dui los angeles

February 16, 2019

Everything You Wanted to Know about Boating Under the Influence (BUI)

From gorgeous harbors and miles of coastline to hundreds of lakes, reservoirs and waterways, there are plenty of places in California to enjoy time out on a boat. But if you think operating a boat exempts you from California DUI laws, think again. Last spring, Dean Allen Payne came face to face with the full force of California law after running his boat over two ladies in innertubes, seriously injuring both of them. After being convicted operating the boat while intoxicated, Payne was sentenced to 12 years in state prison.

While DUI boating laws differ only slightly from those covering automobiles on the road, the consequences of breaking them can be no less severe. If you operate a boat and choose to indulge, here’s what you need to know about boating and DUI.

Boating Under the Influence: An Overview

June 6, 2017

Safer Driving After a DUI [Strategies You Might Not Know Exist]

by Michael Kraut

The last thing you want after a DUI arrest and/or conviction is another traffic infraction on your driving record. While some difficult driving situations might be unavoidable (you can’t control what other drivers are doing on the road), there are some ways that you can reduce your risk of another citation by practicing safe driving behaviors. Here are some suggestions culled from various online sources.

• Don’t drink (or do drugs or smoke pot) and drive again.

This one may seem obvious, but it’s amazing how many people don’t seem to learn from their first DUI arrest.

September 21, 2016

Children Are Often Victims in DUI Crashes

by Michael Kraut

The State of California law recognizes that children involved in incidents of DUI in Los Angeles are at special risk; in fact, California Vehicle Code 23572 mandates enhancements in penalties for anyone driving DUI with kids in the car. For a first offense, convicted DUI drivers have to serve a mandatory 48 hours in jail. A second offense results in a 10-day jail stay and a third offense in a 30-day jail sentence. Drivers caught DUI for a fourth time with children in their vehicles could spend three months in jail.

A September 5th crash in Cuyama, California, illustrates just why authorities are so concerned. Jerald Holman was traveling westbound on Highway 166 when his Toyota Camry drifted into the eastbound lane. When Holman hit a Chevrolet in that lane, the impact ejected two young passengers—a 7-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl—from the car. Emergency responders pronounced both children dead at the scene. The children’s mother, Todeshia Lewis, was also a passenger in the car. She and Holman suffered minor injuries.
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September 5, 2016

Police Arrest Drivers with High BACs

by Michael Kraut

Drivers arrested for DUI in Los Angeles usually have a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher. But there are times when a DUI suspect’s BAC measures much higher—so high that you wonder how they ever managed to even get behind the wheel of a vehicle, much less drive it.

In Henrico County, Virginia, 44-year-old Angela Gittings faces DUI charges after she hit several vehicles outside an area high school. Police measured her blood alcohol content at 0.38, more than four times the legal limit. Gittings was also driving without a license; the DMV had revoked it because of previous DUIs.

According the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a BAC of 0.31 to 0.45 poses a “significant risk of death in most drinkers due to suppression of vital life functions.” People with this level of alcohol may lose consciousness and/or suffer from life-threatening alcohol poisoning.

The NIAAA also states that a BAC reading of 0.16 to 0.30 significantly impair a person’s speech, memory, coordination, attention, reaction time and balance. It also has a very negative impact on a person’s driving-related skills, judgment and decision making.

August 8, 2016

A Natural Way to Discourage DUIs?

by Michael Kraut

Police officers, prosecutors and judges can get discouraged when they’re trying to reduce the number of DUIs in Los Angeles. Some people never seem to get the message about the dangers they pose to themselves and other people.

But Noah Elkins of Laurel County, Kentucky, had the message about the dangers of DUI driving brought home in a stinging way—literally. On Tuesday, July 26th, Elkins and a passenger, 35-year-old Priscilla Simpson, were driving around looking for a place to swim and cool off. Since they were reportedly under the influence of several drugs, including Suboxone, neurotin and Klonopin, Elkins apparently had trouble controlling the car. The vehicle crashed into an electric pole, which fell over and took out a beehive.

The swarm of bees was not happy about the disruption to their day. According to TV station WKYT, they went after Elkins and Simpson (who was wearing a bikini bathing suit at the time). A local resident, Gary Lee Anderson, saw them running up his driveway, where they grabbed the hose and tried to spray water on themselves to get the bees off of them.
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May 30, 2016

What a Mess: Missouri Legislature Fails to Fix DUI Law

by Michael Kraut

Changes to California’s DUI laws can affect hundreds or even thousands of drivers accused of DUI in Los Angeles.
To that point, consider the big legal dust up currently transpiring in the Show Me state. Missouri legislators recently ended their 2016 legislative session without addressing a typo in regulations regarding calibration of breathalyzers used to measure blood alcohol content. The regulations, written by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, should have read that breathalyzers had to be calibrated to 0.10 percent, 0.08 percent OR 0.04 percent.

Instead the regulations said that the calibration had to be to 0.10 percent, 0.08 percent AND 0.04 percent.

The regulations were in effect from December 30, 2013 until April 2014, when the DHHS corrected the error. Missouri’s Supreme Court ruled that drivers charged with DUI during that time could get their breathalyzer results thrown out as evidence, if the instrument had not been calibrated at all three levels.

According to local reports, however, the court suggested a way that the state legislature could fix the issue. While the Missouri Senate and the Missouri House of Representatives had actually both passed laws to that effect, these different bills were never reconciled.

