October 2009 Archives

recordcourier.com reported. A 19-year-old Minden woman was sentenced Wednesday to 120 days in jail, suspended, for DUI resulting in an accident that injured two people.

"You're not too far away from a DUI vehicular homicide," said East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl. "That would have meant six to eight years in prison."

Charges of minor consuming and failure to give immediate notice of a DUI accident were dismissed against Stephani Medor.

"I'm happy everybody's OK," Medor said.

Her DUI lawyer,  said Medor was attending Alcoholics Anonymous and had no prior DUI  record.

"I think she understands the gravity of the situation," Brown said.

Deputies responded to a report of an overturned vehicle on Centerville Lane early Oct. 10.

When they arrived, two passengers were on the ground and Medor and a male passenger had fled into a neighboring field, according to reports. Passengers were taken to Reno by CareFlight. A woman passenger originally claimed she was the driver and said she swerved to avoid hitting a rabbit.

When Medor and her passenger walked out of the field, she admitted she had been driving and had consumed three shots of vodka before the accident, according to reports.

Her blood-alcohol content was .094, above the legal limit of .08 for driving in Nevada.

EnEarl placed Medor on probation for one y ear. She must refrain from drugs and alcohol, pay a $692 fine and attend the victim's impact panel and DUI school.

She is subject to unannounced search and seizure and EnEarl gave her 30 days to get a job.

She served four days in Douglas County Jail after the accident.

news.mywebpal.com reported. The Macon County State's Attorney's "No Refusal" DUI program will be working with area police agencies to enhance enforcement against DUI drivers on Halloween, State's Attorney Jack Ahola announced.

Ahola says that "drunk driving is no joke and many people in Macon County and across the state have lost their lives due to DUI drivers. The popular belief is that motorists have a 'right' to refuse a chemical test for the detection of drugs or alcohol when they are arrested for DUI. There is no such right in Illinois and motorists imply their consent when signing their driver's license."

Duane Deters, chief of the State's Attorney's DUI section, reported that "No Refusal" is a valuable law enforcement and prosecutorial tool in the fight against impaired drivers.

"The program brings together prosecutors, a nurse, a judge and police experts," said Deters. "They expedite the process of obtaining scientific evidence on DUI suspects as soon as possible. Warrants for urine or blood samples are sought on drivers who refuse requests to voluntarily provide a breath sample. If the judge orders a search, the DUI suspect will be taken to a local hospital to be given a blood test.

"We've told our guys that once you say you're going to apply for a warrant, whether they change their mind or not, go ahead and get the warrant so there won't be any question later," Deters said.

In Illinois, a driver of a car is considered DUI with a .08 percent blood-alcohol level.

No refusal weekends have been successfully held in several counties across the state and nation.

This process will also take the guesswork out of decisions to prosecute. Results in other jurisdictions have shown that 2 percent of the suspects were under the legal limit and had no other intoxication substance in the blood. This shows that the officers' decisions to arrest are overwhelmingly supported by scientific evidence, and potentially innocent subjects do go free.

It is hoped this DUI program will increase the rates of motorists consenting to provide breath samples.

The statewide refusal rate is about 40 percent. During "No Refusal" program nights, that refusal rate has dropped to as low as 0 percent in some areas.

If you are going to drive this Halloween, or any other time for that matter, don't drink. If you do decide to drink, use a designated driver, call a friend or take a cab.

kfsm.com reported. Halloween is meant to be full of scary fun, but law enforcement officials say they're starting to see a frightening trend, surrounding this holiday.

Law enforcement officials say when it comes to safety for trick or treaters, adults drinking and driving is becoming the major issue on Halloween night.

Gary Connor is a detective with the Washington County Sheriff's Department. He says, "I think adults look at it as a time to party, to dress up, go out and party, drink a little bit. It's becoming more of an adult holiday, than for the kids. If you are drinking, do not be driving."

National reports show almost 12,000 and people were killed in DUI-related crashes last year. Over a year, that's equal to one person dying from a DUI every 45 minutes. Connor says, "there are kids out there, they're excited, they're wearing masks where they can't see real well, they're going to be darting into streets unexpectedly, they're going to be coming from between cars."

And besides Halloween, he says there's a home game for the Razorbacks, Saturday night. "We're going to have 70,000 people in town that we don't normally have. They are going to be partying, they are going to be drinking. It's just an invitation for disaster when you have a bunch of kids out there who are trying to trick or treat."

So city officials say it may be okay for parents to play a "trick" on their kids by "treating" them with an early Halloween. Julie Pennington shares with 5News what the Fayetteville Visitor's Bureau has up their sleeve. "A day early! Come out - kids come out! The great thing about this is kids can come out before it gets dark. The traffic's going to be wild and crazy. Hog fans everywhere, and just for safety/security, it will just be easier on the kids, as well." And Connor says, "the biggest single thing you can do is be with your kid on Halloween night. That's the safest, best thing you can do."

If you're interested in celebrating as a family, you've got some choices. Halloween on the square will be held Friday night from 3-5p.m. in the evening, and Mall-O-Ween will be held right here at the Northwest Arkansas Mall, Halloween night.

Drivers are DUI when their blood alcohol concentration is .08 grams per deciliter, or more.

sealbeachdaily.com reported. The Sheriff is alerting drivers that a Orange County DUI task force will spearhead a crackdown on DUI this Halloween weekend. "Law enforcement officers throughout the region will be out in full force arresting and removing drunk drivers from our roads," said Sgt. J. Brittain of the Sheriff's Department's Traffic Bureau.

"With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, we want to make sure revelers aren't taking the party to the roadways, putting trick-or-treaters and responsible motorists at risk," Brittain said.

The "Avoid the 12″ DUI Task Force -- named for 12 area agencies that enforce drunk driving laws -- will be deploying additional DUI patrols on Friday and Saturday nights, according to the Sheriff's Department. And, every traffic and patrol officer working this weekend will be focusing on removing DUI drivers from the roads.

The Sheriff's department offered the following tips to "Avoid the 12″:

• Plan a safe way home before the festivities begin
• Before drinking, designate a sober driver
• No designated driver? Use a safe alternative: a taxi, a sober friend or family member, or public transportation
• Report drunk drivers: call 911. If you happen to see a DUI on the road, don't hesitate to contact law enforcement

The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI. A Laguna Hills man who crashed into a tree in San Clemente while under the influence of alcohol, killing his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn 5-month-old fetus, was sentenced to 55 years to life in state prison today.

Danny Calvin Ruiz, 36, was convicted of Orange County DUI in July of two felony counts of murder in the deaths of Andrea Gerdon, 33, and her unborn child.

Ruiz had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 percent -Orange County DUI - more than twice the legal limit - when he crashed his Chevrolet Blazer into a palm tree on Camino de Estrella in San Clemente on May 3, 2008, while he was driving home from a wedding reception, according to prosecutors.

Deputy District Attorney Susan Price argued that Ruiz was speeding at speeds in excess of 60 mph in a 35 mph zone when he lost control of the SUV.

Ruiz was convicted of second-degree murder under the legal theory that he knew driving while intoxicated was dangerous because he had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor Orange County DUI five months before the fatal crash. As a result of that guilty plea, he was ordered to participate in alcohol education programs, where he was instructed that driving while intoxicated could be deadly to himself and others.

In August 2007, Ruiz was released on parole after serving most of a 15-year sentence for a 1995 carjacking conviction. His parole terms forbade him from consuming any alcohol or driving without the permission of his parole officer, prosecutors said. He also has a 1991 conviction for robbery.

The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI checkpoint:

The Orange Police Department is conducting an Orange County DUI and driver's license checkpoint from 7 p.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Saturday. The checkpoint is at the 800 block of North Tustin Street for southbound traffic. Funding for Orange County DUI special enforcement efforts is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration  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.

humboldtbeacon.com reported. Fortuna Police Department has been awarded a new traffic safety grant for a year-long anti-DUI program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on our roadways. New enforcement measures to combat DUI driving are coming as a result of a recent $30,960.00 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to the City of Fortuna. The Fortuna Police Department is dedicated to keeping our streets safe through both DUI enforcement and education.

Sgt. Matthew Eberhardt says, "Fortuna Police Department Officers have always been proactive in combating DUI violations. With this grant, we look forward to the opportunity to increase these efforts, making our community and roadways safer."

The special DUI Enforcement and Awareness grant is to assist in efforts to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol and other drug related collisions. The grant activities will specifically target DUI offenders as well as educate the public on the dangers of impaired driving. This will be done through the use of DUI/driver's license checkpoints, warrant searches and stakeouts for repeat DUI offenders, saturation patrols, and court stings targeting DUI offenders with suspended or revoked driver licenses who get behind the wheel after leaving court.

Drunk driving is one of America's deadliest crimes. In 2008, over 11,700 people died in highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.

"Last year in California 1,029 died in alcohol impaired crashes, a 9 percent reduction in deaths from 2007," said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety. "This grant will help keep that trend going by getting drunk drivers off the roadways of Fortuna, making it safer for everyone."

newstimes.augusta.com reported. Unless you party responsibly, Halloween can quickly become the most devilish of times on our roadways. DUI crash stats from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration consistently show Halloween is a particularly deadly night due to drunk drivers.

Last year, a frightening 58-percent of all highway DUI fatalities across the country involved a driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. In Georgia, one in three fatalities on Halloween night was alcohol-related.

It's a party that's just not worth dying for. That's why we're joining our statewide highway safety partners again this Halloween to stop dui drivers before they can kill.

In recent years, Georgians who drive drunk have transformed Halloween into one of the state's most deadly holidays. In 2005, five people died and 22 were seriously injured in 1,005 Georgia Halloween dui crashes. In 2006, three people died and 10 were seriously injured. And in 2007, Halloween dui crashes claimed the lives of seven Georgians and 15 others were seriously injured.

These numbers are frightening. Drinking and driving on Halloween can turn a night of festivities into something scarier than any horror movie. But unlike the assorted ghouls who frequent TV fright nights on Oct. 31, real people don't walk away when they're hit by a drunk driver.

Luckily, there are a few simple precautions partygoers can take to keep Halloween from turning into a real-life nightmare: Designate a sober driver before drinking, plan a safe way home before festivities begin, call a taxi or a sober friend if you're too impaired to drive, and don't hesitate to call your local law enforcement if you suspect another motorist is driving impaired. ...

Even motorists who aren't planning on indulging Halloween night need to keep the following few safety tips in mind: be extra alert when pulling out of driveways; drive below the speed limit; watch for darting children, especially between parked cars; don't use cell phones when driving through residential areas; and don't pass other vehicles stopped in the roadway - they could be dropping off children.

For more information about the dangers of drunk driving, visit www.Stop ImpairedDriving.org, and for more information about Halloween traffic safety, visit www.nhtsa.gov.

nypost.com reported. A mother accused of drunk driving a station wagon full of kids during a Manhattan DUI wreck that killed an 11-year-old pleaded not guilty today to manslaughter and DUI.

Carmen Huertas, 31, wiped her eyes with a tissue as she was arraigned via video between a Manhattan courtroom and Elmhurst Hospital where she is on suicide watch.

A DUI lawyer said Huertas is being cast as "a poster child for the bad mother, and she's not that person."

Prosecutors claim Huertas drank for hours before getting behind the wheel Oct. 11. She was driving her own 11-year-old and six of her daughter's friends to a sleepover at her home.

"I anticipate that is what the people will be asking in this case," the prosecutor said.

The DA's hard line was announced this morning as a sobbing Huertas sat handcuffed in a wheelchair.

Rubin said the $250,000 cash bail set by Solomon amounts to remand.

"She is devastated by the death of this child in her car," Rubin said in asking bail be set at $50,000 or less. "I've heard them ask for better bails for robbers and rapists," the lawyer said.

Outside court, some two-dozen of Huertas' relatives and friends consoled each other, some in tears, over the bail decision.

"They're portraying her as the poster child for the bad mother,"  "But she's really not that person."

"There's so much being said now by children and parents of children," the lawyer added. Some of it's true, but some of it's hyper-exaggerated comments being made by understandably distraught people."

wowt.com/news reported. A DUI case involving a golf cart is drawing some strong reactions from the public. DUI charges were dropped yesterday against Kimberly McIllece who was accused of drunk driving in the death of her friend Debbie Deines.

The public got to hear McIllece's 911 call for the first time yesterday. She made the call after her golf cart crashed along a cart path at Tiburon Golf Club after hours last May.

She was charged with DUI and motor vehicle homicide. But those charges were dropped because the court ruled that state DUI laws don't cover incidents on private property.

The case was a hot topic this morning on the Scott Voorhees Show on KFAB radio. A caller named Chris said, "I think Kim should be prosecuted for DUI if anything, because she put herself and Debbie in a very dangerous situation, and she needs to pay for it."

Jack was another caller on the show. "I haven't heard her take responsibility for her actions. And her simply having the grief of killing her best friend; you know that just doesn't go far enough for me."

Speaking for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Jerry Beller lost his brother and sister in law in a drunk driving crash in New Mexico back in 2002. He believes that even on private property there has to be personal responsibility. "Loved ones are playing with weapons and people get killed. We have to be responsible. And there have been sentences for that. Why is this anything different just because it was on private property?"

MADD plans to work with the Legislature to change Nebraska DUI laws to apply to private property.

The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI.

"Indiana Jones" star Shia LaBeouf was arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI, Sunday after an early morning car accident in which he was injured, police said.

LaBeouf was the driver of a vehicle that was involved in a 3 a.m. collision in Hollywood, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Scott Wolf said.

"It was immediately apparent to officers responding on the scene that LaBeouf was intoxicated and he was subsequently placed under arrest for Orange County DUI" Wolf said.

LaBeouf was being treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for injuries to his head, left hand and knee, Wolf said. A female passenger in LaBeouf's car and the driver of the other vehicle were not seriously injured.

Wolf said LaBeouf, 22, was booked for a misdemeanor Orange County DUI and released.

Wolf did not know the identities of LeBeouf's passenger or the other driver.

In November, he was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing after a drunken tirade in a Chicago Walgreens.He later told David Letterman on the "Late Show": "Drinking and driving is one thing, but drinking and shopping ... it's just as bad." Prosecutors dropped charges because Walgreens Co. and a security company indicated they didn't want to continue the case.

Two of LaBeouf's publicists did not immediately return calls seeking comment Sunday. Neither did two attorneys who have previously represented LaBeouf.

sacbee.com reported. Nabbing suspected DUI drivers on a Friday night in Sacramento, it turns out, is like shooting fish in a barrel.

A California Highway Patrol strike force cited 57 people who were believed to be DUI - including seven on bicycles - during an eight-hour period last weekend on major freeways and surface streets in central and south Sacramento.

The effort, called Rapid Apprehension of DUI Drivers, or RAID, involved 25 patrol units and is part of an ongoing effort by Sacramento officials to combat an entrenched road danger.

The arrest total from Friday night and early Saturday isn't unusual for a DUI strike force in Sacramento, CHP spokesman Mike Bradley said. In fact, it's average.

"The south Sacramento area is a high concentration area for alcohol- and drug- related driving offenses," Bradley said. "That is why Sacramento is one of the DUI crash leaders in the state."

Bradley said DUI arrests peaked around 11 p.m. Friday, when after-work drinkers were headed home, and 2 a.m. Saturday, when the bars closed.

Arrests were spread out on highways 99 and 50, Interstate 5 and Business 80, and major surface streets in unincorporated areas, such as Florin Road, Stockton Boulevard and Franklin Boulevard, he said.

Thirty-seven were for DUI, eight for driving under the influence of drugs, seven for riding a bike under the influence and five for public intoxication. Three additional arrests were for outstanding warrants.

The effort, financed by state Office of Traffic Safety grants, is repeated on a periodic basis throughout the Valley. Officials said they'll conduct another round-up Friday in the Chico area.

California has been on a push in recent years to reduce DUI injuries and deaths - an effort that includes tougher sentencing laws, freeway "Call 911" signs and DUI sobriety checkpoints.

Drunk driving crash rates have dropped, along with other types of crashes, data show, but the numbers remain substantial.

In 2008, more than 1,000 people were killed - about 30 percent of the roadway deaths in California - in DUI crashes where at least one driver had a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit of .08 percent, according to the state Office of Traffic Safety.

A new law will crack down on DUI driving in Sacramento, Alameda, Los Angeles and Tulare counties starting in July 2010.

Motorists found guilty of a first offense DUI will be required to install and use breathalyzers in their cars for five months.

Drivers convicted of second and third DUI offenses will be required to install and use breathalyzers for a year or more.

