Los Angeles DUI Attorney Blog

August 21, 2011

What Scary Beverly Hills DUI Penalties Await That’s So Raven Star Orlando Brown? (Kid Star Busted for DUI with Pregnant Girlfriend in Car? Yikes!)

The Beverly Hills DUI process is no trip to the candy store.

But when young adults, like That’s So Raven star Orlando Brown, drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the penalties and other consequences can be stark and very, very serious. Last Friday night, law enforcement officers pulled over Brown for driving without a license plate while his pregnant girlfriend was in the car. Police investigated and noticed the odor of alcohol on Brown, so he was subject to a field sobriety test. Allegedly, the results were not good.

Police booked Brown at the Hollywood station around 12:30 in the morning and released him early Saturday after he posted $15,000 in bail. The 23-year-old actor/rapper now faces some serious legal difficulties, as well as possible branding troubles. After all, Brown is a product of the Disney TV empire. And Disney is extremely protective of its brand. It wants its stars young, wholesome, and untainted by unsavory allegations – especially trouble like Beverly Hills DUI.

So what does someone like Brown do to fix the situation? And how might his solutions parallel or diverge from the solutions “ordinary people” use, who will also do things like fail Beverly Hills DUI sobriety tests?

The Parallels

The law doesn’t care whether you are a celebrity, teen heartthrob, or ordinary Joe. If you violate California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) or 23152(b), you are in for a rough ride, including jail time, lost/suspended license, many weeks of alcohol school (mandatory), court costs and fines, and generally a lot of other trouble.

The law, however, is very interested in your past record – what happened to your behavior during and after the accident and/or arrest, and your attitude and level of contrition going forward. If you have a criminal record, it will also come into play. Brown, for instance, got pulled over in 2007 for driving with his lights off, and the police discovered marijuana in his vehicle. Whether that’s an issue in this case isn’t clear. But bad criminal behavior – or even bad driving behavior – will impact your chances for a successful defense against DUI charges.

The Differences

The biggest difference between a celebrity Beverly Hills DUI and an “ordinary Joe” DUI is probably attitudinal. In other words, the attitude with which you approach your DUI situation really matters. If you are imbued with self-confidence, hope, compassion, a sense of remorse, and a sense that you are life is going to be okay despite the bad news – that’s the right attitude to have. Because when you think positively and resourcefully, you will be more likely to connect with other resources that can help you, such as an experienced and extremely competent Beverly Hills criminal defense attorney. Attorney Michael Kraut of Beverly Hills’ Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers [9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450, Beverly Hills, California 90210 Phone: (310) 550-6935] is standing by to provide a free and confidential consultation regarding your DUI arrest. Attorney Kraut is a Harvard Law School-educated former prosecutor. He wields his experience from both sides of the law (prosecutor and defense attorney) to tremendous effect for his clients.

August 17, 2011

Beverly Hills DUI Penalties: False Report on Twilight Actor’s Alleged DUI Riles Up the Blogosphere

by Michael Kraut

We all know driving under influence in Beverly Hills is a serious crime. And even just getting arrested – not even convicted – can lead to mortifying anguish.

But what if you just get REPORTED as having been arrested for DUI? Can that still do harm?

Ask actor Kiowa Gordon — the actor who played the shape-shifting werewolf from the Twilight movies. Gordon was arrested last Monday in Tempe, Arizona, for an outstanding arrest warrant related to his possession of drug paraphernalia (a glass marijuana pipe) and possessing alcohol underage.

According to TMZ.com: “The 21-year-old actor was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped for a ‘routine registration check’ in Tempe…during the stop, cops discovered there was an active warrant for Gordon’s arrest – so they took the actor into custody and booked him into a local jail.”

All pretty standard stuff.

And any celebrity who has had to walk the gauntlet of the Beverly Hills’ DUI arrest process knows that getting arrested and booked is no fun. It is probably less than fun to have the same conversation with your publist, executive producer, family, friends, and attorney about what happened – having to re-live the arrest over and over and over again.

