I am very pleased to announce that I have been awarded a rating of AV® Preeminent™ by LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell® for 2011. The rating “is the pinnacle of professional excellence earned through a strenuous Peer Review Rating process that is managed and monitored by the world’s most trusted legal resource, Martindale-Hubble®.” The rating represents the “Highest Possible Rating in Both Legal Ability & Ethical Standards.” Achieving this honor and distinction, especially in defending people arrested for DUI / Drunk Driving cases, is a very humbling experience. I am very grateful to the clients who trusted us with their DUI / Drunk Driving cases as well as the entire Top Gun team. I look forward to continue to earn such a prestigious award.

Starting August 19th and continuing until September 5th, nearly 10,000 law enforcement agencies across the nation will be conducting an intensive crack down on DUI / Drunk Driving. The nationwide operation is called “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.” This means there will be a large amount of DUI / Drunk Driving checkpoints all across the country. These checkpoints are usually funded by both the Federal Government as well as state governments. The funding pays for the substantial additional cost incurred for police overtime. I fully expect to see record numbers of DUI / Drunk Driving checkpoints and arrests in California from now until Labor Day. Of course, the more DUI / Drunk Driving convictions there are, the more local governments collect in fines and costs.

Our client was stopped after being observed on the freeway unable to maintain his lane weaving back and forth for about 1 mile. Upon approaching our client’s vehicle, the officer smelled the strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. According to the officer, our client admitted to recently smoking marijuana and having marijuana in the car. Our client failed 3 field sobriety tests, had a high pulse rate, and dilated pupils. Our client was then arrested for DUI drugs (marijuana) and possession of marijuana. A urine test came back positive for Cannabinoids. After fighting the case for quite a while, the DUI and possession of marijuana charges were dismissed. No DMV action was taken against our client. (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.)

Sorry for the delayed posting. I’ve been busy fighting for our clients in court. Our client hired us for his 3rd DUI / Drunk Driving arrest. He was possibly facing a minimum of 120 days in jail and and a license revocation. He was stopped for speeding and weaving on the freeway. After the stop, the officer’s observations included strong odor of alcohol, slurred speech, and red and watery eyes. After four field sobriety tests, our client blew into a portable breath test machine with the results of .10/.10. After arrest, our client blew a .10/.09. On the day of trial, the prosecutor offered and the client accepted a dismissal of all DUI /Drunk Driving charges and plead to a “wet reckless” with no jail time at all. (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.)

The State of New Mexico is planning on rounding up over 1,000 people who have outstanding warrants in DUI / DWI / Drunk Driving cases. New Mexico State Police, Santa Fe police and Santa Fe County Sheriff’s departments are starting the round up program called “Operation Descansos”. People with outstanding warrants are being urged to turn themselves in so they can possibly avoid another arrest and/or additional charges. The warrants are issued for people who have either been arrested or convicted for DUI / Drunk Driving / DWI and have either not appeared in court or have not completed their sentences. I’m sure there has been a financial cost benefit analysis done by the police agencies which would result in additional revenue being generated.

Recently, the Arizona Supreme Court held that police can only get a blood sample from a DUI / Drunk Driving suspect as long as the suspect consents or the police obtain a warrant. In the case decided by the Arizona Supreme Court, the driver only spoke Spanish and he was not spoken to in Spanish. He neither consented to nor resisted the blood draw after his DUI / Drunk Driving arrest. The blood draw was done by the Arizona police officer while the driver was sitting on the steps of the police van after vomiting. Recently, I blogged that Arizona is a state that allows police officers to draw blood from DUI / Drunk Driving suspects.

It has been reported the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office failed to disclose to the defense the criminal histories of 80 police officers who may have testified in criminal cases including DUI / Drunk Driving cases. Apparently, any prior convictions of testifying police officers were not brought to the attention of the District Attorney’s Office. As a result, apparently police officers with criminal histories may have been allowed to testify without being asked by defense attorneys about their criminal histories which may have included DUI / Drunk Driving cases. Unfortunately for the District Attorney’s Office, they have a legal obligation to find out if any of their witness have criminal histories even in DUI / Drunk Driving cases.

Ireland is considering lowering the legal limit to .05% (California is set at .08% for DUI / Drunk Driving) alcohol in drivers blood who drink and drive. In addition, the law would lower the legal limit to .02% for drivers who are learning to drive, underage, and professional drivers. However, many of the studies used to support this proposed law have come into question as the studies can not be substantiated. However, the law, if passed, could not be implemented until at least 2011 because the DUI / Drunk Driving breath testing machines used in Ireland are either outdated or not properly calibrated for the new proposed level. It would take a male weighing 150 lbs. to have 2 1/2 drinks in his system to be a .05. A women weighing 120 lbs. can be a .05 with just one drink.

The California Highway Patrol arrested 1,252 drivers for DUI / Drunk Driving throughout the state of California between the hours of 6 p.m., December 31, 2009 and 6 a.m. January 3, 2010. This is compared to 986 drivers arrested during the same time period last year. This amounts to an increase in arrests of almost 27% over last year. In Los Angeles County alone, the CHP arrested 241 drivers for DUI / Drunk Driving during the same period of time. During last year’s New Year’s Holiday period, the CHP arrested 202 drivers for DUI / Drunk Driving. This year’s number of arrests by the CHP in Los Angeles county resulted in an increase of over 19% compared to last year. I’m quite sure most, if not all, police agencies will have a dramatic increase in the number of DUI / Drunk Driving arrests this year compared to last year.

According to the Orange County Register, the California Highway Patrol arrested 527 people for DUI / Drunk Driving between 6 p.m. December 31, 2009 and 6 a.m. January 1, 2010. This is an increase of over 20% compared to last year when the California Highway Patrol arrested 438 people for DUI / Drunk Driving during the same period of time. In Los Angeles County, the California Highway Patrol arrested 108 people for DUI / Drunk Driving this year compared to 88 people arrested last year. This represents an increase of almost 23% of DUI / Drunk Driving arrests by the California Highway Patrol compared to the same period of time last year. As I said previously, look for a substantial increase in DUI / Drunk Driving arrests this New Year’s Holiday weekend by local police agencies throughout Los Angeles County.