The denverpost.com reported. Since 2005 in Colorado, nearly a third of those convicted in deadly DUI crashes were incarcerated for two years or less -- and 13 of them spent no time behind bars at all.
Drunk drivers kill more than 100 people each year in Colorado, and a Denver Post examination of every vehicular homicide-DUI case in the state from 2005 through early 2009 found that the typical sentence for those who were sent to prison was six years. But the same analysis found that nearly a third of the DUI cases -- 55 of 185 -- resulted in jail, community corrections or work- release terms of 24 months or less. Included in that tally were more than a dozen instances in which defendants were allowed to plead to misdemeanor
charges.
Some of those who ended up with little or no prison time had prior drug and alcohol convictions, including one man with four prior DUI arrests before killing a passenger in his car in a police chase. He was sentenced to two years of work release.
A number of others got jail terms of between 30 and 60 days. And one man got 10 days in jail in Larimer County after pleading guilty to DUI causing death, a misdemeanor, after a crash that killed a 38-year-old woman.
State Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, who plans to introduce legislation in January to make a repeat DUI arrest a felony, said some of the sentences stunned him.
"We've got to address those areas where the law isn't treating DUI offenders as seriously as it needs to in order to prevent it from happening again," Gardner said.
But the reality is that unlike some crimes, which carry specific sentences, fatal DUI crashes can yield a variety of actual charges and a wide range of sentences.
"Every case is different," said a Denver DUI defense attorney , "so in a way it is kind of heartening that there is a wide range."
The Post examined all 202 Colorado cases in which motorists were charged with vehicular homicide-DUI from 2005 through early 2009. Drivers in their 20s accounted for more than half the cases. In a handful of all cases, drinking, driving and death resulted in big headlines and long sentences.
Patrick Strawmatt, a former police officer, was sentenced to 72 years after killing two teenagers while fleeing from police in western Colorado. And Lawrence Trujillo was sent to prison for 48 years after mowing down Frank and Becca Bingham and their children, Macie, 4, and Garrison, 2. Only Frank Bingham survived.
Two other cases resulted in sentences of 48 and 54 years.
Sentences weave all over
But those high-profile cases, The Post found, were anomalies. Not every DUI crash ends in criminal charges. In many instances, the drunken driver dies. But in those that did result in charges, The Post found:
• Sentences varied widely from one jurisdiction to another. In Denver, a drunken driver who killed someone was typically sent to prison for eight years. In Boulder, that typical sentence was less than 2 1/2 years. Statewide, the typical DUI sentence was six years.
• Sentences varied even in seemingly similar crimes. In one El Paso County case, a man charged with killing a passenger in his car during a police pursuit -- his fifth DUI case -- ended up with a two-year work-release sentence. In an Arapahoe County case, a man who killed a passenger in his car in
a police pursuit -- also his fifth DUI case -- was sentenced to 36 years behind bars.
• In 13 cases, the drivers who killed spent no time in jail, and in others they received sentences of as little as 10 days.
• Probation also varied widely -- from as little as one month to as much as 10 years.
• Of the 185 cases that have been adjudicated, 73 were settled with plea agreements that saw the defendants walk away with convictions to lesser charges. In seven cases, for example, defendants pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death and driving while under the influence of alcohol -- two traffic misdemeanors.
The Post also found 33 cases in which defendants left court with convictions that show no alcohol violation.
That's different from what is supposed to happen in a DUI case. Under Colorado law, a defendant cannot plead to a non-alcohol charge unless prosecutors tell a judge they cannot prove the case.
But Ted Tow, executive director of the Colorado District Attorneys Council, found "there is no such restriction in the plea bargaining in the vehicular homicide-DUI area."
The 33 cases included ones in which defendants pleaded guilty to charges such as careless driving causing death, leaving the scene of an accident, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Among those cases were 20 instances that ended in convictions of vehicular homicide-reckless. That is a lower-level felony than vehicular homicide-DUI.
Emotions run high in court
No matter the facts of a case, sentencing hearings in fatal drunken driving crashes are fraught with emotion.
On Sept. 18, that emotion played out in the Jefferson County courtroom of District Judge Jane Tidball in case No. 2009-CR-198, the People of the State of Colorado vs. Shane Allen Hoffart.
Pictures of Natasha Michaud slowly moved across the video screen next to Tidball. There was Natasha as a little girl with red hair standing with her family in front of a Christmas tree. In a white gown at graduation. Getting married outdoors.
The final photos showed her with her three young sons, ages 1 to 7.
The pictures stopped at age 25.
That's when Michaud died instantly after being thrown from Hoffart's motorcycle in a drunk driving crash. It was the fifth time in the past decade Hoffart had been charged with drinking and driving.
An hour later, Tidball sentenced Hoffart to four years in prison. It was the longest term she had handed out in any of the five vehicular homicide cases she handled the past four years. Even so, Hoffart probably will be out in less than two years, said Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey.
"I wish the sentence was longer," Storey said.
Natasha's mother, Sharon Watkins, was more blunt.
"Whose daughter is he going to kill next time?" said Watkins, wearing a purple ribbon.
On Aug. 23, 2008, as he sped toward the foothills on U.S. 285 with Michaud on the back of his bike, Hoffart lost control. The motorcycle went down in a curve, throwing Michaud into a pole.
Testing problems led to contradictory blood-alcohol test results, prosecutor Jacque Russell said. The first test found alcohol in Hoffart's system, but not enough to prove he was legally drunk. Two subsequent tests found he was drunk. Hoffart pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide-reckless driving.
During the two-hour sentencing hearing, tears flowed in the courtroom. Russell asked for the maximum six years in prison. Defense attorney Kelly Burgett sought intensive supervision probation.
On the right side of the courtroom sat Watkins with Natasha's sister, brother and husband. On the left sat Hoffart's friends, boss and minister.
Watkins, between tears, talked for more than 30 minutes about the daughter who called her almost daily, about a woman who "would light up the room" when she entered.
She said she couldn't accept her death. On the anniversary of the accident, she sat by the telephone all day and through half the night waiting for a call to tell her it had been a mistake.
"The phone call did not come," she said.
Andrew Michaud, Natasha's husband, talked of his three children.
"I have to look into their eyes every day and see that missing piece of her life that will never be given back," he said.
Defendant apologizes
Then it was Hoffart's turn. Dressed neatly in slacks and a blue striped shirt, he grasped several white notebook pages filled with single-spaced writing in blue ink.
He turned to the family to read the letter he wrote, he too sniffling back tears.
"I apologize," he said, "for your loss. You lost a beautiful member of your family."
Sharon Watkins put her hand to her face as Hoffart described his love for Michaud.
"The world's a darker place without her," he said. "I wish I could trade places."
Tidball handed down the sentence quickly, noting that Hoffart's sentences and treatment for his past DUIs had not had much of an impact.
"They obviously have not worked for him."
Andrew Michaud had spent the first eight months of the year in Army Reserve training, an absence that had strained his marriage. He had been home about 24 hours when his wife was killed.
After the crash, Andrew walked along the highway, past the places accident investigators had marked with orange spray paint. He saw the skid marks, the furrows where a stretcher had rolled through the gravel. He looked at the surgical gloves left at the scene, the footprints around one spot.
It wasn't hard to tell precisely where his wife died.
"I walked up and down that stretch so many times," he said.
In an interview, he spoke slowly, evenly, in the tone of a man who has struggled for a year to contain his anger and grief.
"There's not enough that they can take from him to undo what he did," he said.
SANTA ANA The Orange County Register reported. A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy was sentenced today to six months on home confinement for injuring two people after crashing into their car while guilty of Orange County DUI.
Robert Andrew Moran, 43, of Buena Park, pleaded no contest in February to DUI in Orange County causing injury and driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or more causing injury, both misdemeanors.
Superior Court Judge Erick L. Larsh also placed Moran on three years informal probation and ordered him to enroll in a three-month first offender program to include facing a Mothers Against Drunk Driving panel.
Moran was driving south on Beach Boulevard in Stanton in a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department issued Chevrolet sport utility vehicle at approximately 5:25 a.m. on June 29, 2008 while he was under the influence of alcohol, according to a news release from the Orange County DUI Attorneys Office.
He crashed into the driver's door of a Mazda sedan at the intersection of Beach and Garden Grove boulevards, injuring the driver and a passenger. They were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Moran's, Orange County DUI Attorney said this morning that her client has already served most of his time on home confinement. She said he was placed on unpaid leave from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department when charges were filed against him, but he will seek reinstatement.
latimesblogs.latimes.com reported. A former veteran deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was sentenced today to six months in jail and three years of informal probation for injuring two people when he crashed his department-issued sport utility vehicle into their car a year ago while DUI, said officials with the Orange County criminal attorneys office.
Moran, 43, of Buena Park was ordered to complete a three-month first-offender program and face a Mothers Against Drunk Driving panel, according to a statement from the Orange County criminal attorneys office. In such panels, offenders pay MADD a fee to hear victims or relatives of victims of drunk driving crashes relate their stories.
Moran pleaded no contest Feb. 27 to one misdemeanor count of Orange County DUI, causing injury and one misdemeanor count of driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08% or more causing injury, according to the statement.
Moran was driving his Chevrolet Blazer south on Beach Boulevard in Stanton about 5:30 a.m. on June 29, 2008, when he crashed into a sedan near Garden Grove Boulevard, district attorney officials said. The sedan's 33-year-old driver and his 20-year-old female passenger were knocked unconscious and taken to a hospital. At the time of the crash, the sedan's driver was in possession of and tested positive for methamphetamine. He also tested positive for sedatives and opiates, the statement said.
His case is under review, said an Orange County criminal attorney. His name and the name of his passenger were not released because the investigation is ongoing.
The Orange County Register reported on a repeat offender Orange County DUI . A suspected Orange County DUI /drunken driver with three prior convictions was indicted on gross vehicular manslaughter charges for killing a pedestrian by pinning him between his car and a block wall in Santa Ana.
Joel Torrejon Miranda, 40, of Santa Ana, was also accused in a sentencing enhancement of fleeing the scene of a fatal crash.
He faces a potential sentence of 20-year to life in prison if convicted, according to Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez.
Miranda pleaded not guilty today during an arraignment before Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals. The judge scheduled a pretrial hearing for Oct. 23. Miranda remains in custody on $1 million bail.
The indictment stems from a Feb. 1 incident where Miranda was driving a Chevrolet pickup truck on Newhope Street in Santa Ana when he made an unsafe left turn in front of oncoming traffic, Baez said. Miranda's pickup then crashed into a Mercedes-Benz driven by Nguyen Tran, 36, who quickly called 9-1-1.
Miranda's truck then went up the curb and struck pedestrian Francisco Aquino, 44, of Santa Ana.
Aquino was pinned against a wall, and died at UCI Medical Center two days later.
Miranda fled the scene, police said, and was arrested at his home a short time later. Investigating officers said Miranda showed signs of being drunk, including slurred speech and bloodshot eyes.
He allegedly had blood alcohol level of .23 percent -- almost three times the legal limit of .08 - when he was tested about 90 minutes after the crash.
Miranda has three prior Orange County DUI convictions, in 1994, 1997 and 2004, according to prosecutors. He was sentenced to 96 hours in jail and three years of probation for the most recent Orange County DUI conviction, court records show.
KISSIMMEE -- cfnews13.com reported. Operation Full Force was in full force in Osceola County Friday night.
It was a dual purpose operation focusing on both sexual and juvenile offenders and Orange County DUI drivers.
Officers checked in on sexual predators, offenders and juvenile DUI offenders.
With school back in session and kids walking around, the police department feels it's important to have a mass checkup to see if everyone was where they were supposed to be and keeping their curfew.
"We closely monitor them. But parents need to be mindful with their children and know where they're at, good safety practices," Capt. Warren Shephard from the Kissimmee Police Department.
There are 58 sexual predators and offenders in Kissimmee, which is compared to 348 in Osceola County and 1547 in Orange County.
Kissimmee police also conducted Operation Full Force three weeks ago. Officers made 566 traffic stops and issued 253 citations. Eight people were arrested, with two were for Orange County DUI.
The orlandosentinel.com reported. An Orlando lawyer was arrested Wednesday on an Orange County DUI charge after cursing at deputies who had arrested one of his clients, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
The incident happened while four burglary suspects were being held near Apopka on Wekiva Landing Drive. They were picked up after one of the group was arrested about 5:20 a.m. after being caught inside a burglarized car, a report states.
"A person claiming to be the Orange County Dui attorney of one of the suspects drove up during the incident shouting obscenities at teh deputies. The man was close enough to one of the deputies that the strong smell of alcohol was noticed," the report states. "After failing a field sobriety test, the DUI lawyer, was arrested for Orange County Drunk Driving."
The Florida Bar website identified the lawyer as a Labor and Employment law specialist who was admitted to the state bar in 1970. He graduated that year from the University of North Carolina law school and works as a partner in the Ford & Harrison law firm on South Orange Avenue in Orlando, according to Martindale.com, a listing of U.S. lawyers.
Brown, 64, of Apopka could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening. He remained held in the Orange County Jail pending bail on a charge of DUI.
The burglary suspects turned out to be four Apopka-area teens.
Joshua Hensel, 19, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and identified as a suspect in five car burglaries, according to the sheriff's office.
Jesse N. Helm, 18, and Conrad F. Hailey, 18, were charged wityh posession of stolen property and drug paraphernalia. Hailey also faced charged of culpable negligence, petty theft, destruction of county property and two counts of criminal mischief.
Cody Lowdermile, 18, was charged with loitering and prowling, possession of burglary tools, burglary to a conveyande and possession of narcotics.
There was no record that they had been booked into the Orange County Jail by Wednesday evening..
Martin Burt Kuehl, 41, of Costa Mesa faces up to nine years in prison if he is convicted of the felony. He will be arraigned on Oct. 5.
The incident happened at the intersection of Westcliffe Drive and Buckingham Lane in Newport Beach around 8:31 a.m. on Aug. 29, 2008. Kuehl was driving west on Westcliff Drive when he hit and killed Martha Ovalle, 32, as she walked in a crosswalk. Ovalle, a nanny, was on her way to work. She normally took the bus, but decided to walk to work that day.
Commissioner James S. Odriozola determined there was enough evidence that the crash was caused by more than ordinary carelessness, and denied a motion brought by an Orange County Criminal Attorney to lessen the charge to a misdemeanor.
He had argued there was no evidence that the case rose beyond one of simple negligence.
But Odriozola noted that while Kuehl did not send or receive texts at the exact time of the crash, Kuehl had his cell phone in his hand during the incident, and had been texting back and forth with a friend for several miles prior to the crash.
Kuehl, who is being held in Orange County Jail, broke down crying while listening to the Newport Beach detective Todd Bush testify about the crash, and said the detective was targeting him because he had been on probation at the time.
Between 1998 and 2006, Kuehl spent nearly four years behind bars for four separate burglary and Orange County theft convictions.
In an earlier interview, Kuehl said he "accidently killed" Ovalle. He said he didn't see her walking across the crosswalk. He also said he was driving safely.
Outside the courtroom, an Orange County Criminal Lawyer said Kuehl repeatedly put the public at risk by text-messaging for about half an hour prior to the crash. Kuehl had been honked at by another driver at a previous intersection when he failed to notice a green light.
"This isn't a case of a mere second of inattention. He repeatedly had a pattern of inattentive conduct for a half hour,''
Kuehl is not the only individual facing criminal charges for a fatality allegedly caused by texting while driving. Jeffrey Woods, 21, of Huntington Beach is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 5 for hitting and killing 14-year-old Danny Oates as he rode his bicycle on Aug. 29, 2007. Prosecutors also accuse Woods of being intoxicated at the time of that crash.
The Daily Pilot reports on Orange County DUI grant. Newport Beach police will receive nearly $200,000 in state money for its Orange County DUI enforcement program. The Newport Beach City Council approved the grant Tuesday night.
The police department will have $192,000 budgeted for Orange County DUI checkpoints, extra patrols focused on Orange County DUI enforcement, and other alcohol awareness methods, from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2010.
The money comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety. The city pays for overtime costs associated with enforcement up front and is reimbursed by the state, according to the City Council staff report.
The grant will fund six DUI checkpoints, 110 DUI saturation patrols, two DUI court sting operations, where police hide out near the Harbor Justice Center to catch people driving to court with suspended licenses.
GOSHEN -- recordonline.com reported. A judge is pondering the question of an appropriate punishment for Willie Thompson of Newburgh, whose history of Orange County DUI includes one deadly collision.
The Orange County Criminal Attorney wants Thompson to be treated as a persistent felon under state Penal Law, which would allow Judge Robert Freehill to impose a sentence of 15 years to life. Prosecutors say they'll request that penalty when Thompson, 72, is sentenced on Oct. 2 for Felony DUI near his home in the City of Newburgh earlier this year.
