Los Angeles DUI Criminal Defense

March 19, 2018

A Brief History of DUI and What We Can Learn

For as long as mankind has been using vehicles to get around, some people have been unfortunately operating those vehicles while under the influence of some substance—mostly alcohol. At first, no laws were on the books to address the issue, but, as the roads became more crowded, public pressure eventually prompted lawmakers to set standards as to what constitutes driving under the influence (DUI)—also known as driving while intoxicated (DWI)—and what the penalties would be for violating those rules.

If you’ve ever been arrested for DUI—especially if you believe you tested “false positive”—you might feel like the laws and standards of intoxication are too strict. Looking into the past often helps give us perspective as to where we are now and where we’re headed. So let’s look back at a few milestones in the history of DUI, and see what we can learn.

First Known DUI Arrest: 1897

January 5, 2018

3 Great Driving Habits to Adopt in 2018 (Especially If You Just Got a DUI)

by Michael Kraut

As the New Year gets underway, millions of people are trying to keep those resolutions they made over the holidays. Some of the most common resolutions are health related (e.g., get in shape, quit smoking, lose weight, eat healthy). However, let me propose an alternative resolution if you haven’t picked one yet: What about learning better driving habits (especially if police recently stopped you for a Los Angeles DUI)? Becoming a safer driver could be the healthiest choice of all—because it affects not just you, but everyone around you. Here in California where good driving habits seem scarce, why not become the exception to the rule? Let’s take a look at three smart driving habits you should consider adopting this year.

1. Know When Not to Drive

Ironically, one of the most important decisions you can make as a driver is the decision to let someone else get behind the wheel. If you’ve ever been arrested for DUI, this issue should be top-of-mind. However, avoiding DUI begins long before you find yourself in a bad situation. It starts with a quality decision not to drive if you indulge in alcohol or drugs, and moves forward from there.

May 12, 2017

Searching For the Root Causes of Domestic Violence

by Michael Kraut

In the United States, an average of 20 people a minute suffer physical abuse at the hands of a spouse or an intimate partner. That’s equal to more than 10 million men and women each year, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Although intimate partners of both sexes suffer abuse, the majority of those abused are women; every nine seconds in the U.S., a woman is assaulted or beaten.

But domestic violence includes more than physical abuse. The U.S. Department of Justice’ Office on Violence Against Women defines it as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship to gain or maintain power over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten terrorize, to coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure or wound someone.”

What causes someone to inflict this kind of pain on the people they are supposed to love the most? Writing on medicinenet.com, Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards notes that domestic abuse can involve partners of all races, religions, socioeconomic status and sexual orientation. But certain risk factors do appear to be associated with domestic violence, including lack of a high school education, poverty, witnessing family violence as a child and attitudes of male domination.

January 15, 2017

How a Los Angeles DUI Can Mess Up Your Insurance Rates [And What to Do About It]

by Michael Kraut

In California, penalties for a first time DUI can take a big chunk out of a bank account—at least $1,800 in penalties and fines, plus the cost of attending DUI driving school (if required), and the expense of installing an ignition interlock system, which courts can now require for even first-time offenders.

But there’s another expense that some drivers convicted of DUI don’t immediately consider—the huge rise that they’re likely to see in their auto insurance premium rates. According to the financial website nerdwallet.com, average good drivers in California can expect their insurance premiums to more than double if they are convicted of DUI. The nerdwallet research revealed that a 25-year old with a DUI would pay about $1,300, while one with a DUI on record would pay about $4,000. A 50-year-old who normally paid about $1,060 could expect to pay $3,275 after a DUI conviction.

The extra cost of auto insurance as a result of a DUI will depend upon:

July 20, 2016

DUI Firefighter Will Cost City $5 Million

by Michael Kraut

Courts don’t hold a city responsible when an off-duty employee drinks too much and faces charges of DUI. But if that city employee is DUI in Los Angeles when on the job, the result could be costly for his/her employer.

