Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog

November 11, 2015

Halloween DUI Driver Scares LA Motorists and Pedestrians

A Halloween night DUI in Los Angeles left 10 people injured and a 40-year old man in jail for allegedly driving while impaired.
According to KTLA channel 5 and other local news reports, Michael Maurice Wilson had cocaine in his possession when police finally caught up with him after his out-of-control driving spree. Wilson, who was driving a rented U-Haul truck, allegedly initially sideswiped a parked vehicle on Seventh Street. But he didn’t slow down, and ended up traveling a short distance in the wrong direction on Seventh Street. He finally crashed into a motorcycle carrying two passengers and a vehicle with four occupants. (The driver of that vehicle was making an Uber run.) Wilson then plowed into a sidewalk, hitting several pedestrians before coming to a stop.

Wilson, who told police he had been heading to the store, abandoned his truck but didn’t get far before police arrived.

Ten people received injuries during Wilson’s scary Halloween drive; three ended up in the hospital, but police said none of the injuries was life-threatening. Wilson allegedly admitted that he was under the influence of marijuana, and police booked him on charges of DUI and possessing cocaine.

November 6, 2015

Was Your Los Angeles DUI Arrest a Freak Occurrence or a Symptom of a Deeper Problem?

by Michael Kraut

Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion famously quipped about the town of Lake Wobegon, “where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.”

This notion – that we all think that we are special – has pretty profound implications for your Los Angeles DUI defense.

Obviously, no two DUIs are exactly alike, and many factors might particularly distinguish your arrest from the pack. But rather than think that you are a unique defendant, it might help to take the opposite approach – to begin with the assumption that your case is standard.

November 6, 2015

Lessons from California’s Big Drought for Los Angeles DUI Defendants

by Michael Kraut

Even if you’ve been consumed by concern over a recent Los Angeles DUI arrest, you’ve no doubt at least been aware of the hand wringing and impassioned discussion about California’s epic drought and the impact that it will have on industry, communities and homeowners.

Despite California’s implementation of water conservation measures, many engineers worry that, with our reservoirs running low and longer concerns about climate change adding uncertainty to the mix, water planning challenges will abound for some time.

Will the drought subside as El Nino surges in the Pacific?
Will we continue to deplete our aquifers until we are forced to take extreme measures, like cutting off water to almond farmers or forcibly desalinizing the Pacific to keep our cities hydrated?

November 2, 2015

Citizen Makes Arrest After Encounter with DUI Driver

by Michael Kraut

People who imbibe too much alcohol or operate a vehicle under the influence of illegal drugs in Los Angeles (or anywhere) can be unpredictable in their behavior. Would YOU confront a likely DUI driver if you had a close encounter with him or her?
A man in Chickasha, Oklahoma, did just that when a driver operating the influence threated his family. A report on television station KFOR 4 said that Jared Shepperd made a citizen’s arrest after chasing down the driver who almost hit his family’s vehicle head on.

Joley Schulte, age 44, allegedly had been traveling in the wrong direction (going south in the northbound lane) on a bridge over Country Club Road. Shepperd, with his wife and two-year old son in the car, was also traveling northbound, but in the proper lane. A collision seemed inevitable, but Shepperd acted quickly and reversed direction, backing up at 35 miles per hour. Even then, he only narrowly escaped Schulte slamming into his vehicle and his family. (The news report quoted Shepperd as saying his driving looked like something out of a Fast and Furious movie.)

Schulte kept driving along—she finally pulled into the right lane–but Shepperd, who is a volunteer firefighter, followed in hot pursuit, eventually catching up with at her at an intersection along Country Club Road. He managed to block her from leaving until the Chickasha police arrived. The police arrived and performed a sobriety test on Schulte.

October 30, 2015

Warning: El Niño’s Rains May Make Los Angeles DUI Events That Much More Dangerous

by Michael Kraut

Everyone knows that driving under the influence in Los Angeles (or anywhere, frankly) puts drivers at an elevated risk of getting into accidents, hurting themselves and others, and causing property damage. However, to understand the true risks associated with dangerous driving of any kind, you need context.

Someone just barely overly the legal limit (as established by California Vehicle Code Section 23152) of 0.08% BAC — who is otherwise alert, driving on a sunny, clear road and at a stable, slow speed — is probably far less likely to get into a crash than someone driving with the same BAC level at night, while blasting music and chatting with a girlfriend on a cellphone.

