Articles Posted in DUI

In a continuing effort to get drunk drivers off the road and educate others about the risks, the Orange County, California Sheriff’s Department set up numerous DUI checkpoints over the Fourth of July weekend, making many arrests.

Using a light-hearted approach, deputies conversed with passing motorists, conducting enforcement stops and making arrests.

DUI checkpoints in Orange County represent a effect tool for police, but carry risks as well. The law in this area of DUI defense is complex. Law enforcement officials setting up DUI checkpoints in Orange County, California have to comply with a complex set of rules, even allowing drivers an opportunity to avoid the checkpoint itself.

A qualified Newport Beach, California criminal defense attorney will always demand to see the checkpoint “packet” through a discovery request. This trove of information will tell the lawyer whether the law was complied with or if his client may have a legal defense to the DUI charge.

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Orange County Sheriff’s deputy Erin Guidice plead no contest to a DUI accident committed on April 15, as reported in the Orange County Register today.

Apparently, she rammed her car into the back of another car. Her blood alcohol content was nearly twice the legal limit at the time of the collision.

I can only imagine how embarassed she must be. Having recently been promoted to head up the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol division, she was reassigned to the jail two days after the accident. According to the Orange County Superior Court website, she didn’t admit to an accident, making me wonder whether the DA’s office dismissed that separate allegation.

So the question is this: Did she get a better deal than the average Irvine, California citizen who pleads guilty before the judge at Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach? What if she had hired a qualified DUI defense attorney to represent her? Would she have gotten a better deal?

Perhaps she can look to the mercy of the Sheriff’s department. The article doesn’t mention that she was suspended without pay. The accident was three months ago but it’s “under review”. What does that mean? Three months for a review? The Irvine Driver’s Safety office of the California Department of Motor Vehicles will give someone a police report if they schedule an Administrative Hearing within 10 days, so there should be no reason for delay on a consequence.

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It’s very fortunate for the driver of a hit and run vehicle in Laguna Beach that he didn’t kill anyone today. Apparently, he lost control of the vehicle on Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, hit three parked cars and ran off on foot before being captured by police.

If he had hit and killed someone he would have faced murder charges or possibly vehicular manslaughter. The sentence for DUI murder is a life term, turning one tragedy into two.

Now, the driver faces DUI charges, along with felony hit and run charges, upping his exposure from simple fines and an alcohol program to a potential state prison commitment. The question of punishment is a complex one, based upon a person’s prior record as well as their personal background, education, contributions to the community and the facts of the case before the court.

The L.A. Times is reporting that an Orange County sheriff’s official has been charged with two counts of DUI after causing a car accident in Irvine in April.

Irvine police arrested Lt. Erin Lorraine Guidice, after she crashed into the back of another car stopped at a red light on Jamboree Road in Irvine.

At time, she was driving an unmarked Orange County Sheriff’s Department vehicle and when police arrived at the scene, Guidice had slurred speech, bloodshot and watery eyes and had trouble keeping her balance during a sobriety test. She had a blood alcohol level of 0.14%, or nearly twice the legal limit, according to authorities.

If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail.

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Former Warrant lead singer Jani Lane was arrested late Wednesday night in Woodland Hills, California on suspicion of DUI. In addition, Lane, also owes $121,024 in federal income taxes, records show.

Lane was involved in a fender bender in Woodland Hills, when he allegedly hit a parked car. When Van Nuys police arrived at the scene, Lane he showed signs of intoxication. He was arrested and booked for misdemeanor DUI and was released the Thursday next morning on $30,000 bail.

Lane left Warrant in 2002 to pursue a solo career. He released a solo album, “Back Down to One”, in 2003, but shortly after was admitted to a rehab center for alcohol and drug-related exhaustion. He also appeared on VH1’s reality series “Celebrity Fit Club.”

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The Orange County register is reporting that the Placentia police are setting up a checkpoint Saturday night focusing on drunk drivers and drivers without licenses.

The Police Department timed the checkpoint to coincide with graduation parties but did not did not reveal a location. Generally in order for DUI checkpoint stops to be constitutionally valid, police must reveal that there is a checkpoint planned and where it is located. It will be interesting to see if any of the arrests made at the checkpoint are challenged on these grounds.

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KTLA news is reporting that actress Lori Petty was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and booked into the Van Nuys jail early Sunday morning.

According to police reports, the 45-year-old actress was driving in Venice Saturday night when she allegedly struck a skateboarder. The skateboarder only suffered minor injuries. He was treated at the scene and released.

Best known for her roles in “A League of Their Own” and “Point Break,” Petty was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and booked. She spent about five hours in jail before posting $100,000 bail.

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According to web reports, California Law Enforcement was alerted by a Merced resident of a car that had hit a concrete fence and was fleeing the scene–riding on three flat tires.

Police responded to the tip and stopped a flat-tired vehicle. When they questioned the driver, Sean Guevara, he admitted to having switched places with Nikki Munoz, who was driving at the time of the accident. Both were arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence in California.

It is a crime to drive a car in California with a blood-alcohol concentration, or BAC, is higher than a .08. It is also illegal to drive a car while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Prosecutors can charge DUI even if the drivers BAC isn’t high—they just have to show that the defendant was under the influence to the extent that the driver’s normal faculties were impaired.

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According to a press release from the Newport Beach Police Department, the Traffic Division of the Newport Beach Police Department will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint on Friday, May 22, 2009 the northbound side of Dover Drive at 16th Street. The checkpoint is scheduled from 9:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.

According to the release, the DUI checkpoint will be clearly marked and vehicles will be selected to move through the check lanes a pre-set pattern to ensure that cars are being picked objectivity and that cars can moove through the checkpoint in a timely manner. Motorists will be greeted and given an information brochure on “Driving under the influence”, prepared by the Newport Beach Police Department Traffic Division.

Regardless of whether you will be near this checkpoint, be safe out there this weekend and be sure to use a designated driver.

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The Orange County Register is reporting on a DUI crash that has left an 18-year-old Upland man recovering from a deep scalp cut and facing driving under the influence charges after crashing a Porsche near a freeway on-ramp late Wednesday night.

Witnesses reported Dominick Anthony McCoy’s vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed south on Bear Street and Paularino Avenue. According to investigators, the car struck an electrical box, went through a freeway sign and came to rest about 20 feet later on the on-ramp from Bear to the northbound 73.

A 38-year-old female passenger in the McCoy car was injured and when police found McCoy, his bleeding head sticking was out of the top of the convertible. Both were taken to the hospital for treatment. McCoy was arrested by Costa Mesa police on suspicion of DUI and then released to medical staff where it likely that they took a blood sample.

Generally, blood tests are far more reliable than other chemical tests. The lab doing the testing takes the vial, adds some chemicals and analyzes the results. In order to maintain quality control, part of the original sample is then sent to an independent lab and is re-analyzed. If there is a different result, there may be an available defense to the result.

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