Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog

April 30, 2012

Long Beach DUI News: Tragedy Out of Florida — Student Jumps to His Death After DUI

The experience of getting arrested for driving under the influence in Long Beach is an experience that few people can really appreciate on a visceral, emotional level.

If you or someone you care about was stopped at a check point or arrested after an accident for DUI, your world probably feels upside down right now. No one expects to get a DUI. No one plans for it. But then, all of a sudden, you are tagged with one, and your life gets launched in a new, unexpected, and unwanted direction. And it wasn’t as if you had tons of time on your hands prior to your Long Beach DUI arrest or that your life was simple and carefree, either!

This preamble is an attempt to explain – or least put into context – a DUI-related suicide out of the University of Florida. 26-year-old Michael Edmonds, Jr., died the Sunday before last after jumping down the stairwell at the University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Edmonds had been arrested the day before on a DUI charge. The next day, a student heard a loud noise coming from the stadium and rushed in and found Edmond’s body on the sidewalk. She dialed the police while others arrived to assist, but Edmonds could not be revived. Obviously, the investigation is ongoing, and it would be premature and disrespectful to connect Edmond’s suicide with his DUI arrest.

April 25, 2012

Odds Are, Your Burbank DUI Arrest Didn’t Have This Much Drama (or At Least, Let’s Hope Not!)

by Michael Kraut

You recently got stopped for driving under the influence in Burbank – perhaps while thoughtlessly cruising on Olive after partying in Burbank Center.

Your life has been higgledy-piggledy ever since.

You are scared about possibly losing your license, serving jail time, paying fines and fees that you can barely afford, even though you live in the Valley and get a discounted rent (compared with what folks pay down in Westwood and Beverly Hills). You face a ton of drama.

Fortunately, your Burbank DUI drama almost certainly pales in comparison to an insane story out of the Washington D.C. area. Last Sunday morning, three men were arrested after a crazy police chase on the Germanna Highway. According to an NBC Washington News report, the mayhem all began at 2.30 in the morning, when a deputy stopped and approached a 1996 Ford Explorer. Instead of responding in an orderly fashion, the driver lurched the vehicle in reverse, slammed into the deputy’s car, and took off. The officer pulled his gun and demanded that the truck stop… but to no avail.

The Chase Is On
According to reports, the chase led across numerous local roads and highways, including Carrico Mills Road, James Madison Highway and beyond. Eventually, the Ford ran out of room on Auburn Road and drove into a ditch. But that wasn’t the end. David Lee Story, Jr., the 23-year-old driver, fled his vehicle. Police officers pursued him on foot and eventually wrangled him. He faces a monstrous battery of charges, including DUI, hit and run, and most disturbingly, felony assault of an officer. His two passengers in the Ford, Zuyan Zhang and Bradley Settle, were also arrested on charges of being drunk in public. They subsequently have been let go. Story Jr., on the other hand, is almost certain to face some seriously difficult months (perhaps years) ahead.

Story, Jr.’s story (sorry for the wordplay there) illustrates a very important truism about Burbank DUI arrests. Many drivers who get stopped engage in activities that needlessly and dangerously complicate their potential defenses and also put their own lives – and the lives of officers and innocents — at risk. If you have already been arrested for a complex Burbank DUI charge, you obviously cannot go back in time and undo the stupid things you did. You panicked, perhaps, and fled an accident scene or said dumb things to the police. So what now? What do you do?

The key is two-fold:

1. Recognize that the past is past: you cannot go back in time and erase your Burbank DUI.

And if you engaged in other dumb actions – such as a hit and run or an assault on a police officer – you also cannot change that. You can, however, respond to your present situation with compassion and wisdom. And that means working with a Beverly Hills DUI criminal defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450, Beverly Hills, California 90210 Phone: (310) 550-6935), and connecting with an attorney for insight into your problems as soon as possible.

2. You need to start making smarter decisions. As we’ve talked about in other blog posts, introspection and reflection can help you understand some of the problems that drove you to get in trouble with law in the first place.

It’s not as if there is nothing you can do about your current Burbank DUI. In fact, the actions that you take — whether you were arrested last night, last week, or last month — can help you improve your situation, fight for your rights, and rebuild. The first step is getting over the “activation energy hump” that’s blocking you from getting the help you need. Connect with Attorney Michael Kraut today, and let this seasoned former prosecutor guide your defense.

