Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog

December 12, 2012

Nothing in the World Can Possibly Prepare You for Your Beverly Hill DUI Experience

Whether you were pulled over for Beverly Hills DUI on the corner of Doheny and Wilshire near CVS or stopped on Beverly Drive right near where Islands used to be, you recognize that you’re in serious legal trouble. You need immediate assistance in diverse areas of your life.

Even if “all was well” in your world prior to your Beverly Hills DUI stop, your charges could wreak havoc on your life. You could lose your California driver’s license, get clobbered with massive fees and court costs, and find yourself serving a not-insubstantial amount of time behind bars. If you injured someone while driving DUI, prosecutors could ratchet up your charges pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 23153(a) and 23153(b) — escalate your misdemeanor charges into felony counts. And we haven’t even begun to talk about the longer-term repercussions regarding your professional life, your intimate relationships, your risk for escalated penalties if you ever break the law again, and spikes in your auto insurance rates.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know how this experience will transform your life, career, and capacity to deal with challenges. However, you can take the first step towards transforming this difficult experience into one of growth, self-compassion, and learning. Consider the DUI as an obstacle to a better life as opposed to the end of the line. You survived the event. You have the mental capacity to understand these words. So you already need to consider yourself extremely lucky. Many people who drive DUI in Beverly Hills just like you did (or allegedly did) never survive to get a second chance, get rehabilitated, and make amends to people they hurt or repair the damage they caused.

Attorney Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Beverly Hills would be happy to talk to you about what you can do to start to construct a systematic, intelligent defense to the charges against you. Attorney Kraut is a former prosecutor with a long and detailed history of success. The Harvard Law School educated Kraut also has lots of connections as well as deep, empirically validated insights into how to solve tricky legal issues. Connect with his team today to understand your rights.

December 10, 2012

Quick Quiz: Is It Safe to Drive a Massive Truck DUI in Long Beach with a BAC of 0.50%?

by Michael Kraut

If you drive a truck DUI in Long Beach or elsewhere in the Southland, not only could you face jail time and a license suspension, but you can also lose your job and face other industry penalties.

Prosecutors bring the hammer down on DUI truckers for a reason: trucks are the most dangerous vehicles on the roads. They are more massive than passenger cars, motorcycles, and lightweight vans. Thus, they can inflict geometrically increased levels of force during accidents. A 20-ton truck travelling at 60 miles per hour that crashes into a wall will impart as much force on that wall as will a one-ton racecar that smashes into the same wall at 1200 miles per hour – over four hundred miles per hour faster than the speed of sound!

Consider those forces in light of a near tragedy out of a Beaverton, Oregon. 38-year-old Matthew Allen Hamilton almost drove his pick-up truck off of a Highway 217 overpass into traffic. The scene captured national attention: a red pick-up truck dangled precariously, stopped by destruction only by a surprisingly sturdy overpass guard rail.

It took police and rescue workers hours to rescue Hamilton and remove his truck from the guardrail. Once they plucked him down, they gave him a blood alcohol test, which found that he had a 0.50% BAC – that’s well over six times the Long Beach DUI limit. That’s a BAC level high enough to kill many people or at least make them comatose. So in some sense it’s remarkable that Hamilton even survived the drinking, let alone that he survived nearly driving off the overpass.

The drama behind this story notwithstanding, if you’ve been recently pulled over for driving under the influence in Long Beach, you can learn much from understanding Hamilton’s plight and possible best next steps.

1. Getting a Long Beach DUI charge can lead to public humiliation.

Hopefully, your arrest has not yet led to substantial public shaming – it hasn’t cost you clients, friends, prospective job opportunities, etc. But consequences like that can happen.

2. The fact that you survived your Long Beach DUI event means you got incredibly lucky.

You may not feel particularly lucky now, especially if you hurt someone else and/or if you face massive potential criminal penalties. But driving DUI is a dangerous game. In Hamilton’s case, slightly different physics would have resulted in his certain death.

3. You can take action, now, to start making things better.

Just because you are in a dangerous, helpless, or scary position doesn’t mean that you have to suffer helplessly forever. The team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Long Beach can help you understand and craft an appropriate Long Beach DUI truckers’ defense and answer your questions about best practices.

December 7, 2012

It Sounds Like a Glendale DUI Mad Lib: Gérard Depardieu, Arrested for DUI, While Falling Off His Scooter, In Paris (All True!)

by Michael Kraut

Esteemed thespian, Gérard Depardieu, was arrested last week in Paris for driving under the influence, after he fell off a scooter and bashed his elbow.

