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The Los Angeles Clippers’ Zach Randolph has been suspended for two games after he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in Los Angeles hours after a game he played against the Los Angeles Lakers. According to this news report, two California Highway Patrol officers saw a white Rolls-Royce weaving on the 405 Freeway in the Culver City area of West Los Angeles. When officers pulled over the car, they identified Randolph as the driver. Officers said they smelled alcohol in the car and arrested Randolph after he failed a field sobriety test. There is no information on whether Randolph took a breath test.

Drivers, when pulled over for a routine DUI stop, are often asked to submit to field sobriety tests and breath tests to determine if a Los Angeles DUI offense has been committed. With field sobriety tests, drivers are asked to perform physical or cognitive tests, which are meant to help the arresting officer determine the driver’s sobriety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) guidelines are known as the “standardized field sobriety tests” and they usually include the following tests:

• The one-leg stand • Walk and turn • Hortizontal gaze nystagmus test

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A pedestrian who was struck and killed on the evening of February 3, 2009, by a suspected drunk driver has been identified by law enforcement officials as 75-year-old Ronald Sieler. The report from KFMB 760 AM states that Seiler was crossing the street at the intersection of Main Street and Third Avenue in Chula Vista when he was struck by a vehicle driven by Peter DiCesare, 45, address unknown. After the accident Seiler was transported to the University of California San Diego Medical Center where he was pronounced dead from his DUI causing injuries in California.

According to law enforcement officials investigating the accident, Seiler was struck in the 3100 block of Main Street. DiCesare was taken into custody and is facing charges of California drug possession and driving under the influence. DeCesare’s bail has been set at $150,000.
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Former Los Angeles Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich is back in jail after authorities say the 39-year-old was arrested after missing a drug rehabilitation progress review in a Newport Beach court. According to this news report, Marinovich’s alleged probation stems from his guilty plea on California drug charges two years ago. Marinovich pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine, syringe and resisting arrest. The judge at the time placed Marinovich on five years of probation and ordered him to spend one year at a drug rehabilitation center. Marinovich reportedly has nine prior cases in Orange County courts.

A Drug Court in California is a special court that is given the responsibility of select felony and misdemeanor cases involving non-violent drug-using offenders. The program consists of frequent random drug testing, probation, drug treatment counseling and use of sanctions and incentives. The Drug Court Judge is actively involved in supervising offenders who participate in this program. After an individual successfully completes the criminal drug court program, the drug charge against him or her is dismissed. However, when individuals in this program relapse, go back to using drugs, fail to attend or return to their old ways, the court imposes sanctions. In some cases, the defendants may not get a second chance and the judge may impose a jail sentence.

If you or a loved one has been accused of a drug crime or a probation violation in Southern California, please contact California’s skilled criminal defense attorneys at Sitkoff Law Group, Inc. to discuss your case. We will analyze your case, your history and your current situation to help you decide the best possible course of action. Our goal is to keep you out of jail and get you the help you need. Please call us at 888-579-4844 to find out more about your options.

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According to this recent Inland Valley Daily Bulletin article, Pomona city leaders have authorized their police department to join other law enforcement agencies in the area in a three-year regional effort to crack down on drunken drivers. Pomona’s city council voted 6-1 in favor of joining a wide range of state, county, and local law enforcement agencies throughout the area in the “Avoid the 100 DUI Campaign” that began over this past holiday season.

This campaign targets people driving under the influence in California and includes checkpoints, saturation patrols, media campaigns, and other operations designed to catch motorists with a history of driving under the influence. Since the campaign began, law enforcement officials throughout Southern California have stepped up efforts to remove drivers operating their vehicles while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Their checkpoints, which are set up at strategic locations with little or no advance warning, have resulted in dozens of DUI arrests and scores of other charges from weapons violations to possession of controlled substances and other violations.
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Continuing their heightened DUI enforcement that began over the holidays, law enforcement officials implemented sobriety checkpoints on Super Bowl Sunday to discourage drivers from driving under the influence in California. Law enforcement officials all over the state deployed extra patrols and added additional DUI checkpoints throughout Southern California to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving, according to a Pasadena Star-News report.

According to a written statement from the California Highway Patrol, 403 Californians were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on last year’s Super Bowl Sunday. “We’re not discouraging the celebration,” CHP Baldwin Park Commander Bill Siegl said. “We’re asking the fans to make the right call, so they won’t find themselves benched in a jail cell.”
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A federal appeals court has ruled that a Santa Monica man, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 14 years on child rape charges, can sue the city of Long Beach and a police officer who he says fabricated the evidence in that case. According to this news report in the Long Beach Press Telegram, Leonard McSherry was exonerated thanks to DNA evidence of the 1988 kidnapping and sexual assault of a 6-year-old girl taken from a Navy housing complex in Long Beach. The DNA was matched to another man, George Valdespino, who was serving time in a different kidnapping and molestation case. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s judgment dismissing the case.