Prosecutors cite a prior record that includes a 1989 conviction for a causing a crash on Route 9W while he was drunk. The impact of that crash killed Cornwall police Officer John Machuca. Thompson spent 11 years in state prison for vehicular manslaughter. At a hearing last week in Orange County Court, Assistant District Attorney Chris Kelly also introduced a record of Thompson's 1973 conviction for a robbery in DeSoto County, Fla.
Thompson's Orange County DUI lawyer has contended that treating Thompson as a persistent felon is excessive. Freehill hasn't yet decided whether Thompson fits into that category.
In addition to his 1989 and 1973 convictions, Thompson pleaded guilty to Orange County DUI, a felony, in 2005.
NEWPORT BEACH --ktla.com reported. "Celebrity Rehab" star Tawny Kitaen was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Orange County, according to police.
Kitaen, 48, was taken into custody around 3 p.m. Saturday near the John Wayne Airport in Newport Beach, said an Orange County DUI attorney.
Kitaen was given a field sobriety test after police suspected she was driving under the influence in her Range Rover. Her bail was set at $2,500.
It is unclear if Kitaen was DUI of alcohol or prescription drugs or both, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Spence Arnold.
Kitaen was arrested in 2002 on charges of abusing her husband, Major League Baseball pitcher Chuck Finley, and agreed to anger management and conflict resolution counseling in exchange for two misdemeanor counts of Orange County spousal abuse being dismissed.
In 2006, prosecutors charged Kitaen with possessing 15 grams of cocaine in her San Juan Capistrano home in Orange County. She entered a six-month rehabilitation program in exchange for the dismissal of a felony drug possession charge.
Kitaen is best known for appearing in several 1980's heavy metal music videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again." She also acted in television shows including "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Eek! The Cat!" She also played the bride-to-be of Tom Hanks' character in the 1984 film, "Bachelor Party."
She most recently appeared in Vh1's "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" in 2006.
The Daily Pilot reported on an Orange County DUI . Newport Beach police arrested actress and model Tawny Kitaen on suspicion of Orange County DUI (driving under the influence) Saturday afternoon, a law enforcement official said.
Kitaen, 48, a Newport Beach resident, was driving near John Wayne Airport shortly before 3 p.m. when police pulled her over and arrested her on suspicion of Orange County DUI, Newport Beach Sgt. Shontel Sherwood said.
Sherwood could not immediately say why police pulled Kitaen over.
"That's still under investigation," she said.Kitaen was still in custody at the Newport Beach city jail as of 5 p.m. Saturday. Sherwood said.Kitaen rose of fame in the 1980s after appearing in several music videos for the band Whitesnake. She also was married to the band's lead singer, David Coverdale, for two years.
More recently, Kitaen was part of the season two cast of the VH1 reality show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" in 2008. Kitaen faced Orange County felony drug charges in 2006 for possession of cocaine. She entered into a drug treatment program to resolve the charges.
latimes.com reported. A man purporting to have a cure for cancer, AIDS and peanut allergies was arrested Thursday on suspicion of pretending to be a medical doctor, the Orange County criminal attorneys office said.
Daryn Wayne Peterson, 37, was being held on $20,000 bail. He was featured in an Orange County Register article June 10; an online version of the article is headlined " 'Natural doctor' says he can cure cancer, AIDS."
The Register article discussed how Peterson charged his clients for listening to his approach to wellness, and how he encouraged them to drop their health insurance plans in favor of his "natural health insurance" plans, which the article said did not cover hospitalization or lab tests but did give patients a discount on vitamins and other supplements that he sold.
The Register article also quoted a UC Irvine Medical Center oncologist who disputed Peterson's assertion that cancer patients who refuse chemotherapy live longer than those who are in remission.
In a statement, the Orange County criminal attorneys office said it was "alarmed by the potential health risks to the community and the recklessness of the article" and launched an investigation into Peterson's practice. The Orange County criminal attorney also alleged that some of the patients featured in the Register article who spoke favorably of Peterson's treatments were either friends or his blood relatives.
In the course of the investigation, the criminal attorney sent an undercover investigator to Peterson to pose as a cancer patient scared of chemotherapy. Authorities alleged that Peterson met with the investigator at his Mira Loma apartment and told him that chemotherapy would kill him faster than cancer. The criminal attorney alleged that Peterson gave the investigator a medical exam and told him that he should instead take the vitamins and natural supplements that Peterson sold.
The Orange County criminal lawyer also says Peterson of ran a website, www.naturalhealthcoverage.com, in which the "your doctors" section features Daryn Peterson and says he has a "Ph.D., HMD," with a specialty of "internal medicine, natural medicine, toxicology, immunology and latrogenic diseases." A catchphrase is listed: "No Disease is Incurable."
Peterson, who could not be reached for comment late Thursday, is not licensed by the Medical Board of California.
NEWPORT BEACH -The Orange County Register reported.Tawny Kitaen, actress and ex-wife of former Angels pitcher Chuck Finley, was arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI this afternoon.
Kitaen, 48, was arrested by Newport Beach Police at 3 p.m. She was released on a $2,500 bail.
It is unclear if Kitaen, of Newport Beach, was DUI of alcohol, prescription drugs or both, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Burdette.
Kitaen was arrested near John Wayne Airport at Bristol North and Campus Street after being involved in a traffic collision. There were no injurues and no report on damages to either of the cars, said Orange County DUI Attorney.
Kitaen was a cast member for season 2 of reality TV show, "Celebrity Rehab." Three years ago, Kitaen entered a drug rehabilitation program after pleading guilty to possessing 15 grams of cocaine.
She was arrested in 2002 on charges she abused her then-husband, former Angels pitcher Chuck Finley.
At that time, Associated Press reported that she agreed to anger management and conflict resolution counseling in exchange for the dismissal of two misdemeanor counts of spousal abuse.
The Orange County Register reported on Orange County DUI patrols in Lake Forest. Motorists and party-goers in the city can expect to see more police on the streets tonight, said Lt. Don Barnes, chief of police services for the city, looking for Orange County DUI drivers.
There will be Orange County sheriff's deputies doing saturation patrols looking for Orange County DUI drivers, high-profile areas of the city will be checked and the deputies will do bar checks.
The stepped-up law enforcement presence is because extra officers were brought in for a planned 100-person protest at Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Civil Forum.
Only two people showed up outside the church on Saddleback Parkway, Barnes said. "Since the protest didn't happen, we redeployed the deputies into targeted areas, maximizing our personnel for Orange County DUI arrests."
The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI . A drunken driver who caused a widespread power outage after driving into a building in an apartment complex and an electrical transformer will face additional charges, Fountain Valley police said.
At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, police units responded to a traffic collision at Ward Street and Slater Avenue.
Lance E. Hole, a 61-year-old Westminster resident, was driving a 2004 Chevrolet Suburban with three children when he struck a building in the Sycamore Valley apartment complex, police said. Hole proceeded eastbound onto Slater Avenue, and while attempting to turn onto Ward Street, the car jumped the curb and struck a mailbox, street sign and an above-ground electrical transformer, police said.
Hole's vehicle continued north on Ward Street, striking a parked vehicle and fence before stopping, according to police. Likely, an Orange County DUI .
The children were uninjured.
The crash caused a widespread power outage in the area. Southern California Edison crews had power restored in about 90 minutes after the incident.
The power outage affected traffic signals along Brookhurst Street, Warner Avenue, Slater and Ward.
Hole was transported to a nearby hospital and later arrested for Orange County DUI . He was released and received an Orange County DUI citation. Additional charges are pending as the investigation continues, police said.
The Orange County Register reported on the results of an Orange County DUI checkpoint in Costa Mesa. The police department held a sobriety checkpoint Tuesday night that yielded one Orange County DUI arrest and a total of 13 vehicle code violation citations.
The checkpoint, at Wilson Street and Pomona Avenue, had 596 vehicles come through. Of those vehicles, 267 were stopped and 14 drivers were screened for driving under the influence.
One person was arrested for DUI and six drivers were cited for having no license or driving on a suspended license. Four cars were impounded.
Another checkpoint is planned for Tuesday at Santa Ana Avenue and 18th Street.
The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI checkpoint result. Police held a sobriety checkpoint from 9 p.m. Thursday to 3 a.m. this morning on Dover Drive just north of 16th Street, and the results are as follows:
•340 vehicles drove through the checkpoint.
•308 drivers were contacted by officers who hand out informational materials and evaluate motorists.
•11 of those drivers were given field sobriety tests.
COSTA MESA - Two men and a woman have been arrested by Costa Mesa police on suspicion of a hate crime against a black homeless man.
William Shoop, 24, Charles Durliat, 38, and Jodie Brummett, 21, face charges of assault with a deadly weapon, hate crime, and conspiracy to commit a crime, among other charges, police said.
Durliat also faces drug and gang charges, police said.
The incident started Monday night outside the Westside Bar on 19th Street near Harbor Boulevard, when a homeless man asked Brummett for a cigarette, Sgt. Bryan Wadkins of the Costa Mesa police said.
The two men she was with chased the homeless man two blocks down 19th Street, screaming racial slurs and threats, Wadkins said. One of the men pulled out a knife but didn't use it, Wadkins said.
Police were called at 7:26 p.m., and arrived to find Shoop -- a telemarketer, according to booking records -- kicking the man in the head, Wadkins saidIf you are a Criminal in Orange County, you need the help of an experienced Orange County Criminal Defense Attorney who specializes in the Orange County Criminal Courts. At Coffey and Coffey we Specialize in OrangeCounty cases only. Because we deal Exclusively with Orange County Criminal Lawyer cases, we have a huge advantage over all other attorneys that practice in OrangeCounty
Lynette Ann Hunt, 32, of Fullerton, Vanessa Herrada, 28, of Fullerton and Maria Zamarripa, 30, of Fontana, were celebrating Zamarripa's 30th birthday at California Girls Gentleman's Club in Santa Ana on July 11, 2008, before Hunt got behind the wheel of her 1993 Honda sedan, according to an Orange County DUI Attorney.
Witnesses said Hunt weaved in and out of lanes on the westbound 91 in Anaheim before she hit her brakes and locked all four tires, causing the car to skid as she approached the East Street off-ramp.
The car then accelerated and veered across several lanes of before it went down an embankment and rolled over, ejecting Hunt and Zamarripa.
Hunt had a blood-alcohol level of .15 percent, almost two times the legal limit, in a test taken about two hours later, OC DUI Attorney said.
Hunt pleaded guilty in August to felony vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, misdemeanor driving on a suspended license, plus sentencing enhancements for causing great bodily injury and having a blood-alcohol level of .15 percent.
She told Robbins before the sentencing that Zamarripa had been the driver and asked for time to prepare a motion to withdraw her guilty pleas.
But Robbins, after listening to statements from relatives of both victims, handed down the sentence and ordered Hunt taken into custody.
The charges against Jeffrey F. Woods also included gross negligence while intoxicated. He was DUI of alcohol and drugs.
In an affidavit filed Feb. 13 in Orange County Superior Court, Huntington Beach police detectives stated that Woods had tried to score drugs during a three-day period, including the day of the crash, and was possibly under the influence of an opiate at the time of the crash.
"I think he was murdered," the victim's father Paul Oates said Wednesday about his son. "I'm hoping (Woods) goes to prison.''
Woods drove his truck into Oates, 14, who was affectionately known as "Oatie," at the northeast corner of Indianapolis Avenue and Everglades Lane on Aug. 29.
Court documents show that Woods may have been texting a minute before or at the same time of the DUI crash about what appeared to be an ongoing drug deal.
Oates was riding his bicycle to pick up his eighth-grade schedule and to find his locker at Isaac L. Sowers Middle School.
The charges, filed April 30, said that Woods had been driving too closely to other vehicles when he made a sudden swerving motion and drove on the wrong side of the road. Woods was attempting to make a left turn into a housing tract, the charge said.
Woods has not been taken into custody, officials said. He is scheduled to be arraigned on June 6.
Oates' death sparked an outpouring of grief, candlelight vigils and memorials. It also influenced city officials to set up speed indicator signs and lighted crosswalks near the scene of the crash.
The Orange County Register reported. Former Orange County Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo, sentenced Monday to 27 months in federal prison, apparently provoked the judge's ire with a motion his Orange County Criminal attorney filed in the case last week.
During Monday's sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford criticized a 25-page response to the government's pre-sentencing report filed Friday by Jaramillo's Orange County criminal attorney.
The judge said the motion failed to adequately demonstrate remorse on the part of Jaramillo -- and also noted it criticized the federal prosecutor and probation officer in the case, as well as Orange County Criminal Attorney .
Jaramillo served a year in jail in 2007 after pleading no contest to perjury and misusing public funds in a prosecution brought by Rackauckas. Jaramillo has publicly contended he was unfairly prosecuted, alleging Rackauckas and former sheriff Mike Carona colluded to charge him with crimes.
"It has always been defendant's contention that the relentless barrage of baseless criminal allegations pursued by the Orange County Criminal Attorney was part of an orchestrated effort on the part of then-Sheriff (Mike) Carona and District Attorney Tony Rackauckas to destroy defendant and defendant's ability to challenge either man politically ..."
Rackauckas' spokeswoman, Susan Kang Schroeder, dismissed the accusation, and said state prosecutors had ample evidence against Jaramillo. She also noted that Jaramillo's Orange County criminal defense lawyer, unsuccessfully ran against Rackauckas in 1998.
"We're dealing with a double felon who is being represented by a criminal attorney who has a personal axe to grind with Tony (Rackauckas)," Schroeder said today. " Luckily for the people of Orange County, we have a smart judge who not only rejected these ridiculous, baseless claims, but rebuked (Jaramillo) in (his) lack of remorse."
Lynette Ann Hunt, 32, of Fullerton, Vanessa Herrada, 28, of Fullerton and Maria Zamarripa, 30, of Fontana, were celebrating Zamarripa's 30th birthday at California Girls Gentleman's Club in Santa Ana on July 11, 2008, before Hunt got behind the wheel of her 1993 Honda sedan, according to an Orange County Criminal Attorney.
Witnesses said Hunt weaved in and out of lanes on the westbound 91 in Anaheim before she hit her brakes and locked all four tires, causing the car to skid as she approached the East Street off-ramp.
The car then accelerated and veered across several lanes of before it went down an embankment and rolled over, ejecting Hunt and Zamarripa.
Hunt had a blood-alcohol level of .15 percent, almost two times the legal DUI limit, in a test taken about two hours later, OC DUI attorney said.
Hunt pleaded guilty in August to felony vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, misdemeanor driving on a suspended license, plus sentencing enhancements for causing great bodily injury and a DUI.
She told Robbins before the sentencing that Zamarripa had been the driver and asked for time to prepare a motion to withdraw her guilty pleas.
But Robbins, after listening to statements from relatives of both victims, handed down the sentence and ordered Hunt taken into custody.
Firefighters were called to East Coast Highway east of Bayside Drive about 2:15 a.m. to find an overturned Toyota 4Runner with driver Howard Lee, 20, trapped inside, Newport Beach police Sgt. James Rocker said. Possible Orange County DUI.
Crews worked to free Lee from the vehicle and paramedics took him to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana to treat him for minor injuries, Rocker said.
Police believe speed played a factor in the crash, Rocker said. Also likely alcohol did (ie: Orange County DUI)
Lee was arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI (driving under the influence), although it was not immediately known whether he will be jailed, Newport Beach police Sgt. Scott McKnight said.
SAN CLEMENTE - The Orange County Register reported. A 28-year-old man is expected to survive after he was hit repeatedly on the head with a hammer early this morning, authorities said.
Two men have been taken into custody and deputies are trying to sort out the details on what prompted the attack, said Orange County Criminal Attorney.
Deputies were called to the 100 block of Avenida Dolores on what at first was a report of vandalism in progress, Jansen said. Authorities were told that someone had broken the window of a home.
But when deputies arrived, officials found that a 28-year-old resident had been struck several times on the head with a hammer, Jansen said. The man suffered moderate injuries and was taken to a local hospital to be treated.
Two Orange County Criminal men, a 35-year-old and a 28-year-old suspect, have been taken into custody. Their names were not immediately released.
The Orange County Register reported. Matt Keough, the former Major League Baseball pitcher who appeared on "The Real Housewives of Orange County" television program, has been charged with Orange County DUI in an Aug. 15 incident in Coto de Caza, prosecutors said today.
Keough, 54, who lives in Coto de Caza, is facing one felony count of DUI with an earlier Orange County felony DUI conviction within 10 years, and one felony count of driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or more with an earlier felony DUI conviction within 10 years, the Orange County Criminal Attorneys Office said in a news release.
Keough is also charged with sentencing enhancements for having a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent or more and an earlier 2005 OC felony DUI conviction, prosecutors said.
