Articles Posted in DUI

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Matthew Craybas of Huntington Beach was driving drunk on Pacific Coast Highway on Sunday. While driving, Craybas crashed into a barrier that separates the road from the sidewalk and the whole car flipped over. His female passenger was thrown out of the car and received severe head injuries. When officers arrived, they took her to the hospital immediately since she was in critical condition. Craybas was then arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and taken to Laguna Beach jail.

Driving drunk is so dangerous because driving requires plenty of concentration and coordination. Pacific Coast Highway is known to be a long stretch of windy roads filled with pedestrians crossing and other distractions along the way. Craybas should have known better than to drive drunk and now he will face serious charges against him. Whether you live in Anaheim Hills, Mission Viejo or Fullerton, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced Orange County defense attorney right away.

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Proposed Bill AB 91 involves a new device called ignition interlock device. The Bill would require Los Angeles County, Alameda, Sacramento and Tulare to establish a pilot program that would require DUI offenders to have an ignition interlock device installed in their car as a condition of them getting their license back. This device would detect if the driver has been drinking alcohol and would not let the car start. The results would then be reported to the county, court, or DMV. The program would take into effective in 2010 and by 2015, the Legislature would evaluate the effectiveness of the program and determine if it should be permanent.

I think that this program will be very effective in reducing second and third DUI charges. Some concerns I do have, however, are if there are false positives or inaccurate results and how that would affect being charged with another DUI. For example, what if the passenger is drunk but the driver is not, but the device picks up the scent and the driver gets reported to the DMV. There would be no way of proving that the passenger was in fact drunk and not the driver. I think there will be a lot more litigation surrounding the ignition interlock device, but it will be effective in reducing DUI charges and accidents.

Whether you live in Anaheim, Orange or Mission Viejo, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you in court.

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Nancy Nevins was the lead singer of a band called Sweetwater, a band who had opened for Woodstock. They had been performing with legendary bands, making albums and making T.V. appearances. Then, in the winter of 1969, while Nevins was driving with one of her friends, an accident shut down the Glendale freeway. As everyone was breaking in front of her, a drunk driver driving 65 miles per hour, hit the car. Doctors initially thought Nevins would die because of the extent of her injuries. After she made a little bit of recovery, doctors said she would be in a coma for the rest of her life. She proved doctors wrong by coming out of the coma and becoming a fully functioning woman again. The only problem was, her vocal cords were pretty much destroyed. Her dreams of singing again were shattered.

The band disbanded and Nevins was crushed. She tried to get her singing voice back, but it was gone. She hit rock bottom and could only come up. At that moment, she realized that she was a good writer and could use that to her advantage. She became an English teacher at Glendale Community College. She has been working there for years and loves her job and it has given her the confidence to start singing again. Her voice and her style is not the same but she says she is still a success story after a tragic accident.

Driving under the influence can lead to serious consequences. This drunk driver almost killed Nevins and would have been charged with manslaughter. Luckily, Nevin pushed through and survived the accident. Whether you live in Brea, San Clemente or Orange, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you in court.

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If you are charged with a DUI or alcohol is a contributing factor in an accident you caused, the court or the DMV will likely sentence you to an alcohol program or class. These are the different types of programs:

If you get a reckless driving charge with alcohol as a contributing factor, the court will likely require you to take a 12-hour alcohol program that discusses the dangers of drinking and driving.

When you get charged with your first DUI, you will likely have to go to a three month or 30-hour program. If your blood alcohol level was very high, you will have to go to a nine month 60-hour class.

Second time offenders are sometimes given jail time along with an 18-month program. In the program there are 52 hours of group counseling, 12 hours of drug and alcohol education, six hours of community reentry monitoring, and biweekly individual interviews for the first year of the class.

Even with all of these programs, DUI’s and DUI fatalities are still high. In 2006, there were more than 31,000 alcohol related traffic injuries in California. Whether you live in San Clemente, Orange or Santa Ana, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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Between Friday night and Monday morning in Orange County, about 73 people were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Last year, there were only about 67 arrests during the same time period. Officers did a good job of patrolling the area and setting up DUI checkpoints, which prevented any DUI fatalities from occurring in Orange County. In all of California this weekend, about 10 people were killed in DUI accidents, whereas last year there were 23 deaths.

