Articles Posted in DUI

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California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed two laws that will mandate drivers convicted of driving under the influence to install ignition lock devices that prevent vehicles from starting if alcohol is detected in the driver’s breath. According to a news report, the bill written by Assemblyman Mike Feuer is a pilot project that will be tested in several California counties including Los Angeles. The bill will basically require that even first time DUI offenders must install these devices on their vehicles. Another bill, authored by Senator Bob Huff, will allow repeat DUI offenders to apply for restricted licenses if they install these ignition interlock devices in their vehicles.

While opponents question the effectiveness of these devices, advocates believe that the devices could cut down on repeat DUI offenses in California by 64 percent. New Mexico was the first state to enact such as law in 2003. In that state, the number of alcohol-related fatal crashes has dropped by 22 percent between 2002 and 2007.
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Tawney Kitaen, actress and ex-wife of Anaheim Angels pitcher Chuck Finley, was arrested for drunk driving in Newport Beach; according to The Orange County Register. Kitaen may have been under the influence of alcohol, prescription drugs or both, Newport Beach police said. She was apparently arrested for DUI near John Wayne Airport after she was involved in a traffic collision. However, there were no injuries or damages to either vehicle.

Driving under the influence is a serious violation of California law. California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (a) states: “It is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug, to drive a vehicle.” The law also states that it is illegal for any person with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or more to drive a motor vehicle. Driving under the influence of drugs – whether they are recreational or prescription drugs – is also illegal.
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In Orange County Superior Court, a Westminster city councilman has been convicted of driving under the influence with a blood alcohol level of 0.26 percent – which is more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent. According to a FOX news report, the councilman was involved in a car accident after he clipped another vehicle and crashed into a power pole. Neither he nor the occupants of the car he clipped were hurt in the drunk driving traffic collision.

Prosecutors charged the councilman with misdemeanor DUI and a high alcohol reading enhancement of driving while under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol level of 0.20 percent or higher. The councilman apparently reached a plea deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to three years of probation, a 10-day work program, approximately $2,000 in fees and a nine-month alcohol awareness program.

If you are first-time DUI offender and your car accident does not involve injury to others, then you may not get jail time. Prosecutors may charge a misdemeanor DUI in these cases. However, if your DUI accident involves significant property damage and injuries to others, then you are looking at jail time and the possibility of a felony. If there are fatalities involved, then California vehicular manslaughter charges may be filed. A felony charge is a more serious charge than a misdemeanor because the chance of jail time or state prison and greater penalties is possible.
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More and more women are being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol – a trend which is apparent not only in Southern California or California, but also nationwide; according to a Riverside and San Bernardino County news report in the “Press Enterprise”. Nationally the number of women arrested for DUI was up nearly 29 percent between 1998 and 2007, while the arrests of men were down 7.5 percent. Locally, fewer women than men are arrested for DUI, although the trend is upward. For example, since 1999, the number of women arrested for DUI in Riverside County increased from 30 to 39 and from 44 to 66 in San Bernardino County.

Driving under the influence or DUI – whether it involves alcohol, recreational drugs or prescription drugs — is a serious crime in California. According to California Vehicle Code Section 23152 (a): “It is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug, to drive a vehicle.” The same code section also states that it is illegal for any person with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or more to drive a vehicle.
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DUI checkpoints in Orange County recently nabbed several drivers who were said to have been driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs in Laguna and Irvine, according to the Orange County Register. Many of these DUI checkpoints in Orange County are funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety and local cities. City and county police agencies get these funds specifically to conduct DUI enforcement.