Keough was stopped at about 1:25 p.m. Aug. 15, when prosecutors said he ran a stop sign while driving his Chevrolet Suburban in Coto de Caza. Keough failed to stop when an Orange County sheriff's deputy activated his emergency lights, prosecutors said, and continued to drive a quarter mile to his home. The deputy detained Keough as he was walking toward the back door of his house, prosecutor said.
Keough refused to answer standard DUI investigation questions or perform field sobriety tests, according to prosecutors. He is accused of having a blood-alcohol limit of 0.30 percent an hour after the traffic stop and of having an open container of beer inside his vehicle, prosecutors said.
Keough appeared, along with his former Playboy centerfold wife and three teenage children, in the reality TV show "The Real Housewives of Orange County" on Bravo.
In the show's third season, Keough's wife, Jeana, announced the couple had separated.
From the late '70s to the mid-'80s, Keough pitched for a number of Major League Baseball teams, including the Oakland Athletics, the New York Yankees, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago Cubs and the Houston Astros.
In 2005, Keough pleaded guilty to felony charges of driving under the influence of alcohol after he crashed his SUV into another SUV at a Rancho Santa Margarita red light, pushing the SUV into a man walking his bicycle across the street.
The man had to be hospitalized. Keough wandered away from the accident. His blood alcohol level was 2.5 times the legal limit more than three hours after sheriff's deputies tracked him down in a nearby store, according to Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.
Keough was arrested in 2007 on charges that he violated the terms of his parole and in January 2008 was sentenced to 180 days in jail.
Keough is scheduled for arraignment Monday, Nov. 2, in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. If convicted, he faces three years in state prison, prosecutors said.
The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI. The celebrity plastic surgeon who operated on rapper/producer Kanye West's mother before she died last fall is in trouble again.
The incident might give a boost to an effort by California lawmakers to expand protection for plastic surgery patients.
Dr. Jan Adams (top left) of Los Angeles was arrested in Southern California early Thursday on suspicion of Orange County drunken driving, the Associated Press reported.
He was caught using an off-ramp to get on a freeway at about 2:30 a.m. after motorists reported that the driver of a gray Jaguar was going the wrong way, the AP said.
According to an AP news article:
Adams also was arrested for driving on a suspended license from a 2006 DUI conviction.
The former host of the television series "Plastic Surgery: Before and After" made headlines after Donda West, 58, died Nov. 10 while recovering from breast reduction, tummy tuck and liposuction procedures he performed on her a day earlier.
An autopsy report found that West likely died of heart disease coupled with complications from the plastic surgery. Adams has denied any wrongdoing in her death.
Before Thursday's incident, the Medical Board of California was investigating whether Adams should be disciplined because of two previous alcohol-related arrests.
The incident shines a spotlight on plastic surgery at a time when legislators are seeking tighter controls on cosmetic doctors.
After Donda West's death, a Los Angeles assemblyman proposed a bill to require inspections of outpatient clinics performing plastic surgery. A related bill by a Southern California assemblywoman would require pre-surgery health screenings before patients undergo cosmetic surgery.
Adams's medical license had already been suspended at midnight Wednesday for failure to pay child support or alimony, a spokesman with the state Department of Consumer Affairs told the AP
The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County Criminal Case. In Spooked hit-n-run victim wants to know: Whodunnit? we told you about the frightening crash on the desolate 241 toll road on March 30. It was just after midnight. Patti Pattison was heading home to Coto de Caza after her late shift at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. BAM! A car hit her from behind. BAM! It hit her passenger door. BAM! It hit her front fender, and sent her spinning like a teacup at Disneyland. The other driver sped off, leaving her to an uncertain fate, and her Volvo with $7,000 worth of damage.
The accident was classified as a misdemeanor by the CHP. "Due to lack of physical evidence and independent witness, no further follow-up is possible," the report said.
But it seemed to Pattison - and to us at The Watchdog - that follow-up was possible. Technically, the identity of every driver who skips the cash booth on the toll road is a known quantity: Either said driver has an account and a transponder which records all his tolls (linked to name, address, etc.); or said driver is a scofflaw, and the toll road's cameras snap a photo of his license plate as he tries to slip by without paying. Pattison said the car that hit her definitely did not go through the cash booth.
So the CHP reopened the investigation, re-interviewed Pattison, right, and followed up with the toll road agency, said CHP spokeswoman Jennifer Hink. Investigators got a license plate, tracked down the owner of car, "and through his statement and vehicle damage and evidence, arrested him," Hink said.
Dagoberto Rodriguez Jr., 28, of Foothill Ranch, was arrested on suspicion of Orange County felony hit-and-run, Hink said. The case is at the District Attorney'sOffice, where officials have another month or so to decide whether to file charges.
Pattison is glad that there's been a break in the case, and looks forward to the justice system doing its work. She goes in for surgery this month for eye problems that were exacerbated by injuries from the crash.
As for us, well, glad to be of some small service in the pursuit of justice. He will definitely need an experienced Orange CountyCriminal Attorney.
Brookfieldnow.com reported. The Town of Brookfield Police Department has joined a nationwide effort to crack down on DUI.
The "DUI - Over the Limit, Under Arrest" campaign runs through Sept. 7 and combines law enforcement with a federally funded media effort to deter drunk driving.
DUI crashes in Wisconsin killed 234 people and injured 4,319 others in 2008, according to statistics from the state Department of Transportation. Last year, about 37,000 drivers - a figure slightly smaller than the population of Brookfield - were convicted of DUI in Wisconsin.
The goal of the campaign is not to arrest more drunk drivers but to deter people from getting behind the wheel when they are impaired. This will be done by ramping up enforcement efforts.
Authorities offer these suggestions for drivers:
• Choose a sober designated driver before you start to drink.
• If you are feeling buzzed, you are probably over the legal intoxication limit (a blood-alcohol content of 0.08) and should not drive.
• Rather than drive while impaired, take mass transit or a taxicab.
• Some taverns have programs that provide patrons with a safe ride home. Visit tlw.org and click on "SafeRide Program" to learn more.
BRISTOL, Tenn. --2.tricities.com reported Bristol car washers are trading their bikinis for orange and white striped coveralls.
A handful of convicted DUI offenders will be washing cars, for $10 a pop, at the AutoZone on Volunteer Parkway from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, with the proceeds benefitting Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. The Sullivan County Sheriff's Office is bussing in the non-violent offenders to handle the scrubbing.
"They're going to do all the work and we're going to reap all the benefits," MADD local coordinator Rosalie Smith said.
Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne Anderson said they are selecting inmates on a volunteer basis.
"They know they've done wrong," Anderson said. "We don't have to worry about them causing trouble. They're just going to wash cars to give back to the community what they took away. Drunk drivers are everyone from somebody who has no job to movie stars and celebrities. You can't just say it's the poor redneck that gets out and drives drunk."
In the 1990s, MADD had a strong presence in the Bristol area, but it dwindled over the years. Bristol Virginia Police Chief Bill Price wanted to get it up and running again in 2006 so he called Rosalie Smith, a former member, and asked if she would spearhead its resurrection. She gladly agreed.
Anderson guessed that on any given day between 50 and 100 people are in the Sullivan County jail on DUI offenses. He said because jails are overcrowded, habitual drunken drivers are in and out of jail, some with 10 or more convictions.
"It might even be their first time arrested," Anderson said. "But it's not their first time out drinking and driving. MADD is very powerful when it comes to legislation. I'd like to see us get more people involved."
Smith said the 15-member organization will be out Saturday, distributing brochures and hoping people will want to join. MADD is a national organization with the largest victim assistance program in the county. The local chapter works with the school system, civic clubs and the Highlands Juvenile Detention Center with a mission statement to stop drunken driving, assist victims and prevent underage DUI.
"It's not just for mothers, and it's not just for women," Smith said. "We have men -- daddies and grandfathers and uncles and aunts. Drunk driving effects more than just mothers, and a lot of people don't know MADD's here."
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Bnd.com reported. A North Carolina doctor voluntarily surrendered his medical license and resigned from his job Tuesday as he faced a more serious charge of second-degree murder in the DUI death of a 20-year-old ballerina.
The North Carolina Medical Board, which licenses all doctors in the state, posted the surrender letter on its Web site from Dr. Raymond Cook.
"I agree to return my license and registration certificates to the Board as promptly as possible," Cook wrote in the letter.
He also resigned from his faculty position at UNC School of Medicine and his employment with WakeMed Facial Plastic Surgery.
Tuesday afternoon, Cook, who had been a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, turned himself in on new charges of second-degree murder after allegedly drunk driving Friday night and causing a DUI wreck that left a Triangle ballerina dead.
Cook, a Raleigh resident, previously faced charges of felony death by vehicle and Felony DUI.
Cook, who was wearing a dark blue golf shirt and khaki-colored pants as he turned himself in before a Wake County magistrate, was given a bond of $2 million and booked into a holding cell.
Two hours later, Cook, who was wearing an orange and white jail jumpsuit, appeared before District Court Judge Jane Gray, who lowered his bond to $250,000. She also ordered him to surrender his passport.
Gray decreased the bond after Cook's attorney, Roger Smith Jr., said guidelines call for a bond of $200,000 to $500,000 associated with second-degree murder charges.
Smith also said his client is not a flight risk. Cook has lifelong ties to the community and the support of his family, Smith said. Both Cook's parents and his in-laws were in the courtroom today.
"All of his behavior in the case, indicates someone who is going to come back and answer these charges," Smith told Gray.
Wake assistant criminal attorney agreed with Smith that the bond should be lowered, saying there is nothing that calls for a bond outside of the guidelines, "although it may appear to the public that we're being soft."
But Cruden pointed out that the parents of Elena Bright Shapiro, who was killed in the wreck, could not be in court today because they were burying their daughter.
Before she lowered the bond, Gray told Cook, "it would be foolish for you in any way not to be in court because the bond you are currently under might be imposed."
Cook agreed to enter a physician's substance abuse treatment program on Friday. He will do whatever they recommend, his criminal attorney said.
Cook did not speak, but issued a statement, saying: "Today, in Winston-Salem, Elena Bright Shapiro is laid to rest. My wife, parents and family join me in expressing our most profound sympathy to Ms. Shapiro's family. Yet, we understand that words can never take away the pain of her loss.
"...Time might heal some things, but it will never take away this hurt and this loss," his statement continued.
Police say at 8:35 p.m. Cook's car, traveling about 85 miles per hour in a 45 zone, struck a car driven by Shapiro, 20, a Winston-Salem native who was a trainee with Carolina Ballet in Raleigh.
Court documents describe Cook as having "bloodshot" and "glassy" eyes, smelling of alcohol, swaying and having slurred speech shortly after the incident. The results of a blood alcohol test were not available Monday.
Cook, a 1997 graduate of the UNC-Chapel Hill medical school, was licensed by the N.C. Medical Board in 1999.
In 2003, he took a job with WakeMed. For an annual salary of $288,577, he had the title of assistant professor in UNC-CH's department of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery.
This was not the first time Cook was accused of DUI.
In 1989, according to court records, Cook was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in Camden County, Ga. He pleaded no contest to the charge, which means he pleaded guilty but did not admit guilt.
In 1988, he was accused of DUI in Forsyth County, Ga., but the prosecution of that charge was abandoned when no probable cause for the charge was found.
Raymond Cook, an assistant professor at the UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill and a doctor at WakeMed, had faced DUI, death by motor vehicle and reckless driving charges.
Cook appeared before a Wake County judge Monday morning. The DUI accident happened at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
In a written statement, Cook said:
"Today, in Winston-Salem, Elena Bright Shapiro is laid to rest. My wife, parents and family join me inexpressing our most profound sympathy to Ms. Shapiro's family. Yet, we understand that words can never take away the pain of her loss.
A license to provide medicine is a genuine privilege. It is one that I cherish and have never taken for granted. It has afforded me the opportunity to help and to heal. Today, I surrendered my license to practice medicine. In addition, I resigned my faculty position at UNC and my employment with WakeMed Facial Plastic Surgery. Later this week, I will enter a program that treats substance abuse.
Time might heal some things but it will never take away this hurt and this loss."
According to the Raleigh police report, Cook was going 85 miles per hour when his car struck the car driven by 20-year-old Elena Shapiro near the intersection of Lead Mine and Strickland Roads.
The charges on Tuesday were upgraded to second-degree murder. Cook is expected to turn himself into authorities today.
Paramedics rushed Shapiro, who was a rising star with the Carolina Ballet, to WakeMed, where she later died.
Shapiro was a trainee at the Carolina Ballet entering her second season with the company.
"It's really pretty sad, sad that an innocent young girl was hit by somebody intoxicated," said Robert Weiss of the Carolina Ballet. "People should not drive drunk. It's a terrible, terrible thing and I'm sure he's devastated by it too. Driving drunk is the same as having a gun, it's a terrible, terrible thing."
Cook was released Friday on a $51,000 bond.
Safety experts said a recent string of fatal DUI accidents highlights the dangers of being on the roads.
The Safety and Health Council of North Carolina teaches a number of driving courses, and talks about the importance of always being aware of other drivers.
"We have to watch at all times. We have to be alert at all times," said Matt Thompson, the Council's marketing and public relations manager.
For more information, visit the Council's Web site here.
STANTON -- The Orange County Register reported. Deputies are investigating a bank robbery that occurred this afternoon at the Bank of the West in Stanton.
The robbery was reported shortly before 1 p.m. at the bank in the 11051 Beach Blvd. at Katella Avenue, said Lt. Ted Boyne of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Boyne said it was unclear if the man used a note to demand money
The man was described as being white, about 5 feet 4 inches tall, with a goatee. He was wearing large sunglasses, a white shirt and a baseball cap with the letter C.
FULLERTON - The Orange County Register reported. Two men armed with handguns forced their way into an apartment, threatened two roommates and ransacked the place, police said.
Police were called at 11 p.m. regarding a home invasion robbery at the Haven Hill Apartment Homes at 3100 Yorba Linda Boulevard near Sapphire Road, said Fullerton police Sgt. Mike MacDonald.
The two male roommates told police that around 10:30 p.m. they heard a knock on the door and saw a woman standing outside. One roommate asked the other if he was expecting anyone and he said no, MacDonald said.
One of the roommates opened the door and two men, armed with handguns, pushed their way in, MacDonald said.
The robbers ordered one of the victims to lay face down on the living room floor and the other to sit on the couch. The victim on the floor was pistol-whipped three times when he possibly tried to get up, the Orange County criminal attorney said.
The robbers then began to overturn beds, swing open cabinets and pull things out in search of valuables, MacDonald said.
The robbers took the victim's wallets, cell phones, a Mac laptop, an Xbox 360 and iPods.
"As they were leaving out the front door, they threatened the victims not to move or they would be shot," the Orange County criminal attorney said, adding that the woman stayed outside the apartment, possibly as a lookout.
The victims called police 30 minutes later using a cell phone from another roommate who returned home.
The robbers and the woman ran from the apartment, but it was unknown if they jumped in a vehicle.
Neighbors in the apartment complex said they didn't hear anything or see anyone suspicious running through the building, the Orange County criminal attorney said.
One robber was described as being black, between 18 to 21 years old, about 5 feet 11 inches tall and175 pounds with a goatee. The other was described as black, 18-21 years old, about 6 feet 2 inches tall, 175 pounds and wearing a ski mask. Both were wearing black sweatshirts, baggy blue jeans and were armed with a handgun.
No one was killed in traffic collisions on Orange County freeways, CHP Officer Jennifer Hink said today.
Several other policing agencies throughout the county also made Orange County DUI arrests and cracked down on unsafe driving practices, by holding checkpoints and showing an increased presence over the holiday weekend.
Sheriff's deputies arrested 35 Orange County DUI suspects in checkpoints in Dana Point and Mission Viejo, and through saturated patrol efforts, Sgt. Jerry Brittain said.
Three DUI suspects were arrested in a checkpoint Saturday night in Irvine.
Newport Beach police arrested 10 people suspected of drunken driving, Newport Beach police Lt. Craig Fox said. La Habra police also held DUI enforcement efforts over the weekend. Results were not immediately.
Statewide, 10 people were killed on highways between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Monday, the CHP reported. That compares with 23 fatalities during the same period last year, the CHP said. At least half those killed this year were not wearing seat-belts, the CHP said.
The final statewide number for DUI arrests will likely be available later today, CHP spokeswoman Jaime Coffee said.
During these periods, which typically coincide with major holidays, the highway patrol and often other law enforcement increase patrols and stage sobriety checkpoints
But it is not an option in People v. Andrew Gallo, the 22-year-old San Gabriel man who was indicted on three counts of second-degree murder for the Fullerton alcohol-related crash in April that claimed the lives of three, including Angels' pitcher Nick Adenhart.That's because Deputy District Attorney Susan Price is prosecuting Gallo, who has a prior Orange County drunk-driving conviction, for three counts of murder without the lesser-included charges of vehicular manslaughter.
