Top Gun DUI Defense Attorney® Myles L. Berman® Interviewed On September 2nd, 2015, By Heidi & Frank

Transcript:
Host: Labor Day weekend. A lot of people going out. They are going to get together, probably going to be drinking a few drinks. The most popular drink for men in the summer, beer. Beer, yes, of course. How many beers did you have all summer? I know they say that since it’s September, it’s officially the end of summer when Labor Day happens, that we wasted 22 hours of our summer because we were too hung over to go outside and enjoy the summer. Four good hang overs in a 3 month period. So yeah, let me use the summer to drink and party and since it’s the end of summer, a lot of people go out and they really want to go out with a bang. But you’ve got to be careful, so we always turn to Myles L. Berman, the Top Gun DUI Defense Attorney who has been a long term supporter of the Heidi & Frank show. A friend of the program, there he is, always looking sharp. He is no slob. Good to see you again, my friend. He shows up, Hi Myles. I guess all holidays are drinking holidays, it just turned that way in America. Is Labor Day one of the holidays that is the biggest time of the year for say, your business, Top Gun DUI Defense Attorney or is it like Memorial Day or Fourth of July?

Myles Berman: There will be a spike for a whole host of reasons, some of which you talked about earlier also. The cops are going to be out in full force and they have been for a week or two now, so there are going to be tons of checkpoints. I heard you mention that I tweet the checkpoints that are known on Friday afternoons. With the holiday parties and the 3 day weekends. A lot of people don’t go away as much as they used to, so there are more people in town, more people on the road. Hi Eric, how are you?

Host: You know I was just thinking that too because we are making plans this weekend and we are going to go away for a little bit and we are going to come home and see friends and we are taking about, On Saturday, we are going to start at this place and then we’ll leave there and go to this other place and I’m like I’d rather just stay at one place because you don’t want to be driving around from place to place.

Myles Berman: Don’t you think that it’s okay, I know Myles L. Berman at 888-4 TOP GUN?

Host: It’s true. You are, your number is in my phone for many years now.

Myles: I must admit you’ve never called

Host: I’m going on record. I’ve never called. Have I?

Myles: I’m not looking in the other direction.

Host: Myles is the best. Myles is the best. It could happen to anybody, really and we’ve all experienced or know somebody who has been in that situation.

Myles: you know, what’s happening big time now? People are getting arrested for DUI drugs, prescription drugs

Host: beyond marijuana, like Vicodin and Percocet, all of that stuff. What am I supposed to do if I have a back pain, I got into a car accident and I have to take Vicodin so I can live through the day without my pain and I have to go to work? What am I supposed to do? So you are telling me that I could get pulled over on my way to work because I’ve got Vicodin that was prescribed to me by a doctor.

Myles: Yes, and also what could happen is you could get into an accident that’s not your fault and that’s how the police come upon you and before you know it, you are under investigation for a DUI, also being under the influence such as driving under the influence.

Host: Yeah, I remember, I got pulled over once by a bicycle cop. It was so embarrassing but I had a sack of weed in one hand and a pocket full of Percocet but I was like I haven’t taken anything yet. How’d that work out for you? Not too good. Myles is like I’m not going to say anything. No, I mean I didn’t have anything in my system. Thank God but yeah, I did actually have the painkillers for this problem I had with my teeth. I was going through this debilitating pain so I had this to kill it. I mean there was no fun time with the Percocet at all but the cops don’t believe that when they are in your pocket. They are like no, it’s in your system but if you have an accident like, that’s the thing you don’t think about. When you are driving around, you are like I’m cool. I can drive. I know how I can drive like this but then you still have to look out for everybody else and if somebody else hits your car who hasn’t had a drop in their system, who is to blame? Myles?

Myles: Not only that, not only that you are not at fault but often times insurance companies will try and turn it around and say you were at fault because you were under the influence of alcohol or the prosecutors will look at; or drugs for that matter. I’m talking generally speaking, in being under the influence. Prosecutors will look at that and say okay, you weren’t at fault but you shouldn’t have been driving and then try and aggravate the punishment. Of course that’s where we come in and we understand their difficulties and how to prove them.

Host: Not only do you help with driving under the influence of alcohol but if it’s also if it’s prescription marijuana, if it’s a prescription painkiller or a narcotic of some kind.

Myles: We are seeing a lot of marijuana DUI cases and in almost every instance, the person feels that because they have a prescription for medical marijuana, that somehow it will help alleviate or even give them a pass from being arrested for DUI marijuana and your listeners should be made aware that they can’t drive after you’ve smoked and it’s still in your system which is another problem because it stays in your system for quite a long time, unlike alcohol that is eliminated from your system within an hour or two depending on

Host: I’ll say this, there have been many mornings or afternoons that I would be doing this show with Frank where he would come in from the night before and I could still smell alcohol coming through his pores. Maybe it was the clothes that had it.

Myles: that’s what I was going to say. What are you talking about? That’s mouthwash.

