Recent Legal Posts

Recently, a California State Senator introduced a bill to allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend a person driver’s license if convicted of Boating Under the Influence (BUI) of alcohol and/or drugs. Currently, the DMV does not have the authority to take any action against a driver’s license upon conviction for BUI. However, courts [...]

A recent U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeal held that an immigrant who is convicted of DUI / Drunk Driving while their license was supended or otherwise restricted is a crime involving moral turpitude and is a deportable offense. This case may also set a precedent for U.S. citizens when courts interpret a convicted person’s [...]

According to the LA Times, a National Academy of Sciences report concludes that evidence about fingerprints, ballistics, bite marks and other forensic evidence often have little or no bais in science. Of course in DUI / Drunk Driving cases, breath, blood and urine testing methods and results come with the field of forensic science. [...]

For years, DUI / Drunk Driving defense attorneys, myself included, have been saying the DUI / Drunk Driving laws have been eroding our civil rights. If someone has a blood test done in a hospital after a DUI / Drunk Driving accident, in many states, the blood vial itself and the blood tests results are [...]

A while back, I received an email from a person in Ohio who was arrested for OVI while walking his bike across his front yard. (”OVI” is Ohio’s version of DUI / Drunk Driving.) He was convicted in the trial court and the Court of Appeals upheld his conviction. From time to time, I [...]

According to DUI-News, the first DUI / Drunk Driving law that went into effect in the United States was in New York in 1910. Makes sense since New York City probably had the most number of automobiles and drinkers than anywhere else in the country.

The first person arrested for DUI / Drunk Driving in England was a London taxi driver named George Smith, according to DUI-News. Mr. Smith was arrested after crashing his taxi into a building. He later pled guilty and was fined 25 schillings.

According to the Orange County Register (1/21/09), the California Office of Traffic Safety granted the city of Costa Mesa $236,882 for DUI / Drunk Driving checkpoints. Also, the California Office of Traffic Safety has granted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department $711,207 for DUI / Drunk Driving checkpoints as well. While many people are adamently opposed [...]

As of January 1, 2009, anyone who is on DUI / Drunk Driving probation who is detained or arrested for DUI / Drunk Driving must submit to a chemical test (blood, breath or urine). If results obtained are greater than a .01 or if a person on probation refuses to take a chemical test, then [...]

The California Highway Patrol reports there was a 21% increase for people cited for DUI / Drunk Driving in the state of California during the 2008/2009 New Year holiday period compared to last year according the the Orange County Register. The CHP cited 438 people for DUI / Drunk Driving from December 31st starting at [...]