We read about these kinds of stories all the time. Wrongful convictions occur more often than we hear or know about. This especially happens in sex crime cases where victims or witnesses identify the wrong person. In the absence of an aggressive and experienced sex crime defense attorney in California, it becomes impossible for a defendant to prove his or her innocence. People such as Leonard McSherry show us the importance of “innocent until proven guilty.” However, too often the media and the public are eager to convict a defendant even before they have been proven guilty.

If you or a loved one has been charged with a serious felony such a rape, assault or murder in California, please understand that you have legal rights. Call 888-579-4844 to speak with one of our knowledgeable and experienced California criminal defense attorneys at Sitkoff Law Group, Inc.. We have the tools and skills it takes to get you an acquittal or even get your charges reduced. Contact us to schedule a free and comprehensive consultation.

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Law enforcement officials recently released the name of an 11-month-old girl killed by a suspected drunken driver in a hit-and-run incident in the Westlake area, according to this article in the Los Angeles Wave. Witnesses reported that 11-month-old Yudith Ausencio, her 5-year-old sister, and their mother were struck while walking across the street near the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Bonnie Brae Street just after 6 p.m. on Sunday, February 2, 2009.

Witnesses said that the mother and two small children were crossing the street in a marked crosswalk when they were struck by a hit-and-run driver who fled from the scene. Hours later, working on a license plate number and other information provided by witnesses, Police took 30-year-old Henry Yovanni Moreno, of Southgate into custody. Moreno faces a variety of charges, including felony hit-and-run, felony DUI, drunken vehicular manslaughter in California.

Moreno, originally from Honduras, is being held without bail in jail and local law enforcement officials are waiting to hear from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding Moreno’s immigration status. The mother of the slain baby is being treated for serious injuries, and her 5-year-old daughter was critically injured in the accident.
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According to this article in the Orange County Register, a Fullerton woman died early Sunday, February 1, 2009, from injuries she suffered when a suspected DUI driver ran a red light and struck her car in La Habra. Officials with the La Habra Police Department and the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the traffic accident around 1:30 a.m. and pronounced April Junhee Whang, 26, of Fullerton dead at the scene.

The crash is still under investigation but authorities say that Whang was southbound on Beach Boulevard in a 2004 Acura Integra and turned left onto eastbound Imperial Highway when it was struck by a 2003 Mazda 6. According to eyewitness accounts, the Mazda, driven by Brittany Deanne Schuetz, 20, of Irvine, failed to stop for a red light and struck Whang’s car at a high rate of speed. Schuetz was taken to UCI Medical Center for treatment and is being held by authorities on suspicion of felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter in California.
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In an atypical case of driving under the influence in California, a helicopter pilot for a popular rock and roll musician has been detained by Los Angeles police officers on suspicion of operating his aircraft while intoxicated. This Mercury News report about an unusual Los Angeles DUI incident claims that the suspect is a helicopter pilot for Tommy Lee, drummer for the popular rock band Motley Crue.

The pilot, who has not yet been named by police, was spotted by Los Angeles police operating his aircraft in an erratic manner. Police spokeswoman Karen Smith said that the pilot violated safety procedures by flying too close to a police helicopter near Van Nuys and ignoring directions from the Van Nuys flight tower. Police say that the pilot was released without being arrested after submitting to a field sobriety test. Lee, who was a passenger in the helicopter, was questioned briefly and released. The Federal Aviation Administration has begun an investigation of the incident and is waiting for toxicology test results.
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According to this report in the Los Angeles Times, federal agents have raided several Westside medical marijuana dispensaries recently, which has outraged supporters who claim that the raids violate California state law. Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana for people with serious illnesses and reduced criminal penalties for marijuana possession, was passed by California voters in 1996. However, under federal law, marijuana possession, cultivation, and delivery are still illegal activities and enforced by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

On Tuesday, February 3, 2009, at least three groups of DEA agents served search warrants on medical marijuana dispensaries around noon, according to DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen. “I can’t get into details as to the probable cause behind the warrants except for the fact that they’re dealing with marijuana, which is illegal under federal law,” she said.

Charlie Beck, Chief of Detectives at the Los Angeles Police Department said, “DEA has a legal right to do what they’re doing. Is it controversial? Yes.”
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