One recent example comes from San Francisco. The City is about to approve a $5 million settlement in the case of firefighter Michael Quinn. In June 2013, Quinn was driving a fire truck in the city’s South of Market district when he collided with motorcyclist Jack Frazier. The crash, which left Frazier with serious injuries, took place around 11:30 p.m.

TV station KRON 4 reports that police arrested Quinn on suspicion of DUI and on leaving the scene of the crash. The grand jury indicted him almost nine months later on three felony counts of driving under the influence causing injury, driving with a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher causing injury and driving a commercial motor vehicle with a BAC of .04 percent or higher causing injury.

In March 2015, a judge ruled that the BAC evidence against Quinn was inadmissible because the fire department’s breathalyzer used by to measure Quinn’s BAC was not calibrated to police standards. Prosecutors are still pursuing the case against him, however.

January 18, 2016

Wow – Verdicts Overturned in 30-Year Old DUI Cases

by Michael Kraut

If a judge had accepted your guilty plea case involving a Los Angeles DUI, and new evidence turned up, would you take the time and spend the money to have that verdict overturned? What if your conviction dated all the way back to 1986? Some people in Massachusetts who pleaded guilty to DUI are willing to do it.

District Court in session. Edgartown.

A recent article in the Vineyard Gazette (the newspaper for the upscale Martha’s Vineyard) reported that attorneys who practice in the Edgartown District Court are taking a look at the operating under the influence (OUI) cases handled by Judge Brian Rowe over his 20 years in office. When accepting an accused DUI driver’s guilty plea, Judge Rowe apparently neglected to follow a procedure called colloquy. According to the Gazette, the judge was supposed to advise the guilty party that he/she had the right to a jury trial if desired and to ask each defendant if he or she fully understood the consequences of the decision to make a guilty plea. There’s a box on some court forms that the judge should have checked if the discussion had taken place.

January 4, 2016

Three Wildest DUI Stories from This Decade [So Far]

by Michael Kraut

When it comes to stories about driving under the influence in Los Angeles (and elsewhere), strange arrests and odd situations seem to take center stage. Some of the stories are so unbelievable that you have to wonder whether they are just urban legends. Here are three of the decade’s wildest, jaw-dropping DUI stories:

1. Crocs brand founder arrested in 2012. George Boedecker, the 51-year-old Crocs shoe brand founder, apparently was so intoxicated when police pulled him over that he tried to convince officers that he was dating Taylor Swift. The story gets even crazier; he gave cops obscenity-laced excuses until they decided to arrest him on DUI charges.

2. Wisconsin man didn’t see repeat offenses as a crime. A 53-year-old from Wisconsin, Daniel Frisch, has a history of DUI. He and about 30 other people in the state have a whopping total of more than 30 DUI convictions apiece. Frisch never killed anyone during his intoxicated excursions, but time in prison may not have changed his outlook much. According to reports, he never viewed himself as an alcoholic and never thought about his drinking and driving as a crime. He does admit, however, that his numerous convictions have taken away his chance at living a normal life.

October 26, 2015

DUI Driver Back In Jail After Violating Release Terms

by Michael Kraut

Drivers convicted of a DUI in Los Angeles face a variety of penalties, including fines, loss of license and time in jail. A judge may show some leniency but usually reserves the right to reinstate punishments (including jail time) if the person violates the terms of parole.

This summer, Carol Ferdigan pled guilty to charges of vehicular homicide in the horrific deaths of her husband and her son-in-law. The judge released her pending sentence this fall, but she had to promise to refrain from drinking alcohol and to wear a transdermal alcohol sensing device. In early October, that device showed that Ferdigan had been drinking and that her blood alcohol content tipped 0.16% BAC, twice the legal limit, per California Vehicle Code section 23152(b).

That violation sent Ferdigan back to King County Jail to await sentencing on October 23rd.

The deaths occurred in May 2014, when Ferdigan had been enjoying a meal with several family members in her home in Sammamish, Washington. Ferdigan left the table to move her Jeep, but she apparently had consumed so much alcohol that she mistook the accelerator for the brake. She pressed the gas repeatedly, plowing through her home, smashing the table where her family sat and continuing into Lake Sammamish. The crash killed her husband and her son-in-law and badly injured her daughter.