What happens if you are arrested at a DUI checkpoint? Do you have a defense? It is certainly possible that you have a very good defense in your case. Although sobriety checkpoints or DUI checkpoints are legal, the procedures used by law enforcement may not be carried out properly. There are rules set forth by courts that may not always be followed by police officials. For example, one rule is that police DUI checkpoint should provide adequate advance warning to the motorist of the roadblock ahead. In other words, the driver should have an alternate route of travel “escape route” should the driver wish to avoid the checkpoint. But what most law enforcement agencies do is they either don’t have this escape route and if they do, they place a squad car at that point to discourage motorists from “escaping.”
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A 32-year-old man is facing criminal charges in Orange County for driving under the influence and hit-and-run, according to a news report in the Daily Pilot. The man apparently struck and injured a pedestrian while drunk driving and then took off and jumped into the ocean in Newport Beach to evade police and avoid getting arrested for DUI. He was, however, spotted in the ocean by a police helicopter and apprehended. Police said the 48-year-old woman who was struck suffered moderate injuries in the hit and run collision. The man is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail and could face up to three years and eight months in prison if convicted of felony DUI charges.

The consequences of a DUI can be devastating, particularly if the accident involved injuries and is grouped with other criminal charges such as hit-and-run. This is why seeking legal assistance from an experienced Orange County DUI lawyer is of the utmost importance to ensure that your rights are protected. In cases where the victim dies, a defendant in a DUI accident case may even face murder or vehicular manslaughter charges.

Leaving the scene of an accident is a serious crime. A driver who is involved in an auto accident in California shall stop at the scene, exchange information (car insurance, identity, contact) and render aid to the injured party if possible. You are required to stop by law, even if the accident was not your fault.
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An 18-year-old Orange County man was reportedly the first juvenile to be charged as an adult with murder in a drunk driving crash. According to this news report, he was 17 at the time of the Orange County DUI accident, which killed his teen passenger, a Tustin girl. An Orange County jury found the teen driver guilty of one count of second-degree murder for being drunk behind the wheel and one misdemeanor count of driving without a license. His driver’s license had apparently been suspended the day before the fatal car accident.

The teen driver reportedly had several drinks during a party in his Santa Ana home and crashed into a pole while driving his Mercedes between 102 and 112 mph, prosecutors said. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.11 percent, which is above the legal limit of 0.08 percent. The teen, convicted of DUI and second-degree murder, faces 15 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced in October.
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A 27-year-old man was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol after he reportedly lost control of his pickup truck and crashed into a building in Long Beach. According to this news article, the man was not seriously injured and no one else was hurt in the drunk driving crash. The man was reportedly driving toward the 710 Freeway when he lost control of his Toyota Tacoma pickup truck and hit the east wall of a recreation center. The building sustained moderate damage. The driver was booked for DUI and driving on a suspended license.

It is illegal under the California Vehicle Code to operate a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs:

23152 (a) It is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug, to drive a vehicle.

(b) It is unlawful for any person who has 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a vehicle.
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A 37-year-old Orange County man has been arrested for felony driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter in connection with death of his passenger in a July 26 traffic accident. According to this news report in The Orange County Register, the defendant was driving an SUV on a Santa Ana street when he lost control and struck a tree. The SUV rolled over and the passenger was ejected and sustained fatal injuries.

Driving under the influence – whether it’s alcohol, recreational drugs or prescription drugs — is a serious crime in California especially when it involves a serious injury or fatality. A driver whose act of driving under the influence results in the death of another will likely face vehicular manslaughter charges.

California Penal Code section 191.5 (a) states: “Gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, in the driving of a vehicle, where the driving was in violation of Section 23140, 23152, or 23153 of the Vehicle Code, and the killing was either the proximate result of the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony, and with gross negligence, or the proximate result of the commission of a lawful act that might produce death, in an unlawful manner, and with gross negligence.”
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A new California law, which took effect last month, requires mandatory ignition interlock devices on motor vehicles owned and operated by motorists convicted of driving on a suspended license due to a previous alcohol-related conviction. According to this news report, a person who is required and fails to install an ignition interlock device is guilty of a misdemeanor. One who falls into the category of driving with a suspended license for a DUI-related conviction will be assessed a $40 administrative fee for verification of the device’s installation. For more information, please visit the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Web site (www.dmv.ca.gov).

Driving under the influence is a serious offense in California. It can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or as a felony in California depending on the nature of the incident, the seriousness of injuries and the driver’s level of intoxication. In California, it is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher. It is also illegal in California to drive under the influence of drugs – be it recreational or prescription drugs.
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