The breathalyzers - also called ignition interlock devices - keep a vehicle from starting if the driver's breath shows more than a small amount of alcohol in the blood.

The law initially could affect 4,000 first-time DUI drivers per year in Sacramento County, based on state reports.

Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, the law's author, said Sacramento was chosen as a test county because it's a major county with higher-than-average drunken driving crash numbers.

The city of Sacramento, in particular, has the highest drunken driving injury and fatality rate among the state's largest cities, an analysis by the state safety office showed.

toledoblade.com reported. The investigation continues into a Toledo police officer arrested for DUI while on duty.

James Breier, who has been with the department since 1982, was arrested Friday afternoon for DUI, Toledo police chief Mike Navarre said.

Mr. Breier was on duty in uniform and driving a patrol car when he was called to investigate an accident involving a fire truck at Detroit and Berdan avenues about 1:45 p.m., the chief said.

That's when a battalion chief with the fire department suspected Officer Breier was intoxicated and notified the police department, which sent a sergeant to the scene to investigate, Chief Navarre said.

"It was felt the officer was intoxicated and he was taken into custody," the chief said.

Officer Breier was temporarily relieved of duty without pay and an administrative investigation is underway, Chief Navarre said.

The officer refused a Breathalyzer test for the criminal DUI investigation but did submit to one as part of the administrative proceedings. The results are not being released because it could jeopardize the criminal case, Chief Navarre said.

TOMAH, Wisconsin - wkrg.com/caught_on_camera reported. A Wisconsin lawmaker is in trouble with the law after police say he broke the DUI law.

Take a look at the dash cam video on the right. It shows State Representative Jeffrey Wood hit a curb when police pulled him over for DUI.

Moments before the video starts, police say Wood stopped his Buick Skylark in the middle of the road and then swerved across both lanes of traffic.

They ask Wood to walk a straight line, but he can't even stand up. Wood stumbles backward into the back of his car before falling down into grass.

He was arrested on suspicion of DUI of prescription drugs. The video also shows police seizing bottles of prescription drugs that were on Wood during the DUI arrest.

themaneater.com reported. As the U.S. Supreme Court issued its docket for the coming term, two justices issued a rare dissent last week against the court majority's decision not to hear a DUI case about whether police can rely on anonymous tips to track down drunk drivers.

Justice Samuel Alito joined Chief Justice John Roberts in dissenting against the majority's decision not to hear Virginia v. Harris, in which the DUI conviction of Joseph A. Moses Harris, Jr. was thrown out because police pulled Harris over on a tip that he had been drinking and driving.

"The stakes are high," Roberts wrote in his dissent. "The effect of the rule below will be to grant DUI drivers 'one free swerve' before they can be legally pulled over by police. It will be difficult for an officer to explain to the family of a motorist killed by that swerve that the police had a tip that the driver of the other car was drunk, but that they were powerless to pull him over, even for a quick check."

According to court documents, police received an anonymous tip Dec. 31, 2005 that Harris was driving a green Nissan Altima while intoxicated. An officer located Harris and saw him drive slowly through an intersection where he did not have to stop and brake well before another red light, but did not witness a violation. In February, the Virginia State Supreme Court threw out the DUI charges against Harris, citing a lack of probable cause for the stop.

Alicia Ozenberger, project director for the Missouri Youth Adult Alliance, a group that works to counter underage drinking, said some teen drivers might interpret the ruling as a free pass to drink and drive, but said the burden for discouraging such behavior is on adult figures more directly involved in teens' lives.

"Kids gather their opinions from the media, but they also get their opinions from family and friends around them," Ozenberger said. "It's really up to us adults to set the right example."

Carl McDonald, national law enforcement initiative manager for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said courts have historically struggled with the issue of whether anonymous tips constitute probable cause for a traffic stop.

Although the Virginia court ruled officers must see a traffic violation before they can make a stop, the ruling would not affect DUI checkpoints, where officers can briefly detain all drivers, even if they have committed no crime. DUI checkpoints were legalized by the 1990 case, Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz.

Despite the ruling in the Virginia case, McDonald said MADD still encourages citizens to report all possible drunk drivers so police can find the driver and watch for a traffic violation necessary to establish probable cause.

"We encourage people to call because that's a true emergency," McDonald said. "It doesn't really change much because the police know they have to establish their own suspicion to support the tip."

MADD played a role in the Harris case, submitting an amicus brief giving their argument for the case to be heard even though they were not directly involved.

Duke University law professor James Coleman headed a group MADD commissioned to submit a brief in the case. He said the Supreme Court ought to tell the states what is required by the Constitution because this case involves such an important issue, the danger drunk driving presents.

"I'm not sure the Virginia court was wrong, but I believe that this is an important enough issue that the Supreme Court should have clarified it," Coleman said.

TAMPA, FL -- abcactionnews.com reported. Tampa Bay Bucs lineman Marcus Johnson now has a police record to go with his team's 0-7 record this season. Johnson was arrested for DUI in the middle of a major intersection early Tuesday morning. Police say he was drunk and sound asleep.

A Tampa Police lieutenant noticed Johnson's 2010 rental car stopped in the middle of the intersection of Dale Mabry Highway and Martin Luther King Blvd., right in front of Raymond James Stadium, where the Bucs play football.

According to a police report, Johnson was asleep and Lieutenant J Diaz "had to wake him up." Diaz called for a DUI investigator who, "noted clues of DUI including a distinct odor of an alcoholic beverage from the defendant's mouth, bloodshot/glassy eyes, and a noticeable sway upon standing unsupported.  The defendant agreed to perform DUI sobriety exercises.  During these, the defendant exhibited numerous clues of impairment."

Johnson, who signed with the Bucs this season as a free agent, was arrested for DUI. He refused to take a blood alcohol content (BAC) test at the Hillsborough County Jail.

Johnson has played six seasons in the NFL. Before signing with the Bucs this year, he played for the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders. The Bucs' website lists Johnson as second on the depth chart for offensive right guard.

The Daily Pilot reported on an Orange County DUI. A mother who accused Costa Mesa police and paramedics of negligence when they arrested her son on suspicion of Orange County DUI, when he actually was suffering a fatal brain aneurysm, has dropped her lawsuit against the city.

Dolores Foley, mother of Richard Donald Kurtz, earlier this month filed a motion to dismiss her wrongful-death lawsuit against Costa Mesa, court documents show.

Kurtz died Sept. 4, 2007, in Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

Three days earlier he had been arrested for allegedly Orange County DUI and Orange County Drug possession by Costa Mesa police after a person reported seeing Kurtz driving erratically, according to the lawsuit.

Court documents show Kurtz was pulled over by police and given a Breathalyzer at the scene.

His blood-alcohol level came out .00. He was arrested after failing a field sobriety test and telling police he took pain medication earlier in the day -- which Foley claims was probably for the undiagnosed aneurysm.

Kurtz collapsed in the police holding cell and failed to respond to an officer's command.
Police called paramedics, who rushed him to Hoag Hospital.He died three days later.
Foley's suit was seeking unlimited damages and claimed that a reasonable person would've seen the warning signs of her son's condition.

Police should not have arrested him, and paramedics should have gotten him to the hospital sooner, she argued.

City Atty. Kimberly Barlow said there was no merit to the suit, and that's why Foley dropped it.

The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI . A wrong-way driver on the 91 freeway caused a head-on collision early Monday morning that killed two people.

The driver, 21-year-old Jessica Shekell of Fullerton, is suspected of Orange County DUI, authorities said.

Shekell's 2003 Toyota Tacoma was going west in the eastbound FasTrak lanes of the 91 freeway when it crashed into a 2009 Chevrolet Silverado just east of the 55 freeway around 3 a.m., killing two members of the Miguel family of San Bernardino, said Officer Denise Quesada of California Highway Patrol.

The Silverado's driver, Sally Miguel, 44, was pronounced dead at the scene, and Patricia Miguel, 30, who was riding in the front seat, died after she was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Their two nieces, ages 15 and 11, were taken to Western Medical Center and UCI Medical Center in Orange for treatment of their injuries. The 11-year-old's injuries were described as major, and her sister's injuries described as moderate.Of the five people in the accident, Shekell was the only one wearing a seatbelt, the CHP reported. Shekell, the driver of the Tacoma, was taken to UCI Medical Center. She faces charges for Orange County DUI, Quesada said.

Shekell is a first-semester sociology major at Cal State Fullerton, according to the Daily Titan. CHP dispatchers received a report of a wrong-way driver at 2:56 a.m., and six minutes later, had to dispatch ambulances to the location. The eastbound FasTrak lanes were closed until 5:45 a.m. Two flatbed evidence tow trucks were sent to haul off the vehicles in the accident.  If you or a loved one has recently been charged with driving under the influence, please do not hesitate to contact our skilled Orange County DUI attorneys

hjnews.townnews.com reorted. DUI was in the national spotlight last week when U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. spoke out against a Virginia court ruling in which a DUI case was thrown out after it was determined that police weren't justified in making a traffic stop on an intoxicated driver.

The defendant in the case, Joseph A. Moses Harris, was pulled over in 2005 after Richmond, Va., police were tipped off that he was driving intoxicated. He failed field sobriety tests and was convicted of a felony DUI. Three years later, however, the Supreme Court of Virginia reversed the ruling, saying the officer's observations "were not sufficient to create a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, and that, therefore, Harris was stopped in violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment."

But on Tuesday, Roberts said the ruling "grant(s) drunk divers one free swerve," and cautioned, along with Justice Antonin Scalia, that law enforcement may not get a chance to pull over an impaired driver before it's "too late."

And the debate goes on.

Some Utah defense attorneys say state DUI laws are a trap for drivers and a revenue source for legislators. Prosecutors, however, argue that DUI laws protect society from deadly motor vehicle accidents that take lives and valuable legal resources.

The Tests

Of course, law enforcement's first step in successfully charging an impaired driver begins with the traffic stop. The Virginia case is similar to a North Logan DUI charge that was thrown out by 1st District Judge Clint S. Judkins in 2008 under similar circumstances.

"This has to be looked at through two windows," Judkins said previously. "The first being that the police officer was on the street simply doing his job; the other is a person's Fourth Amendment right."

If a peace officer has articulable evidence to pull someone over, he or she then runs a series of tests to determine if the operator is impaired. North Park Police Sgt. John Italasano says three standardized tests have been developed -- all of which are designed to show evidence of a 0.10 blood alcohol content, or BAC, level. A fourth, the portable breathalyzer test, or PBT, confirms the presence of alcohol but, contrary to popular belief, does not give an actual BAC measurement that can be used in court.

"All the breathalyzer test does is confirm our suspicions," said Italasano. "All we can do on the PBT is report whether they show positive or negative for alcohol."

But first come the horizontal gaze and nystagmus, nine-step walk and turn and one-leg stand field sobriety tests that officers are expected to master.

"For the horizontal gaze and nystagmus, or HGN, we check for involuntary jerking of the eye," said Italasano. "We have them follow a stimulus, usually a pen or finger, in a smooth pursuit mode and we check for nystagmus at maximum deviation."

Nystagmus, he explained, is the involuntary jerking of the eye once it has panned to one side of the eye socket.

If a person is DUI or other drugs including inhalants and PCP, the eye will not follow smoothly, he said. It will follow in a jerking motion. Failing a vertical nystagmus test, he added, suggests the use of cannabis. The reliability factor for HGN is about 74 percent, he said.

The nine-step walk and turn test requires a subject to stand with the right foot in front of the left, heel-to-toe with arms to the side. Police are looking for clues, including failing to stand as instructed, starting too soon, stopping after starting, using arms for balance, not being able to walk in a straight line and turning the wrong way. The walk-and-turn test has a reliability factor of 70 percent.

"But if you add the two, the reliability factors goes up to about 84 percent," said Italasano.

The third test is the one-leg stand. A suspect stands with arms to the side and lifts the foot straight out about six inches from the ground while counting aloud until the officer says to stop. Police watch for foot lowering, raising arms, hopping and swaying. The reliability of that test is only 68 percent, he added.

The Law

Forget what you knew about "point-zero-eight." DUI attorneys and law enforcement alike say people are arrested for DUI for having BAC levels lower than the "legal limit."

"The officer is not going to know the blood alcohol content on the street," said Italasano. "If you're showing impairment based on the field sobriety tests, you're going to get arrested."

Utah statue states that a person may not operate or be in actual physical control of a vehicle if that person "has sufficient alcohol in the person's body that a subsequent chemical test shows that the person has a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.08 grams or greater at the time of the test," or "is under the influence of alcohol, (or) any drug to a degree that renders the person incapable of safely operating a vehicle."

Italasano says, "In Utah you don't have to be 0.08 to be arrested. The reason for that is alcohol affects people differently. A person could be impaired at 0.04, or 0.05 or 0.03. If they're a young kid and they just had a couple beers they'll show impairment sooner."

He cautioned that young and first-time drinkers can be severely impaired even well below the legal limit and stressed that cough syrup and sleeping aides can have identical effects on driving.

If a person is stopped for impaired driving, the legal battle is already tipping in favor of the state. Utah drivers have already consented to a breathalyzer or other alcohol indicator test well before they were busted for DUI -- most did it when they turned 16 and signed up for a license.

Utah's "Implied Consent" law states that anyone operating a vehicle "is considered to have given consent to a chemical test or tests of the person's breath, blood, urine, or oral fluids."

Sanctions for refusing a test include immediate revocation of one's driver license, a five- to ten-year probation and additional fines.

"We can't force it out of you," said Italasano. "But the penalties are stiffer if you refuse."

In many cases, police obtain a warrant to draw blood from a DUI suspect -- often waking a district judge at three in the morning or meeting him or her inside a restaurant or movie theater for the required signature.

If convicted in Utah, a first-time class-B misdemeanor DUI charge carries a minimum fine of $1,340 and may be punishable by up to six months in jail. The charge is enhanced to a class-A misdemeanor if the operator inflicts bodily injury to another person, has a passenger under 16 years of age or had a passenger under 18 if the driver is older than 21.

A third DUI in a 10-year period constitutes a third-degree felony, punishable by prison time.

Logan's 1st District Judge Kevin K. Allen says DUI is very serious but that he tries to show compassion on first-time offenders. It's when people get subsequent charges, he says, that he's required to tighten his fist.

"I think DUI is the most preventable yet destructive crimes that someone can do," he said. "The first DUI charge is a significant punishment. It motivates you to never drink and drive again. But I'm not as harsh on the first offenders. I'll typically impose only the minimums."

He added, "A majority of these defendants are regular, law-abiding citizens. This is the only thing on their record and they'll likely never be in here again."

Last week Allen sent three men to prison for having multiple DUI convictions. One man had seven cases and although Allen said he had a "soft spot" in his heart for the man for his military service in Vietnam, he had no choice but to sentence him to a maximum penalty.

Another man was called back into the courtroom from a holding cell after receiving his prison sentence for too many DUIs. Court bailiffs discovered he showed up drunk to his sentencing and Allen charged him with contempt of court before rescheduling the hearing.

Allen says he typically sends first-time offenders to jail for between two and 10 days.

The Legal Argument

Cache County prosecutor Tony Baird said his office filed about 13 DUI cases per month in the last year -- 95 percent of which, he said, were successfully convicted.

"I think that we take an aggressive approach toward DUIs," he said. "I've prosecuted in Washington, Utah and Weber counties and when I got here I was somewhat impressed with the seriousness with which local law enforcement treated DUIs."

But one defense attorney says police are "overly zealous" and that Utah DUI laws are set up to "trap" drivers who think they're okay to drive after a couple beers or a glass of wine.

"Law enforcement has way too much discretion with this criminal allegation that destroys people's lives," said Salt Lake City-based defense attorney Tyler Ayres. "I've tried more than 2,000 DUI cases in my eight-year career, and only four of them have involved an accident."

Ayres says Utah DUI laws are intentionally confusing so state governments can make money from a flood of court fines.

"Most DUI cases have nothing to do with the ability to operate a vehicle safely," he said, explaining that a majority of DUI cases he sees begin as traffic stops for hyper-technical driving violations or automobile equipment issues. "It's not from erratic driving or failing to operate a vehicle safely," he said. "It's for having too dim a license plate light or not signaling for three seconds before a lane change."

The problem with DUI law, says Ayres, is the lack of distinction between varying levels of impairment. If the state want's a zero tolerance for alcohol and driving, why not simply prohibit it completely? He asks. Instead, the law allows a person to drink and to make a guess as to their level of intoxication.