What that means is a jury cannot compromise and settle for lower convictions if it cannot agree unanimously that Gallo is guilty of second-degree murder.
The repercussions could be huge for Gallo, who reportedly had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system when he got behind the wheel of a car and barreled through a Fullerton intersection on a red light and smashed into Mitsubishi driven by Cal State Fullerton cheerleader Courtney Stewart..
She was killed instantly, as were her passengers: Andenhart, 22, a rookie hurler who had just shut down the Oakland A's for six innings, and Henry Pearson, 25, (below left) a law student working toward a career as a sports agent. A third passenger, Jonathan Wilhite, a former standout CSUF baseball player, was seriously injured.
Gallo could get 54 years and eight-months to life prison if convicted on three second-degree murder charges plus other related charges and penalty enhancements. He would not even be eligible for parole until her serves a minimum of 45 years behind bars.
But if he were to be tried and convicted of Orange County vehicular manslaughter instead, he would face between nine years and 22 years four months.
Price filed second-degree murder charges only under the legal theory that Gallo knew that driving while drunk was dangerous to human life - because of his prior driving-under-the-influence conviction - but chose to do it anyway.
Gallo pleaded guilty in 2006 to driving under the influence as part of a plea agreement, and wrote - as required - on the guilty plea form, "I understand that if I continue to drink and drive it may result in death or serious bodily injury to another person."
He is also charged with drunken driving causing great bodily injury, driving with a .08 blood-alcohol level or higher and causing great bodily injury, hit-and-run, and driving on a suspended license. He also faces sentencing enhancements for causing serious injures to Wilhite and to Raymond Alejandro Rivera, Gallo's stepbrother, who was a passenger in his minivan.
Price could have filed vehicular manslaughter as an alternative charge, but she believes Gallo deserves the maximum punishment for his reckless conduct on the night of April 11.
The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI. A laguna beach man is in jail for an Orange County DUI and a woman remains in critical condition after the man crashed into a barrier, reportedly while intoxicated, police said.
Matthew Craybas, 38, of Huntington Beach was driving a silver BMW X3 at the 300 block of South Coast Highway across from the Main Beach area around 8:45 p.m. Sunday, when the vehicle hit a barrier that separates the road from the sidewalk and flipped over, causing his female passenger, also 38, to be thrown from the vehicle, Laguna Beach police Lt. Jason Kravetz said.
The woman was taken to Mission Hospital with serious head injuries, Kravetz said, adding that authorities were not sure if she was going to survive.
Craybas was booked into Laguna Beach jail on suspicion of felony Orange CountyDUI and is in custody at the Orange County Jail pending a $100,000 bail, according the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Orange County Felony DUI is serious business.
He was expected to appear in court today.
Craybas pleaded guilty to driving without a seat belt four times and driving without proof of insurance three times since 2002, among other traffic violations.
He is the brother of Olympic tennis player Jill Craybas, who also lives in Huntington Beach. Jill Craybas was not immediately available for comment.
On his Facebook page, Craybas lists himself as the owner of Irvine-based CreditorsIT, a debt-relief financial company.
The identity of the woman was not released pending notification of family and police will not yet release Craybas' photo, Kravetz said.
"We have our fingers crossed that she's going to pull through," Kravetz said
ORANGE PARK - Claytoday.biz reported. Two Clay County deputies participating in a DUI stop avoided injury early Sunday, Sept. 13, when their vehicles were struck from behind by a car driven by a man later charged with drunk driving.
The accident happened about 2:40 a.m. on Blanding Boulevard at Coppergate Drive as a deputy was arresting a female driver on DUI charges. A second deputy arrived and parked his cruiser behind the first cruiser, both of which had their emergency lights flashing, the Sheriff's Office said.
Moments after placing the female DUI suspect in the backseat of the first cruiser, a Chevrolet SUV driven by Michael Jeffers, 28, of Orange Park slammed into the back of the second cruiser, causing about $8,000 damage to the cruiser that was struck, the Sheriff's Office said. The two officers were talking outside their vehicles and were uninjured.
The second cruiser with the female DUI suspect inside also suffered minor damage and she was taken to the hospital after complaining of neck pain. No injuries were found, the report says.
The Florida Highway Patrol investigated the accident and charged Jeffers, who had minor injuries but refused treatment, with DUI, the Sheriff's Office said.
An investigative reporter for California Lawyer magazine, a professional publication for all members of the California State Bar, has recently delved into the practices of Orange County DUI attorneys. In the magazine's cover article, titled "The DUI Defense Bar," reporter Tom McNichol took a hard and long-overdue look at the good, the bad and the ugly among Orange County DUI lawyers:
At one end of the spectrum are the specialists who've spent much of their professional lives mastering arcane technical issues such as blood and breath partition ratios, microbial contamination in urinalysis, and the perils of retrograde extrapolation in chemical tests. These DUI attorneys typically charge anywhere from $3,500 to $10,000 to defend a first offender, not including the expert witness fees or lab tests that may be required. Top expert witnesses with national reputations can easily push the total cost closer to $20,000.
At the other end of the spectrum are cut-rate practitioners with no particular expertise, who charge as little as $1,000 per case. These include "dump truck" lawyers, who sign up as many clients as possible and then dump them all on the guilty-plea docket; and "escort" lawyers, who escort clients up to the judge like a high-paid call girl, plead them guilty, and then disappear with the money.
These DUI mills typically offer a lowball rate to clients, and they tend to give commensurate service. One California attorney who advertises his "cheap DUI defense" widely on the Internet pitches prospective clients: "We do the same thing over and over again. There is simply no reason to spend thousands of dollars on your defense. We charge about half of the going rate."..The California Lawyer reporter concluded:
The California Lawyer reporter concluded:
Still, at a time when general practitioners are finding it much harder to make ends meet, it's a good bet that more of them will take on Orange County DUI cases, whether or not they know what they're doing. Tough times are also likely to drive more drunks onto the road, leading to more DUI cases--and even more lawyers chasing them.
CYPRESS - The Orange County Register reported. A 50-year-old Stanton resident was arrested on suspicion of robbing a gas station early this morning.
After responding to a 1:24 a.m. report of a robbery, police found Tyrue Green about a block from a Chevron at Lincoln Avenue and Moody Street that had just been robbed, said an Orange County Criminal Attorney.
Police followed Green for a few blocks and then stopped him. Green "had a fair amount of cash on him and was positively ID'ed by the clerk," the Orange County defense lawyer said.
No weapon was found during the arrest, Ramsey said.
There have been three or four gas station robberies in neighboring cities in the last week or so, Ramsey said. Cypress investigators will be in touch with their counterparts to see if Green was involved in those robberies, he said.
ANAHEIM - The Orange County Register reported. A woman was taken to a hospital this morning after being struck by a pickup truck whose driver fled the scene and was later arrested, Orange County DUI attorney said.
The incident is being investigated as a possible attempted kidnapping, as well as a hit and run, said Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim police.
The incident occurred in an alley between Melrose Street and Kroeger Street, south of Center Street, in Anaheim, Martinez said.
At about 10:50 a.m., a motorcycle officer doing radar enforcement clocked a white Ford F150 pickup doing 61 mph on Lincoln Avenue near Olive Street, the Orange County criminal attorney said. The truck then turned south on Olive.
As the officer tried to catch up to the truck, he saw it turn east on Center Street. The officer then found a woman in the alley who had just been struck the OC criminal attorney said.
The woman, described as a Latina in her 20s or 30s, was not seriously injured, but was taken to a hospital with abrasions to be checked out, Martinez said. Her belongings, including a suitcase, her purse and sunglasses, lay in the alley.
The Orange County criminal lawyer later learned that the driver knew the woman, and had tried to pull her into his vehicle before letting go of her and driving off when he saw the officer approaching, Martinez said.
At 11 a.m., the truck was found abandoned in an apartment carport at 1010 E. Broadway, Martinez said.
The driver, described as a white male, in his 20s or 30s, with a shaved head, tattoos and wearing a white t-shirt, was later tracked to an apartment at 314 S. East Street, where he was taken into custody, Martinez said.
The man's name wasn't immediately released.
The suspect was identified as Adam Von Young, 28, Martinez said.
Young was booked on suspicion of kidnapping, robbery, possession of a controlled substance, and delaying arrest, Martinez said. He is being held at Anaheim Detention Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail.
The Orange County Register reported. A man arrested in the death of a Dane Williams, a 23-year-old intern from Huntington Beach whose body was found in a San Diego alley last year, could get the death penalty if convicted, will need to hire an Orange County Criminal Attorney,prosecutors said today.
Philong Huynh, 39, of San Diego was arrested Thursday and pleaded not guilty today on one charge of murder in Orange County and two charges of sexual assault. Charges of murder and sexual assault while the victim was intoxicated could lead to 25 years to life in prison, and a special circumstances allegation of murder during commission of a sex crime makes Huynh eligible for the death penalty if convicted, San Diego prosecutors said.
No bail was set for Huynh and a preliminary hearing was set for Sept. 29. An Orange County criminal lawyer released a photo of Huynh in the hopes that other possible victims might come forward.
Detectives working a sex crime from June 6, 2009, identified Huynh as a suspect in that case, and gathered DNA evidence from him, San Diego police said. That DNA material matched evidence found on Williams' body, police said. Huynh lives around 800 feet from where Williams' body was found, police said.
It is still unknown how Dane Williams died, police said.
The family has declined to comment on the arrest, sister Hayley Williams said today, adding that her parents were in San Diego for the arraignment.
Hayley Williams posted on her Facebook about 11:30 a.m., "An arrest has been made!!"
Family and friends held a remembrance vigil in January at an Action Sports Retailer trade expo - the same event Dane Williams had attended before he disappeared. White wristbands with the words, "Keeping Dane's Spirit Alive" were handed out and people wearing the wristband were given free cab rides back to their hotels after the expo's parties, according to apparelnews.net.
The June 6, 2009, sexual assault wasn't solved immediately, but when DNA evidence recovered from the victim was uploaded to a database, a hit came back on Aug. 19 that matched a sample recovered from the Williams crime scene, said Lt. Kevin Rooney of the homicide unit.
They didn't have a name connected to either sample, so solving the sexual assault became a high priority. The case was transferred to homicide detectives, Rooney said.
"Between Aug. 19 and Sept. 10, we did everything we could to solve that sex crime," Rooney said.
Detectives arrested Huynh on Thursday, Sept. 10, and served OC search warrants on two homes.
Rooney said that a sample of Huynh's DNA has been tested, and that it matches the DNA in the two crimes.
The victim in the June 6, 2009, sexual assault said he met Huynh in San Diego's Gaslamp district and the two ended up drinking and going to the beach, City News Service reported. After telling Huynh he had a headache, the man was given two pills he was told were Tylenol, then woke up without his underwear in the defendant's bed the next morning, the prosecutor said, according to City News Service.
Williams was last seen around 3 a.m. Jan. 26, 2008, outside a bar at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp district.
He was found Jan. 29, 2008, at 6 a.m. in a damp, dirt alley, wrapped in a blood-stained plaid blanket with small cuts on his body. He was lying on his back with his feet crossed wearing the same clothing as the day he disappeared - a black pullover Hurley branded shirt with stripes, Hurley denim jeans, a brown belt and white All Star gym shoes.
His clothing was damp and no personal items were found on or near the body, a coroner's report said. His underwear was missing, City News Service reported, citing the OC criminal attorney.
Dane Williams' blood alcohol level was 0.17 percent - more than twice the legal limit for driving. There were also slight amounts of Valium and quinine in his body, authorities said.
Family members have said Williams did have an occasional drink but did not take drugs.
contracostatimes.com reported. Fatal car crashes statewide were way down this Labor Day weekend compared to previous years, the California Highway Patrol announced.
In Solano County, the number of serious injuries from crashes fell significantly, as did the number of arrests for Orange County DUI, Solano area CHP spokesman Marvin Williford said.
"I was shocked by the drop (statewide)," Williford said. "I knew they were down, but this was huge."
There were some 40 DUI crashes in Solano County both years, but this year only three resulted in major injuries, about half as many as last year, Williford said.
"And last year there were 11 DUI, six of them from crashes, compared to this year's five DUI, four of them from crashes," he said.
No one was killed on Solano County's highways this or last Labor Day weekend.
Statewide, traffic fatalities within the CHP's jurisdiction declined sharply this holiday weekend, which was a "maximum enforcement period," meaning every available CHP officer was patrolling the roadways, the agency said.
Statewide, 12 motorists were killed in crashes between 6 p.m. Friday and midnight Sunday -- a sharp contrast to last year's 40 lives lost on the state's roadways, the CHP reported.
Among those killed this year in CHP's jurisdiction, 75 percent were not wearing a seat belt, it said.
DUI arrests statewide were down nearly 11 percent. CHP officers statewide arrested 1,417 impaired drivers during the 78-hour maximum enforcement period
-- down from the 1,586 people arrested during the same time last year.
"Making an arrest is far easier than having to make a notification to the family members of someone whose life was cut short by a drunk or drugged driver," CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said in a statement. "For every impaired motorist an officer removes from the roadway, it's potentially a life saved."
Williford said he thinks a couple of factors may be responsible for the drop.
"People are finally getting the word -- DUI is expensive," the officer said. "Hopefully, it's not just the economy. I hope people are finally getting the word."
The CHP will participate in three more maximum enforcement periods this year -- Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's weekend
HILLSBOROUGH -- newsobserver.com reported. An Orange County sheriff's deputy is no longer working for the department according to the county's Human Resources Department, after being charged with DUI other crimes.
Kevin Umstead, 24, also faces open-container, resisting-arrest and unlawfully passing an emergency vehicle charges after his arrest Saturday in Durham, where he lives.
Before the incident Saturday, Umstead's criminal record in North Carolina included only one speeding ticket in 2006. He had worked for the Orange County Sheriff's Office since July 2007.
SANTA ANA - The Orange County Register reported. An Orange County Sheriff's investigator has been criminally charged with filing false police reports that suggested she interviewed victims in several robbery, theft and criminal threats cases - when she had not actually done the work, according to county prosecutors.
Janet Virginia Strong, 52, is charged with six misdemeanor counts of filing a false report as a peace officer.
Strong is the second Sheriff's Department employee to face charges of filing false police reports in the last year. Jason Christopher Brant, 34, was convicted in December of eight misdemeanor counts of filing false reports for claiming he contacted property crime victims and reporting that they did not wish to cooperate with DNA testing. Brant was sentenced to three years probation and assigned to work for 30 days for the California Department of Transportation, Deputy District Attorney Susan Kang Schroeder said. He is no longer with the Sheriff's Department.
Strong, who is out on paid leave, joined the Sheriff's Department in 1988, according to department spokesman Ryan Burris. She had previously been working for the now-defunct Stanton Police Department, he added.
She is accused of lying on six police reports - mostly about her contact with crime victims.
In one case, a victim returned her call and left a message but Strong never called back, according to prosecutors. Strong wrote on Sept. 13, 2006, that she had talked to the victim, prosecutors said.
In a June 20, 2007, report, Strong wrote that she had contacted a victim of a petty theft, and that there were no additional "avenues for investigation,'' prosecutors said. That victim was never contacted, prosecutors said.
Strong also wrote in a Feb. 20, 2008, report that a robbery victim hadn't returned her calls and that she couldn't conduct a follow-up investigation, prosecutors said. But Strong never contacted the victim, prosecutors said.
The most recent reports were filed in March, when Strong represented she contacted victims in two separate cases, prosecutors said.
All of the six reports - once they were suspected of being falsified - were re-assigned and then completed by other investigators, Burris said.
Strong is scheduled to be arraigned Monday. If convicted, she faces a sentence ranging from probation up to six years in jail, prosecutors said.
The Orange County Register reported. Former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo - who will be sentenced Monday on federal charges - wants a judge to sentence him to three years probation and objects to paying any damages won in a recent wrongful-termination lawsuit as restitution, according to a filing today.
Jaramillo, who was chief of staff to former Sheriff Mike Carona, pleaded guilty in March 2007 to filing false tax returns and honest services mail fraud. Jaramillo also cooperated with the federal government in its investigation of Carona.
In a sentencing brief filed today, Jaramillo objected to the government's suggestion that he pay money he won in a lawsuit against Orange County as restitution in his federal case.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Andrew Banks in June sided with Jaramillo in a trial of his wrongful termination lawsuit against the county. Banks determined that Jaramillo was wrongfully fired by Carona in 2004 -- thus entitling Jaramillo to back pay and benefits.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Sagel - in a filing last week - estimated that Jaramillo's award in the lawsuit is $183,688. The prosecutor also wrote that Jaramillo lived a "reckless and irresponsible lifestyle" and could afford to pay the money as restitution.