This was not the Green Card actor’s first brush with the law… or the first time that he’s stirred controversy in a way that’s stimulated much tabloid tittering. Back in 1998, Depardieu smashed up his motorcycle and later tested to have a BAC of over five times the legal limit for Glendale DUI (or DUI anywhere) of 0.08%. Fortunately, he survived that crash with only minor injuries to his face and legs.

In 2011, Depardieu made the headlines again, this time in a far more spectacular fashion, for urinating in his seat on a plane bound to Dublin from Paris. Depardieu had asked to pee. The stewardess denied the request for security reasons. He insisted that he was “not a terrorist” and that he “just want[ed] to pee.” When the bottle into which he relieved himself overflowed all over the seat, he told all passengers within earshot that “the bottle was much too small. I’m an elephant!”

An elephant, indeed.

Depardieu’s colorful antics — and almost slapstick-ish-ly hapless responses to his legal situations — certainly have made for amusing TMZ stories. However, we can learn some serious lessons – lessons that might be vital for you, if you or a loved one faces charges of driving under the influence in Glendale or elsewhere in the Southland.

Lesson #1: Just because you’re famous and well-liked does not make you invincible.

Court dockets abound with tales of actors, CEOs, politicians, and even Glendale DUI defense attorneys facing the business end of the law. Just because this is your first time facing trouble – or just because you’re “well connected” — does not guarantee a good outcome.

Lesson #2: Where there’s legal “smoke,” there’s often fire.

You need to construct a meticulous and aggressive Glendale DUI defense. But you also want to pay attention to your patterns. Is this the first time you’ve gotten into a brush with the law? If not, why do you keep getting into sticky situations? It might behoove Depardieu to reflect on his two DUI-related bike accidents and his skirmish on the airplane. Self-knowledge is the best vaccine for legal problems — the surest way to prevent future Glendale DUI episodes.

Lesson #3: You’re only at the beginning of your Glendale DUI saga: the decisions you make starting right now can radically affect your future.

If you put up a limp or non-existent defense to charges, you could wind up losing your license, serving substantial jail time, and seeing your entire future in many ways collapse. With a well-orchestrated and strategic defense, you may be able to beat back the charges or at least position yourself to maximally benefit from your experience.

Get in touch with the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Glendale to go over your best strategies and tactics for resolving your situation.

December 5, 2012

Even If You Know Pasadena DUI Law Like the Back of Your Hand, You Can Still Make Terrible Mistakes, Like This Guy Did…

by Michael Kraut

Does a deep, emotionally charged knowledge of Pasadena DUI laws inoculate you against making bad decisions behind the wheel?

Your intuition might suggest that it would. You’d think that police officers, Pasadena DUI defense attorneys, legislators and the gadflies who advocate for tougher DUI sanctions might exhibit safer behind the wheel behavior than the average citizen. To be fair, no one has ever conducted a systematic scientific study to compare these types of groups – the “presumed responsible” people versus average citizens. However, anecdotal evidence certainly suggests that Pasadena DUI lawyers are human and prone to fallibility, just like everyone else is.

Case in point: consider the sad story of 40-year-old Jeffrey Gallup, a former defense attorney who now faces his sixth DUI case. His latest arrest occurred back in September in Highland, Utah, just half a year from his previous DUI conviction. A police officer saw Gallup swerve, and he pulled the ex-attorney over for an equipment violation. The officer told the court that he smelled alcohol on Gallup’s person and noted that he had “glassy eyes” – both traditional symptoms of Pasadena DUI. (As regular readers of this blog know, other symptoms include loss of motor coordination, aphasia, inability to do physical tasks, inappropriate emotional reactions, etc.)

Gallup initially refused a DUI blood test after failing his field sobriety tests, so officers had to get a warrant to put him through the paces of a blood test. The former attorney racked up a BAC of 0.09% — over the legal limit for DUI in Pasadena and elsewhere of 0.08%.

Gallup faces a third degree felony count, since this was not his first DUI charge. As we’ve discussed many times, prosecutors do not take kindly to recidivist offenders. They have legal tools that they can use to amp up your charges and put you behind bars for far longer.

Gallup’s situation dramatically highlights that knowledge of the law – on a level far deeper than 99.9% of the population will ever enjoy – is simply not enough to inoculate you from making dumb decisions behind the wheel.