November 13, 2015

An Alternative and More Humane Approach to the Los Angeles DUI Problem?

by Michael Kraut

Drivers arrested for DUI in Los Angeles often have a history of repeated offenses. Taking away their drivers’ licenses doesn’t seem to prevent them from driving while intoxicated; neither does jail time. But each time they get behind the wheel, they not only put other people at risk of injury of death, but they also risk their own welfare and the well-being of any family members who depend on them for support.

What can be done, for real, to solve the problem at its root?

California’s Monterey County Superior Court is attempting a radically different approach that could, if successful, alter how we think about DUI treatment and prevention. According to reports on KSBW and in the Monterey County Weekly, the Court has recently launched a new Driving Under the Influence Court. Judge Sam Lavorto had the idea for this special court, which will operate on a therapeutic model, trying to get help for people who have alcohol problems so that they won’t repeat their offenses.

September 21, 2015

Missing Tires Result in DUI Arrests

by Michael Kraut

Note to drivers who want to avoid an arrest for a DUI in Los Angeles: Try to make sure that your vehicle has all its parts before you get on the road. A lack of important features—like tires–are a dead giveaway that you may not be operating at peak performance.

In Libertyville, Illinois, on September 5th, police arrested 20-year-old Lizette Diaz, who was driving a vehicle with no front tires. According to the Libertyville Patch, Diaz was making a U-turn and the wheel wells of her vehicle were dragging on the ground. Charges against Diaz included DUI, operating a vehicle with unsafe equipment, improper lane usage and driving an uninsured motor vehicle.

September was a busy month for driving under the influence and without tires. In San Antonio, Texas, Flor Rios headed to the nearby drive-through lane of a Whataburger fast food restaurant. But she had apparently forgotten that her SUV was missing a front tire. Police pulled her over and discovered an open container of beer in the vehicle. When they took her to the hospital to get a BAC blood test, Rios attacked the person trying to draw her blood. Officers eventually charged her with DUI and harassment of a public officer.

Police in Owatonna, Minnesota probably did a double-take before they picked up 33-year-old Bethany Brogan on DUI charges. Brogan was traveling in her car on Cedar Avenue with the right front tire detached and rolling alongside. When officers caught up with her, they discovered she smelled like alcohol and found an open alcohol container inside her car. Her blood alcohol content came back at .283, more than three times the legal limit.

In Levittown, Pennsylvania, it took several police cars to catch up with Rodney Kolison, whose Mitsubishi Gallant had only three tires. Officers said Kolison admitted that he had smoked marijuana earlier in the day.

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.

July 15, 2015

No Expert Witness? No DUI Charges!

by Michael Kraut

Prosecutors typically have no qualms about bringing charges against someone who’s operating a motor vehicle after drinking to excess. They rely on breathalyzer results to help them get convictions for DUI in Los Angeles and other California locales. If the BAC measures above .08 percent, prosecutors feel they have a good case.

But what if prosecutors have no good way to quantify just how impaired a driver is? That can occur when police pick up someone for a DUI charge that’s related to something besides alcohol. One California cop found that worked to his advantage in beating a DUI arrest.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported that sheriff’s deputies charged Montebello Police Sergeant Christopher Cervantes with DUI after he rammed his car into a tree in May. Cervantes claimed he had lost control of the vehicle when trying to avoid hitting another car. But the deputies said he appeared to be under the influence of a drug, and they arrested him.

A blood test revealed that Cervantes had a drug in his system that included codeine and morphine—a drug his doctor had prescribed. But the fact that he had a prescription would not normally get Cervantes off the DUI charge.

But on his scheduled arraignment day, Cervantes got a welcome surprise. Prosecutors said that field sobriety tests weren’t enough to gain a conviction against him. They admitted that they had no expert witnesses who could testify Cervantes had enough of the prescription drug in his bloodstream to leave him impaired. So the prosecutors declined to bring DUI charges against Cervantes due to insufficient evidence.

Do you need assistance constructing an appropriate response to a DUI charge? Look to the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers’ Michael Kraut for insight and peace of mind. Mr. Kraut is an experienced Los Angeles DUI attorney with many relevant connections in the local legal community.

June 1, 2015

Authorities Mean Business When It Comes to Los Angeles DUI Charges

by Michael Kraut

Although it won’t ultimately solve the problem, some people respond to a Los Angeles DUI arrest by simply ignoring it. They miss their trials or continue to drive even if they’ve temporarily lost their licenses.

That won’t work in Riverside County, California. When you’re charged with a DUI in that county, you’d better follow through on what you’re supposed to do. Otherwise the cops may come looking for you.

On May 30th, beginning at 6 a.m., the Eastvale and Jurupa Valley Police Department Traffic Team hit the streets looking for high-risk DUI offenders who had either failed to show up for a court date or violated the terms of their probation in an outstanding DUI case. The cops attempted to serve 80 warrants by going into various neighborhoods; they netted 26 offenders.
According to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s office, people caught in such a sweep may face additional jail time. They also have to suffer the personal embarrassment of being led away in handcuffs as family, friends, and co-workers watch and/or learn of their arrest. There’s also the problem of missing work while they’re sitting in jail.

Riverside County takes DUI enforcement very seriously. The previous evening, the Lake Elsinore Police Department conducted a DUI/driver’s license checkpoint that netted two DUI arrests plus 30 people either unlicensed or driving on a suspended license. On Saturday evening, officers of the Menifee Police Department held a similar checkpoint that resulted in eight DUI arrests (six alcohol-related and two drug-related) and 10 people cited for driving on a suspended/revoked license.

Do you need help defending against a drug or DUI charge? Michael Kraut of Los Angeles’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is a trustworthy, highly qualified former prosecutor. Call a Los Angeles DUI attorney today to strategize for your defense seriously.