April 23, 2012

DUI in Los Angeles? “No Thanks” says Bobby Brown, “Not For Me”

by Michael Kraut

Last Monday, hip-hop icon Bobby Brown pled not guilty to charges of driving under the influence in Los Angeles and additional charges stemming from his March 26th arrest. On top of driving DUI, Brown got slapped with driving under a suspended license and driving with an illegal BAC content. As regular readers of this blog know, the limit for driving under the influence in Los Angeles, per California Vehicle Section 23152(B), is 0.08%.

(Interesting and random note! Did you know that sleep researchers in Australia found that people who stay awake for 24 hours or longer may be as impaired behind the wheel as are people who drive with a 0.10% BAC?!)

Getting back to the main story… Bobby Brown has obviously had a hard 2012. His ex-wife, Whitney Houston, died, and he could serve half a year behind bars if he gets convicted. Brown’s pretrial hearing has been scheduled for May 16th. In the meantime, he is forbidden from drinking alcohol. His Los Angeles DUI attorney tried to get that requirement dropped – to no avail.

Brown allegedly blew a 0.12&% BAC on his Los Angeles DUI breathalyzer test – one and a half times the state’s legal limit.

California Highway Patrol got suspicious when they saw Brown yapping on his cell phone while driving (never a good idea). He allegedly exhibited classic symptoms of Los Angeles DUI (such as smelling like alcohol) and he also performed less than stellarly on his field sobriety tests.

Having said all that, be aware that Los Angeles field sobriety tests can be scary and confusing… even for stone cold sober drivers. So just because you can’t “walk the line” or balance correctly does not mean that you are under the influence or you should be punished. Conversely, it’s very possible to be under the influence of alcohol – to have a high BAC, for instance — and to pass your field sobriety tests with flying colors.

In other words, DUI charges are not as cut and dry as the tabloids would make them sound. Yes, there are certain instances where it’s pretty obvious that the driver has done not just one but many stupid things behind the wheel, and he almost certainly will face punishment.

That being said, every case is different. Fortunately, a responsible and highly astute Los Angeles DUI criminal defense attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you understand your rights and fight for justice – whether you are a high profile celebrity like Brown, a UCLA or USC student stopped at checkpoint on the 5, or someone who got arrested for DUI while visiting the City of Angels. Connect with the Harvard Law School educated former prosecutor Kraut now to get powerful results to protect your rights.

April 18, 2012

How to Never Get Arrested For DUI in Beverly Hills Again

by Michael Kraut

You recently got stopped for DUI in Beverly Hills.

Perhaps you ran a light while cruising Wilshire at 2 AM following a raucous industry party. Perhaps you had one-too-many wine coolers at the Sunday Beverly Hills Farmers’ Market and hopped behind the wheel of your Beamer…while a police officer saw the whole thing unfold. In any case, you are pretty frightened about what might happen — not only with respect to your driving privileges (e.g. will you lose your license or not?) but also with respect to your freedom, your car insurance, and your life in general.

After all, it wasn’t as if your life was smooth sailing before the DUI. You probably had tons on your plate – with respect to your business, your family, your recreational activities, possible health issues, etc. Now, on top of everything else, you need to get a handle on your Beverly Hills DUI.

Here’s the reality. There is no “one size fits all” defensive posture that’s appropriate for all defendants. Depending on circumstances, you may be smart to plead not guilty and fight tooth and nail to show that the Beverly Hills DUI breathalyzer test that you allegedly failed was miscalibrated. In other cases, it makes sense to cooperate with prosecutors and try to get your charges pled down. In other cases, you may need to construct an elaborate, thoughtful defense, particularly if you injured somebody or got arrested on multiple charges, such as resisting arrest, hit and run, etc.

While an experienced Beverly Hills DUI criminal defense attorney from the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450, Beverly Hills, California 90210 Phone: (310) 550-6935) can certainly help you establish and follow through on the right strategy for your needs, you also want to be looking at your long-term future. Sure, you want to “get through” your DUI related drama. But you also want to fix any underlying habits or behaviors or other structural problems in your life that caused you to get into trouble in the first place.

Researchers at Harvard have shown that people who “pre-think” their challenges and problems can often protect themselves against bad behaviors or habits. For instance, let’s say that you have a tendency to “get a little loose” at industry party events and drink more than you know you should. This “getting a little loose” can cause you to lose your judgment and do stupid things like get behind the wheel after a party. If you wait until the party to deal with your impulses, you are probably destined to wage a losing battle. On the other hand, if you know that you have this proclivity, you can create “if / then” statements to guide your behavior. Just like airline pilots need to be able to react instinctively – push the orange button, not the blue button, if the plane is crashing – you also need explicit instructions to help you avoid another Beverly Hills DUI.

