Long Beach DUI Defense Attorney

July 8, 2012

Interesting Long Beach DUI News: White House’s Nominee for Ambassadorship Hit for DUI!

What will be the negative repercussions of your Long Beach DUI arrest?

The answer depends. If you get the charges cleared up and quickly rehabilitate your personal and professional life, the consequences could be minimal.

Or not.

Witness what just happened to 58-year-old Timothy Broas, a white collar defense attorney in the D.C. area. Broas got pulled over June 19 and hit with a charge of “attempting to drive a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol” – likely violating something similar to Long Beach’s California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a). What made Broas’ arrest newsworthy was the fact that he was on the verge of becoming the United States’ Ambassador to Netherland. Broas had raised $500,000 for the Obama campaign (2012), putting him on the list of the top 120 fundraisers for the President. (He also raised nearly $500,000 for the Obama 2008 campaign.) The White House announced last week that Broas “withdrew his nomination for personal reasons.”

But, reading between the lines, it’s pretty clear what happened.

Broas’ list of accomplishments is long: he won accolades for his work; serve on an esteemed think tank (Woodrow Wilson International Standard for Scholars); garnered praise from former presidential nominee John Kerry, who called me a “quintessential family man (who)…is a living example of the kind of compassion and strength that we expect from our nation’s diplomats.”

Yet his DUI got in his way.

Will your Long Beach DUI have a similarly devastating impact on your career – or your personal life?

Notice a key lesson here: Broas hasn’t even gone to trial yet for what happened to him – his court date is set for August 6th in Rockville, Maryland. In other words, he hasn’t even been convicted yet of anything, and yet he still lost the chance to be an Ambassador.

Being convicted for driving under the influence in Long Beach can lead to more serious consequences: jail time, points on your license, a big boost in your insurance rates, mandatory alcohol school, annoying and stringent probation terms, big fines and fees and legal costs, and so forth.

A way to wrangle your legal mess?

The powerful and widely respected Long Beach DUI criminal defense team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) can help you formulate a practical, strategy centered response. There is no need to panic, but time may be of the essence, depending on what you have been charged with and what you have done so far. Connect with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today for a free case evaluation.

June 7, 2012

Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana in Long Beach: How NOT Do It

by Michael Kraut

If you or someone you love was recently arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana in Long Beach or elsewhere in the Southland, odds are, you probably feel embarrassed — especially if you made certain decisions that, in retrospect, were careless or even stupid.

Take some comfort in that your arrest was (probably) less ignominious than the arrest of 19-year old Catalina Clauser. She was arrested in Phoenix last week for driving under the influence of marijuana – with her baby on the roof of her car!

Yikes.

Here’s how it went down.

The legal shenanigans began early. Early in the evening, Clauser’s boyfriend was busted for driving under the influence – with the baby in her Ford Focus. Apparently upset about what happened, the 19-year old drove to the home of a friend and smoked a significant amount of marijuana – up to two bowls’ worth.

According to reports, Clauser left the party at around midnight and drove home. At around 1’o clock in the morning, local police got a call: a baby had been found in the middle of the road, and his car seat.

Fortunately, the baby was “perfectly okay” – according to later hospital reports. The police initially suspected that the child had been thrown out of a car in an accident, given the shoddy, damaged state of the car seat. Only after an investigation did police realize what actually happened (probably): in her marijuana induced state, Clauser apparently left the car seat on the roof of the car. Once she took off, unsurprisingly, the unsecured car seat fell off the car and into the middle of the road. Clauser was later arrested for child abuse and aggravated DUI. Her child is now in the care of Child Protective Services.

All told, not exactly the best of nights for that child or for anyone involved, really. It’s actually a miracle the baby was not seriously harmed given everything that happened.

Whether or not your Long Beach DUI or marijuana DUI situation was as operatic as Clauser’s arrest, you likely face huge obstacles and surprises.

You’re probably feeling scared, unsure, confused, and overwhelmed by the potential legal mess you might be in. Even if you didn’t hurt anyone — and even if this was your first time arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana in Los Angeles — you could face massive fines and court costs, points on your license, huge insurance headaches, a driver license suspension, mandatory alcohol ed classes (inconveniently timed, no doubt) and of course prison time.