Jaramillo makes about $150,000 a year, which does not include additional income he will receive from his pension starting in 2010 from the city of Garden Grove (where he worked as a police officer) and the county, according to Sagel's filing.
"Allowing Jaramillo to receive money for being terminated from a job he received through his fraudulent scheme and in which he deprived his employer of his honest services would allow (Jaramillo) to benefit from his fraudulent conduct, a result which runs afoul of the principles on which restitution is based,'" Sagel wrote.
Jaramillo counters that he doesn't think restitution is appropriate.
"There is no governmental agency, and certainly no citizen of Orange County, who was 'directly harmed by the defendant's criminal conduct,'" according to the filing written by Jaramillo's attorney Brent Romney.
Jaramillo also doesn't want to pay a $50,000 fine suggested by the U.S. Probation Office, arguing he is the primary financial support for seven people, including three elderly relatives.
Jaramillo - who already has served a year at a private jail in 2007 after pleading no contest to state charges of perjury and misuse of county resources - is portrayed by his attorney as a victim.
"His once impeccable reputation has been tarnished beyond repair ... He has experienced the great indignity of incarceration. He has already endured significant suffering,'' the filing says.
The federal probation office has recommended Jaramillo serve 27 months in prison. Sagel thinks Jaramillo should get 10 months home confinement as part of a three-year probation sentence.
Jaramillo criticizes them for their recommendations.
"It seems as though both the prosecutor and the deputy probation officer want to squeeze out whatever hope defendant and his family have of ever being able to put their lives back together,'' according to the filing.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford will sentence Jaramillo at a 2 p.m. hearing Monday.
LAtimes.com reported. A Westminster man who held Bible study meetings in his home is expected to be arraigned today on suspicion of sexually assaulting two male relatives beginning several years ago when they were both 11 years old, authorities said.
James Ray Guerrero, 50, is charged with showing pornographic movies to the victims and masturbating them, the Orange County criminal attorneys office said. Prosecutors said the alleged assaults occurred on repeated occasions from 2006 to last year. Guerrero allegedly told the youths not to tell anyone what had happened, prosecutors said.
Police were alerted to the allegations in July after one of the victims, then 15, told family members that he had been molested. While investigating the case, detectives found out about the suspected sexual assault on the second youth, prosecutors said.
Guerrero is charged with seven felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under age 14 and one felony count of distributing pornography to a minor. He also faces sentencing enhancement allegations for substantial sexual conduct with a child and lewd acts on more than one child. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison, prosecutors said
Thevillagenews.com reported. The California Highway Patrol's state Office of Traffic Safety grant to combat drunk driving on State Route 76 will include a partnership with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
On July 21 the San Diego County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution which will allow the Sheriff's Department to enter into an agreement with the CHP to target and apprehend drunk drivers along a 38-mile segment of SR-76.
The collaborative partnership has an official period running from August 1, 2009, through July 31, 2010, and the CHP will reimburse the Sheriff's Department $25,000 for its involvement.
"We are excited at the prospect of assisting the CHP," said Fallbrook Sheriff's Substation Commander Phil Brust. "We're very concerned about drunk driving through the 76 corridor."
The 38-mile segment covers the highway from its western beginning in Oceanside to East Grade Road.
The Sheriff's Department will involve its Valley Center substation as well as its Fallbrook substation, while the California Highway Patrol will utilize its Oceanside office. The City of Oceanside will also participate.
"Our goal here is to help reduce all the fatalities," said Scott Payson of the California Highway Patrol's Oceanside office, who will be administering the grant.
Although the cooperative agreement is based on the state grant to target and apprehend drunk drivers, the Sheriff's Department will be authorized to cite motorists for other offenses on SR-76.
"We have the authority to enforce anything," Brust said.
The focus will be to increase enforcement of the prohibition against driving under the influence. "A lot of these crashes are DUI-related," Brust said.
A joint contract agreement between the CHP and a local law enforcement agency requires approval of a resolution from the legislative board covering the area of the local law enforcement agency's jurisdiction.
The CHP reserved $35,000 of its grant to form community outreach partnerships and law enforcement support from the Sheriff's Department and from the Oceanside Police Department.
"Through our efforts, hopefully we'll be able to save some lives," Brust said.
SACRAMENTO - the-signal.com/news reported. Traffic fatalities within the jurisdiction of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) declined sharply during the most recent holiday weekend. The extended holiday weekend was a Maximum Enforcement Period, which meant every available CHP officer was out patrolling California' s roadways for drunk drivers in Orange County.
Statewide, 12 motorists were killed in collisions between 6 p.m. Friday, September 4 and midnight, Sunday September 7; the total is a sharp contrast to last year's 40 lives that were lost on the state's roadways. Among those killed this year in CHP jurisdiction, 75 percent were not wearing at seat belt at the time of the crash.
"Wearing a seat belt needs to become a habit for drivers and passengers alike," said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. "Buckle up every trip, every time. It may save your life or the life of someone you love."
The death toll wasn't the only decrease noted by law enforcernent over the holiday weekend; arrests by CHP officers of motorists for driving under the influence (DUI) are down nearly 11 percent from the previous Labor Day weekend. CHP officers throughout the state arrested 1,417 impaired drivers during the 78 hour MEP; that figure is down from the 1,586 people arrested during the same time last year.
"Making an arrest is far easier than having to make a notification to the family member of someone whose life was cut short by a DUI driver," said Commissioner Farrow. "For every impaired motorist an officer removes from the roadway, it's potentially a life saved."
The CHP will participate in three more MEPs this year, including: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's weekend.
Seattletimes.nwsource.com reported. State Patrol troopers made 296 Orange County DUI arrests this holiday weekend, compared with 292 during the same period in 2008, according to preliminary figures released this morning.
There were three fatalities during the Labor Day weekend, compared with four fatalities in 2008. The fatalities were in King, Skagit and Okanogan counties.
According to the State Patrol, motorists alerted troopers to 44 suspected drunk drivers by placing 911 calls. When the troopers stopped the vehicles, 19 drivers were arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI after drinking alcohol, one was a suspected DUI after taking drugs, one was arrested on a warrant, and four were written tickets for traffic infractions.
The Daily Pilot reported on an Orange County DUI .When Lisa Bertaina saw the man who killed the love of her life sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Friday, it didn't give her closure.
"What it brings me is comfort that he won't be able to do this to other families," she said outside the courtroom, face flushed from pouring her heart out to Judge Frank Fasel minutes earlier.
Luis Adan Ramirez, 34, of Santa Ana, was given the maximum sentence available for killing Corona del Mar resident Timothy Lysgaard, 45, in a drunk driving crash (Orange County DUI), on Ortega Highway in 2006.
Bertaina urged the judge to sentence Ramirez to the maximum sentence.
On Nov. 5, 2006, Ramirez had been drinking with a friend.With a blood-alcohol level of .23, almost three times the legal limit, Ramirez got behind the wheel and drove down Ortega Highway with his friend and his friend's 10-year-old daughter in the car. Ramirez lost control of the car and swerved onto the right shoulder, then back across into oncoming traffic.
He slammed head-on into Lysgaard, who was taking his motorcycle for a Sunday ride. Lysgaard was killed instantly, and the car tumbled 150 feet down an embankment.
Witnesses said they saw Ramirez throwing beer cans from the car before running away, leaving his friend and the daughter behind, prosecutors said.
He was captured by witnesses nearly a mile down the road while he tried to hitchhike in blood-stained clothes, according to prosecutors.
He was convicted of second-degree murder, child abuse and endangerment and hit and run with death. It was Ramirez's third Orange County DUI.
The previous convictions were what Fasel said made him opt for a life sentence rather than a more lenient punishment.
"You never learned that lesson. And because of that, someone lost their life," he said. "And, essentially, you've lost yours."
Sheriff's deputies were scheduled to hold an Orange County DUI checkpoint from 7 p.m. Sunday to 3 a.m. today at Alicia Parkway and Trabuco Road in Mission Viejo and planned to have a greater presence in areas deputies patrol. On Saturday night, deputies held a similar Orange County DUI patrol, officials said.
In Irvine police conducted an Orange County DUI checkpoint Saturday night on Jamboree Road at Birch Street, stopping 338 vehicles and arresting three people on suspicion of Orange County DUI , police said Sunday.
Eleven people were screened for intoxication, and police handed out citations to nine drivers for other traffic offenses, Irvine police said.
The California Highway Patrol also stepped up its policing efforts beginning Friday night by scheduling all available officers to patrol the freeways in search of possible Orange County DUI and other unsafe motorists.
The CHP had arrested 45 people in Orange County on suspicion of driving under the influence between6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Sunday, a dispatcher said.
La Habra police conducted a task force Saturday night, and authorities held checkpoints Friday night in Newport Beach and Dana Point. Results likely will not be available until Tuesday, authorities said.
The CHP regularly holds maximum enforcement periods during major holiday weekends.
The CHP arrested 67 people on suspicion of DUI during its Labor Day weekend maximum enforcement period last year, according to agency statistics
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- ABC7 News reported. A preliminary hearing got underway on Tuesday in an Orange County courtroom, for a Costa Mesa man accused of causing a deadly DUI crash that killed a well known mixed martial arts entrepreneur in Newport Beach.
On Friday, an Orange County judge rejected a deal that would have allowed Jeffrey Kirby to plea guilty to vehicular manslaughter in exchange for a lighter sentence, and ordered Kirby to stand trial.
Prosecutors say on March 11, Kirby was drunk driving and at a high speed on Jamboree Road, when he lost control of his Porsche and clipped Charles "Mask" Lewis, Jr.'s Ferrari, causing it to smash into a light pole and break in half.
Lewis, who co-founded the clothing line Tapout, died at the scene. His girlfriend was ejected from the car and was seriously injured.
During the preliminary hearing, a police officer testified that Kirby, who has two prior convictions for Orange County DUI, admitted to driving too fast at the time of the Crash. Newport Beach Officer Todd Hughes testified that Kirby said he sped up to the Ferrari so his date could get a closer look at the car.
Prosecutors say Kirby abandoned the scene after the accident. They are asking for a sentence of at least 18 years in prison
The jury will now consider whether Gideon Walter Omondi was insane at the time of the Sept. 10, 2006, killing. Jurors begin deliberations in the trial's sanity phase Wednesday morning.
Omondi, 36, held his son - Richie - under water for three to five minutes until he drowned.
Omondi, who was living in Fullerton on a student visit from his native Kenya while attending Cal State Fullerton, then placed his son's body in bed, then drove to the Fullerton Police Department and confessed to the crime, according to prosecutor Steve McGreevy.
During the trial, Omondi's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Mark Brown, said his client suffers from a mental illness - and was distraught over a custody battle with the boy's mother. Brown also told jurors that Omondi did not know his act was wrong.
If jurors decide Omondi is sane, he faces a 25-year to life term in prison. But if jurors deem he was insane at the time of the crime, Omondi will likely be sent to a state mental hospital.
Omondi also was convicted today of attempting to murder his son nine months earlier by putting him in the trunk of his BMW near Bakersfield - and climbing in with him - after dousing it with gasoline in preparation for setting it on fire.The defendant in this case will need to hire an experienced Orange County Criminal Attorney or an Orange County Criminal Defense Lawyer
BUENA PARK - The Orange County Register reported. Police are looking for a man who impersonated a police officer and then pulled over a 21-year-old woman, asked her to get out of her car and touched her in a sexual manner.
The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. at Western Avenue, south of Auto Center Drive, when the man wearing a police or security-style uniform and driving a black and white vehicle stopped the woman, said Buena Park police Sgt. Bill Kohanek.
The man asked the woman, who was alone, to get out of her car and show him her driver's license, Kohanek said.
The man had a short conversation with the woman and touched her leg in a sexual manner, Kohanek said.
After the incident, the man returned the driver's license, got back in his vehicle and drove north on Western. The victim, who was distraught but unharmed, drove to her Stanton home and called police, Kohanek said.
"She thought it was inappropriate, obviously, and felt it wasn't a police officer," Kohanek said.
The man was described as white, 30 to 35 years old, about 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall, with a muscular build. He was wearing a blue short-sleeve uniform with a patch on one arm and a security-style equipment belt without a gun, Kohanek said.
The victim told police the man was wearing a silver badge on the right chest, which Kohanek said was unusual because police officers wear their badges on the left side.
The victim also described hearing a radio inside the man's vehicle. Kohanek said the man might have a police scanner or might be a security guard.
The man was driving an older model Ford Crown Victoria. The black and white four-door vehicle had a white spot light on the left side and white lettering on the right side of the windshield.
Police are warning female drivers to make sure the police car has a forward-facing red light; that the officer is in full uniform and has a police ID card.
Kohanek said that if the officer's authenticity is questionable, the driver should call 911 on a cell phone or go to a police station.
Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident or who may recognize the man based on his description to call the Buena Park Police Department's We-Tip hot line at 714-562-384.
Recently, detectives in California finally identified the remains of murdered swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore using the serial numbers on her breast implants after they were unable to use fingerprints or dental records in the investigation, according to Orange County authorities.
Orange County District Attorney spokeswoman Susan Schroeder told reporters that in murder cases, law enforcement officers can sometimes trace a woman's identity through implants. Breast implants have serial numbers, she said, since product damage and recalls can occur. In this case, the authorities found the implants, searched the numbers and saw they were registered to Fiore, whose real name was Jasmine Kinkade - a former swimsuit model and aspiring actress.The chief murder suspect is Fiore's ex-husband, reality TV contestant Ryan Alexander Jenkins, later found dead in an apparent suicide.
Breast implant searches are also used to catch criminals. In March, Orange County officials arrested Yvonne Jean Pampellone, also known as the "Boob Job Bandit." She had allegedly visited a surgery center and bought $12,000 of plastic surgery using a stolen identity. Her purchase included a new pair of breast implants. How did authorities track down the Boob Job Bandit? They simply traced the serial numbers they found on the old implants she left behind.
VISTA, Calif. -- 10news.com reported. A judge took under submission Tuesday a defense motion to allow a convicted sex offender to enter an insanity plea to charges he molested four boys, including one at San Onofre State Beach.
The motion by Hubert Haraszewski came as his case was to go to trial in the courtroom of Vista Judge Timothy Casserly.
The judge is expected to rule on the defense motion on Wednesday.
Haraszewski, 33, is charged with 12 counts of child molestation and a dozen counts involving child pornography. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
He allegedly molested two boys from Ventura County between 1994 and 1996, beginning when they were 11 and 12 years old. Deputy District Attorney Patricia Lavermicocca said the two, now adults, came forward last year after Haraszewski was accused of molesting two other boys.
Prosecutors said the more recent alleged victims are a Palmdale boy, who was 9 when he was molested, and a boy who was 12 when he was molested two years ago at San Onofre, which is why the case is being prosecuted in San Diego County.
During a preliminary hearing in April 2008, the older boy testified that Haraszewski told him that he was 19, and the two met up nearly every weekend to ride bicycles.
In October 2007, they went into a cave at the beach in San Onofre, near the Orange County line, where the defendant reached out and touched the boy's genitals, according to his testimony.
The Orange County Register reported. Federal prosecutors say George Jaramillo - who was chief of staff of former Sheriff Mike Carona - should be sentenced to three years probation, including 10 months of home confinement, instead of having to serve prison time.
In a motion filed Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Sagel asked a judge for the lighter sentence, and also said Jaramillo also should be ordered to pay approximately $184,000 in restitution to Orange County, as well as a $50,000 fine.
The sentence sought by the government is less than the 27-month prison sentence that was recommended by the U.S. Probation Office, as well as the maximum of 23 years in prison provided for in Jaramillo's plea agreement.
Jaramillo pleaded guilty in March 2007 to filing false tax returns and honest services mail fraud and agreed to cooperate with the government.
Jaramillo - who was Carona's chief of staff starting in 1999 - was fired by Carona in 2004. He began talking to federal agents who had begun probing the Sheriff's Department, and told them that Carona received bribes and other money from another assistant sheriff, Don Haidl.
The government believes the lesser penalty is warranted, given Jaramillo's "considerable cooperation." Jaramillo met with federal agents at least 10 times over the years to provide information about Carona, Sagel wrote.
"Jaramillo was the first substantial witness to cooperate in the federal investigation, and his cooperation led to the Government learning of and interviewing other individuals with pertinent information,'' according to the filing.
Carona was convicted in January of felony witness tampering, and was sentenced to five and a half years in prison. But he has yet to begin serving time behind bars - and won't have to report until the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals weighs in on his appeal. Carona's attorneys will file the appeal later this month.
Jaramillo did not testify during Carona's public corruption trial.
Carona's attorneys portrayed Jaramillo as a liar who cast blame on Carona - once known as "America's Sheriff" - to get a lighter sentence.
Jaramillo has a criminal record. He served a year at a private jail in 2007 after pleading no contest to state charges of perjury and misuse of county resources.