For instance, you can construct “if thens” to the effect of:

• “IF I go to an industry party, THEN I will be sure to name a designated driver before I RSVP.”
• Or: “IF I feel myself “getting a little loose’’ at a party and I don’t have a designated driver, THEN I will immediately turn my keys over to the bartender at the party and insist that he call me a cab when I am ready to leave.”

If you can figure out the right “if then” treatments for your particular issues and then essentially memorize them, you should be more likely to make better, safer decisions the next time you are tempted to ignore your better angels.

Connect with a Beverly Hills DUI attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers now for immediate assistance with your case.

April 16, 2012

Life After a DUI near USC or UCLA

by Michael Kraut

Perhaps you were stopped for driving under the influence near UCLA on Westwood Boulevard after munching on one-too-many late night warm Diddy Reese cookies and sipping on beers with friends. Or maybe you were stopped on Vermont near USC for speeding and reckless driving after a frat house party. In any event, the lapse of judgment or reason has created massive havoc in your life. How might your UCLA or USC DUI arrest – and possible conviction – impact not only your freedom and ability to drive but also your academic and professional future?

The college years (and graduate school years) are times of experimentation. After being confined by your parents’ rules for so long, you can be tempted to “push the envelope” and test the limits of your school and society. Some experimentation is natural – and even healthy. Some rules were, indeed, made to be broken. But not rules like California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (a) or 23152 (b) – the laws that cover misdemeanor Los Angeles DUI.

If you are convicted of violating these CVC codes, penalties can come at you from many directions:

* You can lose your license for up to a year.
* You can be compelled to attend alcohol school and adhere to strict probation terms.
* You may have to spend substantial time behind bars.
* You may be compelled to install something called an interlock ignition device (IID) in your vehicle – this device prevents you from driving your car unless you can blow a “sober breath” into a breathalyzer like device.
* You may also have to pay court costs and fines and fees.

And those are just the direct costs of a Los Angeles DUI!

The indirect costs are often both more subtle and more damaging:

* For instance, your insurance rates can go up – costing you thousands of dollars over the next few years.
* If you get arrested again for DUI or any other crime, your future penalties can be spiked because of a past conviction.
* You could get into academic trouble.
* Even if UCLA or USC does not explicitly punish you, your “DUI drama” may distract you from your school work, impair your ability to attend classes or attend the job that you need to pay for school, and so forth.

The silver lining to this very dark cloud is that an experienced UCLA or USC DUI attorney can profoundly help you – either by getting the charges dismissed altogether or by getting them pled down to lesser offenses. A good attorney can also help provide guidance and resources to help you understand what went wrong – what were the underlying forces that drove you to break the law or get in trouble with the police.

To achieve your best scenario outcome, you may need to act with some haste and retain a top quality Los Angeles DUI attorney. Consider working with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’s own Michael Kraut – a widely recognized and celebrated Los Angeles DUI criminal defense attorney who has been featured on CBS, KTLA News, FOX News, and other sources. Mr. Kraut attended Harvard Law School and worked for years as a prosecutor. He can help you strategize to formulate the most appropriate defense. Call now: Local: (323) 464-6453 Toll Free: (888) 334-6344. The KLG is located at 6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1520, Los Angeles, California 90028.

April 11, 2012

How to Make Your Long Beach DUI Situation Much, Much Worse – Just Do What This Guy Did…

by Michael Kraut

You or a friend or fellow student recently got arrested for DUI in Long Beach or DUI elsewhere in LA (like UCLA or USC). Frankly speaking, you’re pretty scared. You don’t want to go to jail. You’re nervous about the potential of losing your license, having to a transit through weeks or months of alcohol school and probation, and paying massive court fines and fees… when you can barely pay your student loans. While a Los Angeles DUI attorney can help you deal with your legal woes, you also might benefit from some introspection – from looking inside to determine what, if anything, caused you to get in trouble with the law.

Perhaps your Long Beach DUI arrest was a fluke – maybe you weren’t actually DUI and the breathalyzer malfunctioned. Or maybe you were right on the bubble — your arrest was a product of poor planning and slightly “off” judgment. But if you have a tendency to drive under the influence in Long Beach or elsewhere, you need to investigate your habits and beliefs now before they become even greater problems.

To take an extreme counter-example, consider the case of 48-year-old Bradley Noble, who was pulled over in Montana last Wednesday for his eighth DUI charge.

His sentence? 10 years behind bars.