Talk to a respected and experienced Los Angeles marijuana DUI defense attorney at Long Beach’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454 ) immediately regarding your legal options. Attorney Kraut is a widely respected lawyer who has served in both prosecutorial and defense capacities – this special vantage gives him a competitive advantage that he can put to work for you.

May 16, 2012

You Think Your Long Beach DUI Arrest Was Bad: These Guys Strapped Their Kids to the Roof of a Car for an Alleged DUI Joyride!

by Michael Kraut

Getting pulled over for a charge of a driving under the influence in Long Beach can be a shocking, terrifying experience. Even if you did nothing wrong – or the breathalyzer malfunctioned, or the police failed to follow proper procedure, or you can produce exonerating evidence – developing a good Long Beach DUI defense can be an intimidating proposition, to say the least.

Fortunately, odds are that the charges against you are less insane than the charges against two Indianans: Jessica Clark and Aaron Stefanski got hit with charges of DUI in Fort Wayne, after police saw them strap their kids to the hood of an automobile while driving away from a liquor store.

Not so smart.

One of the witnesses to the event, Tom Nowak, told a local paper how the 4-to-7-year olds got lashed to the car: “with one of those straps you crank on a semi to hold down lumber, they were strapped with that thing, wiggling and wobbling down the street.”

Indiana Child Protective Services have since removed three of the children from the father’s custody and sent them to stay with their mother full time. Obviously, this story is like something out of “News of the Weird” – an interesting oddity, but you might be wondering how it could be relevant to your Long Beach DUI case.

Here are some of the lessons:

1: People who get stopped for DUI in Long Beach often do “multiple things wrong” at once.

Yes, there are certain situations in which “only one bad thing happens.” For instance, the driver has way too many drinks at a party before getting behind the wheel, and he or she gets tagged with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10%. But in many cases, drivers do stupid things upon stupid things, compounding their problems. For instance, the father in this case not only allegedly drove DUI, but he also endangered his children. His legal mess will be far more thorny and complicated.

2: Controlling perceptions is important.

What happened, happened. You (or someone you love) now faces a Long Beach DUI charge. You cannot go back in time and change that. But what you can do is to determine how to shape events going forward, so that you learn lessons from what happened, make reparations to anyone you hurt, leverage tools and strategies to minimize your punishments, and generally try to transform this obstacle in your life into an opportunity to become a better person, a better driver, a better citizen, and more self-knowing.

3. Good legal help — early on! — is crucial.

A Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) can help you deal with your situation, even if you made compounding errors during and after your arrest. Attorney Kraut is a former prosecutor – he knows how prosecutors will think about your case and want to charge you – and he can leverage that information and insight to get you better results.

May 2, 2012

West Hollywood DUI Not the Only Driving Disaster for Actress Amanda Bynes

by Michael Kraut

On April 6th, actress Amanda Bynes was arrested for driving under the influence in West Hollywood, after she banged into cop car while driving erratically. In retrospect, the warning signs were there. Back in March, Bynes got in trouble for fleeing a police officer, who had stopped her for chatting on her cell phone while behind the wheel. After that incident, she had to make an embarrassing trip to the police station to get her California driver’s license back.

Late last Sunday night, the 26-year-old attempted a three-point turn outside of SUR Restaurant in West Hollywood. She wasn’t arrested… but she certainly seemed “out of it,” according to a witness who spoke with the celebrity gossip magazine, People. Said the witness, “[Bynes was] holding up traffic and doing an incredibly slow three-point turn in the middle of Robertson… she looked wobbly – I guess, it could have been the heels since she was wearing sky-high nude pumps, but she did seem out of it.”

Of course, it’s easy for celebrity gossip columnists to jump to the worst conclusions about celebrity behavior. That’s basically their job. But driving under the influence in West Hollywood is a serious and sobering matter. If someone you love (or you yourself) recently got stopped for DUI in West Hollywood (or DUI near USC or UCLA or wherever), you are likely really concerned about your rights, your future, and your potential penalties.

As well you should be.