But what happens to someone like Gordon, who was falsely accused of driving under the influence? Perception has a way of becoming reality, particularly in Hollywood. This is not just an idle discussion. It has real applications to your Beverly Hills DUI arrest. In other words, irrespective of whether you passed or failed the breathalyzer test, performed well or poorly on field sobriety tests, and did or did not violate traffic law, you will be judged based on the charges. That’s just the sad fact, and it even happens to people who are eventually exonerated.

The question of the day is: how do you deal?

Now that you’ve been arrested, and you face charges – ranging from a simple misdemeanor DUI to a complex hit and run charge – what should your approach be? Should you hope the problem goes away? Pretend that it never happened? Ignore the lessons of the arrest and aftermath of the arrest?

Or should you start looking for resources and contacting a respected Beverly Hills criminal defense attorney?

Successful people recognize how important it is to constantly do reality checks. So, what is true for you now about your DUI arrest? What do you want to happen? Beverly Hills DUI defense attorney Michel Kraut can answer your questions and construct a complete, thorough, and sophisticated case that will get you results. Mr. Kraut is a former Los Angeles city prosecutor – he spent 14 years serving as a Senior Deputy District Attorney – and he is a regular expert consultant on DUI law for KTLA News, The New York Times, Fox News, and other major media organizations. Connect with The Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers in Beverly Hills (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450, Beverly Hills, California 90210 Phone: (310) 550-6935) now for assistance.

August 15, 2011

Burbank DUI Penalties Abolished? Perhaps if Michel Moore Gets His Way and the Nation Elects Matt Damon as President….

by Michael Kraut

Burbank DUI penalties are notoriously unpleasant.

As this blog has blogged about umpteen times, if you are arrested and convicted – even for a misdemeanor – you could lose your license for a year, serve jail time, pay colossal fines and fees, and even suffer the indignity of paying to install an interlocking ignition device (IID) in your vehicle.

Not exactly something you want to show off on a first date.

Some people think that our draconian Burbank DUI process is in serious need of reform. But what kind of reform? Who knows. But if the liberal firebrand Michael Moore has his way, the reform could be handed down by none other than President Matt Damon.

You read that right.

Last week, Michel Moore “endorsed” Damon to be President. In a recent statement, the progressive filmmaker said this about the 40-year-old Damon, “I think that he has been very courageous in not caring about who he offends by saying the things that need to be said here… sometimes even when you run an actor, you win. And I guess I only throw his name out there because I’d like us to start thinking that way.”

Obviously, it’s more than a little bit of speculation to suggest that Michel Moore’s endorsement would catapult Damon to launch a progressive challenge against Barack Obama in the 2012 election, win the election, and then make it a priority to reform Burbank DUI laws. There are probably multiple flights of fancy and gaps of logic in that sequence. But it’s worth at least mulling over hypotheticals like this.

So much of our laws are based on arbitrary historical precedents. Someone decided a certain law, restriction, or punishment was a good idea; that idea stuck, and it paved the way for our current thinking. And so, it’s useful, healthy, and even invigorating to play with speculations like, “What if President Matt Damon legalized marijuana?” Or “what if President Damon radically changed America’s view on DUI, distracted driving, and other driving dangers?”

Obviously, the speculation is quite ridiculous. But it’s intentionally so. Because it’s trying to break you out of your old ways of thinking about DUI policy and practice.

Of course, there is a very pragmatic element here – particularly if you or a loved one faces a Burbank DUI charge. You want someone who is an expert in Burbank DUI, someone with credentials, and someone who is respected not only by clients but also by their legal peers (including prosecutors and judges).

Connect with Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810). Attorney Kraut is a highly-esteemed Burbank criminal defense attorney and can help you understand your rights and responsibilities as a defendant and make smarter choices.

August 12, 2011

Pasadena DUI Arrest and Political Drama: PA Representative Joe Brennan Arrested with a BAC of 0.30%!

by Michael Kraut

The law says, quite clearly, that driving under the influence in Pasadena is illegal. If you are caught breaking the law, you can face an unpalatable gamut of punishments, including jail time, fines, fees, a damaged reputation, suspended license, mandatory interlock ignition device installation in your car, and so on and so on. Yikes.

