Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog

March 31, 2016

Tennessee Appeals Court Reinstates DUI Charges Against Driver

Motorists stopped for speeding often face other problems, including charges of DUI in Los Angeles. The police can use the results of a field sobriety test to support the charge, but what happens if the results of that test are not clear?

A ruling by Tennessee’s Court of Criminal Appeals will require Anthony John Silver to stand trial for driving under the influence, despite dispute over his performance on a field sobriety test. A Williamson County Circuit Court judge had thrown out Silver’s arrest, contending that the police officer on the case had inaccurately described what happened during the tests. The three-panel appeals court disagreed with that decision and reinstated the charges against Silva.

News agencies reported that Officer Adam Cohen of the Franklin Police Department pulled Silva over when he saw him driving 46 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone. Officer Cohen said Silva smelled like alcohol and admitted he had drunk three beers several hours earlier.

March 29, 2016

The Statistics are in: Interlock Devices DO Prevent DUI Deaths

by Michael Kraut

As states look for ways to further reduce deaths from DUI accidents, many are considering new requirements for ignition interlock devices (IID). For example, a bill now making its way through the Maryland State legislature would require first-time DUI offenders to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicles. (Drivers convicted of DUI in Los Angeles County already face that penalty for first offenses.)

A study from the University of Pennsylvania has shown that mandatory interlock devices do work as intended. According to an article in Medical Daily, Penn researchers found that mandatory in-car breathalyzers saved an estimated 915 lives between 2007 and 2013. They arrived at this conclusion by studying NHTSA data about the number of alcohol-related crash deaths, comparing states with mandatory ignition interlock laws with those that did not have them. The researchers reported that states with the mandatory interlock laws saved the life of one person in every 125,000.

March 21, 2016

District Court Requires Shorter Appeal in DUI Manslaughter Case

by Michael Kraut

If courts convicted you of a DUI in Los Angeles that caused serious injury and sentenced you to harsh penalties, you’d likely want to explore the possibility of appealing your conviction. But a court in Florida has ruled that one defendant needs to limit his appeal.

March 7, 2012 – West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. – WEST PALM BEACH – John Goodman looks at potential jurors during the second day of jury selection in his DUI Manslaughter trial Wednesday. (Credit Image: © Lannis Waters/The Palm Beach Post/ZUMAPRESS.com)

In February, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled that attorneys for John Goodman, convicted of DUI manslaughter in 2014, had to keep their appeal down to 100 pages—12 more than they originally filed. Goodman’s lawyers are asking that the appeals court overturn his conviction or at least grant him a new (third) trial.

Miami’s Sun Sentinel reported that attorneys representing the State of Florida had argued that Goodman’s appeal was more than twice the length of the filings that appeals courts usually allowed. They contended that 85 pages should be the maximum number.

March 16, 2016

St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations Bring Out the DUI Drivers

by Michael Kraut

Planning to celebrate the March 17th holiday honoring the Irish saint? Better make sure that you have a designated driver–or at least an alternate form of transportation–for that night if you want to avoid charges of DUI in Los Angeles or any other jurisdiction. Police departments across the country are warning that they plan to be out in full force to ensure that the roads remain as safe as possible.

They have reason for concern. The WalletHub website recently posted some sobering statistics on DUIs on Saint Patrick’s Day. They report that in four years, from 2009-2013, 276 people died in DUI-related accidents on March 17th. (The Centers for Disease Control state that 30 people a day usually die in such accidents, so that’s more than twice the typical number of deaths.) The drivers involved tend to be more than just a little tipsy; WalletHub said that 75 percent of those involved in fatal accidents have more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in their blood.

The St. Patrick’s Day DUI accidents also occur more frequently–every 46 minutes, according to WalletHub, versus the CDC’s estimate that a DUI-related death occurs every 51 minutes on the average day.

March 14, 2016

DUI Driver on Probation After Sending 2 Men into Ravine Goes Back to Jail

by Michael Kraut

Most people who spent time in prison after a conviction for a Los Angeles DUI would try to do everything they could to avoid going back behind bars. But one woman in Maryland wasn’t willing (or able) to take advantage of her opportunity to remain free.

The Washington Post reported that a judge is sending 40-year-old Kelli Loos back to jail–at least temporarily–after she violated her probation in a 2009 DUI conviction by trying to drive while she was under the influence of alcohol.

Loos allegedly had a BAC of 0.20–more than twice the legal limit–when she slammed into a vehicle carrying Gradys Mendoza and Franklin Manzanares in July 2009. The impact sent their vehicle flying over a guardrail and down into a 60-foot ravine, killing both men. Loos, apparently oblivious, continued driving until she had another accident in Virginia that brought her to a halt.