Driving risk factors stack up.

To maximize your safety on the road, be aware not just of your alcohol consumption but also of other elements that could make driving less safe. For instance:

• Your level of distraction – are you fully attentive behind the wheel?
• Are you listening to music or eating?
• Are you chatting with someone on a cellphone? (Even talking on a hands free headset can lead to driving errors comparable to the errors you’d make while DUI, according to research from the University of Utah.)
• How tired are you? (Fatigue is a major factor in auto accidents. One study out of Australia found that someone who stays up 24 hours in a row exhibits a level of impairment commensurate with DUI level of impairment.)
• What are the road conditions like? Are the roads potholed and bumpy or smooth and well-marked?
• Weather – is it dry? Or is it raining? (The first 45 minutes after a rain following a long period of dryness can be quite treacherous.)

As El Niño stirs up trouble in the Pacific, weather forecasters expect serious rain here in the Southland this winter. These bouts of rain will be dispersed with periods of dryness, so we can expect the weather to ratchet up the level of treacherousness on the Los Angeles roads and complicate car accident cases. (For instance, was your wreck caused by DUI driving or by slick conditions or both?)

Call the strategic, respected Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers, and recover peace of mind and clarity about your situation.

October 28, 2015

The Day Before Thanksgiving: Why It’s Such a Dangerous Time for Los Angeles DUIs

by Michael Kraut

As the holiday season approaches, most people are looking forward to Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas presents and 2016 fireworks. But a small percentage of people will face unpleasant surprises, such as Los Angeles DUI arrests. Believe it or not, DUI arrests are not spread out evenly throughout the year. Some days are actually more dangerous for DUIs than others.

Statistical analyses have revealed, for instance, that major national holidays, such Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend, the 4th of July, Super Bowl Sunday and New Year’s Eve tend to be more dangerous than average days. In a recent post, we talked about confounders that make easy explanations for this phenomenon hard to identify.

(The “too long; didn’t read” of it is this: just because you notice an ASSOCIATION between two variables — holidays and DUI arrests, for instance — doesn’t mean that you can know what CAUSES what.)

In any event, these analyses, for whatever reason, show that the day before Thanksgiving tends to be a particularly dangerous time. Thanksgiving is also dangerous, but it’s not as dangerous as the eve of Thanksgiving.

Why is this?

One theory is that college students home for break often spend the night before Thanksgiving out with friends, partying. During Thanksgiving, they stay at home with their families and eat and drink inside. But the night before, they go out to bars. Although parents don’t want to hear this, statistics show that children who go off to college often experiment with alcohol and drugs in a fairly predictable manner, even though it’s illegal for minors to do so.

Driving DUI under any circumstances can get you into serious trouble, leading to license suspension, hikes on your insurance rates, and jail time. But driving under the influence while under the age of 21 can lead to special punishments, and the legal system is less lenient. For instance, a minor stopped with a BAC of just 0.05% could lose her license, even though that BAC would be under the legal limit for an adult.

The experienced Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers would love to learn more about what you are going through and help you develop a sound strategic plan.

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.

October 21, 2015

Unusual Los Angeles DUIs Make Headlines… Including DUI in a Wheelchair

by Michael Kraut

Arrests for DUI in Los Angeles aren’t usually big news unless the person arrested is some sort of celebrity. But sometimes a story about a DUI arrest—in any part of the country–is so unusual that online news outlets and social media provide widespread coverage. Here are two crazy breaking stories:

Wheelchair DUI for Florida Man

In Palm Bay, Florida, police just arrested 54-year-old Ronny Hicks on DUI charges. Nothing extraordinary about them—except that Hicks has been driving an electric wheelchair at the time. Visitors to a city park called police, complaining that Hicks was blocking a pedestrian path. When police arrived, they allegedly smelled alcohol on Hicks’ breath and said that he appeared to be highly intoxicated.

Hicks tallied not his first but rather his third DUI arrest in 10 years. Under Florida law, that could mean a fine of $2,000 and mandatory imprisonment for at least 30 days. (Three Los Angeles DUI convictions within 10 years leads to felony counts.) But Hicks’ attorney doesn’t seem to think that the most recent charge of DUI in a wheelchair will stick.

