I am very humbled and honored to announce that The Los Angeles Daily News 2011 Readers Choice Awards has voted Top Gun DUI Defense Attorney® Myles L. Berman® as the “Best DUI Attorney”. These awards, given annually, are the voice and choice of Daily News readers to decide the best in the business in an array of categories. Ballots were circulated for the 12th year in a row, both in the paper and online, and results were tallied based on the chosen category favorites of more than 3,000 readers. The voted “Best of the Best” people, places, and things will be presented in a much-anticipated, special section the Daily News will publish on August 26, 2011. I was very happy to receive the call from the Los Angeles Daily News informing me of the prestigious honor and will continue to zealously represent people arrested for DUI / Drunk Driving.

Our client was stopped for making an unsafe lane change. He had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. His eyes indicated that he had consumed alcohol. He was questioned by the police officer. During the field sobriety tests our client was swaying, unable to walk a straight line, unable to lift his legs for 30 seconds and unable to touch the tip of his nose with the tip of his finger. He then took 2 on-scene breath tests with the results being .20 and .17. Our client was then arrested for DUI and refused either a further breath or blood test. Just before trial was to start, our client was offered and pled “no contest” to reckless driving (non-alcohol related offense). We were also able to obtain a set-aside from the DMV. He was also facing a 1 year suspension from the DMV. (The case results posted on this page do not guarantee the success or outcome of your case. Every DUI case is unique and the results may vary from case to case.)

In California, almost everyone arrested for DUI / Drunk Driving does some form of field sobriety tests. Some of the most common tests are walk the line, finger to nose, stand on one foot and estimate 30 seconds. Many different police agencies either use a variation of these test or have their own such as count backwards from 100 or say the alphabet without singing. All of the tests are completely voluntary. The tests are also designed to make it difficult to do them with 100% accuracy. Being investigated for DUI / Drunk Driving is a very scary and intimidating experience. In addition, not everyone has the same physical ability to perform these tests. Performance and administration of field sobriety tests are a main focus of attacking the prosecution case in defending DUI / Drunk Driving cases.

Recently, I wrote about problems encountered by the San Francisco Crime lab which caused it to close down. Apparently, there are thousands of pages of documents sought by defense attorneys. In addition, the court inquired into how the District Attorney’s Office looks into criminal and/or misconduct committed by law enforcement employees. The District Attorney’s Office indicated it relied on law enforcement to provide the information. This position did not sit well with the court. The information sought by defense attorneys is necessary to determine if any evidence in pending cases as well as closed cases, including DUI / Drunk Driving cases, would come into question which could lead to further dismissals or reversal of convictions. In the meantime, prosecutors are collecting and maintaining records in case they will be needed later.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 180 narcotic cases have been dropped by San Francisco prosecutors since a San Francisco Police Department crime lab scandal recently became public. The crime lab has been closed since March 9th. The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office has stated that more cases will be dismissed unless and until the drugs seized can be tested by a different source. Apparently, a criminalist employed at the crime lab is suspected of possibly taking cocaine from the crime lab. It was reported that the criminalist’s sister contacted a lab supervisor on December 16, 2009, and reported that she saw what appeared to be a police vial of cocaine inside the criminalist’s home.

According to the Orange County Register, a study done for the year 2009 by Investigative Reporting Program at University of California-Berkely with California Watch found that more cars are seized than DUI / Drunk Driving arrests are made. Impounding of cars generated approximately $40,000,000 in towing fees and police fines. This revenue is divided by cities and towing firms. Police officers received about $30,000,000 in overtime pay for the extra DUI / Drunk Driving enforcement. Also, during 2009, police seized more than 24,000 vehicles at checkpoints. This represents an increase of 53% from 2007. Apparently, DUI / Drunk Driving sobriety checkpoints result in the discovery of thousands of unlicensed drivers in the state of California.

As I blogged about a while back, faulty lab results were discovered in toxicology reports on blood and urine tests from a private company contracted with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. Toxicology labs routine test for alcohol and drugs in DUI / Drunk Driving cases. The county originally thought only a few cases may be affected. However, officials ordered a review of 675 cases dating from March, 2009 through December, 2009. So far, 11 people have been released from Vista jail as a result of the review. Hundreds of more cases are still under review. The private lab notified the Sheriff’s department last summer as a result of an inexperienced lab worker. The San Diego Sheriff’s Department no longer uses the services of the private lab. It has yet to be determined how many DUI / Drunk Driving cases have been affected.

On December 30, 2009, a bill was introduced in the California Assmebly to permanently revoke the drivers’ licenses of third time convicted drunk drivers. The bill would eliminate the current 10 year prior period and change it to life time. It would also give judges discretion to revoke the driver’s license for any person convicted for a third DUI / Drunk Driving charge even if the prior offenses occured over 20 years ago when DUI / Drunk Driving was not considered as serious as it has become. People who pled guilty many years ago had no knowledge that by doing so, the convictions may come back haunt them 20 to 30 years later.

According to the LA Times, the California Highway Patrol arrested 246 people for DUI / Drunk Driving statewide on Christmas Eve, 2009. On Christmas Eve, 2008, the CHP arrested 167 people for DUI / Drunk Driving. This represents a 47% increase in Christmas Eve DUI / Drunk Driving arrests from 2008 to 2009. In Los Angeles County, the CHP arrested 71 people for DUI / Drunk Driving on Christmas Eve, 2009, compared to 30 people arrested for DUI / Drunk Driving on Christmas Eve, 2008. This represents a whopping 136% increase in Christmas Eve DUI / Drunk Driving arrests from 2008 to 2009. It wouldn’t suprise me that for the upcoming New Year’s Eve, there is even a greater increase in DUI / Drunk Driving arrests by the CHP compared to New’s Year Eve, 2008, both statewide as well as in LA County.

According to the California Highway Patrol, there were 1,314 DUI / Drunk Driving arrests statewide by CHP officers during the 2009 Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. The number of arrests were down slightly from 2008 when the California Highway Patrol made 1,397 DUI / Drunk Driving arrests statewide. San Diego county California Highway Patrol officers made 94 DUI / Drunk Driving arrests during the 2009 Thanksgiving Holiday. This number was also a decrease from 2008 Thanksgiving Holiday when there were 108 DUI / Drunk Driving arrests made by the San Diego county California Highway Patrol. As was well publicized, there were many DUI / Drunk Driving checkpoints and roving police patrols throughout California during the 2009 Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.