"Why don't state and local governments simply say it's illegal to have a drink and then drive? It's a trap," he said. "We make no distinction between 0.25 and 0.09. We just call it all DUI. Let's make 0.02 something like 'Operating a Vehicle with a Measurable Amount of Alcohol. I say leave the 0.08 in place and call that a DUI -- that's where your license gets suspended."

He suggests the lesser crime could be an infraction, punishable by a $300 fine.

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says there's no significant impact on a person's ability to operate a vehicle until they get to 0.10," he said. "My suggestion is to make people who are under the influence of alcohol safer from government and overly-zealous police because they have a clearer message of what they'll be pulled over and arrested for."

Under the current system, clients pay about $6,000 in fines and legal fees, Ayres said.

Local defense attorney Raymond Malouf gave some advice to those who happen to be arrested for DUI.

"We'll almost always plead not guilty," he said. "The other charges in the case will probably be dismissed if you negotiate or if they're inappropriate."

Malouf strongly encourages defendants to schedule a driver license division hearing. Licenses are automatically suspended without one. The hearing brings together law enforcement and the accused at the driver license division buildings throughout the state.

The Orange County Sentinel reported on an Orange County DUI.  A Central Florida woman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for fatally striking a pedestrian while driving under the influence- an Orange County DUI.

A Marion County judge sentenced Jennifer Staebell, 37, on Thursday to the maximum time allowed under the law. Prosecutors say Staebell had cocaine and a mix of prescription drugs in her system when she hit Robert Hall in February 2008. A jury convicted Staebell of Orange County DUI and Orange County manslaughter in August.

Staebell's attorney had asked the judge to suspend the woman's sentence to help preserve her family. Staebell has two children.

The Orlando Sentinel reported on an Orange County DUI. Authorities say reality television star Stephanie Pratt has been arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI-drunken driving.

Los Angeles police say the 23-year-old Pratt was arrested early Sunday outside a party in Hollywood. Pratt is featured on the MTV show "The Hills" along with her brother, Spencer Pratt.

She was booked at Van Nuys jail on suspicion of Orange County DUI-driving under the influence and was released a few hours later after posting $5,000 bail."The Hills" chronicles the personal lives of a number of young people living in Los Angeles. If you have been charged with an Orange County DUI, call an experienced Orange County DUI Attorney.

The Orlando Sentinel reported on an Orange County DUI. A suburban West Palm Beach man was driving drunk when he ran a red light at 20 mph over the speed limit and killed a Boynton Beach man, authorities said.

John Everett Donn, 44, was booked late Friday for Orange County DUI,  into the Palm Beach County Jail and left early Sunday after posting $20,000 bond, jail records show. Donn was charged with Orange County DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the Sept. 25 death of Miguel Martinez, 59.

According to a web page set up by his family, "Mike" Martinez had just finished collecting Auto Trader magazines so he and his wife, Aida, could deliver them later that morning.

A deputy said he found Donn's truck filled with beer cans, and said Donn had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol.

Donn, who suffered minor injuries, was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where blood was drawn and a test showed he had a blood alcohol level of .187, more than double the legal limit of .08, the report said. Sounds like an Orange County DUI to me.

The deputy said Donn was asleep when he arrived, and fell asleep during an interview and could not be awakened.According to state records, Donn was sent to driver's school in 1986, and lost his license for a year after he was found guilty of drunk driving.

He was convicted of speeding in 2003, 2004, and April of this year. He also was convicted in September 2007 of operating an ATV on the beach.

NEW YORK, NY October 23, 2009 --wnyc.org/news reported. The mother accused of DUI and driving drunk and over the speed limit was indicted on charges of manslaughter, assault, and DUI today. On October 11th Carmen Huertas crashed her car, killing 11-year-old Leandra Rosado and injuring 6 other girls on their way to a slumber party.

Manhattan District Attorney said right before her car flipped over on the West Side Highway, Huertas asked the seven children in the car to raise their hands if they thought the car would crash. "No sentence could be too tough for this kind of conduct," Morgenthau said.

Huertas faces up to 15 years in prison. She's still being treated for a shoulder injury and will be arraigned for DUI next month.

kolotv.com reported. A local man who claimed he wants to keep our roadways safe from drunk drivers, is behind bars on DUI charges.

Late Thursday night, Washoe County Sheriff's Deputies arrested 50-year-old Dean Johnson for DUI, who goes by the name, "Barney." He recently opened a company designed to prevent the very thing he was arrested for.

We interviewed Barney Johnson in September about his new company, which is called, "Never Drive Drunk," but we didn't expect to see his mug shot just a little over a month later. Friday morning, we went to the jailhouse to interview him about the arrest, but he backed out at the last second. However, he did tell Sheriff's Deputies that his DUI arrest is indeed "ironic."

According to Washoe County Sheriff's deputies, Johnson was driving near White Fir and Woodlands Street in Northwest Reno Thursday night, when he was pulled over for DUI. The officer says Johnson swerved over the line and turned without a signal. Later at the jail, a blood alcohol test confirmed he was intoxicated.

"Why would you do that when you own a business like this and you have it written all over your cars? I don't get it. That's just common sense," said Brett Pointer, an acquaintance of Johnson.

Pointer says he was shocked, especially since his Never Drive Drunk business had just started to take off. In an interview with KOLO-8 in September, he told us his DUI business would help save lives.

"You give us a call, we give you and your car a ride home so you don't get a DUI," said Johnson, during our live interview.

"Never Drive Drunk" company representatives say they haven't spoken with Johnson since his arrest, but have no intention of shutting down.

"There's no conviction. He hasn't gone to court for anything. We don't have a position on this. There's nothing to excuse that we know of," said Devon Rightmire, who works at "Never Drive Drunk."

Sheriff's deputies say Johnson is a repeat DUI offender. If convicted, this would be Johnson's 4th DUI in seven years. His coworkers say he already served prison time for multiple DUI's, which is part of the reason he started the DUI company in the first place.

"We just don't want it to be a reflection on our company. It's still a great service. It's a start-up company so we need the community's support. We just hope they'll be understanding," said "Never Drive Drunk Accounts Manager, Sandy Stocks.

We spoke with representatives from MADD, or Mothers Against Drunk Driving. They called Johnson a "hypocrite" and say his actions reflect the complacent attitude in society about driving under the influence. They say they don't consider drunk driving a mistake or a lapse in judgment, but instead they see it as a serious criminal activity.

The Washoe County District Attorney's office has reviewed the case and plans to charge Johnson with felony DUI.

thisisbrandx.com   reported.  It was the first part of the headline that grabbed my attention: "Motorized La-Z-Boy . . . " A motorized La-Z-Boy recliner? Now that's lazy! But it gets better, because the entire headline read: "Motorized La-Z-Boy Driver Pleads Guilty to dui." Pleads guilty to what, excessive laziness? Being an illegally shiftless couch potato? Oh, wait, it says, "Driver." Driver?

Yes, and what 62-year-old Dennis LeRoy Anderson pleaded guilty to was driving his motorized chair while intoxicated. Usually there are no laws passed prior to a societal problem becoming widespread (like anti-bestiality laws, for instance), so maybe this dui of a motorized chair thing is becoming a new trend? Or maybe it will become a trend as a result of this news?

The Police Department in Proctor, Minn., described the chair as "quite decked out." According to a news report in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Anderson admitted to police that he was eight or nine beers deep when he strapped in and ran his souped-up chair into a more traditional chair on wheels -- that is to say, a parked car, while trying to "pop a wheelie," as he claimed, with a female companion along for the ride.

I can just see it now: Bravo's "Chair Wars"! Better still, "DUI Chair Wars" sponsored by La-Z-Boy. Sadly, there is no footage of Anderson joy-riding his souped up Archie Bunker chair (which includes a stereo and built-in cup holders), but this clip will give you a pretty good sketch of what it's like to tool around in a motorized recliner. Anderson's chair, if you are interested, will be for sale at an upcoming Proctor Police Department auction.

The Orange County Register reported on a grant to assist with Orange County DUIs.The Police Department will use $300,000 in grants to purchase new equipment and target traffic problems, including red-light running, Orange County DUIs and speeding motorists, officials said.

The department recently received the grant money from the state.

The Selective Traffic Enforcement Program grant will help police target red light runners, speeding motorists, motorcycle safety and Orange County DUI offenders through checkpoints, saturation patrols and court stings, according to police.

The grant also provides funding for a traffic collision reconstruction unit, two speed-monitoring devices, two alcohol screening flashlights and increased traffic enforcement measures.

The department also plans to send out extra officers to patrol areas frequented by motorcycles and crack down on traffic violations by motorcyclists.The recent crackdown on DUI cases is understandable -- alcohol contributes to a death every 33 minutes and costs the public billions of dollars each year in damages, loss of life and reduced productivity. If you've been arrested for DUI in Orange County, you need an aggressive, reputable and the top Orange County DUI attorney on your side

stanforddaily.com reported. The Stanford Department of Public Safety and the Office of Judicial Affairs (OJA) have released statistics of on-campus driving under the influence (DUI) incidents, giving a clearer picture of the nature of DUI on the Farm.

The Police Department made 31 DUI arrests in 2008, seven of which were Stanford students. This year, there have already been 49 incidents, 20 of which were student-related.

In every year since 1998, the last year logged in the police report on DUI incidences, most of the individuals arrested for drunk driving have not been students.

According to Deputy Eric Fenton of the Stanford Police, the majority of the people arrested for DUI were passing through campus, often lost or driving home from Palo Alto bars. Even taking these cases into account, however, the number of DUI incidents per 1,000 residents is generally well below that of California as a whole, and Fenton reports few on-campus DUI-related accidents.

Easily the majority of student DUI arrests occur on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the early hours of Sunday being the most common time. Only four students over the past ten years have been arrested for drunk driving on Monday.

Student Cases

The OJA reports taking on 11 DUI cases during the 2008-09 school year. The year before that, they did not have any DUI cases, although the police did arrest several students for DUIs.

Javier Alcala, supervising district attorney (DA) in Palo Alto, suggests that the difference between the figures of the OJA and the police can be attributed to the Santa Clara County DA Office, which rejects some of the cases sent to it.

Once a student has been arrested for DUI, the police send the report to the Santa Clara County DA. The DA then decides whether to reject the case or to charge the student. Before taking a case, the DA office has to be certain it can prove the individual was both driving and impaired.

In some cases in which police suspect drivers of DUI, laboratory results come back with a blood alcohol concentration low enough to bring into question whether the driver was actually impaired. By law, it is assumed a driver is impaired if her or his blood alcohol content (BAC) is above 0.08. The DA can still press charges if there is other evidence that the driver was impaired-for example, if the police witness the driver exhibiting signs of intoxication.

The OJA can only proceed through the judicial process when there is sufficient evidence to do so. Since it cannot access evidence if the DA rejects a case, it follows up on complaints only if the DA presses charges.

The OJA would then investigate the case, looking specifically for whether the driver has violated the Fundamental Standard. According to Judicial Advisor Morris Graves, this usually means assessing whether the driver endangered the physical safety of Stanford students, faculty or staff.

The number of student arrests varies widely from year to year. For instance, there were only seven such arrests in 2001, but in 2003, police recorded 29 incidents.

Fenton cautioned against interpreting the number of students arrested for DUI per annum as evidence that underlying drinking and driving patterns have changed. He suggested that the number of arrests made per year would more accurately be described as a function of the police staffing levels. Because most DUI arrests start as simple traffic violations and only escalate when an officer detects a scent of alcohol in the vehicle, the more police officers there are, the more can be spared for patrolling campus.

Since Stanford participates in Federal Financial Aid Programs, it is bound by the Clery Act to report on-campus crimes in an Annual Campus Security Report every October. DUI reporting is pointedly omitted, however, by mandate: The U.S. Department of Education, the body that enforces the Clery Act, puts out a Handbook for Campus Crime Reporting that contains a list of liquor law violations of which DUI is not a part.

Liquor law violations include underage possession, furnishing liquor to minors and intemperates, operating stills, bootlegging and even using a vehicle for the illegal transport of alcohol. It specifies, however, that "drunkenness and driving under the influence are not Liquor Law Violations."

todaysthv.com reported. Benjamin Swindoll gets 10 years in the DUI death of a 17 year old girl, but six of those were suspended.

latimes.com reported. Reporting from Washington - The Supreme Court cast some doubt today on the legal authority of a police officer to pull over a suspected drunk driver based solely on a caller's tip.

Over a strong dissent by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the high court let stand a Virginia Supreme Court ruling that held a police officer can follow but cannot stop a suspected DUI driver's car until he sees it do something suspicious, such as swerve in a lane.

"The effect of [this] rule will be to grant DUI drivers 'one free swerve' before they can be pulled over by the police," Roberts said. "It will be difficult for an officer to explain to the family of a motorist killed by that swerve that the police had a tip that the driver of the other car was DUI, but that they were powerless to pull him over, even for a quick check."

Roberts noted that hotlines and other services encourage the public to report suspected DUI drivers.

The Supreme Court's action is not a formal ruling, and it does not require other states to follow Virginia's lead. But the case is likely to encourage more legal challenges to police DUI stops that rely solely on anonymous tips.

The Virginia ruling freed Joseph Harris of Richmond, who was arrested for DUI early one morning after a caller had reported his green Nissan Altima was headed south on Meadowbridge Road. The tip included a partial license plate as well as his name.

Harris stumbled out of his car and was obviously intoxicated when the officer tried to question him. Nonetheless, the Virginia high court said it was an "unreasonable search" to stop and question a motorist based entirely on a caller's tip.

Most state courts, including those in California and Illinois, have upheld DUI car searches based on a tip from a caller, so long as the vehicle matches the description given.

By a 7-2 vote Tuesday, the justices turned down without comment an appeal from Virginia prosecutors, which was backed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The group said more than 12,000 Americans die every year in alcohol-related crashes. Its lawyers argued the Virginia rule, if adopted widely, would crimp efforts to get drunk drivers off the road before they cause injuries or death. Justice Antonin Scalia joined Roberts in dissent.

Nine years ago, in a case involving a Miami youth who was arrested at bus top, the high court said police cannot frisk a pedestrian based solely on an anonymous call. In that case, a caller said a youth with a plaid shirt was carrying a gun. The Virginia judges cited that precedent when ruling in favor of the drunk driver.

csmonitor.com reported. The US Supreme Court has let stand a ruling in Virginia that police officers must personally observe erratic driving before stopping a suspected DUI driver.

On Tuesday, the high court declined to take up an appeal involving a Richmond motorist who was pulled over by a police officer based on an anonymous tip that he was DUI.

The issue in the case, Virginia v. Harris, was whether the officer was justified in confronting the driver with a roadside sobriety test, or whether he should have waited until Harris' driving gave rise to a reasonable suspicion of DUI independent of the anonymous tip.

The case stems from a December 2005 telephone call received by police. The caller said that an intoxicated driver named Joseph Harris was driving an Altima, southbound on Meadowbridge Road in Richmond. The caller gave a partial license plate number.

Officer Claude Picard of the Richmond Police Department soon located an Altima being driven by a man with a license plate similar to the number offered by the caller.

The officer followed Mr. Harris and watched as the motorist slowed down before crossing an intersection where he had the right of way, and slowed down again 50 feet before reaching a red stop light. At other times the car was traveling at the stipulated speed limit of 25 mph.

Once through the intersection, Harris pulled his car over to the shoulder and stopped. Officer Picard pulled up behind Harris and activated his lights and siren.

The officer detected a strong odor of alcohol on Harris' breath and noticed that his speech was slurred. Picard administered a field sobriety test. Harris failed. He was charged with DUI. Harris had been convicted of the same offense twice before.

At trial, Harris' lawyer argued that the charge should be dropped because the police officer lacked the level of reasonable suspicion needed to justify the traffic stop. The trial court rejected the argument and Harris was convicted of DUI and sentenced to serve 90 days in prison. A state appeals court affirmed the decision.

The Virginia Supreme Court voted 4-3 to throw out the DUI conviction. The state high court said the anonymous tip did not provide enough evidence of criminal wrongdoing to overcome Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The police officer must personally observe criminal activity before an investigative stop is justified, the Virginia court ruled.

The Virginia attorney general's office appealed the decision to the US Supreme Court, urging the high court to overturn the opinion and make clear that in cases involving suspected drunk drivers, police officers are justified in conducting a brief traffic stop.

The Supreme Court turned down the appeal without comment. Chief Justice John Roberts filed a dissent, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia.

Chief Justice Roberts said a sharp disagreement had emerged in federal and state courts over this particular Fourth Amendment issue. Most courts have upheld the police DUI stop, but some have ruled for the motorist. "The conflict is clear and the stakes are high," he wrote.