In summary then, DUI’s are going up but fatalities are going down. Although it is unfortunate that so many people still drive drunk, luckily they are not killing as many people as before. I think this has to do with people being more educated and aware of the dangers of drinking and driving as well as police officer’s heightened efforts to prevent DUI fatalities. Whether you live in Newport Beach, Tustin or Garden Grove, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced Orange County DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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Three’s Company actress Joyce DeWitt was pulled over during the July 4th weekend in El Segundo, California. Officers observed DeWitt commit a traffic violation so they pulled her over. Officers noticed she looked intoxicated and after administering field sobriety tests, they concluded that she was driving under the influence. Last week, Dewitt was charged with 2 misdemeanor charges: driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol level of above a .08%.

During long weekends or holiday weekends, many people chose to celebrate by drinking alcohol. Officers are aware of this and will be heavily patrolling the area. If you are driving drunk and get pulled over, officers will want to give you field sobriety tests. If you take them and pass them, they will let you go. If you take them and fail them, they will arrest you. If you refuse to take them, they will arrest you and ask you to do those tests or a blood test in the station. If you get pulled over for a DUI in Orange County, Los Angeles County or Riverside County, you will need an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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In May of this year, actress Lori Petty was arrested for a DUI in which she hit a skateboarder with her car. She was arrested on May 30 in Venice CA after she was pulled over for a DUI and was charged with a DUI with injury, a DUI above a .08% and no proof of financial responsibility. The only charge that Petty pled guilty too was the DUI with injury charge and the other two charges were dropped. Petty was sentenced to 60 months of probation, a 60 day alcohol treatment program and about $500 in fines and court fees.

Since this DUI incident injured someone else, Petty may consider herself fortunate in that she did not receive any jail time. Had her case gone to trial, she might have asserted defenses DUI such as insufficient evidence, lack of probable cause or malfunctioning blood alcohol testing machinery. These defenses are technical in nature and depend upon the lawyer’s knowledge of the machinery used by law enforcement and its inherent weaknesses. Whether you are in Fullerton, Orange or Laguna Beach, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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As previously mentioned, Westminster City Councilman Andy Quach had been charged with a DUI in August when he crashed his car into a power pole, knocking out power to 300 Westminster residents. Officers say that his blood alcohol level was a .26% which is three times the legal limit. As soon as the accident occurred, Quach felt bad and embarrassed but took full responsibility for the crash. This week, Quach’s attorney plead guilty on Quach’s behalf. He was sentenced to three years of informal probation, a nine month alcohol program, 10 days of Caltrans community service and a $390 fine.

Luckily for Quach, he did not receive any jail time or lose his job. A first DUI will rarely come with jail time but in this situation, Quach’s blood alcohol level was so high that he could have been put in jail. There are many legal and personal consequences that a person may face when they get a DUI. If you are charged with a DUI in Huntington Beach, Buena Park or Lake Forest, call an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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Earlier this month, singer George Michael slammed into a truck on a British highway and was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The truck driver said Michael was speeding over 100 mph and weaving in and out of lanes. After the accident occurred, Michael came to talk to the driver but the driver said Michael was completely out of it. Once at the station, police did not find him under the influence of any substance so they released him without any charges. Michael had just received his license back after a 2 year suspension for driving on drugs.

Some people think that celebrities get special treatment when it comes to the law. Often we hear of celebrities getting out of tickets and spending short amounts of time in jail whereas a normal person convicted of the same crime would face a much longer jail/prison sentence. It seems unfair that just because someone is well known, they should get a shorter sentence. A good attorney will try and help you get the lowest sentence, regardless of who you are.

Whether you live in Santa Ana, Mission Viejo or Yorba Linda, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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In June, Dodger’s relief pitcher Ronald Belisario was pulled over by California Highway Patrol in Pasadena for driving while talking on a cell phone. After being pulled over, officers realized he was intoxicated so he was immediately arrested and charged with a DUI. He was released on $5,000 bail. Last week, Belisario entered a plea of not guilty for the DUI charge. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for October.

Belisario spent 10 years in the minor leagues before becoming a Dodger. If he is convicted of the DUI, it may affect his baseball career. He may have to spend time in jail and miss important games. Drinking and driving has such a major effect and such severe consequences that no one should do it. Whether you live in Artesia, Westminster or San Clemente, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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