After Loos pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of leaving the scene of an accident, a judge sentenced her to 20 years in jail. Loos got out on probation after serving four years of her sentence. But before Loos could drive again, she had to get an ignition interlock device installed on her vehicle. Prosecutors brought her back into court on parole violation charges after the IID registered at least three occasions on which Loos tried to drive while under the influence.

March 9, 2016

Town Wants to Fire Highway Superintendent After His DUI

by Michael Kraut

Elected officials convicted of crimes–like a DUI in Los Angeles–frequently end up resigning their positions due to their constituents’ disapproval of their actions. But others hold onto their jobs, despite the public outcry. The only recourse that citizens usually have is to vote them out during the next election.

But the town of Scriba, New York, is taking a different tack when it comes to their new highway superintendent. They’re hoping to replace the elected position with an appointed one and in the process rid themselves of the current holder of that position, Michael Barry. The officials are planning to hold a special election to make that change in the current law; if it passes, they’ll dump Barry and appoint someone new in his place. After that, the officials say they’ll go through the whole special election process again to change the position back to an elected one.

March 7, 2016

Video Release Embarrasses DUI Solicitor

by Michael Kraut

In earlier days, people arrested for DUI in Los Angeles could concoct an involved story about what really happened when they crashed their vehicles into a light pole or ended up in a highway median. It was always somebody else’s fault. But in the age of video surveillance, it’s getting harder and harder to make such stories believable.

Just ask Donnie Myers, the 11th Circuit Court Solicitor in South Carolina. Responding to a report of someone hitting a utility pole, a police officer tracked Myers down to his home. Found in his garage, Myers told police that he had been slightly hurt in the accident, which was caused by another driver who had forced him over. But the officer apparently doubted that story, since he smelled alcohol.

March 3, 2016

DUI & Distractions Pose Biggest Accident Risks [Increasing Risk by 36X!]

by Michael Kraut

Traffic safety organizations repeatedly warn that DUI in Los Angeles greatly increases accident risk. But how dangerous is DUI compared to other types of distracted behavior, such as texting or reading or just fiddling with the controls on your dashboard?
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute tracked 3,500 drivers who had agreed to have cameras and sensors monitoring speed, acceleration and GPS location placed in their vehicles. The New York Times reported that DUI was the most dangerous behavior, increasing crash risk by 36 times. Dialing a phone increased crash risk by 12 times; reading and writing by 10 times; reaching for an item by nine times; and reading texts or emails by three times.

When you’re on the road, it’s probably safest to assume that the drivers around you are impaired or distracted in some way. In a recent survey of drivers by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Study, 87 percent admitted that they had engaged in some type of risky behavior behind the wheel within the previous 30 days. A whopping 70 percent said they had talking on the cell phone, and about one-third said they did it on a regular basis. Forty-two percent said they read texts (12 percent regularly); almost one-third said they sent texts as well. One in three of the drivers said they were driving while drowsy (so tired they had trouble keeping their eyes open) and almost half admitted that they exceeded the speed limit by 15 mph or more.

March 1, 2016

Educators Learn Firsthand [the Hard Way] About Los Angeles DUI Dangers

by Michael Kraut

People charged with DUI in Los Angeles come from many different professions, including schoolteachers, college professors, principals and other educators. Since the public usually holds educators to a higher standard of behavior–they are supposed to be role models for our children–their arrests for DUI generally get a fair amount of coverage in local media.

In Meriden, Connecticut, Platt High School Principal Robert Montemurro took sick leave after news of his arrest for DUI hit the news. The 56-year-old Montemurro had been involved in an accident on the main street of town. Police arrived, investigated and charged the principal with DUI.

Matthew B. Lucchini, 26, a Phys ed instructor at a Chicago, Illinois, elementary school, faces more serious charges. He hit sisters Jazmine Oquendo, 14, and Ava Oquendo, 7, while they were walking in a marked crosswalk. He fled the scene with the sisters lying in the road. But police soon caught up with Lucchini and charged him with DUI, leaving the scene of an accident and negligent driving.

February 27, 2016

The Math Is Simple: DUI + Cell Phone = Bad Accident

by Michael Kraut

Although the penalties for a Los Angeles DUI can be fairly severe–first time offenders can spend up to a year in jail under California Vehicle Code 23152 (a)–the punishment for talking on a hand-held cell phone isn’t nearly as severe. (No points, and a fine of just $76 for a first offense.) But even if the court doesn’t punish offenders for cell phone usage, the combination of DUI and talking on a hand-held may have some fairly serious consequences.

In Greenville, South Carolina, a woman ran into a stopped tractor trailer–halted by the side of the road on I-85 because of a previous accident–around 8:45 on February 21st. Police believe that the woman was trying to make a phone call on her hand held cell phone when she hit the vehicle. The unnamed woman suffered serious injuries and doctors had her airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
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