Penalties for even mild violations of California Vehicle Code Section 23152(A) or 23152(B) can run the gamut and can include strict probation terms, forced alcohol school, mandatory installation of an interlock ignition device (IID), fees, fines, and court costs, and, of course, jail time.

So what can you do?

Sound legal advice from an experienced Los Angeles DUI attorney can go a long way – not only towards helping you deal with the nuts and bolts of your legal defense but also in terms of giving you back some of your peace of mind. If you aren’t sure about whether you can drive your car or not; whether your insurance will skyrocket or not; whether you will have to serve jail time or not, and so forth, it will be very difficult for you to plan your life and return to emotional equilibrium. In fact, your being out of sorts can predispose you to make other lapses of judgment, which can potentially get you into hotter legal water.

A vicious cycle, indeed.

A West Hollywood DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810) can help you plan for the future, understand your mistakes, and be maximally strategic in terms of your DUI defense. Attorney Kraut is a former city prosecutor (14-plus years experience). The Harvard Law School educated attorney Kraut deeply and diversely understands the problems that face defendants like you. He can help you regain a sense of equilibrium and stability.

April 2, 2012

A Long Beach DUI Debate: Was Korn Drummer DUI…Or Just Drowsy Behind the Wheel?

by Michael Kraut

Some instances of driving under the influence in Long Beach are pretty cut and dry. It’s obvious to everyone involved – not only to the police but also to the driver himself – that grave wrongs were committed. Other times… not so much.

Last week, Korn’s ex drummer, David Silveria, got hit with a DUI charge as he drove to breakfast in Huntington Beach… and nearly rear-ended the car in front of him. An officer pulled Silveria over and gave him a breathalyzer test, which allegedly came back negative for DUI. The drummer told police that he was drowsy because he was still suffering the effects of a sleeping pill he had taken the night prior for chronic insomnia. He told the celebrity muckrakers at TMZ that the drowsy driving “was an honest mistake.” Silveria was the original drummer for Korn; he played for the band from 1996 to 2003. After a long break from the music business, he recently joined up with the band INFINIKA.

Irrespective of what happens to Korn’s drummer, you probably would like to know a little bit more about how police distinguish someone who is DUI in Long Beach from someone who is simply driving drowsy in Long Beach. The answer is actually more complicated than you might guess. There is no equivalent of the breathalyzer test for drowsy driving. Just because you drink a lot of caffeine or Red Bull or Mountain Dew or whatever does not mean that you become immune to the effects of fatigue behind the wheel. Studies show that fatigued drivers – even caffeinated ones – can experience bouts of what’s known as micro sleep. Essentially, you close your eyes and lose consciousness for one or two seconds – you literally fall asleep – before regaining awareness. The micro sleeping process is so fast and so subconscious that most people don’t even realize that they have drifted off. If you’re driving at speeds of 60, 70, 80 miles per hour, (e.g. driving on the 405 when there is not much traffic on it – which only happens on days that don’t end with a “y”), you can drive 100 or even 200 feet while totally asleep and unconscious.

While there are field sobriety tests, breathalyzers, blood tests, and other tests for driving under the influence in Long Beach; there are no equivalent tests for drowsy driving. But studies connected by the likes of the American Automobile Association and the National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration show that drivers who fail to sleep can become as impaired as drivers who are DUI. For instance, one Australian story found that someone who stays awake for 24 hours has a level of impairment that’s equivalent to a 0.10% BAC – and remember that the Long Beach DUI cut off is just 0.08%!

Of course, this academic discussion aside, you have practical issues you need to deal with. A Long Beach DUI defense attorney, such as the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’ Michael Kraut ( 444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454), can help you understand the charges that you face, develop a smart and sound strategy to meet the needs of your situation, and reduce your stress, anxiety, and fears about the future.

March 19, 2012

Long Beach DUI Lessons: Mets’ Catcher’s DUI Rollover Holds Clues for Defendants

by Michael Kraut

If you recently got stopped for driving under the influence (DUI) in Long Beach – or got into a serious accident while DUI (or allegedly DUI), your life likely feels rather out of control right now. It can be useful to take a look at relevant DUI news items to give your situation some context and help you think more constructively about your options.