He racked up his last DUI 10 years ago — back in January 2002 — and received a 20-year jail sentence with 5-years suspended. Two and a half years later, he was granted parole. But he was sent back to prison in June 2006 due to parole violations. Finally, near the end of 2006, Noble got released. But his troubles did not stop there. He was caught possessing alcohol on two occasions, in violation of his probationary arrangement. He was also caught driving a car four times since 2006 – also in violation of his restrictions. Sadly, the story ended with Noble’s alleged DUI recidivism. He got hit with a jail sentence of 15 years in prison with five suspended, and he must complete a pre-release program called the WATCH program before he can get parole.

You don’t want to rack up multiple Long Beach DUI convictions for obvious reasons. To that end, it’s helpful (and scary) to know what will happen if you become a convicted recidivist (get convicted more than one time). If you rack up three or more DUIs within a decade, prosecutors can escalate your charges and force you to serve much long jail sentences and pay higher fees and fines. A third Long Beach DUI within 10 years, for instance, can be ratcheted up from a misdemeanor to a felony – meaning you could serve a year or longer jail sentence.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for your defense – or for tackling the larger psychological, financial, and emotional problems that might have driven you to violate the law in the first place. That being said, a stellar, highly reputable attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) in Long Beach can help you make massive progress. Attorney Kraut served as a city prosecutor (Senior District Attorney for Los Angeles for 14-plus years) before switching over to become Long Beach DUI defense attorney.

April 9, 2012

Beverly Hills DUI Sports News: Cristhian Martinez, Pitcher for Braves, Snagged for DUI in Atlanta

by Michael Kraut

After blowing a breathalyzer result of 0.13% (0.5% percent higher than the legal limit for Beverly Hills DUI), Cristhian Martinez, a star reliever for the Atlanta Braves, was arrested and hit with a DUI last week.

Martinez’s arrest came on the heels of another Atlanta Braves DUI debacle – former Brave Derek Lowe was busted last April for driving while intoxicated. The Braves seem even more distraught by Martinez’s arrest than they were by Lowe’s bust. Martinez was a star during so-called “Grapefruit League play” that precedes the opening of the real MLB season. He racked up 13 strikeouts and a 1.38 ERA, and generally performed with stellar precision. Upon learning about his arrest, the Braves released a statement saying that they “were very concerned” and that they “will require [Martinez] to be evaluated by an independent professional, as provided for by the new collective bargaining agreement.”

If you’ve been recently arrested for driving under the influence in Beverly Hills or DUI near USC or UCLA, Martinez’s arrest may hold some powerful lessons for you… if you choose to pay attention to them!

1. As any Los Angeles DUI attorney will tell you, no one is above the law.

Martinez is a star professional baseball player. But that didn’t really matter. Police still made him get out of his vehicle, go through the phases of a field sobriety test, blow into a breathalyzer, and hop into the back of a squad car after he allegedly failed his test. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, how much political power you possess, or how much you sweet-talk an officer – if you break the law (or even if officers just think you broke the law), you can find yourself in the back of a squad car.

2. There is life after a Beverly Hills DUI.

Maybe you are a college student or graduate student who only recently arrived in Los Angeles. You’re worried that your UCLA DUI charge will doom you to academic disaster or rob you of your vehicle and hence of your ability to get around town, look for jobs, see friends, etc. You might be right, to an extent. A DUI conviction can lead to all sorts of scary penalties, ranging from time behind bars to strict license suspension to long-term probation and beyond. But the nature and scope of your punishments will be determined by the urgency and effectiveness of how you respond to the charges against you. If you lolly gaggle and/or fail to do the research and other stuff necessary to prepare, a worst case scenario could come true. On the other hand, if you find a confident, aggressive Beverly Hills DUI criminal defense attorney, you can probably make surprisingly easy progress towards getting your charges dismissed or reduced. At the very least, a good Los Angeles DUI lawyer could give you some much needed perspective and connect you with other resources to begin rebuilding your life.

Harvard Law School educated lawyer Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450, Beverly Hills, California 90210 Phone: (310) 550-6935) in Beverly Hills has the talent, experience, connections, and “99 percent success rate at jury trials” track record to provide potent representation for you.

April 4, 2012

Busted for DUI in UCLA or USC? The Consequences May Not Be Pretty…

by Michael Kraut

Getting arrested for DUI in UCLA or USC – or any other local Log Angeles school – can be an exquisitely unpleasant experience, whether you are a student or not. As any Los Angeles DUI attorney will tell you, if you’re convicted for a standard misdemeanor DUI — a violation of California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a), for instance — your possible penalties could pack a wallop: mandatory jail time, mandatory alcohol school, mandatory installation of an IID device in your car, strict probation, one year driver’s license suspension, heaping fees and court costs, long-term spikes on your insurance rates, and a big fat logistical headache. And that’s if you are an adult who didn’t hurt anyone while driving DUI and you had no prior criminal record!