The point is: the law is crystal clear. As it is elsewhere in the United States.

Nevertheless, even lawmakers themselves time-to-time violate it!

Here’s a case in point. Way out in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, PA State Rep Joe Brennan got arrested for driving with a BAC of 0.30% – nearly four times the legal limit for Pasadena DUI, according to California Vehicle Code Section 23152. Last Tuesday, the Democrat abandoned his right to a preliminary hearing, and his stunningly high BAC was made public.

Due to the extremely high BAC, Brennan faces steeper charges that could net him fines of up to $5,000, a full year license suspension, and up to half a year in jail. This judge called the Rep’s BAC “alarming.”

The 47-year-old got arrested back in late June. According to court reports, he had been weaving all over the road. His driving was so horrific that another driver, Angel Hernandez, called 911 to report him. Eventually, he pulled into a parking space, hopped out of his car and promptly fell and hit his head really badly. Another driver, Angela Cartwright, saw Brennan fall. Bystanders helped him up… and he hopped into his car and drove away.

Later, police reported that Brennan “had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.” He also had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes. These are all common symptoms of Pasadena DUI. (Other common symptoms include loss of coordination, inability to answer police questions coherently, conflicting stories, aggressive or odd behavior, inability to complete field sobriety tests, and failure to pass a breathalyzer test.)

A competent Pasadena criminal defense attorney, such as Mr. Michael Kraut of Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899), can help you identify and address the problems you face, so you can begin to constructively deal with them – and avoid causing yourself new problems.

If you did get pulled over with a very high Pasadena DUI BAC — or you destroyed property, committed a hit and run, or even hurt another person while under the influence — now is the time to make resourceful, appropriate, sensible decisions. Connect with Mr. Kraut (a former city prosecutor) to discuss your concerns and a better way forward.

August 10, 2011

Long Beach DUI Penalties: A Cautionary Tale, as Former NBA Star Starts 20-Day Jail Sentence

by Michael Kraut

Let’s get this straight: driving under the influence in Long Beach is a crime. A major one.

Depending on how you defend yourself (e.g. whether you consult with an experienced Long Beach criminal defense attorney or not), as well as the circumstances of your Long Beach DUI arrest, you can face truly horrific punishments, such as jail time. It doesn’t matter whether you are a celebrity, political superstar, rock star, or athlete.

Just ask Lindsey Lohan.

The latest proof that Long Beach DUIs can and will be punished — hugely — comes out of Pontiac, Michigan, where Jalen Rose, a former NBA player and ESPN analyst, started a 20-day jail sentence pursuant to his March arrest in West Bloomfield Township for DUI. According to an Associated Press article, “Rose crashed his sports utility vehicle… after drinking 6 large martinis. The 38-year-old pleaded guilty in May.” According to the AP story, the judge who sentenced Rose was known for “tough punishments.” 20 days behind bars is anything but light, especially since the analyst didn’t hurt anybody (expect for his car) in the disaster.

The story illustrates a truism about Long Beach DUI punishments. Namely, you can never identify in advance all the possible “X factors” that can lead to better (or worse) outcomes for your case. Here are some X factors, over which you have little to no control:

• Judge has a reputation of being unusually harsh;
• Police officer who arrested you (for whatever reason) has some sort of grudge;
• You can (or cannot) find compelling exonerating evidence;
• Your can (or cannot) win sympathy from a judge or mercy from prosecutors.

So there are so many factors outside of your control. Focusing on them can be depressing.

But fortunately, you can leverage factors within your control to get (probably) far better results than you likely realize is possible right now. In other words, don’t say: “this is all so unfair. The police, prosecutor, judge, [insert other villain here] is against me. I have no hope.”

Instead, focus on being resourceful. What is true about your situation now? What do you want out of your situation in terms of preventing punishments and protecting privileges and rights?

Once you are very, ultra clear about where you are and where you want to be, you can start collecting resources to achieve that reality faster and more efficiently.