To that end, let’s examine some breaking news out of St. Lucie County, Florida, where 32-year-old Eric Langill, a former bullpen catcher for the New York Mets, rolled over his car at a traffic circle near Commerce Center Parkway and Reserve Road. Langill told witnesses that someone had cut him off—that’s why the car flipped. Initial reports from local law enforcement officials seem to support his conclusion. His white Honda Accord banked “hard to the right” as he approached the intersection, causing a kind of Rube-Goldberg’s-contraption type of accident. According to a report from WPTV, Langill’s car went “over a curb and hit a street sign and concrete fountain at the center of the traffic circle . . . [causing] the car to flip upside down.”

Fortunately, a witness and a friend came to the scene and helped Langill escape through the passenger door. The report said that he had consumed about three drinks that night. But it does not give an indication of whether he took a blood test. As a Los Angeles DUI attorney will tell you, the legal limit for DUI in Long Beach (and Florida) is 0.08%. But you need not test for a high BAC to get arrested and charged – you can be busted for DUI in Long Beach pursuant to a different California Vehicle Code, 23152 (a).

What Can We Learn from Langill’s Experience?

First of all, as a good Los Angeles DUI lawyer will tell you, even simple-seeming accidents or stops can lead to complex consequences. In other words, you may not be able to intuit your best defense strategy or even understand what caused the crash until you really probe the evidence, look at police reports, analyze whether or how breath or blood tests were performed, etc.

If you were DUI when you got into an accident that hurt another person, the circumstances of the crash are extremely important. If you cause the accident due to your DUI, your penalties can be escalated significantly—you can be charged with DUI pursuant to California Vehicle Code Sections 23153 (a) and (b). This can be a significant shift – making what could have been a misdemeanor into a felony, for instance. On the other hand, if the other driver is at fault, you may still be charged for DUI, but it can be a significantly lesser charge.

The point is that, to protect your rights and avoid making mistakes, it is helpful to connect with a Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney like Michael Kraut of Long Beach’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454). For 14 years, Mr. Kraut worked as a prosecutor for the City of Los Angeles. Now, in his capacity as a top-level criminal defense attorney, he uses his knowledge of the prosecutorial mindset and philosophy to get results for his clients.

March 7, 2012

Long Beach DUI Multiple Offender? Not Necessarily a Problem: Ask Rodney King

by Michael Kraut

If you got arrested and convicted more than once for a crime like DUI in Long Beach, your prospects may be grim, indeed. Prosecutors like to “throw the book” at so called recidivists – people who commit the same crimes more than one time.

As any Los Angeles DUI attorney will tell you, if you are convicted for this crime more than once within a 10-year period, your penalties start to escalate in terms of:

• length of your jail sentence
• amount of alcohol school you need to attend
• duration of your license suspension
• strictness of your probation
• fees and court costs
• and more
But just because you have a DUI on your record does not necessarily mean that you are going to get raked over the coals. For instance, take a look at Rodney King’s situation.

Mr. King, whose videotaped beating touched off the notorious early 1990s Los Angeles riots, was arrested last July in Riverside County for DUI. He was also convicted for DUI in 2004. Police reports suggested that King’s BAC level was 0.06% — just shy of the Long Beach DUI cutoff of 0.08%, as defined by California Vehicle Code 23152(b).

That being said, officers say that they found marijuana in his system as well. All those factors – coupled with his 2004 conviction – could have spelled big trouble for the man famous for his remark “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” But – miracle of miracles (at least as far as King was concerned) – he managed to strike a plea deal with prosecutors that allowed him to escape serving jail time. This wasn’t to say that he got off scot free. In addition to pleading guilty, King agreed to pay court costs and a $500 fine, attend alcohol classes for nine months, endure three years of summary probation, and spend 20 days under house arrest. Given the alternatives for recidivist Long Beach DUI violators, King got a pretty square deal.

Your options change depending on innumerable factors. Did you hurt someone while DUI? Did you cause property damage? Did you resist police arrest? Are you prepared to accept culpability for what happened (if indeed you were to blame)? Do you have prior convictions on you record? If so, what were they for?