Fortunately, you can recover from what’s happened to you and turn your life around. Look to Pasadena DUI criminal defense lawyer attorney, Michael Kraut, of Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to help you build a potent case. Attorney Kraut is an ex-prosecutor. His perspective as both a criminal defense lawyer and a former prosecutor gives him a competitive advantage over other Pasadena DUI attorneys and law firms.

December 3, 2012

Oh Man, Oh Man: Lindsay Lohan Arrested AGAIN: Not for Los Angeles DUI Charges This Time, But for Assaulting a Psychic in an NYC Club. Sheesh!

by Michael Kraut

Back in 2007, when Lindsay Lohan collected her first and infamous Los Angeles DUI arrest, many in the Hollywood community were shocked. How could such a sweet and promising performer behave so recklessly and out of character. Alas, five years later, after racking up arrest after arrest in diverse circumstances, even Lohan’s most ardent fans are beginning to wonder whether there will ever be an end to the 26-year-old’s legal woes.

To wit, last Friday morning, Lohan got arrested yet AGAIN, this time at the New York City club Avenue, for allegedly punching psychic, Tiffany Mitchell, in the eye. The woman allegedly pursued Lohan to try to tell her fortune. Lohan first asked for space. When Mitchell kept pestering her, Lohan called the woman a “gypsy,” and the two exchanged other colorful words.

Mitchell has already “lawyered up” over the assault. She hired celebrity attorney Gloria Allred. Sensing the potential impending civil lawsuit, Lohan has gone on the offensive and hired a private detective to look into Mitchell’s history. Initial reports from celebrity gossips sites suggest that Mitchell may indeed have a checkered past: some of her psychic clients have allegedly come forward calling her a fraud, and she also may have had legal troubles with respect to non-payment of rent.

Lohan’s situation, however, is more diverse and more dire.

The actress earned huge notoriety over her struggles with her Los Angeles DUI probation revocation. That mini-drama ended with Lohan being compelled to serve a stint in jail and do community service work at a county morgue.

Lohan earned another dubious distinction: she faced four separate criminal charges on the same day, on both coasts, including charges that she resisted a police officer, gave false info to a police officer, and engaged in reckless driving. So Lohan’s legal plate is certainly full. She also received less than lackluster reviews for her performance in the made for TV movie, Liz and Dick.

A Los Angeles DUI charge is often just the tip of the iceberg
If you’ve been recently arrested on one or multiple or similar charges, you may be overly tempted to focus exclusively on your immediate defense and less on the long-term strategic ramifications for your life, career and health.

As a Harvard Law School educated former prosecutor who’s won high praise from peers and clients alike for his work as a Los Angeles DUI criminal defense attorney, Michael Kraut understands that defendants often need more than just “nuts and bolts” help. They also need to be listened to and to get educated about how to prevent recidivism.

This is particularly key, in that, if you get hit by multiple charges of Los Angeles DUI within a 10-year period, prosecutors can rapidly escalate your charges.

Connect with attorney Kraut and his team for incisive, insightful help with your L.A. DUI charge.

November 30, 2012

Two Different Men Each Rack Up Their Ninth DUIs: Are You Also on the Verge of Getting a Multiple Pasadena DUI Conviction?

by Michael Kraut

When you recently got pulled over and arrested for a Pasadena DUI, you cringed at the feeling of déjà vu. This was not your first arrest for such a crime, and you remember how emotionally fraught and exhausting the 1st rehabilitation was for you.

If you get arrested and convicted for driving under the influence in Southern California multiple times, a rapid and a terrifying escalation in your punishments can ensure. For instance, the first time you get a standard Pasadena DUI, you might face fines and fees, some jail time, forced alcohol classes, and a CA license suspension. All very unpleasant stuff, to be sure.

But if you collect 3 DUIs within 10 years, prosecutors can leverage the law to transform what would ordinarily be a misdemeanor into a felony count!

This means that you could go to jail for over a year — instead of for just a few days — for the same exact crime… just because you’re a recidivist.

Notwithstanding the consequences that can ensue if you break Pasadena DUI law multiple times, some drivers just can’t help themselves. In fact, last week not one but two different Montana men made national news over their ninth DUI charges.

Up in Billings, 51-year-old James Alan Tate, pled guilty to misdemeanor and felony DUI counts as well as charges of driving without a license and driving without insurance. Local police in Billings, Montana stopped him on October 10 at South 28th Street and gave him a breath test. He allegedly scored an incredibly high BAC of 0.361%. That’s over 4.5 times the legal limit for Pasadena DUI, per California Vehicle Code Section 23152, which makes it a crime to drive with a BAC of just 0.08% or above. Tate had been convicted of DUI eight times between 1985 and 2011. He will be sentenced on January 24.