One great potential resource is Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (located in Long Beach at: 444 West Ocean, Suite 800 Long Beach, California 90802 Phone: (562) 531-7454) Mr. Kraut is an experienced former prosecutor who is often called upon as a legal expert by major media throughout the Southland. As a former prosecutor, he understands how other prosecutors think and react, and he can use his insight and knowledge to build a better case for you.

August 9, 2011

Beverly Hills DUI Arrest Bombshell? Lindsey Lohan’s Ex-girlfriend Stopped for Racing in Bakersfield

by Michael Kraut

Every Beverly Hills DUI blog lights up every time a new twist emerges in the sordid, epic tale of actress Lindsey Lohan’s legal drama. Last week, some news broke that’s only tangentially related to Ms. Lohan… but it still caused ripples in the blogosphere and may hold indirect lessons for people out there who’ve recently been stopped at a Beverly Hills DUI checkpoint.

Lohan’s ex-girlfriend, DJ Samantha Ronson, got pulled over outside of Bakersfield last Monday for speeding. Ronson allegedly raced 90 miles over the speed limit in her Porsche Targa.

Ronson admitted that she had consumed alcohol hours before hopping into the Porsche. Ronson was put through a balance test. As regular readers of this blog appreciate, Beverly Hills DUI field sobriety tests can be quite involved and can involve tests like the Rhomberg test, the finger to the nose test, horizontal gaze nystagmus test (often the first one given), counting backwards, walk the line test, etc, etc. FSTs can be quite the ordeal.

August 3, 2011

Long Beach DUI Homicide Tragedy: Suspect in Fatal DUI Jumps to his Death in Prison Cell

by Michael Kraut

A fatal DUI in Long Beach is always a needless tragedy. We can all agree on that.

But sometimes horrific events can be ratcheted up in terms of their horribleness fivefold, thanks to “after the crash” mistakes, errors of judgment, lack of decisive positive action, and so forth.

Indeed, many cases of DUI in Burbank, Glendale DUI, Pasadena DUI, Los Angeles DUI, and DUI elsewhere throughout the Southland take turns for the tragically worse – when defendants react non-resourcefully to their situations.

This is all little abstract. So let’s bring it home with a specific example – a case out of suburban Philadelphia. Last week, a 45-year old man, Mathew McNamara, apparently killed himself in prison. He had been charged with vehicular homicide while driving under the influence, after a July 13 automobile accident killed a woman and hurt a child.

According to a local Indiana paper, the Daily Reporter (out of Greenfield, Indiana), McNamara “died from injuries sustained in a fall from the upper level of the cell block at a central Pennsylvania prison… police say accounts of McNamara intentionally jumping from the cell block’s upper level are consistent with surveillance footage.”

Obviously, if you played any role in a fatal Long Beach DUI event – even if you were not fully culpable – the grief and guilt may be weighing heavy on your heart. Even if you caused only minor damage – such as a Long Beach DUI with injury or just damage to an automobile or property – you may be feel overwhelmed, confused, and, frankly, angry at yourself.

But you can’t turn back the clock. What’s done is done. You made a mistake — or you got unfairly charged. And that’s the reality now. The question is: how do you deal resourcefully with your circumstances?

A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can help you plot out a strategy for your defense, combat charges, and clue you into outside resources to help you deal with your alcohol problem (if you have one).

You face fundamental choices. You may need to make reparations to someone you harmed. But there are resourceful ways of doing this that can not only help release your guilt but also help the victim – or the victim’s family – come to turns with what happened and experience emotional relief.

Doing all this is tricky. And right now, you are probably most concerned with urgent issues: Will you go to jail? For how long? What are your other punishments? What can you do to bring order to this chaos? Etcetera.

Turn to Long Beach attorney Michael Kraut at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (444 West ocean Suite 800  Long Beach, California 90802 (562) 531-7454) for help with your situation. Mr. Kraut is a former Deputy District Attorney (a high profile prosecutor), and he can help you understand what to do next.

August 2, 2011

Burbank DUI: Will It Be Eliminated Entirely Thanks to New Technologies?

by Michael Kraut

What causes people to drive under the influence in Burbank, and what can stop them?