"The effect of the rule below will be to grant drunk drivers 'one free swerve' before they can legally be pulled over by police," Roberts said.

"It will be difficult for an officer to explain to the family of a motorist killed by that swerve that the police had a tip that the driver of the other car was drunk, but that they were powerless to pull him over, even for a quick check."

cbc.ca reported. Toronto police have laid numerous charges against a 21-year-old man accused of DUI in a high-speed crash that killed three women and left two people in critical condition.

Police allege that Roman Luskin's BMW was travelling at about 200 kilometres per hour on Saturday night when it smashed into a Honda Odyssey van near Tobermory Drive and Finch Avenue. The force of the DUI collision split the van in half.

Hon To, 44, her daughter Christine Taing and a third passenger were thrown from the van, and officials pronounced them dead at the scene.

To's husband, Pho Taing, and another passenger are in a Toronto hospital with serious injuries.

Luskin faces 16 charges, including manslaughter and DUI with bodily harm, impaired driving causing death and bodily harm and refusing to provide a breath sample.

Police said they've investigated Luskin for DUI in the past.

They are also considering laying numerous additional DUI driving charges. He appeared in court at Old City Hall on Monday, but his hearing was postponed until Tuesday to give the court time to find a Russian interpreter.

kxnt.com reported. A 10-month old boy is in critical condition at UMC after a DUI driver plowed into his mother's car around midnight Saturday at the intersection of Nellis and New World. The baby's mother was travelling down New World and was about to make a left hand turn onto Nellis when she was slammed into by a 41-year-old woman accused of DUI. The suspect tried to flee the scene but was detained by witnesses. The woman is being charged with suspicion of DUI, hit and run and child endangerment for having her own 9-year-old boy in the car at the time of the DUI accident.

realitytvworld.com reported. Stephanie Pratt ran into a problem with police over the weekend.

The Hills star was arrested around 3:45AM on Sunday in Hollywood on suspicion of DUI, People reported.

"It was your basic DUI. Our traffic officers driving down the street spotted her and pulled her over," LAPD Sgt. Sal Ogaz told People.

"She was cooperative and there were no issues with her DUI arrest."

The 23-year-old was charged with a misdemeanor DUI and transferred to the Van Nuys jail for booking, according to People, which added she was subsequently released around 10:30AM.

Pratt had been at a birthday party for former I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! participant Holly Montag at L.A. nightclub Empire, according to People.

"Just finished dinner and going to Empire but im pretty tired aka yes i am the party pooper :(" wrote Pratt in a posting to her Twitter account around 11PM.

While Pratt can currently be seen on The Hills' fifth-season episodes -- which air in the Tuesdays at 10PM ET/PT timeslot on MTV -- she recently stated that she's not sure how much more filming of the reality series she can take.

The defendant in this case will need to hire an experienced Orange County DUI Attorney or an Orange County Drunk Driving Lawyer

"The Hills is very brutal," she said last month.

The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI.  A Ladera Ranch man is facing charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated stemming from a high-speed crash on the 73 toll road on Friday that resulted in the death of a San Clemente man.

Richard Ernest Caselli, 37, was travelling in a Volvo sedan on southbound 73 in excess of 100 miles per hour when he struck 52-year-old Brook Boynton's Nissan sport utility vehicle from behind just north of Laguna Canyon Road, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said in a news release. The impact caused the SUV to spin out of control and roll over, prosecutors said. Boynton was ejected from the vehicle and died soon after at the scene of the accident.

Caselli showed signs of intoxication and failed to perform field sobriety tests, the California Highway Patrol said. He was arrested and booked into Orange County jail. So, was Caselli concerned about an Orange County DUI ?

"It's a shock to all of us," Berger said. "We are going to put together a celebration of his life in California since he had so many friends there."

Brook Boynton worked as a Chemical Engineer at Behr Process in Santa Ana, said Evelyn Devine, a colleague.

Caselli is scheduled to be arraigned today at 1:30 p.m. in Harbor Justice Center, Newport Beach. Prosecutors will be requesting $100,000 bail. If convicted of Orange County DUI , Caselli faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison, prosecutors said.

tdn.com reported. The crew of the Victoria Clipper, the ferry that makes round trips between Seattle and that city on Vancouver Island, frequently sees the effects of Canada's strict DUI laws.

During the May-to-September peak tourist season, four to five passengers a week are turned back by Canadian border agents at the Victoria dock for DUI.

In Washington state, DUI is a gross misdemeanor. It's a felony in the Great White North. Under its laws, Canada can bar visitors if they've been involved in criminal activity. And it does.

Since 9/11, both the U.S. and Canada have used ever-expanding criminal databases that they share with each other.

"I didn't realize that there were that many drunks in the U.S.," says Darrell Bryan, president and CEO of Clipper Navigation, speaking only half-jokingly about the number of tourists being turned back.

"We have witnessed firsthand people who haven't told their partner that at some point in their life they had a DUI. The first the wife learned about it was when the husband was denied entry."

Bryan says he's complained to Canadian tourism officials, telling them this is lost business, penalizing people for long-ago mistakes.

Tourism spokesmen from Victoria, Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia say they are aware of American tourists being turned back for a DUI, but it's not been a major issue of discussion.

Perhaps it will be more so in February, when Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and 350,000 visitors from around the world are expected.

Bryan wonders whether the strict enforcement is worth it.

"You're not the same person you were 10 years ago or 20 years ago," he says.

Those long-ago mistakes can include shoplifting and misdemeanor drug possession.

But it's not as if people with DUIs are rushing to publicize that fact and lobby to change Canadian regulations.

Some of those turned back likely wouldn't generate the greatest sympathy.

Construction worker Donald Frederickson, 29, of Lynnwood, took the Victoria Clipper in late February with his fiancee. They were celebrating their engagement.

Frederickson says he's been straight and sober for five years but had a DUI in the early 2000s while living in Detroit. He's currently not driving, he says.

The Victoria Clipper has five warning signs at various places at its Seattle waterfront location, telling passengers that those with a DUI can be denied entrance in Canada.

Frederickson says he never saw the warning signs. Canadian officials told him to get back on the Victoria Clipper returning to Seattle that afternoon, although he was allowed to walk around the city in the meantime.

He had budgeted $500 for the vacation. Frederickson says he lost two nights' hotel lodging.

"I'm not happy with the way it turned out, but I understand where their policy comes from. From what I got to see of Victoria in a couple of hours, it was nice," he says.

An Auburn couple in their 50s, also turned back at the Victoria dock, say they were embarrassed by the husband's DUI from 9-1/2 years ago.

She's in the real-estate business, deals with the public and does not want the family name made public.

She says her husband got the DUI after drinking with a bunch of buddies after work.

"We own homes, we pay our bills," she says. "You don't think about it because it was so long ago."

She says they probably won't try to go through the complex paperwork to have her husband deemed admissible to Canada.

"Why take the chance of being turned back again?" she says. "We can just go see more of Washington."

Getting right with Canada

There are three ways to get admitted into Canada once you've been convicted of a DUI. But you have to be prepared for lots of hassles, paperwork, fees and months of waiting for the Canadian bureaucracy to process your application.

1. If the completion of your DUI sentence is less than 5 years old, the only way to get into Canada is with a temporary resident permit, which costs $200 Canadian. (Having had your DUI knocked down from a gross misdemeanor to negligent or reckless driving can still prevent you from going to Canada.)

You'll need to show the reason for your visit is "urgent," said Peter Lilius, immigration program manager for the Canadian Consulate in Seattle.

A ski trip to Whistler is not deemed urgent. Think more along the lines of having an ill relative in Canada or an important business meeting you need to attend.

Even then, being admitted is not guaranteed.

The officers at the port of entry, said Lilius, "have the discretion."

Before driving to the border, you can click on the Seattle Canadian Consulate Web site at www.canadainternational.gc.ca/seattle.

You can download an application for a temporary visit and either mail it in or bring it in person.

"Processing times may be lengthy," says the consulate.

The Web site also contains frequently asked questions about visiting that country.

2. If you completed your DUI sentence more than five years ago, you can apply for Approval of Rehabilitation. The nonrefundable fee is either $200 or $1,000 (Canadian), depending on the seriousness of your crime.

The Canadians want proof "that you have a stable lifestyle and that it is unlikely that you will be involved in any further criminal activity."

It involves considerable paperwork. You will need to provide your FBI file. You will need to provide a "police certificate" of criminal history, if any, from every state in which you lived more than six months since age 18. You will need to explain each offense. You will have to provide dates and all your home addresses and places of employment since age 18.

Processing time can take a year or more.

But, if you're approved, then you'll no longer have problems at the border because of your past.

3. If you have had only one DUI, and sentencing was completed more than 10 years ago, you can drive to the border with basically the paperwork for the Approval of Rehabilitation.

A border officer can approve you on the spot, at no charge, and that past DUI will no longer be a problem when crossing the border.

Again, it's at the officer's discretion.

There also are law firms that specialize in helping you through the process.

David Andersson, a Canadian citizen who can practice law both in the U.S. and Canada, works with the law firm of Chang & Boos, which has offices in Bellingham.

Expect to pay $3,000 to $5,000 for them to handle the paperwork, which includes having someone from the firm accompany you to meet with Canadian border officials. Expect it to take three to six weeks from the start of paperwork to meeting with border officials.

Andersson says his firm handles only 10 to 15 such cases a year, a tenth of what it could do.

"I call it my drunk American practice," he says.

lasvegasnow.com reported. Shortly after Midnight Saturday morning a forty one year old female driving a 2003 Toyota ran into the rear of a 1999 Honda traveling in the southbound lanes of Nellis near Wyoming.  The impact sent the Honda across the north bound lanes. 

 The female DUI driver of the Toyota fled the scene but was detained by witnesses a short distance later. It was determined by Las Vegas Metro Police officers on the scene that the driver of the Toyota had been drinking. She was arrested on Felony DUI and hit and run charges.

The 10 month old passenger of the Honda was transported to UMC where he was listed in critical condition.  The driver of the Honda suffered minor injuries. There was also a nine year old passenger in the Toyota. He was not injured. 

The accident remains under DUI investigation by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Accident Investigation Section.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - chicagotribune.com reported. A Rochester woman who lost her son in a DUI crash with a drunk driver in 2007 is working to ensure that other families don't endure a similar grief.

Christine Jones has helped lobby for new Indiana DUI laws and hopes to start a Mothers Against Drunk driving chapter in Fulton County in memory of her son, Jonathan Howard Kamp, who died Nov. 30, 2007, in the Kosciusko County DUI crash.

Her crusade includes meeting with police officers in Rochester recently before they held DUI checkpoints and showing them photographs from the DUI crash scene that depicted her son's covered body lying in the wreckage.

"I wanted them to know, 'Here's what it does,"' Jones said. "I don't want to hide anything. I think it made them understand that this is a personal thing."

Kamp, 28, was en route to Akron, Ohio, where he was moving, when his truck was broadsided by a Chevy Blazer driven by Leonard F. Williams after Williams ran a stop sign.

Kamp died at the scene, becoming one of 230 people killed in Indiana as a result of DUI in 2007.

Police said Williams had three previous DUI-related convictions and was on probation for another offense. He was convicted of his fourth drunk-driving offense and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Jones speaks about her experiences at victim-impact panels organized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for first-time DUI offenders. She helped lobby for a proposed state law that would have introduced ignition interlocks designed to keep people whose blood-alcohol level is too high from starting their cars. The bill ultimately failed.

But police say her efforts are making a difference.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum said seeing Jones' pain nearly two years after her son's death reminded troopers why sobriety DUI checkpoints matter.

More than 12,000 Indiana drivers were involved in alcohol-related collisions last year. Of those, 3,411 had a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher.

"It's always a big deal," Slocum said. "It just emphasizes that this is important."

blog.zap2it.com reported. Stephanie Pratt, sister of the notorious Spencer Pratt, has run afoul of the law.

The 23-year-old star of "The Hills" was arrested on suspicion of DUI early Sunday in Hollywood, reports People.

"It was your basic DUI. Our traffic officers driving down the street spotted her and pulled her over," LAPD Sgt. Sal Ogaz tells the celeb mag. "She was cooperative and there were no issues with her DUI arrest."

Pratt was busted around 3:45 a.m. and sent to Van Nuys Jail for DUI booking.

Earlier in the evening, Pratt attended sister-in-law Holly Montag's birthday party at the Empire nightclub.

lasvegassun.com reported. A 10-month-old boy was critically injured when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by a suspected DUI driver shortly after midnight today in the eastern Las Vegas Valley, Metro Police said.

The DUI accident was one of two serious crashes police investigated in the eastern valley. Hours earlier, a 33-year-old Las Vegas man died when his vehicle struck a wall at Nellis Boulevard and Marion Drive.

In the most recent DUI crash, Vickie Duran, 41, of Las Vegas, is being held on suspicion of DUI and hit-and-run after being arrested a short distance from the scene of the accident at Nellis Boulevard and New World Avenue.

According to police, a 1999 Honda Accord driven by Claudia Zepeda, 38, of Las Vegas, was southbound on Nellis after just turning left from New World when the Toyota struck it in the rear, propelling it in a southeast direction across the northbound lanes.

The Toyota then left the scene but witnesses to the accident detained Duran a short distance later, police said.

Zepeda suffered minor injuries in the DUI wreck; police said the infant was being treated for life-threatening injuries at University Medical Center. Neither Duran nor a 9-year-old boy who was a passenger in Duran's 2003 Toyota Sequoia was injured, police said.

In a separate accident, a 33-year-old Las Vegas man died Friday evening after he lost control of his vehicle and struck a concrete block wall near Nellis Air Force Base, police said.

At about 8:37 p.m., a 2006 Dodge Stratus was traveling westbound on Lake Mead Boulevard near its intersection with Marion Drive when it attempted to pass a slower vehicle. As the driver completed the passing maneuver, he lost control and began a clockwise rotation across the center and right westbound lanes, police said, then left the roadway on the north side of Lake Mead and struck a wall before rolling onto the driver's side.

The man was taken to UMC where he died shortly before 2 a.m. today.

Police said speeding likely caused the accident.

The man's identity will be released by the Clark County Coroner's Office. His death is the 72nd traffic-related fatality this year in Metro Police's jurisdiction.

buffalonews.com reported. Michael J. O'Connor pleaded guilty today to a reduced DUI felony charge of vehicular manslaughter in the second-degree for the DUI death of a Lancaster man struck while walking near his own Lancaster home last year.

The eve-of-trial DUI plea deal was approved by relatives of the late Thomas Hajduk.

State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns told O'Connor, 23, he faces a jail term of at least one year and up to three years when he returns for sentencing Jan. 7.

O'Connor had just dropped off some friends while returning home after the Bills game.

O'Connor, who formerly lived in Amherst and now lives on Telegraph Road in Bliss, admitted he was DUI when he struck the 51-year-old industrial engineer as he was walking home on Aurora Street in Lancaster about 5:30 p.m. last Nov. 2.

O'Connor was allowed to remain free on $5,000 previously posted bail.

O'Connor reportedly dropped out of the University at Buffalo after his indictment last March on first-degree vehicular manslaughter.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - wivb.com reported. A Bills fan admits to striking and killing a Lancaster man while DUI.

23 year old, Michael O'Connor pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court Friday to DUI and vehicular manslaughter.

He admits he was drunk while driving home from a Bills game last November, when he hit 51-year old, Thomas Hajduk on Aurora Street.

O'Connor will be sentenced in his DUI case in January.

popeater.com reported. Lindsay Lohan has been ordered to appear in court on Friday by the judge who presided over her DUI case, TMZ is reporting. The judge reportedly got information from the alcohol education program that Lohan was forced to participate in that sparked his decision for the prompt DUI hearing.
According to TMZ, DUI defendants generally would not have to appear in court in cases similar to this, but for one reason or another, the judge feels that Lohan must attend.

In the summer of 2007, Lohan was arrested twice for DUI -- once in May and once in July. Aside from DUI, police involved in the July arrest also found cocaine in Lohan's pocket.



Weeks later, Lohan checked herself into Cirque Lodge Treatment Center, a high-class rehabilitation center frequented by many stars. It was her second rehab stint, having gone once before in January of 2007.

In August 2007, Lohan pleaded guilty to DUI and cocaine possession charges. She was sentenced to a day in jail, community service and an alcohol education program, which is now the focus of the new hearing.

latimesblogs.latimes.com reported. A judge has ordered Lindsay Lohan to a Beverly Hills court this morning to check her progress on a DUI case.

The court appearance stems from a DUI arrestin which she crashed her car on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills and was arrested for DUI.