Ferdigan wasn’t hurt; neither was her young grandson, who had been sitting on her lap while she went on her deadly drive.

Ferdigan’s blood alcohol content measured 0.16%, and she allegedly was also driving under the influence of Ambien.
The 69-year-old grandmother ended up taking a guilty plea on charges of reckless endangerment-DUI, with a recommendation

that the court sentence her to six years in prison instead of the 10-13 years she might otherwise have faced.
The justice system isn’t taking any chances with Ferdigan this time; the court denied her bail request. This incident could also influence the judge, who may—but does not have to—follow the sentencing recommendations in her plea deal.

Respond strategically to your arrest and charges by calling a former Senior Deputy D.A. and highly successful Los Angeles DUI defense attorney with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers today for a complimentary consultation.

January 23, 2015

Los Angeles DUI Community Saddened as Redondo Beach Driver Kills Three After Taking Prescription Drugs

by Michael Kraut

Los Angeles DUI accidents can claim lives at any time; an awful crash in Redondo recently killed 3 Californians and injured many more.

According to reports, twelve people suffered injuries, when a woman crashed into a group of Christmas concert-goers in a Redondo Beach church last December. Margo Bronstein had been exiting St. James Catholic Church when she slammed into pedestrians leaving the concert. Three people died; two suffered bad injuries; and seven others suffered minor injuries.

Bronstein, a paraplegic, had a spotless driving record, but she had been taking medication that day. Her car had been outfitted with various technology to assist her driving. She had hand brakes on the steering wheel and special rear-view mirrors.

Police might charge Bronstein with felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter. Her attorneys have been urging the public to avoid jumping to conclusions about the accident. It is possible, they argue, that a defect in the hand brakes could have contributed to the accident.

If Bronstein’s lawyers can prove that the incident had been an accident — and that medication had not been to blame – perhaps they can fight or eliminate the charges. Her medications included muscle relaxers and other pain relievers to help her cope with chronic health issues.

Accidents involving prescription drugs can still be charged as DUIs, and the consequences of even non-injury stops can include jail time, license suspension, fines and fees and beyond. If a blood or urine test measures a drug’s present in the bloodstream, a conviction could follow.

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

October 2, 2014

What Should You Do After Your Fourth Los Angeles DUI Arrest? [Hint: Don’t “Moon” the Police]

by Michael Kraut

One of the consistent themes we’ve discussed on this Los Angeles DUI defense blog is the tragic observation that drivers often make their legal situations far, far worse after getting stopped for DUI. We’ve covered stories about drivers who have attacked police, driven off in a panicked rage from a stop, and even charged through DUI checkpoints.

Unfortunately, one “bad night” can lead to a series of criminal charges, which can land you in jail for many months or even years, depending on what you did, whom you hurt, and whether you have a criminal record. To wit, consider the case of 49-year old Michele Ann Rivera of Coral Springs, Florida. Per a local paper, she and her husband, Stancel Ganus Kinsley, 68, had been driving home from Kinsley’s birthday in the early afternoon on Sunday, when some kind of “road rage” incident broke out. One motorist called the police and reported that Rivera had been winding all over the road on North University Drive in her Toyota 4Runner.

Allegedly, the 49-year-old got out from the driver seat and screamed at a driver for tailgating her. Meanwhile, Kinsley took the driver seat. Police alerted by the ruckus determined that both Kinsley and Rivera had symptoms of DUI, including bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and a distinct smell of alcohol. Authorities also allegedly found an open bottle of Vodka in her purse. Police put her through the paces of field sobriety tests, which she allegedly couldn’t complete. Police then arrested both her and Kinsley for DUI, at which time she apparently became abrasive and loud and mooned a police officer, yelling “this is the best you will ever have.”

In Los Angeles, if you are arrested more than three times in a 10-year period for driving under the influence, authorities can charge you with a felony, even if you committed what would ordinarily only be a misdemeanor DUI. To protect your rights and make smart strategic choices about your Los Angeles DUI defense, contact a lawyer with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers immediately to schedule a free and confidential consultation.