The government doesn't think more incarceration is necessary, according to the motion.
"The Government has dealt with defendant Jaramillo since 2004, and has clearly seen a transformation in the defendant, especially in light of his period of incarceration,'' according to the filing.
After Carona's trial, Jaramillo again made headlines during a trial in his wrongful termination lawsuit against the county. Orange County Superior Court Judge Andrew Banks - who was judge and jury in that case - ruled that Carona violated Jaramillo's rights as a police officer when firing him.
The ruling meant that the county has to pay Jaramillo approximately $183,688 in back pay and benefits, according to Sagel's motion.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford - the jurist who sentenced Carona - will sentence Jaramillo at 2 p.m. Monday.
No one was killed in traffic collisions on Orange County freeways, CHP Officer Jennifer Hink said today.
Several other policing agencies throughout the county also made DUI arrests and cracked down on unsafe driving practices, by holding checkpoints and showing an increased presence over the holiday weekend.
Sheriff's deputies arrested 35 OC DUI suspects in checkpoints in Dana Point and Mission Viejo, and through saturated patrol efforts, Sgt. Jerry Brittain said.
Three DUI suspects were arrested in a checkpoint Saturday night in Irvine.
Newport Beach police arrested 10 people suspected of drunken driving, Newport Beach police Lt. Craig Fox said. La Habra police also held DUI enforcement efforts over the weekend. Results were not immediately.
Statewide, 10 people were killed on highways between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Monday, the CHP reported. That compares with 23 fatalities during the same period last year, the CHP said. At least half those killed this year were not wearing seat-belts, the CHP said.
The final statewide number for DUI arrests will likely be available later today, CHP spokeswoman Jaime Coffee said.
During these periods, which typically coincide with major holidays, the highway patrol and often other law enforcement increase patrols and stage sobriety checkpoints.
NEWPORT BEACH - The Orange County Register reported. A Superior Court judge today decided that a repeat drunken driver should stand trial on four DUI felonies in connection with the death of a mixed martial arts entrepreneur.
Jeffrey Kirby, 51, of Costa Mesa is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter in the death of Charles Lewis Jr., a co-founder of the clothing company Tapout, during a fiery, high-speed crash on March 11.
Kirby appeared in court during his preliminary hearing today before Judge Marjorie Laird Carter - who decided there was enough evidence for Kirby to stand trial.
Prosecutors say Kirby, who runs an audio-visual business, was drunk when he crashed his Porsche into Lewis' Ferrari while both of them were speeding on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach. Kirby's Orange County DUI attorney counters that Lewis was to blame for the crash.
Lewis - a Huntington Beach resident who called himself "Mask" - died immediately. His Ferrari was ripped in two after it jumped a curb and ran into a cement light pole. A passenger in Lewis' car suffered injuries after being ejected from the Ferrari.
Kirby, who has two prior DUI convictions, allegedly fled the scene. Prosecutors say he registered a .13 blood/alcohol level two hours after the crash.
Earlier today, a police officer testified that Kirby admitted to driving his Porsche too fast and losing control of the car.
Newport Beach Officer Todd Hughes also said Kirby, 51 he sped his Porsche closer to Lewis' Ferrari in order for his passenger - a woman he was taking on a date - to see the sports car.
As he sped closer, he lost control of his car and spun 360 degrees, Hughes said.
"He stated he was driving too fast,'' Hughes said.
Investigators have said they found receipts in Kirby's wallet that indicated he was driving drunk earlier that evening at two bars in San Juan Capistrano and Irvine.
During a hearing Friday, a judge denied Kirby the opportunity to plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter in exchange for a lighter sentence. Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez wants Kirby to spend more than 18 years behind bars.
Kirby, who remains jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail, will next appear in court for his felony arraignment on Sept. 21.
The Daily Pilot reported on an Orange County DUI program. Costa Mesa police are set to begin a yearlong Orange County DUI program that will crack down on drunk drivers and educate the public to the dangers of drinking and driving, officials announced Tuesday.
Thanks to a $300,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, Costa Mesa police have funding for another year of increased Orange County DUI checkpoints, saturation patrols and sting operations.
The money will go to conducting warrant searches and stakeouts for repeat Orange County DUI offenders and stakeouts outside of local courts to see if people convicted of an Orange County DUI and prohibited from driving are in fact, following the law, official said.
The department received a similar grant last year that funded more than half a dozen DUI checkpoints.
The Daily Pilot reported on Orange County Criminal Cases. Newport Beach police saw a significant increase in identity thefts and counterfeiting in 2008 compared to a year before, while, according to FBI statistics, Costa Mesa began seeing fewer property crimes and burglaries in 2008.
According to the FBI's twice-yearly report released this week, violent crime nationally looks to be decreasing. The bureau compares statistics from the first half of 2007 and first half of 2008 for cities of 100,000 people or more. Data for Newport Beach, which is less than 100,000 in population, were not available through the FBI, but through the police department.
According to the FBI's numbers, Costa Mesa had 243 burglaries from January to June 2008. That's fewer than the 267 for the same period a year earlier. Motor vehicle thefts were down, as were property crimes. Costa Mesa police, however, did see a slight uptick in robberies and violent crime.
As a whole, however, the Orange County Criminal numbers show the most violent offenses staying mostly at 2007 levels and a downward trend in various property crimes.
"It's good investigations and proactive police work knowledgeable of current trends," said Costa Mesa Sgt. Bryan Glass.
Police officials credit the department's new approach to area enforcement -- assigning officers and their superiors to one half of the city -- as leading the charge. Now officers on the streets, sergeants and their supervising lieutenants will continually deal with the same neighborhoods, familiarizing themselves with the area and its issues, Glass said. The new approach began in January 2008. Beware Orange County Criminals.
Counterfeiting, forgery and receiving stolen property are all related to identity theft crimes, Newport Beach Lt. Craig Fox said. Orange County Criminal Cases have been rising, and Newport was not spared. There were 40% more counterfeiting and forgeries reported in 2008 than in 2007, when there were only 129 reported.
There were more Orange County DUIs in Newport Beach in 2008 than in 2007, but according to the numbers, the pace actually slowed in the second half of the year. Police ramped up enforcement last year and brought on an alcohol-liaison officer in June to work with local bars and restaurants on familiarizing them more with the laws and how to properly serve drinks.
"Based on the fact that this is a self-initiated statistic, you can't help but think the added focus has resulted in that increased number," Fox said.
Burglaries dropped 29% from 2007, noticeably so when it came to residential burglaries.
On the other end of the scope, thefts rose 14% to 1,651 in 2008. Officials said a significant portion of those are copper-theft related crimes.
As the value of copper declines in the economy, Fox said the city is looking for fewer of those cases.
The Daily Pilot reported on an Orange County DUI involving a sheriff. An Orange County Sheriff's lieutenant who recently became head of the department's Harbor Patrol in Newport Beach has been reassigned to a non-administrative role in the county's largest correctional institution, the Theo Lacy Facility, following her arrest for a suspected Orange County DUI, department officials said Thursday.
Lt. Erin Guidice rear-ended a car on Jamboree Road, just north of the 5 Freeway, on April 15, Irvine police said. Both cars had pulled over to the side after the collision.When officers responded, they noticed that Guidice showed signs of intoxication.After a field sobriety test, she was arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI, police said.
Guidice, a 22-year veteran with the Orange County sheriff's department, had been assigned Harbor Master for the department's Harbor Patrol stationed out of Newport Beach only weeks before the Orange County DUI arrest, said department spokesman Jim Amormino.
It's a separate inquiry from any police DUI investigation that could be turned over to county prosecutors for charges."There is a pending personnel investigation," Amormino said. "We started it as soon as we became aware of her Orange County DUI arrest." Amormino said if the investigation did not turn up any professional misconduct, Guidice could be reinstated as Harbor Master, but "we'll evaluate it at that time. It'll be based on operational need."
Guidice has an excellent professional record, officials said. A DUI arrest, which is a misdemeanor, doesn't typically warrant firing the person, Amormino said. "We look at everything on an individual basis," he said
The Orange County Register reported. An Orange County Superior Court judge accepted a plea deal Tuesday in a statutory rape case involving the son of a prominent Laguna Beach resident and the 14-year-old daughter of actor Richard Moll.
Charles John Quilter III pleaded guilty in court to a misdemeanor charge of having sex with a minor - a plea deal offered by Judge Gregory Jones that reduced the felony charge to a misdemeanor because Jones concluded the sex was consensual.
Prosecutors sought a felony conviction for the 26-year-old man, as well as family members of the victim who addressed the judge in court Wednesday. Among those who addressed Jones were Moll, known best for his role as a towering bailiff in the NBC comedy "Night Court," the girl's mother, and grandmother Lorna Berle, the widow of Milton Berle.
Meanwhile, Quilter's parents said their son was the victim of misplacing trust on someone he believed was of age and questioned why the victim's family would notify the media of the case and the victim's relation to the actor, thereby identifying the girl.
Jones sentenced Quilter to 60 days in jail, which can be served on weekends, and three years of supervised probation. He will not have to register as a sex offender.
"Unfortunately he reduced the charge to a misdemeanor, but it's good he's going to do jail time," Moll told a reporter with City News Service outside the court room. "And it's good he's in formal probation."
MEDIA ATTENTION
Jack Swickard, who represented the Moll family, said the victim's family believed they would not get a fair trial without media attention.
"I think the fact the media was there shines a light," Swickard said. "I think the family was more concerned in some sort of justice being served."
Several media outlets appeared in court for the hearing Wednesday afternoon, many of which had been contacted by Alfred Beardsley, who said he contacted the media because the family believed the case was being ignored.
"Mr. Moll wanted to bring attention to it," he said. "He felt it was being swept under the carpet by the defendant."
Quilter's parents, reached by phone Thursday, said they did not agree with the conclusion of the trial.
"There's a difference between justice and points of law," said Quilter's father, Charles John Quilter II. "Was the law followed in the prosecution of our son? Yes. Is it justice? No, and it's tragic."
Charles John Quilter II, an active member in the Laguna Beach community. A 37-year resident of Laguna Canyon, Quilter II has served as president of the Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade association. Quilter II, along with his siblings, also raised $750,000 for the Susi Q Center for seniors, which is named after their mother.
Charles John Quilter III could not be reached for comment, but his parents said the incident was a tragedy for both families, including their son who believed the girl was of age when he met her inside a local bar.
"I think this is a Kafka-esque situation where a young man that is not sophisticated was deceived by a young girl who appeared to be drinking an alcoholic drink at a bar," Quilter II said.
DRINKS AT WHITE HOUSE
According to authorities, Quilter III met the underage girl at the White House Restaurant on Oct. 6, 2008.
Video surveillance shows the victim inside the bar area. The video, which is about an hour long, also shows Quilter III with the victim, and the two of them leaving the restaurant, said Lt. Jason Kravetz of the Laguna Beach Police.
Both sides agree that the two left to a party afterward, which they left when the girl told Quilter III that she was under 21. But while Swickard contends the victim told Quilter III she was underage before having sex, the defense contended that revelation did not occur until afterward.
"He's been devastated since the early morning hours when he found out this girl was (underage)," said Ann Quilter, his mother. "His life has been turned upside down."
Quilter III suffered an anxiety attack after finding out she was underage and checked himself into a hospital for three days as a result, she said.
Ann Quilter said her son suffers from a learning disability and that may have affected his judgment at the time.
Laguna Beach Police began to investigate the case four days later, when the girl and a parent reported the incident at the station, Kravetz said.
Kay Rackauckas, ex-wife of Orange County Criminal Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Quilter III's attorney, characterized the girl as a troubled and wild teen who lied about her age.
Because he met her inside a bar and stood at about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 130 pounds, Quilter III believed the girl was an adult, Rackauckas said.
After the two had sex, the girl's mother and officers with the Laguna Beach Police were attempting to contact her through her cell phone, which is when she told him she was underage, Rackauckas said.
"Unfortunately these are the types of cases where everyone ends up dissatisfied," Jones said in court. "But in this case no one was injured and I believe everyone will survive this unfortunate incident."
But the victim's family said it wasn't until the incident that the girl began to act out and was sent to a boarding school hundreds of miles away.
District Attorney spokeswoman Susan Kang Schroeder said prosecutors were opposed to the plea deal because of the difference in age between the victim and Quilter III, and because there was alcohol consumption during the incident.
On the day the plea agreement was reached, Quilter III was also scheduled to appear in court for a DUI hearing which was postponed.
Prosecutors were not aware of any other sexual contact between Quilter III and the victim other than the Oct. 6, 2008 incident, Schroeder said.
Matt Keough's mug shot (Hollywood Gossip) Zimbio.com reported. Matt Keough, a former MLB pitcher who was featured on The Real Housewives of Orange County as cast member Jeana Tomasin's husband, was arrested for a DUI on Saturday.
Keogh played for several teams during his career, including the A's, Yankees and Cubs. His 22-year-old son, Shane Keough, is currently a minor league prospect for the A's.
A blood test by police showed Keough was 3 times over the legal limit.
The Hollywood Gossip reported that Keough was "sentenced to 180 days in jail in January 2008 for a DUI arrest that violated the terms of his probation following his 2005 DUI arrest."
AWO.com/news reported. A former MLB pitcher and one of the husbands featured on the reality show The Real Housewives of Orange County was reportedly arrested on Saturday for DUI.
Matt Keough, who was drafted by the Oakland A's in 1973 right out of high school, was allegedly arrested when he rolled through a stop sign in Coto de Caza, California, TMZ.com reports. However, the suspect reportedly didn't pull over immediately, forcing the police officer to follow Keough back to his residence.The defendant in this case will need to hire an experienced Orange County DUI Attorney or an Orange County Drunk Driving Lawyer
The 54-year-old's Orange County DUI Attorney allegedly showed he was three times over the legal limit. Keough was taken into custody and posted a $10,000 bond according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Keough pleaded guilty to felony DUI charges in 2005 after reportedly rear-ending a car at a red light in Orange County, and then rolled into a pedestrian walking his bicycle across the street. The pedestrian was briefly hospitalized with a knee injury. According to authorities, Keough wandered away from the accident.
In January 2008, the ex-ball player was seen drinking in a bar and sentenced to 180 days in an Orange County jail for violating probation from the 2005 DUI arrest.
On The Real Housewives of Orange County, Keough was featured as cast member Jeana Tomasin's husband
Thecapistranodispatch.com reported. The Sheriff's Department will be conducting Orange County DUI roving patrols during the upcoming Labor Day weekend in the cities of Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Rancho
Santa Margarita, Laguna Woods, Laguna Hills, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point and San Clemente.
These Multi-City DUI teams will target areas that have a high incidence of DUI related arrests and collisions.
Through implementation of these events, the Orange County Sheriff's Department hopes to significantly reduce deaths, injuries and property damage in each of our contract cities.
Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TBO.com reported. At least nine O.C. drunk drivers were caught this weekend by swerving across the road, driving in the wrong direction and falling asleep behind the wheel.
Beginning Friday night, around 9 p.m., a deputy on a traffic stop was passed by a car headed south in the northbound lanes of Commercial Way, near Hexam Road. A second deputy was dispatched to find the orange convertible, which wasn't hard because it nearly struck him head-on, a report shows.
The driver, Roland Murphy, was pulled over and a deputy said he immediately noticed signs of intoxication. Murphy reportedly explained that he was driving the wrong direction because at a flag man in the construction zone had pointed him that way. Neither deputy observed any construction vehicles in the area.
Murphy, 50, was charged with Orange County DUI and given a ticket for traveling the wrong way on a one way street. He reportedly provided a blood alcohol level of .110 and .109; Orange County DUI law presumes intoxication at .08.
On Saturday afternoon, around 5 p.m., a deputy noticed the driver of a car at the intersection of Cortez and Mariner boulevards appeared to be asleep behind the wheel. The driver roused 30 seconds after the light turned green and began driving, but he was pulled over at the Circle K on the corner of the intersection.
The driver, Trevor Keef, claimed he had snuck in three beers while at the Christian Camp on the Weeki Wachee River, a report shows. Keef, 34, was arrested on suspicion of DUI and taken to the county jail, where he reportedly supplied a blood alcohol level of .237 and .231.
Later that night, around 9 p.m., a man driving southbound on Mariner Boulevard at speeds between 60 and 70 mph was pulled over at County Line Road, a report shows.
The driver, Curtis Banks, 52, was arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI and provided a blood alcohol level three times the limit with results of .248 and .238, a report states. He had two prior DUI convictions.
Sunday morning began with a 2 a.m. traffic stop at E. Jefferson Street and Cortez Boulevard. A deputy had followed the suspect and reported multiple traffic infractions, including speeding 10 mph over the limit and weaving across the lines.
The driver, Otis Hamilton, 50, was arrested on suspicion of DUI; he refused to provide a breath test.