She eventually agreed to a plea to DUI that called for probation, time in a treatment program and community service.

Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Marsha N. Revel scheduled the DUI hearing to examine how Lohan, 23, is complying with the sentence.

It's unclear whether the judge believes Lohan is in violation of the sentence. If that is the case, Lohan could face jail time.

The Orange County Register reported on 2 Orange County DUIs. Two allegedly intoxicated men were involved in a two-car crash on the Orangethorpe Avenue off-ramp of the eastbound 91, the California Highway Patrol said.

Just after 2 a.m., a red Ford Mustang reportedly crashed into a tree near an apartment complex in La Palma after being rear-ended by a black Infiniti, CHP officers said.

The two cars were driving in the No. 2 lane of the off-ramp, the Infiniti traveling about 40 mph directly behind the Mustang, CHP officer Ray Payton said.

That is when the Infiniti, driven by Ryan Dewindt, 41, of La Palma, rear-ended the Mustang, driven by Victor Ontiveros, 20, of Long Beach.

No one was hospitalized but the two were arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI- driving under the influence.

Ontiveros was also booked on suspicion of obstructing an officer's duty after he refused orders to get out of the car, Payton said, adding that the 20-year-old had to be removed from the vehicle. If you have been charged with an Orange County DUI, plan on hiring an Orange County DUI attorney. You can't fight this alone and expect a good outcome.

pressdemocrat.com reported. A Sonoma County judge on Wednesday said he will reconsider the 12-year prison sentence he imposed on a 19-year-old student convicted in a fatal DUI  crash in February.

Many critics have claimed the punishment was too harsh.

Acting on his own motion, Judge Ken Gnoss "recalled" the sentence he gave to Dylan Morse, the son of the Merced County District Attorney. Morse was the driver in a Valentine's Day collision west of Cotati that killed Berkeley art student and musician Alex Ruiz, 22, left Ryne Spitzer, 19, with potential lifelong disabilities and injured Ruiz's passenger, Vanessa King, 25.

Morse pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and two other felonies including DUI  and was sentenced July 15.

Sentence recall motions from Sonoma County judges are rare. In 2002, Judge Elliot Daum cut the five-year sentence of a Monte Rio man accused of stabbing his boyfriend to three years because the man had AIDS and was not getting sufficient medical treatment in prison.

Under the law, Gnoss is allowed 120 days to reconsider. He set a hearing for Nov. 4 and ordered Morse, now at Pleasant Valley State Prison, to be brought to Sonoma County for the proceedings.

Actual DUI sentencing will occur at a later date.

Morse's DUI attorney, said Gnoss may choose to uphold the prison term or hand down a lighter sentence but he cannot impose a stiffer sentence.

"He's obviously had second thoughts," Andrian said outside the courthouse Wednesday morning. "I appreciate the fact that he's willing to take a second look. It's the right thing to do." Gnoss declined through a judicial assistant to comment on his motion.

Prosecutors said they would review court materials including family statements and probation reports before deciding whether to object. "We're not taking a position at this point," Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook said.

Meanwhile, the Ruiz family and victims' advocates who appeared in court Wednesday said they were disappointed at the possibility of a reduced DUI sentence.

Michael Ruiz, Alex Ruiz's father, said the 12-year, 4-month prison term was a "strong and appropriate" statement that followed sentencing guidelines called for in the law.

Ruiz said it only appears harsh because other judges have chosen to greatly reduce DUI penalties. But he said public sentiment about fatal drunken driving crashes is turning and the original sentence reflects that shift.

"The sentence was not out of bounds by any stretch of the imagination," said Ruiz, a Calistoga home builder. "It's disappointing to hear he is reconsidering."

Lynn Darst of Windsor, an advocate with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said she feared Gnoss was being swayed by letters and other correspondence sent by Morse's friends and family in Merced County, where Morse's father, Larry Morse, is district attorney.

A number of letters appeared in The Press Democrat and others were written directly to the judge, she said.

Darst said it was unfortunate Merced County residents didn't express the same level of concern for Morse's drinking before the deadly accident occurred and she called on Gnoss to uphold the 12 years.

"It's heartbreaking," Darst said. "The judge should follow his original sentencing."

Larry Morse did not return a call to his office Wednesday seeking comment but issued a brief statement through his secretary, Angie Martin: "My wife and I continue to grieve for the families involved in this tragedy and as parents, we worry constantly about our son's safety in state prison. Beyond that, it would be inappropriate for me to comment and I must continue to accept whatever the people of Sonoma County believe is justice in this case."

Andrian said the Central Valley prosecutor and his family have refrained from getting personally involved in the case. "I don't think there has been any pressure from the kid's father," Andrian said. "They've done a good job of staying out of it."

Dylan Morse, a student in Santa Cruz County, was visiting Spitzer, a Sonoma State University student, when they went to a fraternity party Feb. 14.

After police broke up the party, Morse used a fake ID to buy beer at a Safeway store before the pair got into Morse's car. Morse had a blood-alcohol level of at least 0.15 percent, nearly twice the legal limit for an adult driver, and had marijuana in his system when he ran a red light at Stony Point Road and Highway 116, where he struck Ruiz's car.

Ruiz died at the scene and Spitzer suffered brain and spinal cord injuries. He is in a specialized care facility.

Morse faced punishment ranging from probation to 15 years in prison. Defendants in similar DUI fatalities in Sonoma County have received sentences of county jail time or a few years in prison.

But in a sentencing that Gnoss said "sends a strong message to the community," he gave Morse 16 months for the DUI, five years for Spitzer's injury, three years for King's injury and three years for Ruiz's death, all to be served consecutively.

Andrian said it is likely that Gnoss will review similar cases for sentencing disparities and consider letters and e-mails from the public. He may also consider the fact that it is Morse's first DUI conviction and weigh his potential for rehabilitation, Andrian said.

"He's a young kid," Andrian said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - abcnews.go.com reported. Actress Lindsay Lohan has been ordered to appear in court on Friday following media reports that she may have violated the terms of an alcohol education program imposed for a 2007 DUI case.

Lohan, 23, risks being sent to jail if she is found to have broken her DUI probation or other orders imposed as part of her DUI sentence.

Beverly Hills Superior Court judge Marsha Revel told Lohan to attend Friday's normally routine hearing in person, court officials said.

Celebrity web site TMZ.com said officials running the DUI program had expressed concern about Lohan to the court.

In August 2007, the "Mean Girls" actress was ordered to complete an 18-month alcohol education program, serve 24 hours in jail and perform 10 days of community service while on 36 months probation for DUI, reckless driving and driving under the influence of cocaine.

Lohan found fame as a child star in the 1988 movie "The Parent Trap," but went onto become one of the most troubled and talked-about teen stars in Hollywood.

Earlier this month fashion critics panned her debut collection in Paris as artistic advisor to the Emanuel Ungaro fashion house. Lohan told People magazine on Wednesday that she was still learning and blamed the Paris fiasco on "coming in so late and not having that much time to do a whole collection."

The Orange County Register  reported on an Orange County Criminal. A 33-year-old Garden Grove man was arrested in Santa Barbara on Sunday on suspicion of robbing and beating a man at a gas station.

Michael Lee Hamm was arrested Sunday night when the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office stopped his SUV 10 minutes after a robbery at a gas station, according to local reports.

Before police arrived at the crime scene, the victim, a 52-year-old Santa Barbara man, drove himself to a hospital for treatment of severe injuries to the face and head.

According to the reports, the man was filling up his car with gas when a man believed to be Hamm asked him for money and was denied.

Hamm spent two days in Orange County Jail after he was arrested on Sept. 22 on suspicion of violating his probation for a 2007 Orange County DUI conviction.The defendant in this case will need to hire an experienced Orange County Criminal Attorney or Orange County DUI attorney.

 

 

The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI . A woman was arrested at a Huntington Beach car wash at 10:19 this morning on suspicion of Orange County DUI -driving under the influence after she hit a parked car and a bicycle that had someone on it, Huntington Beach police officials said.

No one was injured in the accident in the 18400 block of Beach Boulevard, and the only damage was a bent license plate, Lt. Craig Bryant said. The bicyclist wasn't knocked off his bike during the accident, he said.

The woman is being booked at the Huntington Beach jail. Her name has not been released yet, police said. Orange County DUI - get a lawyer. Don't go it alone.

sacbee.com/news reported. DUI convictions are about to get harsher in Sacramento County.

Motorists found guilty of a first DUI offense here and in three other California counties will be required to install and use breathalyzers in their cars for five months, under a law signed this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The ignition interlock device will keep the car from starting if the driver's breath shows more than a small amount of alcohol in the blood.

The law will be tested in a six-year pilot project here and in Alameda, Los Angeles and Tulare counties. It goes into effect July 1, 2010.

"We must do everything we can to ensure the public's safety on the road," Schwarzenegger said after signing the bill. "By installing ignition interlock devices we are making it harder for DUI offenders to get behind the wheel while intoxicated and we are working to save innocent lives."

The American Beverage Institute, a restaurant trade association, had urged Schwarzenegger not to sign the bill, calling the locks intrusive and saying the state should target repeat DUI offenders.

The law initially could affect 4,000 first-time drunken drivers per year in Sacramento County, based on state reports.

In Sacramento in 2006, more than 5 percent of those DUI offenders were involved in a DUI crash or arrest within a year, state data show.

Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, says he believes the program will reduce first-time DUI offender numbers and recidivism rates.

Feuer said he hopes the law will show enough progress in Sacramento and the other counties to persuade lawmakers to implement it statewide.

"We have a problem of enormous consequences in the state," Feuer said. "I'm pleased we could get a toehold in California."

Officials with Mothers Against Drunk Driving called the law a significant step in using technology to reduce roadway deaths.

Seventeen states already have similar laws, and some have shown notable drops in repeat DUI offenses.

Ignition interlock devices are not new in California.

The state already allows judges, at their discretion, to require drunken drivers to use such systems, but anti-drunken driving advocates say judges often don't take advantage of that provision.

Under the law, drivers convicted of a first offense DUI will be notified by the state Department of Motor Vehicles that they must pay to have a device installed in any vehicle they drive, other than a motorcycle.

If a first-timer's conviction involves an injury crash, the device must stay in the vehicle for a year.

For second-time DUI offenders, the monitoring period will extend to a year. A third conviction will require the device be installed for two years.

Initial installation costs $75 to $100, Feuer said, and monthly monitoring costs run $50 or more.

It is illegal for another person to blow into the device for the offender, said Mary Klotzbach, California MADD policy director.

The devices also require drivers to retake the breath test at random times, she said.

If the driver fails the test or doesn't pull over to take the test, the car will not immediately stop, but the failure will be recorded by the device and forwarded to county officials.

Drivers whose incomes are low will be required to pay only a portion of the cost. The device manufacturer must absorb the rest of the cost, Feuer said.

Feuer said he has lined up federal grants to pay for DMV's costs of administering the program.

DMV will be required to provide an analysis of the program's effectiveness to the Legislature by 2015.

California and other states have been on a push in recent years to reduce DUI injuries and deaths. Numbers have dropped, along with other types of crashes, but they remain substantial.

In 2008, 30 percent of roadway deaths in California � more than 1,000 deaths � occurred in DUI crashes where at least one driver had a blood- alcohol level over the legal presumptive limit of 0.08 percent, according to the state Office of Traffic Safety.

Feuer said Sacramento County was chosen as one of the test sites because officials here supported the measure and because Sacramento County has a notable DUI problem.

The city of Sacramento, in particular, has the highest DUI injury and fatality rate among the state's largest cities, an analysis by the state safety office showed.

newsblaze.com reported. All right, we're all ready to go. Good morning, everybody. I'm Dale Bonner, Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency for the state of California.

Before we get on to the events of the morning I wanted to just say a special note of thanks to some of the people who've taken some time out to be here with us this morning. In addition to the two authors of the legislation, Assemblymember Michael Feuer from Los Angeles and Senator Bob Huff from Diamond Bar, we also have with us Mary Klotzbach from MADD. I see Sheriff McGinness is with us here from Sacramento County. And part of my Traffic Safety Team; we have Commissioner Joe Farrow from the Highway Patrol, George Valverde from the Department of Motor Vehicles and Chris Murphy from the Office of Traffic Safety. And they have been working very hard with all of the allied agencies all around the state to bring down the traffic collisions all across the state of California and to increase road safety.

Governor Schwarzenegger signs legislation to crack down on DUI offenders. From left to right: California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joseph Farrow, Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), Senator Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully and California State Mothers Against Drunk Driving Public Policy Committee Chair Mary Klotzbach. Photo by Justin Short, Office of the Governor.

And I try to remind everybody that by improving safety on the highways we're not only saving lives but we're improving the quality of life, because it's good not only for human beings and families but also for our state economy. And so the legislation we're signing today is particularly important because we can't control the weather but we can do more and more to control human behaviors that result in unnecessary DUI collisions and that's what we are taking a significant step towards this morning.

So without further ado, let me introduce to you the man who is going to sign the legislation that's so important, that has brought us here this morning, my boss, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Applause)

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:

Well, thank you very much, Secretary Dale Bonner, for your nice introduction. And I'm so happy that he already mentioned all the various different dignitaries that are here, so I don't have to go through this card so we'll put that away.

But I want to thank especially our authors for being here today and doing this extraordinary work. And I just want to say to everyone, welcome to the Capitol here. This is the place where it's supposed to be all the action is taking place. And I think that all of you are big supporters of keeping our roads safe and we want to say thank you also to the various different leaders that are out there and behind me here. They are leaders in fighting against drunk driving.

Now, public safety has always been my number one priority. But when we talk about public safety it goes in many different directions, if it is keeping our prisons secure or having the best firefighters in the world to put out the fires or homeland security or keeping our hospitals safe or keeping our drinking water safe and reliable. Everything has to do with public safety.

But this is one of the most important areas, is to make sure that we cut down on our DUI. And we know that drunk driving is a serious problem in California. As a matter of fact, last year alone there were 1,355 DUI fatalities on our roads. Every day our law enforcement arrests 550 different violators that are DUI and I think that's inexcusable, because we're talking here about more than 200,000 arrests a year.

And the sad story is that one-fourth of them are repeat offenders and I think that is outrageous.

And this is why I have pushed so hard to crack down on drunk drivers. They face serious consequences here in our state if they're caught DUI and this is not only because it's a risk to their own lives but the lives of innocent people. I have worked very hard with law enforcement to give law enforcement every tool available. That includes everything from increased DUI checkpoints to patrols and to many bills that I have signed in the past increasing penalties for offenders and to require also vehicle impoundment and license suspension and the list goes on and on.

And today we continue signing really great legislation, great bills. We celebrate signing the two bills that will prevent drunk drivers from ever starting a car. We have the means to stop the offenders from even getting on the road in the first place now and I think this is fantastic.

AB 91 by Assemblyman Mike Feuer of Los Angeles requires first-time DUI offenders to install a device in their car. And this is a proven technology. Drivers blow into the device and if they're drunk the car engine won't start. Now, I think this is really terrific. This is a pilot program. We're going to start in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Tulare counties and if it is successful here, as we think it will be, then we'll do it statewide.

Now, this is not anything new in other states. There have been several states that have done that and they have had tremendous success. For instance, New Mexico is one of those states. Now, listen to this: Repeat drunk driver offenses have dropped by 60 percent in New Mexico. As a matter of fact, they were on top of the list with the amount of deaths that they had in the nation, now they are 25th. So they have really made tremendous progress in that area and I think that we are going to have the same success in the state of California.

Today I also celebrate the signing of SB 598 by Senator Bob Huff of Diamond Bar. Another terrific bill, this will give repeat DUI offenders the chance to apply for a restricted license but only if they install the ignition interlock device. So that means that they have to put that on, then they can get a license. Because we don't want to have people stop driving but we want to have them stop DUI. That's what we want to accomplish here.

These are both fantastic bills and they will help protect innocent lives. Everyone on the road is in harm's way when we have a drunk driver that is behind the wheel. That is totally unacceptable and this is why we want to stop that. And like I said, public safety is my number one priority and I think that today we take a big step towards making California roads safer.

So with that, I want to say thank you to both of the authors for their great work and now I would like to have Assemblyman Mike Feuer come out and say a few words about this great bill.

SENATOR FEUER:

Thank you, Governor.

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:

Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause)

SENATOR FEUER:

Governor, thank you very much. The Governor said that public safety is his top priority and it's clearly job one for all of us in government. But it's rare that we have the chance, as legislators, to enact laws that are really going to save lives.