Only a qualified Los Angeles DUI lawyer can really help you sort out the best strategies and methods for dealing with prosecutors. In some cases, it makes more sense to fight your charges. In another cases, it might make more sense to aim for a plea deal. To really unpack your best solutions, connect with an experienced Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454). Mr. Kraut is one of the most widely known and respected Los Angles DUI lawyers. He served as a Senior Deputy District Attorney for 14 plus years (after attending Harvard Law School, no less) before switching roles to become an advocate of defendants. His experience fighting on both sides gives him a unique advantage that he can bring to bear to help you.

February 22, 2012

How Many Long Beach DUI Arrests Does It Take to Make the National News Headlines?

by Michael Kraut

If you’re tagged for driving under the influence in Long Beach one time or twice, your story likely won’t make the AP, TMZ.com, or any other high-profile media outlet. Unless, of course, there is something extravagant or strange about your arrest—you are a celebrity, a politician, you drove a lawnmower while DUI, you rode a horse on top of a camel on top of a pig while DUI, etc. Likewise, if this isn’t your first or second arrest but your 102nd, odds are great that you will make the national spotlight.

Consider the news last week. In Westport, Massachusetts, a driver from East Falmouth scored his sixth DUI, and the arrest made regional news. In Missoula, KPAX TV is reporting a parallel story—a man who had five DUI convictions under his belt notched his sixth charge the weekend before last on Brooks Street. In Tennessee, Kyle Brasher, 27, of Franklin, Tennessee posted a bond after he was arrested for his fourth DUI.

The intensity of the alleged crime, as well as its eccentricities, combine to make a Long Beach DUI story “newsworthy” or not.

As a Los Angeles DUI lawyer would tell you, any charge of DUI in Long Beach is serious—whether it’s on the front page or just the local police blotter. But if your story is fascinating in some way, or if you are charged with a serious crime, such as a hit and run or fatal DUI, or if your BAC level is extremely high (0.50 and or above), or if you did something crazy after your arrest like punch a police officer or spit a breathalyzer test back in an officer’s face, then your story might get picked up by the blogosphere and the major media.

What to do if your Long Beach DUI story “goes viral”

It’s challenging enough to deal with an arrest for a scary, embarrassing charge like DUI in Long Beach, even if your arrest is low profile.

If your case is on the road to becoming “famous,” the quality of your representation will play an enormous role, not only in determining whether or not you are cleared of the charges and can get “back to normal” quickly, but also in terms of whether you successfully deal with the media and the negative attention. If you make inappropriate public comments, you could ratchet up your challenges ten-fold.

Dealing in Reality
You may regret what happened on the night or day of your arrest/accident. That’s a normal feeling—that’s human. Some regret, in fact, is healthy. But regret, in and of itself, can’t help you plan your next steps. You need clarity. What’s your current reality? What are your challenges? What are the charges against you? What are you doing to prepare?

You also need clear goals: what’s the best-case outcome for your case? How can you recover emotionally, financially, and legally? Lastly, you need the right strategies and outside help to bridge the gap between your current reality and your vision for success.

Let Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454 ) help you discover an effective strategy for going forward. Attorney Kraut is a highly successful and well-respected Long Beach DUI criminal defense lawyer with a Harvard Law School background, and he served in the DA’s office as a prosecutor for more than 14 years.

January 4, 2012

481 Long Beach DUI Convictions?? Not That Many, but Still a Ridiculously Large Number…

by Michael Kraut

How many Long Beach DUI convictions should a person be allowed to rack up before that person is removed permanently from society?

This is not a purely theoretical question. In fact, a Bloomingdale, Indiana man, 49-year-old William Dietrich, was sentenced last Monday with two decades behind bars for his 11th DUI conviction since 1982. A local newspaper summarized the checkered, disturbing history of the defendant: “In addition to the April charge, Dietrich received DUIs in McLean County in 1982, 1985, twice in 1986, 1989, 1991, 2000, 2002 and 2005. He also was cited for the offense in 2007…a conviction that resulted in an 8-year prison sentence.” Dietrich was released on parole in September 2010 on that charge, but returned to prison for violating the terms of his release after the 2011 charges.