These questions obsess lawmakers, policymakers, police, and analysts who cover news about DUI in Los Angeles, Burbank DUI, Pasadena DUI, and Glendale DUI.

Most solutions concentrate on driver behavior. Policymakers try to deter drivers from consuming alcohol, narcotics, and prescription medications before getting behind the wheel. And they punish people who violate these rules and laws — not only to send a message but also to “clear the roads” of dangerous drivers.

A new movement has cropped up that’s focusing on looking beyond behavior. This new crop of DUI analysts believes that technology may be able to play a vital role in terms of reducing the number of crashes and the severity of injuries.

A recent story in the Washington Examiner analyzed a proposed Maryland law that would compel anyone convicted of driving DUI with a BAC of 0.15% or greater to install an interlock ignition device (IID). (0.15% BAC is nearly twice the BAC for Burbank DUI, as specified in California Vehicle Code Section 23152).

As this blog has discussed at length, California has started a mandatory IID installation program of its own – and Los Angeles County is one of the test counties.

This technology-centered approach to ending DUIs makes some sense.

But rather than getting mired in the debate about the rightness or wrongness of this conclusion – one could probably also paint an argument that first time offenders are penalized too much – let’s think bigger picture.

Maybe correcting behavior alone is not enough. And maybe technology won’t solve our problems either. Maybe we need a solution that is more humanistic, diverse and social science based. In other words, instead of continuing to trust old broken systems or shooting for the moon and hoping that some random new technology will solve all our problems, let’s take a deeper look at what makes drivers do the things they do.

One hard to ignore factor is social contagion.

Human beings like to fit in. That’s a deep human need. Peer pressure is an enormously powerful factor. And policymakers surely do not leverage this factor well enough.

For instance, we all know that Burbank DUI arrests spike around national holidays, like New Year’s Eve, the 4th of July, and the Super Bowl. This is because there is a social contagion effect going on. More people party. More people drink. More people get behind the wheel.

Thinking in terms of social contagion leads us to cool new solutions. For instance, what if we focused on making DUI behavior look less cool? We need not necessarily increase punishments. Rather, we need only source and address the core, often counterintuitive motivating factors. Perhaps we would make better progress.

In any event, from a practical point of view, if you have a question about a Burbank DUI, you likely want to speak with a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney. Mr. Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor Burbank, California 91505 (818) 563-9810) has ample experience – not just as a defense attorney but also as a former prosecutor. His experienced on both sides of cases gives him a profound and unique vantage, which he can bring to bear to deliver strategic results for you.

July 29, 2011

Burbank DUI Brouhaha: Hines Ward’s Arrest Sparks Critical Tweet from Ray Rice: Steelers and Ravens at it Again, Months Before Pre-Season…

by Michael Kraut

Burbank DUI sports news often follows a relatively simple, predictable script.

An athlete – such as four time pro-bowler and “Dancing with the Stars” champion like the Steelers’ Hines Ward – gets pulled over for a crime like driving under the influence in Burbank, DUI in Pasadena, Glendale DUI, Los Angeles DUI, or DUI whatever – and then the athlete and his/her team launches into a double-pronged defense:

1. Deal with the legal and logistical fallout of the arrest.
2. “Spin” the publicity to minimize damage to the athlete and/or his/her team or league.

As this blog (we believe, astutely) pointed out last week – back when everyone was huffing and puffing about the Carmageddon disaster that wasn’t – the Steelers’ wide receiver’s July 9 arrest outside Atlanta, Georgia sparked far more publicity than Ward, the Steelers, or probably the NFL as a whole would prefer.

But the drama isn’t over.

The latest salvo was fired in cyberspace… by none other than Baltimore Ravens’ runningback, Ray Rice, who tweeted, chidingly, that Ward’s alleged actions were “not a good look.”

Side note: You may or may not know this, but the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens are huge rivals. So when a Ravens star publicly scolds a Steelers star, you can expect sparks to fly.