This is one of those moments. The Governor noted some of the statistics; they bear repeating. More than 200,000 arrests for DUI in California every year; 45,000 of them have been convicted of DUI before. Last year, more than 1,300 deaths at the hands of drunk drivers. The previous year, more than 1,500. We can do something about this problem, because it's not merely a problem for us or a challenge. This is an epidemic. It's a public safety epidemic and it's a public health epidemic.

This bill, as the Governor indicated, will require that DUI offenders have ignition interlock devices installed on their vehicles. If they're inebriated the car won't start. There are two benefits to this approach. The first is that we know during the period in which the interlock is installed on the car the driver can't drive while they're drunk. But more than that, they get in the habit of driving in a sober way and that habit carries over long after the interlock has been removed from their vehicle.

The Governor mentioned New Mexico. More than a 60 percent reduction in repeat drunk driving in New Mexico. Other states, West Virginia, more than 70 percent. We can see the same results here. And it's important that the Governor invoked another state, because this is legislation, as other bills that we've had the opportunity, Governor, to work on together -- we worked on microstamping together of handguns, we worked on green chemistry last year, a right to counsel where basic rights are at stake this year.

And this bill is another example of legislation we can enact in California that will have a catalytic affect around the country. That's why the federal government provided California with a grant to jumpstart this program. This is so important as a nationwide matter. What California does, does affect the rest of the country. This was the number one legislative priority in the country for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

So I want to congratulate the broad coalition that came together in support of this bill, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, law enforcement led by the CHP, doing a terrific job, emergency room physicians and nurses, the auto manufacturers, insurers, counties and cities around the state of California. A remarkable team.

And speaking of teamwork, it's now my honor to introduce a colleague of mine who serves in the Senate, Bob Huff. Mr. Huff is the author of SB 598; 598 is a companion to this measure. I want to say a word about Mr. Huff and about teamwork. Now, I serve with Mr. Huff in the Assembly. We worked very closely together on transportation issues. He's a Republican, I'm a Democrat. We need to replicate this kind of teamwork more and more here in Sacramento. So many of the solutions to our problems can be solved, can be found, if we put aside our party labels and focus on the common ground.

This is a groundbreaking moment. A colleague of mine I'm very proud to serve with, Senator Bob Huff. (Applause)

SENATOR HUFF:

Thank you, Mike. I can't think of any time when I've heard the term DUI and it's ever been in a good context. I mean, it conjures up many things to different people. We have some people in here that have paid the ultimate price when one of their siblings or parents or children have died at the hands of a drunk driver. And so today we're changing that. Today when we speak of DUI we're providing tools, we're harvesting technology to help keep drunk drivers off the road.

You've heard a lot of statistics but here's a different nuance on the statistics. There are 310,000 drivers on California roads with three or more DUI convictions, 44,210 have five or more DUIs. These interlock devices work. You've heard about the other states where they work. This will give us an opportunity to have the general public be safer because we have done our job in Sacramento to protect public safety. This is a proactive step, it's not reactive.

But I do appreciate the opportunity to work with Assemblyman Feuer on this as well as the Governor's Office. This is a win for the whole state.

And I'd like to introduce now Mary Klotzbach, who is with Mothers Against Drunk Driving. (Applause)

MS. KLOTZBACH:

Thank you. I became a member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in 2002 when, in 2001, July 29th, my son was home from the Naval Academy and we went out to dinner to celebrate that he had just received an appointment for Naval Air. My husband and I were with him and we were hit by a DUI offender and Matt was killed. That changed our life, as I'm sure you all can understand. To lose a child is not what you intend to do.

I work at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek. It's a trauma center. I use technology every day to save lives. And when I saw this technology last September when I went to the MADD National Convention and I was able to be introduced to the Automobile Alliance Association and saw the technology that they're working on, I said to my husband, "We can eliminate drunk driving."

Today is a huge step with California taking this step and doing this. Thank you for being here. And thank you, Senator Feuer, for championing this and Governor for signing it.

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:

Thank you. (Applause)

MS. KLOTZBACH:

Sheriff McGinness will come up next. (Applause)

SHERIFF MCGINNESS:

Thank you very much. Over the years we've had the opportunity to have some level of rejoicing at any number of law enforcement efforts aimed at reducing high-risk behavior. And typically that involves relentless enforcement of the law, something I stand by firmly today.

Nevertheless, in this particular case we have the opportunity to actually prevent the act from occurring, embracing technology as means through which to literally force a change in behavior. I find it ironic that we oftentimes hear about people that are fearful of the consequences of being arrested for DUI. And make no mistake about it, there is a significant consequence to be paid. However, when you hear stories such as we just heard, the potential for people's lives to be lost, or their quality of life to be forever compromised and the consequences of having to live with something you do to yourself and to someone else, I think is far worse than a mere arrest for DUI.

In this particular case, this piece of technology can actually make a difference in what somebody who otherwise would violate the law and bring risk to others will do. And I'm very grateful for the bipartisan effort in the legislature and to the Governor for his bold step to sign this bill into law. I think it will make our area safer. We do have the dubious distinction in Sacramento County of being among the very highest in terms of DUI recidivists at 22 percent.

We want to change that and we want to do it in such a way as to minimize the impact on the criminal justice system. The traditional method through which we enforce DUI laws, you take officers off the street that are tied up with the DUI offender. It impacts the jails, it impacts the courts, the D.A.'s office, probation. There's a complete criminal justice impact on it. With this technology being used, again as a means through which to change behavior, to eliminate that act from occurring in the first place, we save all that cost. So I think it's a phenomenal effort and I'm very anxious to see the benefits come our way. Thank you. (Applause)

Governor, I think this is when I invite you back to sign the bills.

(GOVERNOR SIGNS BILLS AB 91 and SB 598)

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:

Thank you very much. Keep up the good work. Yes, absolutely. Like I said, it's great, Democrats and Republicans working together. I love that. Once in a while, exactly. We're going to get it done also with water, remember. Who else should get one? You should get one. And then the man that has to make all the arrests. Absolutely. Thank you very much. Thank you. They're always great. What do you expect of the CHP?

SECRETARY BONNER:

Thank you. Thank you, Governor.

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:

Absolutely. Let's give them a big hand again, because they all worked together. (Applause

hometownstation.com reported. The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station, in conjunction with the Sheriff's Department Traffic Services Detail, conducted a DUI checkpoint Friday night in Newhall. The DUI checkpoint, which began at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 09, 2009, and concluded at 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning, October 10, 2009, screened cars on on Newhall Avenue at Valle Del Oro.

The goal of the checkpoint was to educate the community on the hazards of drunk driving while enforcing the DUI laws of the State of California. The checkpoints are an ongoing attempt to safely remove drunk drivers from the streets and deter those who may be considering DUI.

A total of 1,906 vehicles passed through the checkpoint and 1,604 were screened.

Two drivers were arrested for suspicion of DUI and a third driver was arrested for felony drug possession. Seven citations were issued for California Vehicle Code violations and four vehicles were impounded.

nbcnewyork.com reported. An allegedly drunk mom, whose DUI crash on the Henry Hudson Parkway Sunday killed an 11-year-old girl, was deliberately trying to scare the children in her car before the fatal accident, according to a relative of one of  the survivors.

The uncle of Kayla Fernandez told NBC New York that 31-year-old Carmen Huertas noted that the seven kids she was transporting were alarmed at how fast she was driving but said, "You think this is fast? Wait til we get to the highway."

When they did get on the highway, Huertas swerved her Mercury Sable swerved off near the W. 96th St. exit, flipped over and rolled several times before slamming into a tree, police said.

"She remembers telling the lady to slow down, and then, for some reason -- and I don't want it to be true, I hope its not true, because she's a mother -- but she said 'If you think this is fast, wait til we get to the highway'," said Raynaldo Tirado, uncle of 11-year-old Kayla Fernandez, who was thrown from the car in the crash and somehow miraculously survived.

The mom, who broke her arm in the DUI crash, is being charged with manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter and DUI among other charges.

She reportedly was doing 68 mph in a 50 mph zone and failed a Breathalyzer test, blowing .13, or .05 over the limit, police sources said.

"She deserves life, because not only did she endanger other parents children, but her own as well," said Tirado.

One of the girls in the DUI crash, Yismel Rosario, 14, told the New York Post from her bed at New York Hospital, that Huertas joked "Who thinks we're going to crash?" only moments before they actually did get into the accident.

"The car started swerving back and forth," Rosario said. "I was like, 'Oh, my God!' Then it flipped over. Gisele, Kayla and Leandra flew out of the car. Their eyes were closed. I got out of the car and went to my sister [Gisele]. I held her and said, 'If you can hear me, nod your head.' I told her it would be OK, that help is on the way."

Gisele, spent nine hours in surgery but survived with two broken legs and a back injury.

 

The girls were apparently headed to a sleepover party at Huertas' house after attending a birthday party in Chelsea.

Leandra's father told NBCNewYork that he was a single parent raising his daughter alone. He she had dreams of becoming an actress.

She wanted to be Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce...all in one," said Lenny Rosado.

"I'm hurt, I'm furious. I want to push.  Every parent needs to take a stand for drunk driving," he said.  "I don't know what's the criminal offense and how far it goes, but I'd like to see something up to life (in prison)," he said.

The DUI accident happened around 12:45 a.m.  That's when the sedan swerved off the highway near the W. 96th St. exit, flipped over and rolled several times before slamming into a tree, police said.

nydailynews.com reported. Come see our angel." The father of the 11-year-old girl killed in Sunday's DUI crash made a sad pilgrimage to his daughter's school Tuesday to invite her young classmates to attend her funeral.

Lenny Rosado choked up when he saw the hallways where his daughter Leandra walked each day within the Greenwich Village Middle School.

He stopped to receive hugs from her teachers and classmates and handed out cards that read, "Come see our angel," detailing Leandra's wake Wednesday and Thursday and Friday's funeral.

"She was my only child - my only life I had," said Rosado, 45. "She was my best friend, my partner in crime, my Friday night movie date."

Leandra was one of seven girls crammed into a 1998 Mercury Sable driven by Carmen Huertas, a Bronx mom whose DUI blood-alcohol level was more than one-and-a-half times the legal limit when she climbed behind the steering wheel, cops allege.

Huertas, 31, lost control of her car as she sped along the Henry Hudson Parkway, causing it to flip over several times and eject three of the young girls -  including Leandra.

"I looked back and saw her empty chair and I cried," said Amanda Feliciano, one of Leandra's sixth-grade classmates "Every time I think she's not here, I hug my friends and start crying."

Parents dropping off students at the school on Hudson street spoke of consoling their children who were traumatized upon learning about the grisly DUI crash.

"She's taking it hard, very hard," said Joanna Feliciano, 33, whose daughter Amanda often played with Leandra. "She's crying constantly. She can't sleep, thinking of Leandra."

Grief counselors were deployed at the Greenwich Village Middle School as well as the Clinton School for Writers & Artists in Chelsea, the middle school attended by Kayla Fernandez, one of the girls badly hurt in the crash.

"We're in the position to make sense out of something that is senseless," said Joseph Anderson, the school's principal. "It's hard enough for adults. How are 12, 13-year-olds going to do it?"

Huertas, who suffered a broken arm and blunt force trauma in the DUI crash, is in stable condition at Harlem Hospital and will be arraigned upon her release.

It was unlikely that anyone else, including the friends who served Huertas alcohol in the hours before the DUI crash, would face criminal charges, law enforcement sources said.

Leandra's wake will be held Wednesday and Thursday from 4 to  9 p.m. at Redden's Funeral Home on W. 14th St.
Her funeral will be held across the street at Our Lady Of Guadalupe Church Friday at 9:30 a.m.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/10/13/2009-10-13_tearful_pilgrimage_to_daughters_school_for_father_whose_little_angel_died_in_dwi.html#ixzz0Ts7hIdLG

Sacramento - californiachronicle.com reported. Governor Schwarzenegger has signed Assembly Bill 91 (Feuer), a bipartisan public safety measure that will help decrease drunk driving by requiring DUI offenders to install ignition interlock devices (IIDs) on their cars. It creates a pilot project in the counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Tulare requiring IIDs on any vehicle owned or operated by an individual convicted of a DUI offense. California taxpayers will not bear the costs associated with the IID; rather, the DUI offenders will be required to pay.

"This pilot project can save hundreds of lives. I´m pleased that the Governor agrees that California should require offenders to have these devices installed. This law is an important step in preventing DUI recidivism in our state," said Assembly member Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), author of the bill.

When installed, an IID links into a vehicle´s ignition system, and a driver blows into the device to start the vehicle. The vehicle will not start unless the driver´s alcohol level is below the limit of .08 blood-alcohol content (the legal limit in California).

In states where ignition interlock devices are installed on the vehicles of first-time offenders, repeat DUI offenses have significantly decreased. West Virginia experienced a decrease of more than 70% among first-time offenders. In New Mexico, drunk driving recidivism has declined by more than 60% since it mandated that first-time offenders equip their vehicles with IIDs. As the LA Times has reported, from 2004 to 2008, DUI fatalities in New Mexico dropped 35% (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-new-mexico-dwi7-2009jul07,0,7586274.story).

The legislation is supported by a broad coalition of law enforcement, healthcare professionals, insurance companies, and advocacy groups. Additionally, it has been endorsed in editorials in the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, and the Sacramento Bee and other leading California newspapers.

In CA, law enforcement made 203,866 DUI arrests in 2007, averaging out to 558 DUI arrests every day. Of those arrested, 45,149 were repeat offenders. These drivers caused 53,261 collisions, resulting in the death of 1501 people.

The pilot project begins on July 1, 2010 and will extend to January 1, 2016. By July 1, 2015, the Department of Motor Vehicles will report to the Legislature on the pilot project´s effectiveness in reducing the number of repeat DUI offenses.

centralvalleybusinesstimes.com reported. Convicted of DUI in Tulare or Sacramento counties and you'll find a special device installed on every car or truck you own that will keep anyone from driving them unless the gadget determines they're not DUI.

The new legislation, AB 91 by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, and signed into law Sunday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, creates an ignition interlock device pilot program in four counties for every vehicle owned or operated by a first-time driving under the influence (DUI) offender.

The governor also signed SB 598 by Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, allowing repeat DUI offenders to apply for a restricted license if they install an ignition interlock device on their vehicles. The ignition interlock device, an instrument that is installed to a motor vehicle's dashboard, tests a person's blood alcohol concentration before the vehicle's motor can be started.

"By installing ignition interlock devices we are making it harder for DUI offenders to get behind the wheel while DUI and we are working to save innocent lives," says Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

There could be one hitch in the git-along: The ignition-locking program will not take effect unless non-state funding can be found.

The Orange County Register reported on yet another Orange County DUI. An 18-year-old Fountain Valley woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony vehicular manslaughter and DUI charges in connection with a fatal crash in Oceanside that claimed the life of her best friend, San Diego Superior Court officials said.

Marian Teri Kahale is accused of driving a sport utility vehicle in the Sunday morning crash that killed Natasha Dannov of Fountain Valley on Dannov's 18th birthday, California Highway Patrol officials said.

She entered the plea in an afternoon session at the North County Superior Court in Vista and remains in custody at the Las Colinas Detention Facility in lieu of $250,000 bail.

This  Drunk Driver in Orange County will need an experienced Orange County DUI Lawyer.

Here are a few websites to visit:

Orange County Dui Attorney

Orange County Drunk Driving Lawyer

Orange County Dui Lawyer

The Orange County register reported on an Orange County DUI . A San Pedro woman was arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI  -driving under the influence early Friday after she ran a stop sign and clipped a police car, police said.

Jessica Vranna, 25, of San Pedro was arrested by the CHP on suspicion of DUI.

Around 2:48 a.m., a sergeant on patrol was headed north on Orange Avenue when to his left he saw a car on Rochester Street that didn't look like it was going to stop at the stop sign, said Lt. Marty Carver of the Costa Mesa police.

This   Drunk Driver in Orange County  will need an experienced Orange County DUI Lawyer.

Here are a few websites to visit:

Orange County Dui Attorney

Orange County Drunk Driving Lawyer

Orange County Dui Lawyer

The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI death. She loved sunflowers. She would hold them, look at them and draw them when she had a free moment; so it was only fitting that friends lined the street where she was killed Thursday morning with wide yellow sunflowers.

The day after 16-year-old Mackenzie Frazee was killed in a violent crash on Newport Avenue, friends and family continued to gather near La Colina Drive, leaving notes, flowers and candles for the teenager they described as an artistic and good student.

"God really took an angel," said Tricia Fallo, who said her son Chad had been dating Frazee for about a year. "It's a big loss to us."