Host: we do have some questions coming in. 1-800-955 KLOS is the number if you have a question for Myles L. Berman, the Top Gun DUI Defense Attorney. Give us a call. We have Matt on the phone. Hello Matt.

Matt: Hey. How are you guys doing this morning?

Host: Say hello to Myles L. Berman.

Matt: Myles, hey I got a question for you. I heard a rumor that when you are arrested and you are taken to the station, you have the option of a blood test or a UA test. Now is that true?

Host: A blood test and a what? A urine test?

Matt: Yes, Heidi.

Myles: okay, interestingly, they’ve eliminated urine tests but after you are at the station and you take a breath test, they are supposed to admonish you that the machine doesn’t save a sample for further testing where you can have a blood or urine test if you want to preserve the evidence.

Host: Do you want to do that? Do you take that? Is it optional?

Myles: Let’s logic this out. Sometimes when you are on the street, you get arrested and before you are arrested, you have to blow into the portable breath test machine. If you are older than 21, it’s completely voluntary and it should never be taken. Secondly, after you are arrested, if you take the portable breath test and they send you back into jail and you take another breath test and each test is 2 samples, so now you’ve got 4 samples. I don’t know if there is that much logic to take another test after the breath test so there is possibly.

Host: but you’ve got to realize that Myles, I’m wasted at this point. So logic is out the window. I don’t take that test, the first test. You shouldn’t even take the first one, when you get pulled over. When I get arrested and I go down there and I take the one Breathalyzer and they say hey do you want a blood test? No.

Myles: I would say that it’s probably best not to give them more evidence but every situation is different. That’s my general answer.

Host: Benjamin has got a question. Hello Benjamin.

Benjamin: hey, how’s it going, Frank?

Host: you are on with Myles L. Berman

Benjamin: hey, Myles, how’s it going? I wanted to give you a quick question. I take Percocet because of my shoulders, I have bad shoulders and there are 2 screws in there and I was just wondering, I drive for a living. So, is it not okay to take it and drive or is it just get home, take it and don’t drive at all.

Myles: For Percocet, like other drugs, it depends on the level that you have in your system. If it’s therapeutic, it’s one thing but if it’s above therapeutic then you are subject to being prosecuted. I mean you can be prosecuted anyway because they find out the levels through a blood draw which is after

Host: isn’t therapeutic relative to the patient? There are functioning alcoholics that can walk around with a 0.30, you should be in a coma but you are like no. This is just me being an alcoholic.

Myles: For some people that is being therapeutic. That is pretty high though. But the answer to your question Benjamin is it just depends on what’s prescribed and how much you have in your system.

Host: When you are taking medicine properly for actual pain and it’s not recreationally, you are not getting high because it’s taking care of this shoulder pain. It’s when you don’t have a shoulder pain and you take a drug that you go whoo. If taking that one dosage is not doing it for you, then you start taking 2 or you start taking 3 and then you start to acclimate to this stuff and then they take your blood and it’s like My God, you have this much in your system, you must be wasted and it’s like maybe I am not, maybe I’ve become acclimated to my situation. My prescription has probably changed but I haven’t gone back. I’ve started taking 3 pills at a time.

Myles: Right, because someone can build up a tolerance after a while but again, prosecutors will look at it almost as if it’s zero tolerance.

Host: It’s like my tolerance to light beer. It doesn’t affect me at all. That’s why I drink it. I can drink a bottle of wine and you’d never know I had anything. The main thing is we drink beer over the summer. That’s the number one drink for guys and women drink white wine. So when you are thinking I’m just drinking beer or I’m just drinking white wine, it doesn’t matter if I’m not drinking Tequila or I’m not drinking whiskey, it is still alcohol and white wine will show up as much as Tequila or as much as Bourbon.

Myles: Yes, one glass of wine is equal to the alcohol in one can of beer which is also equal to a shot which is an ounce and a quarter of. It depends on how much you weigh and what’s in your system. I mean it affects everybody differently but after your four shots, you are hitting the hay. So you shouldn’t really worry about it.

Host: With things like Uber and Lyft and all those options out there. Have you seen the number of people calling you go down because they are using these services or has it been pretty steady since long before Uber and that kind of thing?

Myles: I’m sure those ride sharing systems have had an impact on the nature of the practice but the number of arrests are still about the same and maybe the police are even out more in force to look for people.

Host: You know the people who want to be in control and drive their own car, even when you are like let’s just call Uber. No, I’ll just drive. Why not call Uber? But what fascinates me is when famous people get busted for drunk driving, it’s like you really don’t have to drive. You have the money to have a guy sit in a limo and wait for you at Moon Shadows in Malibu. Moon Shadows, who are you talking about in particular? But that always amazes me when famous people get pulled over.

Myles: Here is the thing and let’s talk about alcohol, if you are okay with you. The people don’t know their own alcohol levels as far as when they are impaired. Nobody knows when they are a 0.08 or greater and even the breath test machines that you buy, the ones that police use aren’t accurate. There are a lot of problems with breath testing which is one of the reasons why we are able to be so successful with these cases but people just have no idea what their alcohol level is once they have 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 drinks over anywhere between 3 to 4 or 5 hours. So it’s just difficult for people to tell and they may feel like they are okay to drive and many times they are.