If you are concerned mostly with Burbank DUI news, you might not be aware of just how viscerally Ward’s arrest (and Rice’s retort) impacted citizens on those two east coast cities. But the broader lesson here is the sheer unpredictability of the story.

While the press obsessed about Carmageddon (and barely even touched on the Hines Ward story), guess which story had more “legs”? Surprise – the Ward story did.

This kind of unpredictability holds true not just for sports DUI arrests – but also for “every day” simple misdemeanor arrests for things like violating California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) or 23152(b) in Burbank. Obviously, most people who get arrested take their situations seriously. But what they may not realize – or at least not fully grasp to the extent they should – is that the law of unintended consequences is almost certain to “visit” your case and create challenges that you did not anticipate.

So what do you do?

As author Nassim Taleb illustrated so nicely in his book, The Black Swan, you cannot predict, with 100% accuracy, these disruptive “bolt out of the blue” events. But you can prepare against them! For instance, by retaining an experienced, creditable Los Angeles criminal defense attorney to build your Burbank DUI case, you can increase your odds – not just of general success – but also of being able to manage “bolt out of the blue” type surprises without getting stressed out and without compromising the quality of your defense.

Attorney Michael Kraut (of Burbank’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers –  2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810) can help you understand your options and build a strategic defense. Mr. Kraut is a former Harvard Law School educated former LA city prosecutor, and he provides free, confidential consultations.

July 27, 2011

Pasadena DUI Arrest Propensity: Does It Run the Family??

by Michael Kraut

If you or someone you know has been recently arrested for driving under the influence in Pasadena, inevitably, when you discuss your situation, you and your fellow armchair pundits will bring up the concept of “genetics.”

How might your genes (or your friend or family member’s genes) have played a role in the accident and/or arrest? Might there one day be a gene that scientists can target to eliminate problems like DUI in Pasadena, Burbank DUI, Glendale DUI, and Los Angeles DUI?

There is obviously some link between alcoholism and genetics. But how sturdy a link? No one really knows.

A crazy story last week out of Idaho Falls, Idaho suggests that genes may have a lot more relevance than the policy community acknowledges. 51-year Diana Gardner and her daughter, 28-year old Alisha Gardner, got arrested for DUI in Idaho Falls in totally separate incidents within a single hour of one another! Amazing.

A blog post at gather.com can fill us in on the details. Allegedly, a sheriff’s officer had seen the younger daughter “swerving and crossing the central line, posing an extreme threat to other drivers in the area. Her blood alcohol level was measured to be twice the legal limit. Within that same hour of time, [Alisha’s mom] drove out to her daughter’s car in order to retrieve the dog. When she arrived, the same officer smelled alcohol on her and had her go through a test as well. Diana Gardner’s blood alcohol level came back at twice the legal limit as well, netting her a jail cell right along with her daughter.”

At first blush, you might immediately leap to judgment: something is clearly wrong with both the mother and the daughter! Maybe they both have a genetic propensity to alcoholism, you might muse. Or maybe they both have genetic propensity to make poor driving decisions. Who knows.

But a deeper and more subtle (and interesting) reading of the story could be as follows. We all know that biochemistry can impact your Pasadena DUI breath test. Some people, for instance, process alcohol differently than others. It’s been proven that men process alcohol differently than women do. And that diabetics underperform on breath tests.

So maybe — just maybe — both Gardners have a genetic propensity to perform poorly on breath tests. In other words, maybe these women are genetically predisposed to process alcohol in a way that makes “false positives” for DUI more likely. Now, since these women were both allegedly twice the legal limit for Idaho Falls DUI, this hypothetical is probably moot.

But say they both tested right at the cutoff line for DUI – 0.08% BAC for a Pasadena DUI. Then more subtle factors, like a genetic predisposition to “test badly” on breathalyzers, might come into more play.

The general point here is that, when it comes to DUI charges, there is often more than meets the eye. But to probe your case and tease out “out of the box” defenses, you want to be sure to work with a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who has plenty of experience, a great reputation, and a deep understanding of the applicable law. Michael Kraut of Pasadena’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899) can guide you and help you build a strong case.