serious legal hot water. Their tales can instruct and inform your own defense.

First, we have the sad situation of Adam Bernard “Pacman” Jones, who was arrested at 2:30 a.m. on September 24th, after police stopped him for driving 60 miles per hour in a 45 miles per hour zone in Cincinnati. The star cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals was busted on charges of OVI (operating a vehicle impaired – similar to a Long Beach DUI charge) and also hit with a disorderly conduct citation for making “offensive comments” to police officers. Per Ohio Law, that means that Jones probably said something during his DUI stop that was “likely to be offensive or to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm to persons of ordinary sensibilities.”

This is not the first time that cornerback has gotten into brouhahas with the law. In July 2011, he was hit with a disorderly conduct at a Cincinnati bar, and he yelled profanities to police officers who arrested him. In June, he got busted on an assault charges – he allegedly hit a woman at a nightclub. He pled not guilty to that charge. Perhaps most disturbing is this report from ESPN: “last year, Jones was ordered to pay $11 million to two Las Vegas strip club employees injured in 2007, when a gunman who claimed that he was doing Jones’ bidding, opened fire outside a club after Jones and his entourage were kicked out. A club manager who was paralyzed from the waist down, and a bouncer was wounded. Jones said he had no role in the shootings and pleaded an equivalent of no contest to misdemeanor and conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct. The gunman is serving 4 to 10 years in prison.”

It should go without saying — but it is worth restating and emphasizing — that the more you complicate your Long Beach DUI charges by mouthing off to police officers or engaging in illegal activities, like leaving the scene of an accident, the more complicated your defense will be, and the more likely you are to wind up with severe punishments, like jail time, long license suspensions, and the like.

Meanwhile, similarly disturbing news came from the camp of the Bengals’ rivals — the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Baltimore Ravens. Jacoby Jones – one of the Ravens’ star receivers – got into a fight on a party bus, following the Ravens victory over Houston. And… wait for it… he got hit over the head by a stripper with a champion bottle.

Coach John Harbaugh had this to say: “in our household…nothing good happens after midnight.” He rhetorically asked his players “what you want to be known for? Do you want to be known as a football player or do you want to be known for that? I don’t think it’s anything to be proud of.”

So what do with all these celebrity arrests and brawls with strippers have to do with your Long Beach DUI charge?

The frank answer is that it may not. Perhaps you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, and your DUI was a fluke on an otherwise unbesmirchable record. But one thing that the Jones’ saga indicates is that Long Beach DUI trouble – and trouble with the law in general – is not as “random” as many people would like to believe.

Fortunately, if you or your loved one has been arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank or elsewhere, the experienced team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help. Connect with former prosecutor and Harvard Law School educated Attorney Mr. Michael Kraut for incisive, insightful, and compassionate assistance.

September 30, 2013

Bishop’s DUI Arrest Puts Your Own Glendale DUI Charge in Perspective

by Michael Kraut

As someone arrested for DUI in Glendale, you’ve been beating yourself up pretty badly.

You’re not the only one showering you with negative emotions. Odds are high that you’ve encountered at least one friend or relative who responded to the news of your arrest in a less than congenial or compassionate manner – either judging you outright for “being a bad person who can’t get it together” or by making subtle but still painful digs.

The Glendale DUI experience is more diverse — and more human — than many people realize, however.

For instance, did you know that a Roman Catholic bishop from Rhode Island recently got arrested for DUI, after he consumed wine at dinner and then hopped in his car? It’s true. Out in South Kingston, Rhode Island, Robert McManus, a bishop for Worcester, got arrested for DUI and for leaving the scene of an accident. The 61-year-old bishop admitted that he “made a terrible error in judgment.” William Murphy, the former Speaker of the Rhode Island House, is representing McManus in court.

When most people think about Glendale DUI arrests, they conjure up caricatures.

They might picture a wastrel — a no-goodnik whose “life is a mess.” An irredeemable “criminal” who’s not at all like normal, law-abiding people. Or they think of “hot messes,” like Lindsay Lohan or presumptuous pols or narcissistic sports stars.

Does a 60-something high priest from Rhode Island fit your mental profile of “DUI driver”? Probably not! The reality is that the diversity of people arrested for this crime is astonishing, but that diversity is just not reflected in news stories or in tabloids.

Changing How You Think about And Reflect on Your Glendale DUI

We live in a society that emphasizes the judging, shaming and punishment of “wrongdoers.” This moralizing is built into the very fiber of our legal system. But this kind of thinking is not particularly resourceful. It can be downright destructive.

As we discussed above, Glendale DUIs are often the surface manifestations of deeper issues.

For instance, a person who loses his job might feel helpless and thus drawn down into a spiral of destructive behavior (including driving DUI). To turn things around, he will need not only to face down the charges but also to address the root issues making him feel helpless.

Of course, in some cases, DUIs really are “random.”

For instance, Bishop McManus may, indeed, have just “had a bad night.” You never know.

In any case, it’s useful to at least probe your DUI to try to understand its root cause, so you can address it and save yourself hassle in the future.

Connect with Attorney Michael Kraut of Glendale’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today for assistance with your case. A Harvard Law School educated ex-Deputy District Attorney, Mr. Kraut can offer powerful and comprehensive help with your Glendale DUI defense.