Meanwhile, out in Polson, Montana, 45-year-old Todd Burland faces his ninth DUI charge, after he led local police on a car chase on US Highway 93. The “fun” ended when Burland drove into Flathead Lake. Amazingly, the suspect still had some fight in him — he tried swimming away from police officers, who had to don water gear to fish him out of the lake and arrest him. He faces not just a felony DUI charge (ninth offense) but also charges of violating his probation.

You obviously want to deal with your issues before they escalate any further. The team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Pasadena can help you understand your defense options and construct a strategic response not just to the present charges but also to the long-term crisis in your life that’s led you towards recidivism.

Attorney Kraut is a former prosecutor who is deeply sympathetic to the Pasadena DUI defense experience and who is well schooled in the methods and tactics of prosecutors. His unique vantage – combined with his Harvard Law School education – can give you an excellent chance of success.

November 28, 2012

Driving Under the Influence in Southern California: You’re Doing it Wrong

by Michael Kraut

As someone who was recently booked for a charge of DUI in Southern California, you probably feel somewhat reluctant to criticize other people who’ve been arrested for the same crime. But it’s a myth that all DUI crimes are ‘equal.’ In fact, DUIs are far more diverse than the public realizes. Typical defendants include high profile politicians, celebrities, and recidivist offenders who’ve been busted/convicted multiple times and possibly even caused harm to people multiple times.

Point is: don’t paint Los Angeles DUI defendants with a broad brush.

In light of that, it’s enlightening to look at a crazy story out of Temecula, where 53-year-old Marlies Petersen got arrested for driving under the influence on the 5 after she tried and failed to make an illegal U-turn on the freeway – twice! – and hit the median strip both times.

The CHP responded to a motorist’s 911 call around 2 in the afternoon on Monday, when someone saw Petersen allegedly weaving her Ford pickup truck around. A local officer who responded, Nathan Baer, told news outlets that the ‘Ford F150 pickup stopped in the center median of northbound Interstate 5 and made a left turn.” Astonishingly, the driver tried to drive through the wall at low speeds and failed. Baer reported that she then ‘backed up and attempted to drive through the concrete median wall, also known as a K-rail, a second time the pickup became stuck in the soft dirt.’

A witness, Dave Iverson, ultimately managed to get Petersen to stop trying to reverse – and potentially put her life and lives of others in danger – and hand over the keys. A CHP officer said that Petersen exhibited extreme symptoms of Southern California DUI. Officer Baer said that she appeared ‘highly intoxicated and had difficulty standing and walking on her own.’

Although those are classic symptoms of Southern California DUI, vertigo and difficulty speaking can also be caused by a variety of other problems, including psychological trauma, bad reactions to medications, etc. – all which can be exacerbated by some alcohol consumption.

Trying to piece together your Los Angeles DUI defense puzzle
Ms. Petersen’s ordeal is a powerful illustration of how desperate and confused people can get after they make mistakes behind the wheel. If you are in a metaphorical ‘hole,’ your first step should be to stop digging. Rather than make your DUI defense more complicated and less certain, take strategic steps to understand exactly what you are up against and to develop a plan to respond more mindfully to the charges.

Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Los Angeles is a highly regarded Southern California DUI defense attorney with years of experience on both the defense and prosecutorial side of things. Mr. Kraut and his team would be happy to provide a free consultation to help you develop a thorough plan of action regarding your DUI defense strategy.

November 26, 2012

Long Beach DUI News Blotter: State Rep (and DUI Attorney) Gets Clobbered with DUI Charge

by Michael Kraut

It’s painful to be arrested for DUI in Long Beach or elsewhere in Southern California. It would probably be doubly painful if you represented defendants charged with driving under the influence for a living. And triply humiliating if you also served as a lawmaker.

Poor David Burnell Smith of Arizona recently suffered these three ‘stings’ simultaneously after Scottsdale police arrested him near Westland Road and Pima Road. They hit Smith with two charges of driving under the influence for impairment and for having a BAC in excess of 0.08% (also the limit for Long Beach DUI, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152).

According to the Arizona Republic, Representative Smith – who had recently lost a primary race – was seen swerving around in his Chrysler 300, endangering other people on the road. After the police stopped him, he ‘stumbled’ out of his vehicle and refused to participate in FSTs (Field Sobriety Tests). He also inhaled (instead of exhaling) into a breathalyzer test before finally complying – and blowing a 0.137% BAC. Again, the legal limit for both CA and AZ is 0.08%. That reading was nearly double what’s allowed.