Dietrich’s odyssey is not typical for a Long Beach DUI defendant. But his escalating punishments – and the reasons behind those punishments – serve as a powerful cautionary tale. Consider what Indiana attorney Jane Foster said about Dietrich’s situation: “[The State of Indiana] has made repeated efforts to stop and change this defendant’s behavior through fines, jail, prison, treatment, probation, parole and revocations of his license. Since he has refused to comply with the law and to stop driving under the influence, our office wanted him removed from society.”

California also has an escalating system of punishments. Any Long Beach DUI conviction is a blemish, and you could face jail time even for just one DUI event – particularly if you caused injury to someone else or engaged in other crimes while DUI, such as hit and run, assault, etc. If you get three or more Long Beach DUI convictions within a 10-year span, prosecutors might be able to charge with you a felony instead of a simple misdemeanor. This could be in addition to escalating penalties – hiking up your fines and fees, increasing the amount of mandatory alcohol school and the strictness of your probation, etc.

Dietrich’s odyssey raises questions about what can be done to stop and, ideally, treat seriously recidivist Long Beach DUI drivers. Why did treatment and rehab fail for him? Is Dietrich just a rotten apple? Or did the problems stem from ineffective punishment and/or treatment? All of the above? None of the above? Did he have brain damage or a mental illness? Without more information about his case, it’s impossible to judge.

And that, in essence, is the point.

If you or someone you care about has been arrested more than once for a Long Beach DUI, you need to drill down to the root of your problem. An experienced, compassionate Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) can help you come to terms with your charges and what to do about them. Attorney Michael Kraut is a well-known and well-respected former prosecutor.

December 14, 2011

Hidden Long Beach DUI Penalties Could Be Worse Than Jail Itself

by Michael Kraut

In a recent blog post, we enumerated the many unpleasant, repugnant penalties for Long Beach DUI. We won’t belabor them again, but they include jail time, massive fines, probation, mandatory installation of an IID, alcohol school, etc.

But is that really the worst of it?

In the worst-case scenario, you could at least imagine yourself surviving these penalties and carrying on with your life. No one wants to spend three months in jail or pay thousands of dollars in fines. But life is long, second chances abound, etc.

In some sense, this attitude is correct. In another sense, however, it ignores the far more insidious but potentially terrifying, debilitating indirect penalties of a Long Beach DUI conviction.

Punishment worse than jail?

There are, believe it or not, worse things than going to jail. Unless you commit a truly heinous crime, jail is a temporary situation. However, the long-term “metaphorical prisons” that we build for ourselves can incarcerate us for a lifetime. Bad habits beget bad habits. Bad self-image begets worse self-image. And so on. Indeed a Long Beach DUI conviction can be the first step on a slippery slip towards an unfulfilled and unfulfilling life.

Consider the hazards potentially in your way:

• Conviction makes it more likely that you will be punished harsher for any future crimes or infractions;
• Conviction will almost certainly spike your car insurance rates (assuming that you are still allowed to keep your license) for years, draining your pocket book of potentially of thousands of dollars;
• Once convicted, you may find yourself judged harshly by employers, acquaintances and people in your social circle as well as by close family members and even by yourself.
• If you “don’t believe in yourself” or lack support from friends or family members who’ve “given up on you” you may find it harder to get a job, harder to get a loan, harder to find the inner resources to fight through obstacles in your way, be they career obstacles or even medical problems.
• Loss of driving practice and mobility. If your license gets suspended, you may have to lean on public transportation, friends and family members, and ingenuity to survive. If you are like most people who live in and around Long Beach, you likely depend heavily on your car, truck, or motorcycle to deal with the “stuff” of life.

Count those costs. How many hours of productive time will you have to sacrifice? Will you be fired? Will you sap your spouse’s productivity and thus limit his or her income? What about loss of confidence behind the wheel?

Once you’ve been convicted for a serious violation, such as a Long Beach DUI, you may lose confidence in your ability to drive safely and effectively. Your driving persona may change for the worse.

Fortunately, you don’t have to go through the gauntlet of defending yourself by yourself.

An experienced Long Beach DUI criminal defense attorney from the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454 ) can help you develop a powerful strategic response to whatever charges you face. Attorney Kraut is a former Deputy District Attorney with a fantastic track record at jury trials and a Harvard Law School Education.