Host: You had a bit of dinner and then you ate and so it’s going to take a lot of time for that stuff to get through the system. By the time, it does get into your system is the time when you are driving home. What did you learn about you? You had some metabolic tests done and you, because you can drink like, I can’t hang with Frank because I’m like alright, I’m all done but he is fine and all of a sudden at the end of the night, what did you learn? Something about metabolizing alcohol and I’m the guy who hits the wall where it’s like I am fine and then all of a sudden, I’m just in a corner.

Myles: I remember it’s a couple of years ago you talked about that.

Host: that was in your office.

Myles: no, no. You said it on the air.

Host: We’ll go to a quick question from Beth. Hello Beth

Beth: Hi.

Host: you’ve got a question for Myles L. Berman, Top Gun DUI Defense Attorney.

Beth: yes I did. I was wondering is it true you can be out driving under whatever the influence and you get home, you think you are safe and 2 or 3 hours later the police will knock on your door and they can arrest you for drunk driving.

Myles: Hi Beth. That actually happens on a semi-regular basis. I mean it’s not all the cases that we have but we get calls like that and it’s not even a couple of hours. Here is where we see it commonly where there is an accident and depending on the seriousness of it, sometimes people actually drink a little bit more but they go home or an accident occurs near their house. Somebody picks them up, they go home. They are very nervous and they are very upset and they start drinking. The cops find that car or there is a witness that calls it in. So they run the plates, from the plates they go into the house and there they want to talk to who the driver is. So usually the driver doesn’t answer the door, it’s somebody else in the house. But the cops will make the arrest even though they are told on the scene at the house or the residence that the person has been drinking. It doesn’t matter to them. It’s like tell it to the judge.

Host: If somebody reported you, say if there is DUI and somebody is driving erratically, they’ll call 911 and say I see this car with this license plate number, there was no accident, you made it home. They run your license plate based off the 911 report and now you go to our house and there is no accident, they knock on your door. Don’t answer the door. Guess who is not home?

Myles: One could argue that they would have to get a warrant at that point. If they didn’t see the person run in, if they have no information

Host: What if I answer the door and they say hey, have you been home all night? Well no actually, I was out a little earlier but…

Myles: It’s really intimidating. It’s the same type of intimidation when somebody gets pulled over and the police come to their window and they start investigating and start asking you questions and tell you to step out of the car. If it is intimidating, there it is if once a police officer or officers knocking on the door, looking for somebody.

Host: I’ve heard you say when they do that, when they pull you over and say so where have you been? You don’t have to tell them where you’ve been.

Myles: Yeah, you don’t have to tell police when they pull you over, where you are coming from, where you are going to, how much you’ve had to drink. Clearly your only responsibility Frank, is to identify yourself, give them your driver’s license, your proof of insurance and registration. But again, people are very intimidated.

Host: I think it’s because of that video we’ve seen on the internet of the woman who was killed. She said that she was being, I mean she wasn’t being cooperative. She said I don’t have to tell you that. He was like please put your cigarette out ma’am. Get out of the car and he starts tazing her and stuff like that and I’m like wait, I wasn’t answering your questions, I gave you my license and I asked you what the charge was and then she ends up getting arrested, taken downtown and they find her dead in her cell the next day. I think with all these videos and with all these cop cams they have right now, that the LAPD has the cams in there. I guess that will be used in court too. They have a camera on you and you are all like Hey.

Myles: yeah, you know we are actually looking forward to it. The cameras and the videos have almost always helped us in court. Usually, when the officer writes down the report, he writes it down from his memory at some point in time later and they really can’t remember all the details but they do sometimes put out details that are incorrect and oftentimes police officers have never met the person before 99 out of 100 times and they don’t know what the person’s normal speech pattern is and then when the person is actually talking on the video, his speech is clear, it sounds sober, it’s his normal speech pattern. So police are trained to look, investigate, get people off the road because they feel it makes the road safer which it does but what they do on the street and what they do in investigation is totally different in how it comes across in court, which again, is why we are so successful in trying these cases.

Host: The Top Gun DUI Defense Attorney Myles L. Berman is with us. If you do have an issue this weekend or any weekend, be sure and give him a call. The number…

Myles: 888-4 TOP GUN

Host: Just put it in your phone right now. You are listening, just put it in there. I did it years ago. It’s in my phone, 888-4 TOP GUN. Easy. Why do you have him under booty call? Are you guys doing something? He is a handsome fellow. Are you guys meeting behind closed doors? He doesn’t age either. Has he aged in 12 years? No. he hasn’t. How do you do it man?

Myles: 15 years? You guys have been in town that long? My God, it was like yesterday when we had dinner at that sushi joint in the valley.

Host: he has been with us ever since. A good friend of the show, Myles L. Berman. He can be your good friend as well if you ever need him, 888-4 TOP GUN. We are going to take a break and come right back. We are Heidi & Frank