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The goal of the criminal justice system is not always to punish the offender in order to prevent reoffending. Many times, however, courts focus on rehabilitating the criminal defendant as a means to prevent reoffending. The California criminal courts have had various diversion programs that have been used as a tool to help rehabilitate such individuals. Diversion programs are implemented either before a person pleads to a criminal charge or after the plea. If the person successfully completes counselling (or other court requirements), the court will dismiss the charges against the defendant. The courts are satisfied that the defendant is… Read More

Being stopped by police can be a very unnerving situation. The flashing red and blue lights alone can cause someone to panic. The panic can be extreme when the person believes that the police officer wants to investigate that person or arrest that person for committing a crime. When panicked while being detained by an officer, one of the hardest things to do is maintain your composure throughout the interaction. However, as difficult as it is to maintain your composure it is good to know your rights and responsibilities when interacting with the police. A person needs to know when… Read More

NOT THE SAME AS ALCOHOL Driving under the influence of alcohol has a “per se” law, meaning “on its face” which creates a presumption that a person is guilty of DUI alcohol if that person has a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or above. The .08 BAC was not arbitrarily chosen. Instead, tests were done to determine how much alcohol in a person’s blood system would cause impairment. These tests take into account that because alcohol is stored in water throughout a person’s body, the level of alcohol would be consistent throughout that person’s body. Alcohol is also absorbed… Read More

Paramedics and police were recently dispatched to a home near Mountain Pride Park to investigate reports of an injured child. When they arrived on the scene, responders found a boy in need of immediate and significant medical attention.  The boy’s parents, a Navy sailor and his girlfriend, were questioned and subsequently arrested on suspicion of child abuse. If charged, the sailor and his girlfriend could face serious consequences, including time in prison, probation, and even loss of the custody of their son. California is tough on crime. This is especially true when children are the victims of those crimes. Studies… Read More

DRUG DRIVING A PRIORITY Law enforcement and other government officials are making drugged driving a priority. They are concerned that drivers are becoming extremely distracted by the use of handheld devices and ingesting legal pharmaceutical products. What happens, however, if you unknowingly ingest a drug or other pharmaceutical product and are subsequently arrested for a DUI? Does that DUI count against you? PRESCRIPTIONS For instance, what if you take someone else’s prescription and are unaware of the fact that it can impair driving? Will this help you avoid a DUI arrest? Unfortunately it probably won’t due to the fact that… Read More

It seems that there has been a recent uptick in the number of DUI’s that are being charged as chemical test refusals. Legally speaking, chemical test refusal occurs when a police officer lawfully arrests someone for DUI, admonishes that person of their requirement to submit to a chemical test, and that person refuses to submit to a chemical test. Factually, however, whether a person refused or not is somewhat of a gray area. For instance, if a person is lawfully arrested by a police officer and tells the officer that he wants an attorney before he decides to submit to… Read More

SAME OLD STORY I cannot tell you how many times in my personal and professional life I have heard someone say that they are an excellent driver – even when under the influence of an intoxicating substance. These assertions usually are made when they are trying to be convinced to use a designated driver. These people may very well be excellent drivers when sober and very experienced at driving while impaired. They are making these assertions because they assume that if they appear to be driving according to traffic laws they will not get arrested for DUI. They don’t take… Read More

NEED EXPERIENCE Should you hire the attorney that handles your family’s financial affairs? Recently in court we noticed that there are unfamiliar attorneys representing people charged with DUI. Whenever we notice a new attorney we try to get to know them and learn more about their law practice and have learned that they are family attorneys or probate attorneys. These attorneys do not have DUI experience so they charge their client a small fee for a plea. The problem is, however, that a lot of these attorneys have no criminal defense experience or knowledge. They have no grasp of criminal… Read More

PROMOTING URBAN LEGENDS Since the beginning of DUI prosecutions there have been Urban Legends or unsubstantiated stories of how people avoided a DUI conviction. They are usually told by self-professed experts who claim to have personally gotten out of a DUI or witnessed a friend who got out of a DUI by engaging in certain evasive maneuvers. They swear that they are foolproof. These same individuals usually have a suspended license for not completing an alcohol program ordered as a result of DUI conviction(s). Below are just a few examples of these DUI Urban Legends. BURPED Urban Legend Number One:… Read More

PRESENT LAW Presently in California if a police officer thinks that a person is driving under the influence of a substance other than alcohol, the officer will have a trained Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) come to the scene to evaluate whether the person has any indicators for the use of drugs as well as state the classification of drug suspected. If the officer suspects drugged driving, the driver will be arrested and a urine or blood sample will be requested of the driver. NEW PROPOSED LAW This law may soon change. SB 1462 is being proposed by California Senator Huff… Read More