Thirty minutes later, on Shoal Line Boulevard, just south of Rogers Park, a deputy followed a suspicious vehicle for a half mile. He noticed the car weaving across the fog lines so a traffic stop was initiated. The driver, David Russell, continued a short distance before pulling into his driveway at 7381 Gettysburg Drive.
The deputy said Russell showed signs of impairment, so he was taken to the county jail on a charge of DUI. He provided a blood alcohol level of .062 and .066, so the citation was changed to driving under the influence below .08. Russell had one prior DUI conviction.
At 5 p.m. on Sunday, a reckless driver was reported by another motorist headed east on Cortez Boulevard. The car had swerved several times and almost hit other vehicles head-on, a report shows.
When a deputy caught up with the car at the Commercial Way intersection, medical personnel were evaluating the driver, Anthony Masino. He claimed he had only had one or two beers while swimming in the Weeki Wachee River, but the deputy said Masino had "extreme difficulty" walking.
Masino, 23, was arrested on a charge of DUI and reportedly provided a blood alcohol level of .148 and .145. He has one prior arrest for DUI, but he was not convicted.
Several hours later, around 9 p.m., a motorist reported an erratic driver headed north on Commercial Way from Hudson. A deputy intercepted the car at the Berkley Manor Boulevard intersection and pulled it over. The driver, Noe Duarte, 59, was arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI and reportedly provided a blood alcohol level of .180 and .175.
OC180news.com reported. Does this sound like a serious OC felony? According to the Orange County Criminal Attorneys office, Andy Quach, 37, a Westminster City Councilman, "sideswiped another car in his Mercedes Benz S550, lost control, struck a cement wall leading into the backyard of homes, and severed an electricity poll. At the scene, the defendant showed objective signs of intoxication including blood shot eyes, slow and slurred speech, and emitted a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and body. The defendant's balance was unstable and he performed poorly the field sobriety tests given by the police officer. Quach had a blood alcohol level of .26 percent."
Yesterday, in a plea deal with prosecutors, Quach pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of Orange County DUI, one misdemeanor count of DUI with a blood alcohol level over .08 percent, and a sentencing enhancement for having a blood alcohol level over .20 percent while driving. He was sentenced to three years of informal probation, 10 days of Caltrans work program, fines and fees totaling $2,000, and a 9-month alcohol awareness program. According to Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney's Office, this sentence is a "standard sentence that would be agreed upon for a first time offender."
The DA's release said "A few minutes past midnight, on Aug. 2, 2009, Westminster police officers responded to a traffic collision at 8821 McFadden Avenue in Westminster. Shortly after police arrived, the engine area of the defendant's car burst and ignited in flames. No one was injured in the crash.
Your Editors were curious about why this did not draw a more serious sentence and why it was not considered a felony. According to Emami, "Statutorily, based on the circumstances of this case, it could only be filed as a misdemeanor." Even the presence of a serious injury does not necessarily make it a felony. Emami said "If the only crime that's being committed is DUI, but the defendant isn't committing any other infractions...there's no speeding, there's no weaving in and out of lanes, things like that, and somebody gets injured, that could still be a misdemeanor based on the circumstances."
In the drunk driving cases which make headline news, there are usually more egregious crimes involved in addition to simply driving under the influence. Emami said "We have hundreds and hundreds of misdemeanor D.U.I. cases every year, they just don't receive any attention. In this case, it's receiving attention based on the fact that the defendant is a city council member."
This of course, led us to the question in the back of everybody's mind. We asked if charging this case as a misdemeanor had anything to do with the fact that he is a city council member. Emami said "Of course not. Anybody who committed the same crime and had similar circumstances would be charged the same way."
Fortunately, some innocent jogger was not out for a late night run at the same time and in the same place. Hopefully, Quach will learn from this.
SMdailyjournal.com reported. What started as a routine DUI checkpoint by the Redwood City Police Department July 2 ended with a small crowd in the North Fair Oaks neighborhood yelling, "Gringo, go home," and "We won, you lost," according to police on scene after a series of communication between a nonprofit director, a councilwoman and the chief of police.
The DUI checkpoint was shut down early after Redwood City Councilwoman Barbara Pierce called the Police Chief Louis Cobarruviaz and expressed concern about the checkpoint's proximity to the Fair Oaks Community Center, popular with Latino residents. Some, including rank-and-file officers, are now questioning whether the order to shut down the DUI checkpoint should have been made and wondering whether Pierce went too far in bringing her concerns to the chief. It also underscores a divide on the part of the Fair Oaks Community Center between providing services to their clients and letting law enforcement officials do their jobs.
"Why would anyone not want a DUI checkpoint in their neighborhood?" asked Mayor Rosanne Foust. "Every neighborhood would embrace it. They are designed to stop people who are drinking and driving. How complicated is that?"
According to veteran Redwood City police officers who wished to remain anonymous, officers working near the Fair Oaks Community Center July 2 were told by Capt. Chris Cesena the DUI checkpoint was being shut down after a call to him from the police chief.
E-mail correspondence suggests concerns about the DUI checkpoint were initiated by Sheryl Muñoz-Bergman, director of San Mateo County programs for the International Institute of the Bay Area. Muñoz-Bergman has an office at the community center and has been an outspoken voice for the immigrant community.
Muñoz-Bergman tried to contact Foust (who was out of town) and Cobarruviaz at 6:08 p.m. July 2, writing, "The Redwood City police are outside the Fair Oaks Community Center right now, using the parking lot to impound cars and arrest individuals."
She continued to write she was, "VERY CONCERNED about the location the police have chosen" and "would respectfully request that today if possible, and certainly in the future, that police DUI checkpoints be located elsewhere." She included in the subject line of the e-mail that "police were arresting clients at Fair Oaks Community Center."
She also called Pierce who said Muñoz-Bergman was concerned because neighbors felt the center was a "safe place," and she said neighbors felt "something else was happening." Safe places are facilities where you do not need to identify your immigration status, and services are provided without question or documentation.
Pierce then e-mailed Foust, Cobarruviaz and City Manager Peter Ingram (who was also out of town) and wrote that after hearing from a "community member," she was concerned that "local folks view the center as a safe place and so having the checkpoint and tow trucks there is raising concerns."
The department's policy of notifying the public well in advance of any scheduled checkpoint, and thus moving the location without notice was seen as a potential issue by Cesena. Also, moving the checkpoint another block south would have put them in the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction. Cesena decided it would be best to end the operation and reschedule it. Police checkpoints are traditionally two blocks away but there was construction at the usual site.
In an e-mail to Foust and Ingram, Cobarruviaz said the use of Fair Oaks was "unfortunate" and that "as soon as I was notified by ... Pierce of the concerns expressed by community center representatives, I notified ... Cesena and asked him to move the checkpoint to a different location on Middlefield Road, [or] suspend it." He also wrote he supported the decision and takes full responsibility.
During the approximately one hour and a half before the checkpoint was shut down, police issued 21 citations (19 for unlicensed drivers and two for driving with a suspended license). Nineteen cars were towed. DUI checkpoints allow police officers to demand driver's licenses and proof of insurance, and city leaders agree the roadblocks are an effective way to get drunk drivers off the streets.
After the checkpoint was shut down, police started to break down the operation, and a small crowd of about 18 people started cheering and yelling at the officers, according to officers at the scene.
"You are bums, get out of our neighborhood," and "We won, you lost," were just a few of the catcalls, according to officers.
"It is irresponsible of the crowd. They did not show good judgment," said Pierce. But "they [the police] could have avoided that by having [checkpoints] somewhere else."
"If police officers are unhappy, then maybe they need to speak with their boss," she added.
Police, who said they were just doing their job, see it differently.
"I was ashamed and humiliated because I am a part of this community and do not need to be told to go home," said one officer. "It is the saddest day I have ever had in my law enforcement career."
The mayor agrees.
"They did a disservice to their community because it affects the relationships the police have with law-abiding citizens," Foust said, adding that the focus should be on catching drunk drivers and making sure checkpoints are set up safely. "DUI checkpoints are clearly marked. The department states where they are going to be held. Where was the breakdown?"By Steve Penna
Special to the Daily Journal
What started as a routine DUI checkpoint by the Redwood City Police Department July 2 ended with a small crowd in the North Fair Oaks neighborhood yelling, "Gringo, go home," and "We won, you lost," according to police on scene after a series of communication between a nonprofit director, a councilwoman and the chief of police.
The checkpoint was shut down early after Redwood City Councilwoman Barbara Pierce called the Police Chief Louis Cobarruviaz and expressed concern about the checkpoint's proximity to the Fair Oaks Community Center, popular with Latino residents. Some, including rank-and-file officers, are now questioning whether the order to shut down the checkpoint should have been made and wondering whether Pierce went too far in bringing her concerns to the chief. It also underscores a divide on the part of the Fair Oaks Community Center between providing services to their clients and letting law enforcement officials do their jobs.
"Why would anyone not want a DUI checkpoint in their neighborhood?" asked Mayor Rosanne Foust. "Every neighborhood would embrace it. They are designed to stop people who are drinking and driving. How complicated is that?"
TMZ.com reported. Not only did "Real Housewife of Orange County" Lynne Curtin not own the house she was living in on the show, she also didn't own the furniture ... and now she's accused of stealing a bunch of stuff after she moved out this week.
The actual homeowner claims Curtin stole a bookcase, credenza, armoire and a glass shelf -- worth around $5,000 -- and reported the alleged thievery to Laguna Beach Police Department yesterday.
We got a statement from the homeowner, who said, "I am blown away that grown people can behave this way. They have daughters, how can they seriously think they are setting an example."
Erin Brooks, 24, Brian Hanson, 26, Michael Powell, 21, and Bret Hicks, 30, also pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated assault with hate crime enhancements, which could lead to 20 years in prison each. The four did not comment during today's hearing and were represented by private attorneys.
The four are being identified as white supremacists based on their tattoos, which say "Skinhead," "White Pride" and "Hate" and have references to "Heil Hitler" and a Nazi swastika, prosecutors and court documents said.
When the group found the victim standing in an alley speaking with another person, they attacked, yelling racial slurs, Reinhart said. The Orange County Register is excluding the victim's name because of concerns for his safety.
The victim was stabbed three times, fell to the ground and was punched and kicked when neighbors came to his rescue, fighting off the attackers, Reinhart said.
The victim was taken to the hospital and released the next day. The people involved in the beating sustained several bruises and cuts but did not need to go to the hospital, Reinhart said.The defendant in this case will need to hire an experienced Orange County Criminal Attorney or an Orange County Criminal Defense Lawyer.
SANTA ANA, Calif.--Mercurynews.com reported. An Orange County man has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for swindling investors out of $28 million for a trust that didn't exist.
Colin Nathanson, 62, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.
Nathanson solicited money from 2,500 investors for an investment trust that he said would be used to buy ownership interest in a private Internet-based technology company.
In fact, Nathanson was using the money to prop up his two failing golf businesses and fund a lavish lifestyle that included three houses in pricey areas of Orange County.
Nathanson pleaded guilty to last year to six counts of mail fraud.
HBindependent.com reported. A Huntington Beach Police Department officer was arrested Wednesday on charges of physically abusing his wife and girlfriend, and telling his wife not to report the assaults so he wouldn't lose his job.
James Roberts III, 33, was charged with eight counts of false imprisonment by violence or deceit; three counts of criminal threats; two counts of domestic battery with corporal injury; two counts of aggravated assault; one count of dissuading a witness by force or threat; and one count of vandalism causing $400 in damage or more, the county district attorney's office said.
According to authorities, Roberts married Jane Doe No. 1 in 2003, and had a son with her. In 2007, while still married, Roberts is accused of beginning a relationship with Jane Doe No. 2.
Between June 2007 and May 2008, Roberts is accused of physically and verbally abusing his wife. In July 2007, Roberts is accused of trashing Jane Doe No. 1's home by breaking and destroying furniture while she was out of town.
On at least three occasions, Roberts is accused of holding her physically against her will, once while she was with their young son.
Roberts is accused of assaulting the victim on one occasion by pushing her to the ground in the bathroom, causing her to hit the bathtub and toilet.
On another occasion, he is accused of intentionally pushing a door into his wife while she was standing behind it.
Roberts is accused of repeatedly telling Jane Doe No. 1 that he would lose his job as a police officer if she reported the assault, and threatened to kill her on at least one occasion, authorities said.
Between March and July 2007, Roberts is accused of physically restraining Jane Doe No. 2 to forcibly hold her against her will.
Jane Doe No. 2 ended her relationship with Roberts in early 2008. In May 2008, Roberts is accused of inviting Jane Doe No. 2 to his apartment to talk. He is accused of physically restraining her to prevent her from leaving, and assaulting her by grabbing her and pulling her to the ground once she had left the apartment.
In December, Roberts is accused of confronting a male friend of Jane Doe No. 1, ordering him to stay away from his wife and son, and insinuating that he knew where the friend lived and spent his free time.
If convicted on all counts, Roberts would face a maximum of 14 years in state prison. He is being held on $250,000 bail, and Orange County Criminal Lawyerwill be arraigned Friday in Santa Ana.
The attorney for Jeffrey David Kirby, 51, said he might seek a lighter sentence from an Orange County Superior Court judge in exchange for a guilty plea from his client.
The OC DUI attorney was tight-lipped about what kind of deal he's seeking for Kirby, but said he could seek a plea agreement from the judge, not prosecutors.
Kirby was arrested March 11 after police said he sped alongside a Ferrari driven by Charles "Mask" Lewis on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach and hit Lewis' car. Lewis' car lost control, as shown through skid marks still visible on the street, and careened into a light pole, ripping the sports car in half. Lewis died instantly; his passenger suffered broken bones, but was otherwise OK.
Lawyers can try to work out agreements with judges or prosecutors in exchange for a guilty plea. Kirby has already been convicted of one Orange County DUI and faces vehicular-manslaughter-while-intoxicated charges in this case.
He could be sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison if convicted.
Lewis was the founder of TapouT, a clothing company popular with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Police said an officer witnessed the crash as he drove on the opposite side of the road. The officer saw Kirby stop by Lewis' crashed car, then continue on. Kirby and his passenger then parked his car on Bison Avenue and were walking away from it, police said. He was arrested, and a blood test showed he had a .13 blood-alcohol level nearly two hours after the crash, prosecutors said.
NEWPORT BEACH - The Orange County Register reported. One person was arrested and another escaped Saturday after police chased two men suspected of preparing for a robbery.
A Corona del Mar resident called police after seeing two men applying false moustaches and changing clothes in a car.
Once police reached the scene, the men led them on a car chase north on Macarthur Boulevard, then north on the 73 Freeway to the 405 Freeway north. The driver was stopped and arrested on the 405 north near the Harbor Boulevard exit.
The passenger escaped by running across the freeway toward the Vagabond Inn, leaving a handbag containing wigs and handguns, police said.
"I'm sure they were going to do some kind of robbery somewhere, but we don't know where," said Lt. Rob Morton of the Newport Beach Police Department.
Police did not release the name of the arrested man.
The Orange County Register reported. Law enforcement agencies are wrapping up the summer with Orange County DUI checkpoints and are stepping up enforcement on seat belts and speeding.
Starting at 6 p.m. Friday and lasting through midnight Monday, all available California Highway Patrol officers will take to the roads in one of the department's periodic maximum enforcement efforts, watching out for violators in the three leading causes of highway deaths: driving under the influence, not wearing seat belts, and speeding, the CHP said.
In 2008, more than 11,700 people died in DUI highway crashes nationwide involving a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher. In California, the preliminary number for 2008 was 1,029 deaths, a 9 percent reduction from the year before.
During the Labor Day weekend enforcement period last year in Orange County, one person, a 64 year-old man, died after being ejected from his vehicle on the Beach Boulevard on-ramp to the northbound I-405, said CHP officer Jennifer Hink. The man was not wearing a seat-belt, she said.
The CHP arrested 67 people on suspicion of Orange County DUI during the same period, according to statistics.
The Orange County Register reported. Expect to see law enforcement out there. Agencies are planning a series of Orange County DUI checkpoints and looking for speeding and seat-belt violations. Last year, the California Highway Patrol arrested 67 people suspected of Orange County DUI during the three-day weekend.
NEWPORT BEACH - The Orange County Register reported. An Orange County judge today declined to offer a repeat Orange County drunk driver a lighter sentence in exchange for a guilty plea to vehicular manslaughter in the high-speed, alcohol-related crash that killed a prominent mixed-martial arts entrepreneur in March.
Superior Court Judge Derek G. Johnson said he heard two conflicting versions of events that led to the death of Charles David Lewis, Jr., one of the founders of the clothing company TapouT, including one from a prosecutor that detailed "egregious" conduct on the part of defendant Jeffrey David Kirby, 51, of Costa Mesa.
Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez argued that Kirby deserves an 18-year, eight-month prison sentence for "extremely gross negligence" in the March 11 early-morning DUI crash on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach.
Baez insisted that Kirby was to blame for the crash because he lost control of his Porsche while driving drunk at speeds approaching 100 mph and clipped Lewis' Ferrari, sending it spinning to disaster.
His defense attorney said during a one-hour hearing in the Harbor Justice Center that Kirby "feels horrible about what happened. He is extremely remorseful ... he's devastated. He will never get over this."
Swanson also said Lewis contributed to his own death by racing up to Kirby's 1977 Porsche in his high-performance Ferrari, startling Kirby with the Ferrari's speed and explosive sound. Kirby, the defense attorney claimed, was traveling at about 60 mph when Lewis approached at speeds in excess of 100 mph.
Swanson hoped that Johnson would offer a lighter sentence to Kirby if he pleaded guilty to DUI at an early stage in the court proceedings.
But Johnson said the case should go to trial.
Lewis, a Huntington Beach resident who called himself "Mask," died almost instantly when his Ferrari was ripped into three pieces after it jumped a curb and ran into a cement light pole.
Lacy Lynn White, Lewis' girlfriend, was seriously injured when she was ejected from the Ferrari. She suffered broken vertebrae, a broken hip, and a shattered elbow, among other injuries.
Baez said that Kirby knew - from prior Orange County DUI convictions in 1985 and 2002 - that drinking and driving was dangerous, but he chose to do so anyway. Kirby, the prosecutor said, had a .13 blood-alcohol level a few hours after the fatal crash.
Lewis may have contributed to the incident by racing with Kirby, the prosecutor acknowledged, but the crash would not have happened without Kirby's negligence.
Kirby is charged with four felonies, including vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run. He is being held on $500,000 bail at Orange County Jail pending his preliminary hearing next week.
FAIRBANKS -- Newsminer.com reported. The Alaska Supreme Court has reversed the DUI conviction of a Fairbanks man, saying a state law prohibiting his possible "delayed absorption" defense is unconstitutional.
The ruling states that defendants can argue they were less intoxicated while driving than when a chemical breath test was administered afterward. The Legislature prohibited the defense in 2004, but the court unanimously ruled that the law denies due process rights to DUI defendants.
The argument -- known informally as the Big Gulp defense -- contends there is a delay between a person's consumption of alcohol and the absorption of it into the bloodstream. Because of that, a defendant could hypothetically operate a motor vehicle while legally sober, only to have their blood-alcohol level climb into the illegal range after being pulled over.
Robert John, who argued on Valentine's behalf, said it was a victory for "the application of fairness and science" in the courtroom.
"I just believe this is an important decision for the accused and to have people who are innocent actually presumed innocent," John said.
The Supreme Court ruling came four years after a challenge from Valentine.
He was pulled over for speeding by Fairbanks Police Sgt. Dan Welborn, who noticed a moderate odor of alcohol and watery, bloodshot eyes, according to court documents. Valentine subsequently failed three field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest.
Two breath-alcohol tests that followed seemed to show a climbing rate of intoxication. A test given about 35 minutes later showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.099, followed by a second, independent test 25 minutes after that showing a level of 0.119 percent, court documents say.
Before the trial, Valentine argued that his case should be dismissed, challenging the 2004 amendments to the DUI law.
He was convicted by a Fairbanks jury, and the verdict was upheld by the Alaska Court of Appeals in 2007 by a 2-1 vote.
But in a decision written by Chief Justice Dana Fabe, the court agreed with the appellate court dissent that the prohibition on delayed-absorption evidence gives the prosecution an unfair advantage. Justices said that the law "unjustifiably prevents defendants from introducing evidence that is both scientifically valid and directly relevant to the question of whether the defendant was impaired by alcohol at the time of driving."
Rep. Jay Ramras, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the Legislature passed the ban on the Big Gulp defense to discourage people from drinking and trying to race to their destination.
The Fairbanks Republican said he thinks the Supreme Court ruling will require a procedural adjustment in how DUI cases are prosecuted, not necessarily a statutory change. Ramras said the Judiciary Committee will follow up on the ruling by asking for an opinion from Attorney General Dan Sullivan on how to respond.
Fairbanks District Attorney Mike Gray could not be reached to comment on the opinion.
The NYTIMES.com reported. HERE are two compelling facts about ignition-interlock devices for preventing drunk driving. One is that these devices are highly effective, despite the logical possibilities for bypassing them. The second is that they are rarely installed in the cars of people who have been known to DUI.
People driving while intoxicated still cause about 13,000 deaths a year in the United States. And of the 1.4 million arrests made, one-third involve repeat offenders. The greatest potential of ignition interlocks is to reduce this recidivism.
These hand-held devices, typically attached to dashboards and connected to the ignition, use fuel-cell technology to measure the concentration of alcohol in a person's breath. Although they are made by various companies, all ignition interlocks conform to strict standards of accuracy set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If too much alcohol is detected, the car will not start.
A person who has been drunk driving might naturally think of fooling the device by persuading a sober person to start the engine, but that is not enough to subvert the system, because the device requires breath samples while the person drives -- at random intervals of five minutes to an hour. (At least one company is also integrating cameras with the interlocks to photograph the driver when he provides a breath sample.) The unit keeps a log of all tests, and it is sealed so that any attempts at tampering can be detected.
Ignition-interlock devices are not perfectly effective; a drunk driver can often borrow another car. But in one recent study they were found to reduce repeat drunk-driving offenses by 65 percent. If they were widely installed, the devices would save up to 750 lives a year, a recent National Highway Transportation Safety Administration report estimated.
Many states have recognized their potential. Eight states now mandate that interlocks be installed in the cars of all DUI offenders, and another 25 require them for repeat offenders or those whose blood-alcohol content was far higher than the legal limit. Still other states give judges the option to order interlock installation. But implementation of these measures has lagged.
Judges often fail to order installation, even when the law requires it. Offenders routinely ignore orders to get interlocks. And in areas where the installation is voluntary, few offenders install them. In 2007, only about 146,000 interlocks were in use.
Part of the problem is that many already overburdened courts may lack the resources to monitor compliance. Some states make driver's license renewal conditional on the installation of an ignition interlock, but there is often inadequate integration between courts and motor-vehicle departments. Finally, the cost of the interlocks discourages people from complying with court orders.
The price of renting and maintaining a unit is $70 to $100 a month, and installation can be another $70 to $175. These charges increase the offender's temptation to simply drive without a license.
How can we get more DUI offenders to use interlocks? Better oversight by, and coordination among, authorities would help, as would efforts to make the units less expensive. New Mexico, which has been a leader in interlock legislation, has created a special fund to help pay the cost for low-income people. This has the side benefit of helping judges overcome their reluctance to order the use of interlocks.
It is also important to link ignition interlocks to substance-abuse treatment. Currently, court orders simply specify that the units be installed for a fixed period of six months to two years, regardless of whether the person has shown progress in curbing his drinking problem. That helps explain why, as research has shown, the devices have no lasting effect on the likelihood that a person will be arrested for drunk driving again after the interlock order is lifted. Mandates for interlocks should be tied to requirements for substance-abuse treatment, and removal of the devices should not be allowed until the offender has gone for an extended period without trying to start his car after drinking.
The ignition interlock could be an extraordinarily effective way to prevent drunk driving recidivism. But it can save lives only if we make sure people use it.
Mercurynews.com reported. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named a federal prosecutor, a county prosecutor, a local attorney and a former state prosecutor to East Bay judgeships Tuesday.
Kimberly M. Briggs, Paul A. Delucchi and Paul D. Fogel were named to the Alameda County Superior Court.
Briggs, 50, an Alameda Democrat, has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney since 1995; earlier she'd been an Alameda County Deputy District Attorney from 1987 to 1994. The wife of San Francisco Chief Deputy District Attorney Russ Giuntini, she holds a law degree from Santa Clara University and a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Delucchi, 40, a Castro Valley Republican, has been a deputy district attorney for the Alameda County Deputy District Attorney since 1996. Son of the late Alameda County Superior Court Judge Alfred Delucchi, he holds a law degree from Santa Clara University and a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley.
Fogel, 59, a Berkeley Democrat, has been a partner at Reed Smith since 2003. Earlier, he was an associate and partner with Crosby Heafey Roach & May from 1988 to 2003; an associate for Hinton and Alfert from 1987 to 1988; a California Supreme Court staff attorney from 1982 to 1987; a deputy state public defender in San Francisco and Los Angeles from 1977 to 1982, with a 1979-80 break as a Fulbright fellow at the University of Paris II Law School in France; and a Center for Law in the Public Interest fellow from 1976 to 1977. He
holds a law degree from UCLA and a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley.
The governor named Edward H. Weil, 54, an El Cerrito Democrat, to the Contra Costa County Superior Court. Weil was a supervising deputy attorney general since 2003 and a deputy attorney general for the California Attorney General's Office from 1988 to 2003. Earlier, he was a staff attorney for the San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation from 1984 to 1988; a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Housing
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed of Kimberly M. Briggs, 50, of Alameda to a judgeship in the Alameda County Superior Court. (Governor's Press Office)
and Urban Development from 1980 to 1984; and a student law clerk for the National Housing Law Project in 1980. He holds law and bachelor's degrees from UC Berkeley.
Also Tuesday, the governor named two East Bay Democrats -- federal prosecutor Andrew Y.S. Cheng, 42, of Piedmont; and attorney and former San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Monica F. Wiley, 39, of Oakland -- to the San Francisco Superior Court bench.
A Superior Court judge earns an annual salary of $178,789.
Contactmusic.com reported. TANK GIRL star LORI PETTY has been sentenced to five years' probation after pleading no contest to a charge of driving under the influence (DUI). The 45 year old, who also played Madonna's teammate in baseball film A League of Their Own, was arrested in Venice, California in May (09) after allegedly hitting a teenage skateboarder with her car. She was initially charged with DUI with injury, DUI with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher with injuries, and driving without insurance, but the counts were dismissed as part of a plea deal, and the DUI charge reduced to a misdemeanour. Petty's lawyer Blair Berk appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court last week (ends28Aug09) for the sentencing hearing. The actress, who was not present, was also ordered to pay fines, undergo outpatient treatment for alcohol abuse and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. The teenager she reportedly knocked down only suffered minor injuries, reports People.com
SANTA ANA The Orange County Register reported. A mistrial was declared when a jury deadlocked at 9-3 for second-degree murder Tuesday in a second trial for a Lancaster man accused of shooting a girlfriend as they sat in a car in the middle of a busy Irvine intersection in December 2002.
David B. Rodgers, 43, now faces a third trial on Oct. 19 for the slaying of Jeanie Waterson-Wheeler, 44, also of Lancaster, who was shot once in the chest in a Pontiac Grand Am in the intersection at Sand Canyon Avenue and Alton Parkway.
His first conviction of second-degree murder in 2005 was later overturned by the Fourth District Court of Appeal on grounds that the jury heard improper character evidence that he allegedly threatened to kill a policeman rather than return to jail.
Rodgers has been convicted of numerous crimes in the past, including false imprisonment and grand theft, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 1990 for sexual assault. He served 10 years and was released in 2000.
Deputy Public Defender Steve Womack argued during the second trial that Rodgers and Waterson-Wheeler were both methamphetamine users and that she was killed during a struggle for the gun.
Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy contended that Rodgers was on a methamphetamine binge when he pointed the gun at Waterson-Wheeler and pulled the trigger.If you are a Criminal in Orange County, you need the help of an experienced Orange County Criminal Defense Attorney who specializes in the Orange County Courts.
At Coffey and Coffey we specialize in OrangeCounty Criminal cases only. Because we deal Exclusively with Orange County Criminal Attorney cases, we have a huge advantage over all other attorneys that practice in OrangeCounty.
The Orange County Register reported. An officer with the Huntington Beach Police Department was arrested Wednesday and charged with physically abusing both his wife and a former girlfriend, prosecutors said.
James Roberts III, 33, is also accused of dissuading his wife from reporting the assaults in order to keep his job, the Orange County Criminal Attorneys Office said in a news release.
Roberts is charged with 17 felony counts of false imprisonment, threats, domestic battery, aggravated assault, dissuading a witness by force or threat and vandalism. He is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail and is expected to be arraigned Friday in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Roberts and his wife were married in 2003 and have a son. In 2007, while married, Roberts began a relationship with another woman, prosecutors said.
Roberts is accused of physically and verbally abusing his wife between June 2007 and May 2008.
Also, he once trashed her home by breaking furniture while she was out of town, prosecutors said. And at least three times, he physically restrained his wife to hold her against her will, once while she was with their young son, prosecutors said.
Roberts is also accused of physically restraining his former girlfriend to hold her against her will.
In December 2008, Roberts confronted a male friend of his wife, ordered him to stay away from her and insinuated that he knew where the friend lived and spent his free time, prosecutors said.
WESTMINSTER The Orange County Register reported. Councilman Andy Quach Wednesday morning pleaded guilty to Orange County DUI charges stemming from an Aug. 2 traffic accident when he crashed his Mercedes S550 into a pole, knocking out power to about 300 homes.
Quach did not attend the hearing, but his attorney Bart Kasperowicz entered the guilty plea on the councilman's behalf.
Commissioner Thomas Rees sentenced Quach to three years of informal probation, a nine-month alcohol education program, 10 days of Caltrans community service to be completed by Feb. 2, a $390 fine and various other fees and penalties.
Quach did not return phone calls Wednesday.
The councilman expressed remorse on the day of his arrest, saying that he would take full legal and financial responsibility for his actions. He also apologized during a City Council meeting. Quach has said that he does not plan to resign.
Mayor Margie Rice said Quach has done the right thing by owning up to his mistake. "He has a tough road ahead of him," she said. "I hope he has learned his lesson."
Rice said the City Council cannot legally take any action against Quach. According to California law, only elected city officials convicted of a felony are required to step down.
If you are Drunk Driving in Orange County, you need the help of an experienced Orange County DUI Attorney who specializes in the Orange County DUI defense.At Coffey and Coffey we specialize in OrangeCounty cases only. Because we deal Exclusively with Orange County DUI cases, we have a huge advantage over all other attorneys that practice in the Orange County Courts
Two misdemeanor counts of Orange County DUI (driving under the influence) were dismissed against Vilija Karka, who pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of reckless driving. Doesn't usually happen with Orange County DUIs.
Karka was listed in the Daily Pilot's DUI arrestees list in November. Repeat Orange County DUI offenders will need a very good DUI attorney.
FULLERTON - The Orange County Register reported. Two children were taken into protective custody Tuesday night after one of the siblings was found knocking on a door on Cedar Avenue, police said.
A neighbor down the street from the family's home told officers she heard a loud banging on her front door at 10 p.m. When she opened the door, she found a 3-year-old girl crying on the front porch. The neighbor called police.
Police walked the child up and down the street until the child pointed out her home, said police spokeswoman Hazel Perez. When no one responded to knocks on the door officers entered the house. Perez said the mother was found unconscious and allegedly driving drunk. Her 6-year-old daughter was found asleep in a bedroom.
Orange County Child Protective Services was called, and the children were taken to Orangewood Children's Home. The mother was taken to Fullerton City Jail, and booked for child endangerment, Perez said.
Cfah.org reported. More than one in 10 people who binge drinks gets behind the wheel of a car during or just after their binge. Of those who binge and drive afterward, more than half had consumed their liquor in a bar, restaurant or club.
"Drinking in bars and clubs is a huge independent factor in binge drinking and subsequent driving," said lead study author Timothy Naimi, M.D. "This study marks a failure of public health in the U.S., and one that is notable for the lack of will and resources devoted to enforcing even existing laws and alcohol control policies."
These findings come from a study appearing online and in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at data from a CDC telephone survey conducted in 2003 and 2004. More than 14,000 adults reported having more than five drinks during a single drinking session -- the definition of a binge -- in the previous 30 days.
The study ties drinking patterns to subsequent driving explicitly. "People think of impaired driving as a driving problem when it is as much a drinking problem as a driving problem," said Naimi, M.D., a physician with the CDC's Alcohol Team.
Forty-eight states have laws preventing the sale of more alcohol to someone who obviously is intoxicated, Naimi said. Yet the respondents had an average of eight drinks at a time; more than a quarter had 10 or more.
"Many of these folks were demonstrably hammered, yet got served more alcohol -- at a terrible cost to society," he said. "This study highlights alcohol-service activity that is clearly irresponsible and that places law-abiding establishments at a competitive disadvantage."
"This study confirms what others would have predicted, but in a much stronger way than ever before," said David Jernigan, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. All states should have strong laws making a licensed establishment that serves liquor to obviously intoxicated patrons liable for their subsequent actions, he said, but not all do. Bartenders and waiters must undergo training to spot intoxication, he added.