This would all be pretty embarrassing for a state representative, but Smith is also a lawyer who makes a living ‘fighting for those who have been arrested and/or charged with DUI.’

Smith claimed that he had swigged mouthwash before getting behind the wheel. As we’ve discussed at length on this Long Beach DUI blog, it is true that substances like mouthwash can throw off your breathalyzer test readings. Indeed, these tests are often surprisingly poorly calibrated, poorly executed, and poorly interpreted. An experienced Long Beach DUI defense attorney may be able to help you challenge the results and either reduce your charges or get them eliminated completely.

That being said, it’s a mistake to assume that you will be able to easily eliminate your DUI charges – or even successfully challenge breathalyzer test results. DUI law is extremely nuanced, and prosecutors are neither dumb nor particularly overly accommodating.

Fortunately, you can turn to Long Beach DUI criminal defense lawyer Michael Kraut, and his team at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers here in Long Beach, for an insightful, thorough, and strategic defense. Attorney Kraut has delivered big successes for his clients in complex DUI cases. He also worked as a prosecutor for the city for nearly a decade and half. So he understands how prosecutors think and work, and he maintains excellent relationships, which he leverages to help his clients get good strategic outcomes.

November 21, 2012

Driving Under the Influence Charge for Bobby Brown: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year for ‘My Prerogative’ Singer

by Michael Kraut

2012 will not go down as a very good year for recording artist Bobby Brown, who just got arrested (yet again!) for driving under the influence in Los Angeles, several months after losing his former beloved, Whitney Houston.

The 43-year-old Brown pled no contest to a DUI charge back in March and managed to get himself out of rehab in August. Just weeks after getting out of rehab, however, he got stopped in the Topanga area: the celebrity gossip website TMZ reported that Brown had been seen weaving between lanes. The strange behavior prompted a police cruiser to stop him under suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. He also exhibited symptoms of LA DUI and had an odor of alcohol. He failed his field sobriety tests and got booked into a jail in Van Nuys.

Brown was released on his own recognizance. Hopefully, he’ll get the help he needs to manage his multiple crises. On top of dealing with the DUI charges and the death of his ex-wife, Brown also received a tepid reception to his new album — the first he released in over a decade and a half.

Multiple stresses can lead to helplessness
One of the most common beliefs about alcohol addiction is that drivers who drive DUI when they ‘know they shouldn’t’ are somehow ‘giving in’ and behaving in a weak manner. Alternative theories about addiction, however, suggest that the drive to consume alcohol or drugs — or engage in other reckless, negligent, or dangerous behaviors — may stem not from a weak constitution but rather from a distorted drive to reassert control in a chaotic world.

Think about your own life. Think about your own Los Angeles DUI arrest. How did you feel in the days and hours leading up to your arrest? Did you feel completely in control of your life? Or did you feel out of control and helpless? Odds are, you felt that latter.

This is an important revelation, since it suggests that drivers who are arrested for crimes like DUI may need help gaining control over their lives and becoming more empowered. Instead, they are often counseled to ‘surrender’ their power and beat themselves up. The criminal justice system certainly assists in this negative regard by condemning drivers to punishments that may or may not fit the crime.

All of this is not to say that you may not bear culpability for what happened – or responsibility for your life.

However, it may be misguided to treat your problem as a simple problem of “lack of will.” The diverse forces that motivate your behaviors, actions, and habits can be complex stuff, indeed. These forces can touch upon psychological factors as well as physical factors.

What you need now is a thorough, comprehensive strategy to assess where you are at, legally speaking and otherwise, in the wake of the DUI arrest.

Get in touch with Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for effective, compassionate, and insightful guidance regarding your charges and your life in general.

November 19, 2012

Expect More Pasadena DUI Arrests: CA Office of Traffic Safety gets $450,000 Grant for 100 DUI Task Force

by Michael Kraut

The California Office of Traffic Safety recently received a grant of $450,000 to enforce DUI laws in Pasadena and elsewhere.

The 100 DUI Task Force, as it’s known, has been charged with a litany of tasks, including conducting DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols and running programs to target repeat offenders. The Task Force is very active during holidays known to be flashpoints for DUI activity in Pasadena and elsewhere, such as New Year’s Eve, Cinco de Mayo, Saint Patrick’s Day, and Super Bowl Sunday.

On the one hand, we should applaud the work of this Task Force and be grateful that police officers are out there, putting their lives on the line, searching for ways to improve public safety and get dangerous drivers off the road.