Frazee was pulled by paramedics from the wreckage of a 1998 Mercedez-Benz, but she died from her injuries at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.

Authorities said the car was sheared into pieces after crashing into a light pole early Thursday morning. The 17-year-old driver of the car has been taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence.

If you have been charged with  Drunk Drivers in Orange County , you will need an experienced Orange County DUI Lawyer.

Here are a few websites to visit:

Orange County Dui Attorney

Orange County Drunk Driving Lawyer

Orange County Dui Lawyer

SANTA ANA contracostatimes.com reported. A 25-year-old Long Beach man was sentenced Friday to a life term in prison for a DUI crash that killed his best friend last year.

Ivan Gandarilla was convicted of second-degree murder on July 15 and was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in prison for the death of his 29-year-old friend, Fernando Flores.

Gandarilla had been drinking for several hours on Feb. 16, 2008, at the La Hacienda Club in Long Beach with Flores when he got behind the wheel of his Mitsubishi Eclipse with Flores in the passenger seat, Los Alamitos police said last year.

Shortly before 11 p.m., Gandarilla got off the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway and headed east on Katella Avenue when he suddenly turned left on Siboney Street heading toward the Los Alamitos Race Track parking lot.

Witnesses said Gandarilla turned against a red left turn arrow and his Mitsubishi was struck by a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe.

Flores suffered multiple blunt-force trauma injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Four of the people riding in the SUV suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene.

Gandarilla also suffered minor injuries, police said.

Two hours after the crash, Gandarilla's blood-alcohol level was measured at .17 percent, more than twice the legal limit, prosecutors said.

The Long Beach man was initially arrested for a DUI stemming from a previous arrest for suspicion of drunk driving , Los Alamitos Police said at the time of the fatal collision.

Gandarilla has a previous conviction for DUI in Orange County in 2005, for which he was ordered to attend an educational program focused on the dangers of DUI.

Six months after that conviction, the Long Beach was involved in single-car DUI crash in Los Angeles County in which his blood alcohol level measured .33, or more than four times the legal limit.

Gandarilla still faces prosecution in that case, prosecutors said.

Due to his prior DUI history and the severity of this crash, Gandarilla was sentenced to the maximum term of 15 years to life in prison by an Orange County Superior Court judge on Friday.

The term requires Gandarilla to serve at least 15 years before he can be found eligible for parole, authorities said.

"I think justice was served," An Orange County Criminal Attorney  said after the sentencing Friday.

Gandarilla, who choked up during the trial when he took the stand and recalled how the accident killed his friend, did not show any emotion in court Friday, Price said.

City News Service contributed to this report.

jacksonville.com reported. The booze flows freely at the beach, and so do DUI accidents caused by alcohol.

In 2008, only 8 percent of car accidents in Jacksonville were DUI-related. But go toward the ocean and the numbers soar: About 20 percent of the wrecks in Fernandina Beach were DUI-related, 25 percent in Jacksonville Beach, 28 percent in Atlantic Beach and 35 percent in Neptune Beach.

Caton Bennett, a Jacksonville Beach resident, sees those numbers and doesn't bat an eyelid.

"It doesn't surprise me at all," he said. "We have so many bars and restaurant downtown around here, I'd be surprised if the DUI crash numbers weren't high."

Earlier this year, Bennett and business partner Bill Kelly  founded DUI Patrol, a company that sends out two people to pick up a drunk person and take them home in their own car.

Bennett came up with the idea while on vacation in New York. A similar service existed in the Big Apple, and Bennett immediately thought it had possibilities in Jacksonville Beach.

His business is booming, and they are getting 35 to 40 customers some nights at $25 a pop east of the Intracoastal and $40 or more to the west.

The wreck numbers were compiled by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. As expected, Jacksonville had a lot more total crashes, but the crash numbers at the beach communities are similar to the totals in Orange Park and Green Cove Springs, which had much lower DUI crash rates.

Partying gets the blame.

"It may be that many beach activities involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages," said Lt. Bill Leeper  of the Florida Highway Patrol. "Other areas are more work-related or business-oriented."

Sgt. Thomas Bingham,  Jacksonville Beach police spokesman, said a large number of DUI crashes at the beach come from tourists who don't live in the area.

"Our experience is that the people who live around here are very responsible drinkers who will often walk or ride a bicycle back from the bars," Bingham said. "But we face a continuing challenge because of the large number of people who patronize our bars and restaurants."

Atlantic Beach Police Chief Michael Classey  also brought up tourists. But Classey said the goal was to arrest people driving drunk without crashes. The department has a new Orange County DUI vehicle that allows them to conduct sobriety tests on scene, and has focused on saturation patrols where a lot of officers work at specific checkpoints  on Atlantic Boulevard to discourage DUI.

"We've been very vocal about our DUI patrols because we want people to know we are out on the road," Classey said.

Auto accidents have decreased by 20 percent in 2009 in Atlantic Beach, and he expects the DUI crash rate to drop as well, Classey said.

Designated Drivers Inc. also offers service throughout the First Coast to drive people home in their own cars after a night of drinking. Owner Robert Dejesus  said about 40 percent of his business comes from the Beaches area, and his clientele tends to be people in their 30s or older.

"Older people understand the risks of getting a DUI," Dejesus said. "They don't want to get arrested and have a police record."

Younger people in their 20s don't think about that, he said. And they usually don't call for his service. However, bartenders will sometimes call them up on behalf of a patron who has had too much to drink.

Todd Rosenbaum,  executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving of North Florida, said it remains a challenge to reach some young people when it comes to taking drunk driving seriously.

"There is no one single answer to solving this problem," Rosenbaum said. "It requires a lot of different things."

Things like education, strong and visible police enforcement, peer pressure, and responsible friends and family are all necessary to keep young people from driving while intoxicated, Rosenbaum said.

Continued enforcement with normal patrols, Leeper said, as well as DUI checkpoints and continuing education are also needed.

But for the foreseeable future, business will continue to boom for the DUI Patrol.

"Word  gets out quick when the police are out," Bennett said. "Everyone wants to avoid the DUI checkpoints."

AKRON -- wkyc.com reported. The University of Akron board of trustees have accepted the resignation of former Chief Financial Officer John Case, who has been charged with DUI at 2 a.m. Sept. 3 in Macedonia.

University officials said Case, who makes $242,625, will use accrued vacation and sick time before leaving Feb. 28.

Trustees removed Case, 48, as chief financial officer in September right after he was charged with DUI.

His title was changed from chief financial officer to senior business officer when trustees accepted his resignation.

The Sept. 3 DUI arrest was his second alcohol-related arrest.

In January 2006, three months after being hired by the university, Case was charged with DUI in Shaker Heights.

Police said they found him slumped over the steering wheel of his car. He pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of DUI.

In the Sept. 3 arrest, a 911 caller told police that Case was driving erratically near a construction zone where Ohio Department of Transportation workers were working.

Police records show that Case declined to take a blood-alcohol test.

Case is scheduled to appear in Macedonia Mayor's Court Oct. 21.

profootballtalk.nbcsports.com reported. The initial reports regarding the recent guilty plea from Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin didn't specify whether Griffin pleaded guilty to drunk driving or a lesser charge, such as DUI.

Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that Griffin pleaded guilty to fourth-degree DWI.  Another charge of DUI and a charge of careless driving was dropped.

Griffin claims that he and friends took a limousine to downtown Minneapolis on August 30.  When the limo returned to the Eden Prarie hotel where Griffin and the others had parked their vehicles, Griffin got in his car and started to drive home.

After a few minutes, he pulled over, apparently because he thought he was too inebriated to drive.

A few minutes later, a police officer approached the car.

"I tried to do the right thing," Griffin said. "But I failed to complete the whole task of going home."

His DUI lawyer confirmed Griffin's contention that he stopped due to concerns regarding his ability to continue.

"He stopped his own vehicle because he didn't feel it was safe to drive," the DUI attorney  said.  "And whatever the consequences, he's accepting them.  He's not second-guessing the fact that he pulled over."

So here's the lesson, kids.  If you're going to have a limo or some other designated driver, make sure the ride includes, you know, the full trip home.

Meanwhile, because Griffin pleaded guilty to DUI and drunk driving charges, he now faces discipline under the league's substance-abuse policy, and he possibly will be suspended.

latimes.com/news reported. Orange County Criminal Attorney said today that all the medical marijuana dispensaries in the county are operating illegally, and that "they are going to be prosecuted."

There are hundreds of dispensaries throughout the county, including as many as 800 in the city of Los Angeles, according to the criminal attorneys office. They operate under a 1996 voter initiative that allowed marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes, and a subsequent state law that provided for collective cultivation.

Based on a state Supreme Court decision last year, Criminal Attorney has concluded that over-the-counter sales are illegal. Most if not all of the dispensaries in the state operate on that basis.

Cooley said his office had already begun preparing to prosecute a Culver City dispensary called Organica.

Widespread criminal prosecutions could deal a sharp blow to the medical marijuana movement in California, where advocates have argued that access to the drug has helped many cancer patients and others manage pain, nausea and other health issues.

Cooley and Trutanich announced their plans after a training session for narcotics officers at the Montebello Country Club. Outside about 100 medical marijuana advocates protested, saying that not allowing over-the-counter sales threatens the distribution of a product that many sick people have come to rely on.

Kramer, operator of the California Patient Alliance, a dispensary on Melrose Avenue, said, "If this is the way it goes, we'll go underground again. There will be a lot more crime."

calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews reported. MADD launched a new DUI initiative in Calgary on Thursday to encourage citizens to turn in suspected drunk drivers.

Campaign 911 - Report DUI Drivers works by encouraging Canadians to pull over and call 911 if they spot a suspected DUI.

Permanent road signs will be installed throughout the city and ads are already on Calgary Transit buses to promote the DUI initiative.

Campaign DUI  will distribute education material to various agencies and say the involvement of the Calgary Police Service is critical to the success of the program.

Calgary Police Chief, Rick Hanson, says that the more people out there reporting crime the better and that getting information back to their officers on the street is the key.

"With everybody being the eyes and the ears, if we can get the information from the citizens quick enough and get it back out to our guys quick enough, we can have the response we'd like to see," said Chief Hanson.

The Chief also said that calling 911 during busy times to report a DUI will not be a problem. "The information is going to be followed up on, at worst, we're gonna have a licence number, a description of the vehicle that we can act on so I'm confident we'll be able to follow up in those instances."

MADD says the campaign gives Canadians the opportunity to play a role in their own safety by assisting the police in intervening before a potentially deadly DUI crash occurs.

DUI is the number one criminal cause of death in Canada and approximately 77,000 Canadians are victimized by impaired drivers annually.

There have been 18 fatal collisions in Calgary this year, 4 of them involving alcohol, and so far Calgary police have laid 2116 impaired driving charges.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- silive.com/news reported. Don't chance getting behind the wheel while DUI when headed for the bridges linking New Jersey and Staten Island.

A crackdown on DUI drivers aims to prevent such motorists from coming into the borough, The criminal attorney  and Port Authority Police Superintendent announced today.

As part of Operation Safe Crossing, Port Authority Police will operate a "DUI road check" at a pre-selected, undisclosed bridge in the coming weeks.

"Last year, nearly 33 million cars entered onto Staten Island's roadways by way of the Port Authority's crossings," Donovan said. "Realistically, a significant number of those drivers were either drunk or under the influence of drugs and endangering every other driver on the road. I am grateful to the Port Authority Police Department for operating these checks and I can assure the public that anyone arrested for this crime on Staten Island will continue to be prosecuted with the most aggressive DUI prosecution policy in this region."

According to NYPD statistics, 401 people have been arrested so far this year for DUI or driving while impaired on Staten Island, compared to 423 as of this date in 2008. A total of 555 individuals were arrested for DUI in all of 2008.

"People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol put the lives of everyone on the road at risk," Fedorko said. "Tremendous tragedies are born out of this crime and the Port Authority Police Department's goal - along with the Staten Island DA - is to target those DUI and remove them from the road before any damage is done."

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- wftv.com reported. The France family is the biggest name in NASCAR and race car driver J.C. France, who is the grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France, is facing Orange County DUI and drug charges and has been suspended from racing.

Thursday afternoon, Eyewitness News confronted J.C.'s half-brother, who was also arrested for DUI and illegal drugs Wednesday night.

A statement from NASCAR says J.C. France is being treated like any other racer and he has now been suspended indefinitely from all races.

"JC France was arrested last night in Daytona Beach, Fl, for Orange County DUI. He was also charged for possession of narcotics. JC is a driver in Grand American Road Racing series. Grand Am has issued a DUI penalty notice and suspended JC indefinitely from all competition for actions detrimental to racing. The penalty is not appealable. JC is being treated like any other competitor. His suspension is immediate and indefinite," NASCAR said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon.

Eyewitness News had a crew inside Daytona Beach police headquarters when reporter Jason Allen noticed Russell Van Richmond on the phone with investigators. He's J.C. France's half-brother and was arrested with him for DUI and drugs Wednesday night.

Eyewitness News tried to talk to him, but he had very little to say.

"Can you answer these allegations about threatening police officers?" Allen asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied.

But a police report says Richmond had a lot to say Wednesday night, threatening officers with statements like "I want your commander now. I am a France. Do you know what that means?" and "We own this city. I am gonna have your job."

Richmond was pulled over with J.C. France, the grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France. Two police officers say France appeared to be racing in a Lamborghini against Richmond in a Porsche over the Seabreeze Bridge. According to a police report, France's Lamborghini also blew through a red light.

When France was pulled over, police say he failed a field sobriety test, had blood shot eyes and slurred speech and cocaine in his possession, so he was arrested. Richmond was arrested, too, for DUI, cocaine and a hydrocodone tablet.

Eyewitness News tried to contact J.C. France on Thursday afternoon, but no one answered the door at his Daytona Beach home.

NASCAR says the suspension from racing cannot be appealed.

J.C. France's name had come up this summer as a victim of a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme that swept through NASCAR, including race car drivers. Many lost millions.

France races in the Grand Am Rolex Series. His uncle Brian is the current head of NASCAR. J.C. finished third in the Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Driver's Standings in 2008.

profootballtalk.nbcsports.com reported. Somehow, in this 24-hour news cycle that dominates sports coverage (and we love every second of it), a DUI arrest of an NFL player made it through the cracks.

In August, cornerback Cedric Griffin became the latest in a long line of Vikings players to be arrested for DUI. 

The incident has come to light because Griffin was sentenced Wednesday, according to WCCO.  It's unclear whether he pleaded guilty to DUI or a lesser charge, such as drunk driving.  He'll be required to devote two days to community service, and he'll be on probation for two years.

Griffin, who was arrested back in 2007 for disorderly conduct, now faces the possibility of a suspension, if he pleaded guilty to DUI and not some lesser charge.

So why wasn't this DUI previously known?  Though the specific date of the August DUI arrest isn't known, the Minnesota media in that time period was tracking another fairly significant story regarding a man who left his tractor for the Twin Cities.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - ktiv.com/Global/story.asp reported. A Harrold man who has racked up eight Orange County DUI convictions has been sentenced to five years in the South Dakota State Penitentiary.

4 of Gilbert Big Eagle's DUI convictions have been within the last 10 years.

Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur, after being told that the 43-year-old Big Eagle had not completed DUI treatment requirements, said Tuesday that his record shows probation doesn't work for him.

Also in Hughes County court, 46-year-old Maria Kraft of Hoven was sentenced to seven years in prison for her fifth DUI - all in the last 10 years. She was given credit for 214 days she already has served.

2 of Kraft's previous DUI arrests occurred on the same day in February 2005.

The recent crackdown on DUI cases is understandable -- alcohol contributes to a death every 33 minutes and costs the public billions of dollars each year in damages, loss of life and reduced productivity. If you've been arrested for DUI in Orange County, you need an aggressive, reputable and the top Orange County DUI attorney on your side.

Information from: KGFX-AM, http://www.dakotaradiogroup.com

edmontonsun.com reported. In 1962, when compulsory breathalyzer tests for those suspected of Orange County DUI were first proposed, Magistrate A.D. Barron, of Kitchener, Ont., said they were "a blow to human rights" and "the sort of thing that could lead to a society where Big Brother is watching everything."

Not until Dec. 1, 1969 did breathalyzer tests become mandatory. Now, 40 years later, the federal government is considering legislation allowing random breathalyzer tests. And the reaction is much the same.

"Giving police power to act on a whim is not something we want in an open democratic society," said Richard Rosenberg, of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

And here are a few of the many irate Internet comments about the proposed legislation.