Alleged DUI Driver Hides in Church, Claims Dog Did It

Another Florida motorist, this time from Manatee County, came up with an unusual excuse when police finally caught up with him to question him about his driving. TV station WFTS reported that sheriff’s deputies spotted Reliford Cooper speeding and tried to pull him over. Instead of obeying, the 26-year-old took off, leaving the road and driving through two ditches before crashing into a house. But even that act didn’t slow Cooper down; he took off on foot and tried to hide in a church. The churchgoers, however, had none of it, and they chased Cooper out of their building.

The deputies finally got Cooper into handcuffs, which is when he allegedly told them that he wasn’t responsible for the erratic driving because his dog was driving the car. (The dog must have been invisible, because nobody has seen a trace of it.) The officers didn’t buy his story, since Cooper smelled like alcohol and marijuana. They charged him with DUI.

How should you respond to your recent and disarming charges? Call a qualified Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer (and ex-prosecutor) with nearly two decades of relevant legal experience.

October 19, 2015

Notable October DUIs – John Stamos, Cre Moore and Tim Chambers

by Michael Kraut

DUI arrests of sports and entertainment figures always make the news, and this October witnessed some serious charges.
The most prominent Los Angeles DUI arrest involved none other than “Grandfathered” actor John Stamos, whom police pulled over after receiving calls about an erratic driver.

The officers initially took Stamos to a hospital out of concern he had some medical condition. Police later charged slapped him with a DUI; tests allegedly determined that Stamos was under the influence of drugs while operating his vehicle. This misdemeanor charge could result in the former star of Full House spending six months in jail.

The sports world also saw two high-profile arrests this month. Cre Moore, the defensive back for the Kansas State football team, crashed his 2014 Ford F-15 in Riley County, Kansas, around 3 in the morning of October 4th. He left the road, hitting a pole and then a stone wall before coming to a stop. The 20-year-old Moore didn’t suffer any injuries, although his vehicle received major damage. But police who went to the scene allegedly did find several pills in Moore’s car, and they charged Moore with DUI and possession of depressants.

The head baseball coach at the University of Nevada, Tim Chambers, faces legal and job troubles after his arrest for arrest for driving under the influence on October 6th. After police charged Chambers with DUI, two counts of failure to maintain a lane and a violation of the proof of insurance requirement, the university immediately placed him on an administrative leave of absence until the courts resolve the charges against him. Chambers is in his fifth year of coaching the UNLV Rebels. The university has a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol for its athletes.

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 14, 2015

How Much Marijuana Before It’s a DUI?

by Michael Kraut

Eleven U.S. states have now legalized or decriminalized marijuana. California, which approved of the use of the drug for medical purposes, also seeks to legalize the drug completely in the next few years. But the move to legalization raises the question of how marijuana impacts a driver. How much THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) would have to be in the bloodstream before police could charge someone with a DUI in Los Angeles?

A Florida state legislator, Dave Kerner of Lake Worth, believes that there should be a standard for determining marijuana intoxication when it comes to driving, just as there is a blood alcohol content for people who drink. He thinks that at 5 nanograms of active THC in the bloodstream, the courts should presume that the person is driving under the influence of cannabis.

Kerner introduced a bill into the Florida Legislature to make this standard the law in the Sunshine State. He named the bill the Naomi Pomerance Victim Safety Act in honor of a 16-year-old girl killed in a crash caused by a person high on marijuana. Kerner isn’t a marijuana opponent, however; he supports medical marijuana.

Other states are addressing this issue as well. Colorado, where marijuana is legal, already has a law that presumes that someone is operating under the influence if the THC level in the bloodstream is 5 nanograms or higher.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says that data from road traffic arrests and fatalities indicate that after alcohol, marijuana is the most frequently detected psychoactive substance among drivers. Marijuana has been shown to impair performance on driving simulator tasks and on open and closed driving courses for up to approximately 3 hours.
“Decreased car handling performance, increased reaction times, impaired time and distance estimation, inability to maintain headway, lateral travel, subjective sleepiness, motor incoordination, and impaired sustained vigilance have all been reported,” according to the NHTSA. The organization has not taken a position, however on the use of THC levels to measure driver impairment.

Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to offer critical insight into your case and potential defense options. Call him and his team today to begin regaining control over your case and your life.