If you’re underage and you get convicted for DUI near UCLA as well as possession of a fraudulent ID, your legal crisis can be escalated. And if you caused property damage or injuries (even minor ones) to other drivers, passengers, or pedestrians… let’s just say the punishments could be life-changing. An injury DUI in Los Angeles, for instance, might be charged per California Vehicle Code Section 23153 instead of CVC 23152. That may not be seen like a big switch. But the change empowers prosecutors to charge what would normally be a misdemeanor DUI as a felony. This means that, if you are convicted, you could face more than a year behind bars – and that’s for starters.

A UCLA DUI can also, unsurprisingly, cause you horrific academic fallout. If you’re on an athletic team, you could be kicked off the squad. You could also get into serious trouble with the school itself, depending on the nature of your crime. And even if you manage to sort everything out correctly, it wasn’t like you had “nothing to do” before the DUI. You could face time and money consuming headaches for weeks or months or even years to come. For instance, UCLA is pretty “get aroundable” for pedestrians. But what if you have a job or internship off campus? You used to drive to the job, but now what will you do? Will you take the bus? What if the bus doesn’t go to where you want to go? These questions and hundreds more like them can plague you and cause you uncertainty, stress, and anxiety.

Fortunately, the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1520, Los Angeles, California 90028) can help you understand what you are up against and deal resourcefully and strategically with the charges. Attorney Michael Kraut is a Harvard Law School educated former prosecutor (he spent 14 plus years as one of the city’s top district attorneys). He has been a featured Los Angeles DUI expert for KTLA News, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times.

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 29, 2012

Whitney Houston’s Ex, Bobby Brown, Hit with DUI in Los Angeles Charges

by Michael Kraut

Just weeks after his ex-wife, Whitney Houston, drowned on the eve of the Grammy’s, singer Bobby Brown got stopped and arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles. The R&B singer (and founder of New Edition) was charged with driving on a suspended license as well as two Los Angeles DUI counts, including allegations that he exceeded the legal limit of 0.08% BAC, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b).

The California Highway Patrol stopped Brown last Monday, when he was seen chatting on a cell phone. The CHP officer thought Brown looked intoxicated and forced the R&B legend to submit to a field sobriety test, which he apparently failed. Brown is due back in court on April 16. He faces up to half a year in jail if he’s convicted of all his charges. As any Los Angeles DUI attorney will tell you, Brown has a lot of work cut out for him if he wants to fight the charges and get his life back on track.

Unsurprisingly, the celebrity news buffs and commentators in the blogosphere have gone hog-wild discussing the psychological reasons why Brown might have driven DUI. His relationship with Houston was at once notorious and epic, and their mutual substance abuse problems have been catalogued and retold endlessly.

But rather than delve into celebrity dirty laundry, let’s reflect a bit about what we can learn from Brown’s charges and how to apply those lessons in our own lives.

1. Emotional stress can lead us to make poor driving decisions.

Obviously, it’s impossible to tell what, if any, role Houston’s death played in Brown’s DUI. But it’s reasonable to assume that it did play some role. When we go through periods of stress, disorientation, overwhelm, or panic in our lives, we may find it easy to reach out to alcohol, narcotics, or prescription drugs to relieve the pain. This is not necessarily the smartest or safest way to deal with emotional baggage, but it’s a fact of life for many people, so let’s just recognize that this happens.

2. Bad driving decisions tend to go together – and create disasters that are worse than the sum of their parts.

According to California Highway Patrol reports, Brown was talking on the cell phone without a hands free headset – a big no-no, an illegal act, in and of itself. He had also been driving on a suspended license. So he was already on thin ice. And then he drove (allegedly) DUI. All these various problems no doubt will complicate his Los Angeles DUI defense.

3. What you do after your DUI arrest matters a great deal.

Your choice of a Los Angeles DUI criminal defense attorney, for instance, can have huge ramifications for your ability to win freedom, reduce/eliminate your charges, and bring order back into your chaotic life. Mr. Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is a known and respected former prosecutor (an Harvard Law School educated attorney) who focuses extensively on DUI cases. Whether you are a UCLA or USC student who was recently stopped for DUI at a checkpoint or a doctor facing a charge like Medicare fraud, Mr. Kraut can explain your options and help you develop a strategy.