"Step by step the police state get more powerful and we less powerful."

"Is this the thin edge of the wedge that will let the police come into our houses, businesses, without probable cause?

"What's next? Random DNA tests? Mandatory vaccination?"

Before we all leap to the barricades to defend Canada from an invasion of common sense, let's look at some facts. Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and a number of European countries have for years had laws permitting random breathalyzer tests. In Australia, DUI fatalities dropped some 36% after legislation came into effect. It is estimated this law has prevented at least 789 fatal DUI crashes.

Moreover, a recent U.S. study indicated that 60% of DUI drivers went undetected at checkpoints. Why? Because U.S. laws are the same as Canada's. The police are not allowed to demand drivers take a breathalyzer test unless there are visible signs of intoxication or the driver admits to drinking.

Meanwhile, on a national scale, Statistics Canada reports that 2,875 people died in DUI accidents in 2004. It is estimated that nearly half of those deaths involved drunk driving. These statistics do not, of course, state how many people were seriously injured by DUI drivers.

On a more personal level, in June, four women in their 80s heading home from a church supper in Chatham, Ont. were killed by a drunk driver.

Wladyslaw Bilski, 49, was convicted in September of DUI causing the deaths of Marion Dawson, Bernice Phillips, Verna Neaves and Jean Ripley. He got four years in jail and a 10-year driving ban. Not a few critics pointed out the terrible irony that the four-year sentence represents one year per woman killed. In some Scandinavian countries, the first DUI conviction results in an automatic lifelong licence suspension.

But what of our civil liberties? The charter does award Canadian citizens the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

Does that right mean a Wladyslaw Bilski can jump in his minivan drunk and put others at risk, secure in the knowledge that he is exempt from a random breathalyzer test? I think not.

Besides, the charter also gives us the right to life, liberty and security of the person.

You will not have any of these vital three commodities if a Bilski, three times above the legal alcohol limit, crashes head-on into your car, killing you instantly.

I know whereof I speak because before the day 20 years ago when I stopped drinking, I sometimes, I'm ashamed to say, drank and drove. By the grace of God, I neither killed nor injured anyone.

I would like to think that had random breathalyzer testing been in effect, I would not have risked getting behind the wheel drunk.

superiortelegram.com reported. A State Senate panel passed a plan Tuesday that would raise the tax on hard liquor to cover the cost of tougher penalties for DUI arrests and drunk drivers.

Other than the liquor tax, the plan is similar to one that passed the Assembly last month. It would require ignition interlocks for all repeat DUI convictions and make a fourth DUI arrest in five years a felony. It would also criminalize a first DUI offense if someone younger than 16 is in the car.

But new projections released Tuesday showed the plan would cost more than $70 million. To cover the cost, the bill proposed by Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, would raise the tax on liquor by 50 cents per liter. Sullivan says everyone agrees the state needs drunk driving reform.

"If its public policy worth passing, then it should be worth paying for," he says.

But the author of the Assembly's DUI package took issue with the new cost estimates from the Departments of Transportation and Corrections. Tony Staskunas, D-West Allis, called them inflated.

"If a Department doesn't like a bill, they can get creative with fiscal estimates and I think that's what's going on," he says.

Staskunas's proposal passed the Assembly last month on a unanimous vote. But Republicans gave this latest Senate plan a cool reception, voting against it in committee.

The Orange County Register reported on an Orange County DUI . Two women were taken into custody after a non-injury accident on the southbound 55 at Dyer Road this morning, the California Highway Patrol said. The collision was reported at 8:51 a.m. and involved a silver Toyota Tacoma and a silver Mazda. Authorities were initially told that one of the vehicles was full of drugs.

The CHP was called to the area at 8:54 a.m. and found two women fleeing on foot, CHP officer Daniel Rico said.

Rico said the two women were taken into custody. The driver, 21, was arrested on suspicion of Orange County DUI .  The passenger, also 21, was arrested on Orange County  drug possession charges.

"The car wasn't full of drugs," Rico said. "This wasn't a big drug bust, just an Orange County DUI ."

Contact the writer: 714-70

newjerseynewsroom.com reported. A cooperative law enforcement effort among five Camden County towns designed to combat drunk driving will begin this month and continue through next September, state Highway Traffic Safety Director Pam Fischer announced Tuesday.

Funded by a federal grant of $48,600, the effort allows the towns of Stratford, Somerdale, Hi-Nella, Laurel Springs and Magnolia to share police resources for Orange County DUI saturation patrols along the White Horse Pike.

Under the DUI initiative, officers from the five police departments will have the ability to stop and arrest drunk drivers in any of the participating towns. The effort is designed to enhance the efforts of each town to apprehend drunk drivers by increasing police visibility.

"By working together and pooling resources, law enforcement is sending a strong message that there's zero tolerance for drunk driving," Fischer said in Stratford. "Motorists must take personal responsibility for their actions behind the wheel, and that includes not drinking and driving. The consequences of DUI are tragic and can have a lasting impact. This effort will greatly enhance law enforcement efforts to combat DUI, and ultimately, save lives."

In 2008, 154 people were killed as a result of alcohol-related crashes on New Jersey's highways, representing approximately 26 percent of the 591 traffic fatalities. In Camden County, 13 of the 44 fatalities last year involved alcohol.

A similar effort began in Northern Burlington County last year and has been successful in combating drunk driving.

Under the initiative, which ran for the first time during the summer months in 2008, there was a 28 percent reduction in alcohol-related crashes in the five participating towns, compared to the same time period the previous year. In addition, 42 DUI arrests were made as a result of the program in the five Burlington towns that participated and share the Route 130 and 206 corridors.

Arrest numbers in the towns were: Bordentown Township, 18; Bordentown, 8; Mansfield, 3; Chesterfield, 8; and North Hanover, 5. Of the people arrested for DUI, 38 had a blood-alcohol content of more than 0.15, nearly double the legal limit. The program was conducted this past summer, as well, concluding at the end of September.

host.madison.com/wsj/news reported. A bill to tighten penalties on Orange County DUI criticized by opponents as doing too little could still cost state taxpayers more than $70 million a year -- much higher than previous DUI estimates.

To help cover about half the cost, Democrats on the Senate judiciary committee voted Tuesday to raise the state's liquor tax by 50 cents a liter, moving the bill a step closer to consideration by the full Senate. Increasing the tax from 86 cents a liter to $1.36, a jump of 58 percent, would raise about $25.7 million a year. The proposed tax increase would not apply to beer or wine.

The move was critical to both underscore how much the Orange County DUI bill will cost and to provide that money, said a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston.

"Every time you crank up DUI penalties, it costs a lot of money," Carrie Lynch said.

The bill was approved on a partisan 3-2 vote in the judiciary committee, but still needs to go before the Legislature's budget committee before going to the full Senate, Lynch said.

An Assembly version of the bill was initially estimated to cost $13.4 million a year. But that figure was revised sharply upward this week as state agencies and the Legislative Fiscal Bureau looked more closely at the costs.

Rebekah Sweeney, a spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, said lawmakers in that house would work to address the added costs but declined comment on the proposed tax increase.

Gov. Jim Doyle is "receptive" to the Senate proposal, including the liquor tax hike, spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner said.

"The cost of not acting to prevent drunk driving is steep," Sensenbrenner said.

The bill passed unanimously by the Assembly last month would make fourth-offense DUI a felony if the crime comes within five years of the third offense. It would also require repeat DUI and first-time DUI offenders with a blood alcohol content of higher than 0.15 percent - nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent - to install ignition interlock devices similar to Breathalyzers that won't allow a car to start if the driver is drunk.

The Senate committee's version of the bill would increase the minimum imprisonment for a third DUI offense from 30 days to 45 days but, like the Assembly version, would not make the offense a felony.

The cost of the Assembly bill could be around $40 million, rather than the higher $70.9 million estimate, if more felony fourth-time offenders are sentenced to probation instead of prison, and the state ends up housing more offenders in contract institutions such as county jails or out-of-state prisons, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis found.

The analysis didn't include the possible costs of building more state prisons or higher jail and other costs for counties.

The Senate version of the bill would cost slightly more and raise about $35.7 million a year - or about half of the total cost of the bill - by hiking the liquor tax and increasing a fee charged to all convicted criminals from $20 to $163, bringing in an estimated $10 million.

A bill to tighten penalties on drunk driving - criticized by some as doing too little - could still cost state taxpayers more than $70 million a year.

The new estimate by the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office is considerably higher than the previous figures on the bill's costs given by Assembly lawmakers. To help cover the cost, Senate Democrats are looking at raising the state's liquor tax by 50 cents a liter.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, supports raising the tax from 86 cents a liter to $1.36, an increase of 58 percent, spokeswoman Carrie Lynch said. That would raise about $25 million a year, she said.

"This is why Russ Decker thinks that running bills through the Joint Finance Committee is so important because we need to get cost estimates on what we're trying to pass," Lynch said of the higher cost estimates. "Every time you crank up penalties, it costs a lot of money."

An amendment to include the tax increase in a Senate version of the bill could come up later Tuesday in the Senate judiciary and corrections committee.

The bill passed unanimously by the Assembly last month would:

• Make fourth-offense drunken driving a felony if the crime comes within five years of the third offense. Currently, a fifth offense constitutes a felony.

• Require repeat drunk drivers and first-time offenders with a blood alcohol content of higher than 0.15 percent - nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent - to install ignition interlock devices similar to Breathalyzers that won't allow a car to start if the driver is drunk.

• Allow other counties to participate in a Winnebago County pilot program that allows second- and third-time offenders to spend less time behind bars if they successfully complete treatment. Drivers can only use the option once.

• Require third-time offenders be locked up immediately after sentencing but keep the third offense a misdemeanor.

• Make a first-time offense, currently a municipal violation, a criminal misdemeanor if a child under 16 years of age is in the car.

The cost of the Assembly bill could be around $40 million, rather than the higher $70.9 million estimate, if more felony fourth-time offenders are sentenced to probation instead of prison, and the state houses more offenders in contract institutions such as county jails or out-of-state prisons, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis found.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - newson6.com reported. A state lawmaker says repeat DUI offenders should be subject to tougher penalties in the state.

Rep. Harold Wright of Weatherford says Oklahoma could more aggressively prosecute repeat DUI offenders through simple changes to Oklahoma's DUI laws.

Wright recently conducted a study of the state's DUI laws. He says current law allows someone who is a repeat DUI offender to stay on the roads much longer based on a technicality.

Under current DUI law, a drunk driver who received a deferred sentence cannot have that offense counted as a prior DUI conviction if arrested a second time for drunk driving.

Also, an individual must have a prior conviction within the past 10 years to be classified as a repeat offender for a second or subsequent offense.

latimes.com reported. The cameras were rolling, but actor and director Mel Gibson was nowhere to be seen at the Malibu courthouse Tuesday.

In a brief hearing held at the Oscar winner's request, a judge agreed to expunge Gibson's Orange County DUI conviction. The initial arrest made headlines when the star was reported to have made anti-Semitic comments to a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy.

"He does not appear to be on any sort of probation or facing any similar charges," Judge Lawrence J. Mira said as a videographer for a celebrity news website taped the proceeding. "So I will grant the petition and sign the order." Mira noted that the charge is "still valid for gun control purposes."

Like most first-time Orange County DUI offenders, Gibson, 53, was eligible to have his conviction expunged after completing the terms of his probation. Those terms included attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, appearing in public service announcements and paying $1,300 in fines. Neither Gibson nor his DUI attorney was required to appear.

The sheriff's deputy stopped Gibson in July 2006 on Pacific Coast Highway after the actor was spotted driving his Lexus sedan at more than 85 mph. A Breathalyzer test showed Gibson's blood-alcohol level to be 0.12%; the legal limit for driving is 0.08%. A Sheriff's Department spokesman initially described the DUI arrest as having occurred "without incident."

But after the celebrity website TMZ.com obtained the DUI arrest report detailing Gibson's profane outbursts, his alleged attempt to escape custody and repeated threats against the arresting deputy, critics charged that the actor had received special treatment from authorities.

In his initial DUI report, Deputy James Mee described how Gibson "bolted" from custody and how he chased the actor back to Gibson's car and handcuffed him.

In addition, the report detailed repeated threats against Mee made by Gibson, who said he "owned Malibu" and would "get even" with the deputy.

The report also detailed Gibson's "barrage of anti-Semitic remarks," in which he said, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" before asking the deputy, who is Jewish: "Are you a Jew?"

The Orange County Register reported on a possible Orange County DUI . Blood tests show that a 15-year-old who is accused of driving a Lexus at more than 100 mph had little or no alcohol in his system when he lost control of the car, rolling over and killing a 25-year-old passenger, authorities said.

Shortly after the Thursday morning crash, the unlicensed 15-year-old told investigators he had been drinking beforehand, but blood test show little or no alcohol in his system, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. So, was it an Orange County DUI ?

His passenger, 25-year-old Nicholas Clayton, an active member of the U.S. Army who was expected to return to Iraq after a two-week leave, died at the scene of the crash.

The teen, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, was allegedly driving a Lexus LS400 at speeds of more than 100 mph Thursday when he lost control, hit the curb and rolled the car on the hillside. Clayton was thrown from the car.

Investigators had said they believed alcohol had played a role in the crash. Clayton and the minor were believed to have left a party and been on their way to pick up more alcohol when the crash occurred at about 1:50 a.m., Amormino said. So, yes this woudl have been an Orange County DUI .

Authorities are waiting for blood test results to see if the minor had consumed any type of drugs, Amormino said. So, maybe an Orange County Drug arrest. The minor was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and is expected to appear in court Tuesday.

Clayton, originally from Youngsville, La., was an Iraq war veteran, Amormino said. He was a two-week leave and visiting a friend in Laguna Niguel when the crash occurred. He was expected to return to Iraq later this week.

Authorities said their investigation was hampered in part by conflicting statements made by the suspected driver.

Authorities found that the Lexus being driven that night was registered to the 15-year-old's parents.

nytimes.com  reported. New York City police officer has been disciplined as part of an internal inquiry into a fatal DUI accident in Brooklyn that involved an off-duty officer who the police say was drunk, a person with knowledge of the inquiry said.

A Brooklyn grand jury will begin hearing testimony next week in the case involving Officer Kelly, officials said.

Officer Kelly, 30, appeared in Criminal Court on Friday and, through his criminal lawyer, submitted a sympathy card he had written and asked that prosecutors present it to the family of the woman killed in the DUI accident, Vionique Valnord.

"He wanted a way to express his condolences, so he wrote out a card with his personal sentiments to the family," the officer's criminal attorney, said after the court proceedings. "Today and tomorrow are the memorials for the young woman, and our thoughts and prayers are with the young woman."

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was expected to attend Ms. Valnord's wake in Brooklyn on Friday evening, an aide said.

Officer Kelly was charged with vehicular manslaughter and DUI, the authorities said, after his S.U.V. struck Ms. Valnord about 1 a.m. on Sunday as she tried to flag down a taxi after leaving a wedding reception. Officer Kelly refused a blood-alcohol test at the scene; a blood test performed under subpoena seven hours later showed no alcohol in his system. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free on $200,000 bail, his DUI attorney said.

Officer Kelly has been suspended without pay for 30 days, the police have said. A second off-duty officer, Michael Downs, was a passenger in Officer Kelly's vehicle, but left the scene shortly after the accident; he has been suspended for failing to render first aid and to identify himself to responding supervisors.

In court on Friday,  the chief of the Brooklyn district attorney's office's vehicular crimes bureau, told Judge Suzanne Mondo that the case against Officer Kelly would be presented to a grand jury next week. She added that Officer Kelly would have an opportunity to testify.

The criminal attorney said he did not know whether his client would choose to testify. The lack of a blood-alcohol reading means prosecutors will have to rely on other evidence. A lieutenant who responded to a report of the DUI crash said he saw Officer Kelly "exhibiting signs of intoxication: to wit, slurred speech, red watery eyes," according to the criminal complaint in the case. A sergeant also noticed the smell of alcohol inside Officer Kelly's 2006 Jeep Cherokee, the complaint said.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said on Thursday that it might be impossible to discern how much alcohol Officer Kelly had in his system at the time of the crash. But he stressed, "This case is going forward; the investigation is continuing."

Jerry Schmetterer, a spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, said on Friday, "We continue to prepare for trial." He added, "We believe we have enough circumstantial and physical evidence to get a DUI conviction in the case."

The Police Department is conducting a separate internal inquiry into the initial police response and whether there was any attempt to help Officer Kelly conceal whether he was drunk