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According to the American Beverage Institute, DUI / Drunk Driving checkpoints are costly and ineffective. Citing California statistics, in 2008, out of 1,000,000 motorists stopped at DUI checkpoints, only one-third of one percent were charged with DUI / Drunk Driving. On the other hand, publicizing the locations of DUI / Drunk Driving checkpoints may have a deterrent effect on drinking drivers who are aware of the checkpoints and their locations. I wonder if a study will be done that measures the amount of time each motorist is stopped and use those results in the analysis of whether or not to… Read More

Recently, the California Supreme Court held that competent evidence of variations between people’s breath alcohol levels and blood alcohol levels is admissible to show that breath tests results can overstate the actual blood alcohol level of a driver in DUI / Drunk Driving prosecutions. This scientific principal is called partition ratio variation which has been well documented in the scientific community for decades. This variation is caused by all breath testing machines being programmed to assume everyone has the same variation formula. In reality, this formula is only based on an average and does not take into account an individual’s… Read More

Many states are now requiring all driversconvictedofDUI / DWI / Drunk Driving to install ignition interlock devices. In 2005, New Mexico was the first state to requireinstallation ofignition interlock devicesfor all drivers convicted of DUI / DWI / Drunk Driving. Currently, there is a bill pending in the California legislature to fund a pilot program to require installation of ignition interlock devices for convicted drunk drivers in Los Angeles, Alameda and Sacramento counties. One of the difficulties of requiringconvicted drunk drivers to install ignition interlock devicesis that often times more than one person drives a vehicle belonging to a person… Read More

According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, almost 74% of drivers who wereconvicted for DUI / Drunk Driving in 2006 (most recent year data available) were first time offenders (drivers who have not beenconvicted for DUI / Drunk Drivingduring the previous ten years). Only 6.8% of driversconvicted for DUI / Drunk Driving in2006 had 3 or more prior convictions during the previous 10 years. Overall, DUI / Drunk Driving arrest in California increased by 3.4% in 2007following an increase of 9.4% in 2006.

After checking for this 4th of Julyholiday weekendDUI / Drunk Driving checkpointlocations, I found most of the publicity suprisingly vague as to specific locations. What wasalso suprising is that many of the checkpoints will stop every driver that drives into a checkpoint in order to check for people who may beDUI,lack validdrivers’ licenses and possibly for possessingfireworks as well. Generally, the police are required to disclose the specific locations and not stop every driver in a DUI checkpoint. However, combining DUI / Drunk Driving checkpoints with fireworks and driver’s license checks, law enforcement may feel it can be lessvague in… Read More

The United States Supreme Court recently held that a defendant in a criminal case has the constitutional right to cross exam governmentchemists who analyze chemical substances when the government seeks to introduce into evidence the lab reports prepared by government crime labsto prove the substance is what the government says it is. Prior to this ruling and as it relates to DUI / DrunkDriving prosecutions, some statesallowed government lab analysisreports into evidencewithout the need to call the analyst to testify as to the lab report contents. However, in California, this ruling doesn’t change the admissibility of crime lab reports in… Read More

According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, there were 203,866 DUI / Drunk Driving arrests in 2007. This breaks down to 197,602 misdemeanor and 6,264 felony DUI / Drunk Driving arrests for 2007.Also in 2007, there were 192,213DUI / Drunk DrivingDMV Administrative Per Sesuspension/revocationactions. An administrative persesuspension/revocation action occurs aftera police officer takesa California driver’s license and/or issues a temporary licenseafter thedriver hasbeen arrested for DUI / Drunk Drivng andtook a breath test with resultsof a .08 or greater, took ablood test or refuses a breath or blood test, or if someone under 21 either has a breath or… Read More

According to a report released on February 18, 2009, by the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, the nation’s crime labs on the federal, state and local levels are rife with serious deficiencies including lacking practitioner and laboratory independence, standards, oversight and certification. The National Research Council called for the establishment of a wholly independent federal agency, the National Institute of Forensic Science to address the problems in the current science and system. As this relates to DUI / Drunk Driving defense, we experience a wide variation of policy, procedures and testimony from the… Read More

Oftentimes I am asked about unusual DUI / Drunk Driving cases we have handled. One case we handled a while ago was a golfer who was arrested for DUI / Drunk Driving while driving a golf cart! The client was finished playing golf and was driving home in the golf cart. Keep in mind that in California, anyone is subject to being arrested for DUI / Drunk Driving in any type of motorized vehicle anywhere in the State. If you know of an unusual DUI / Drunk Driving arrest like this one, please let me know.

Recently, the Oceanside Police Department turned over to the San Diego County prosecutors office neary 8 years worth of video tapes of suspect interviews stashed by an Oceanside police officer. It’s not clear if the officer withheld the tapes intentionally or wasn’t aware that he was to turn them over to the defense. Credit goes to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office for notifying defense attorneys of the existence of the video tapes. My guess is that the officer kept the tapes for his own protection in case a suspect may have alleged the officer may have committed some… Read More