Orange County Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Irvine DUI Attorney Ashburn nabbed on DUI charges

2010-03-11T02:39:57Z

State Senator Roy Ashburn was arrested in the early hours of March 3 on charges of DUI in Sacramento.

Sources told the CBS-TV affiliate KOVR in Sacramento Ashburn was seen leaving Faces, a gay nightclub in midtown Sacramento. Ashburn's male passenger, not identified as a lawmaker, was not detained, officials said.

Roy Ashburn's booking photo from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, taken March 3, after his arrest on charges of DUI.

Sgt. Rick Campbell of the CHP in Sacramento said he pulled over Ashburn at 2:00 a.m. Wednesday after Campbell noticed a black Chevy Tahoe weaving in his lane at 13th and L Streets.

The arresting officer described Ashburn as having bloodshot, watery eyes and smelling of alcohol. Campbell administered a field sobriety test at the scene, and Ashburn was charged with DUI. "He was extremely cooperative throughout the entire process," Campbell said.

The Associated Press quoted the Sacramento County district attorney as saying Ashburn's blood alcohol level was .14 percent when he was arrested.

He was booked into the Sacramento County Jail, where he remained for eight hours before posting a $1,400 DUI bond.

The state-issued vehicle Ashburn was driving has been impounded at the Capitol for 30 days.

"This was not the Roy Ashburn I knew, (a comment heard repeatedly from locals)," said Sun publisher Marsha Smith. "Many locals, including me, worked along side Ashburn during his avid promotion of our communities' growth and local issue intervention," she said. "What happened to the man we supported and supported us, believed in us as we believed in him," she asked.

"Ashburn's past dedication to our valley cannot be discounted nor forgotten, but the disappointment remains if in fact his advocacy has not been for the people but his own self-interest, and that remains to be proven," Smith said.

Roy Ashburn, a divorced father of four daughters, ran on a family-values platform, hosted a Traditional Values Coalition rally in Bakersfield, and received a perfect score of 100 percent on the Capitol Resource Family Impact scorecard for never voting yes to any equality legislation, ever.

"Republicans always claim to be the party of family values yet time and again we see Republicans enjoy more than their fare share of scandal," commented Gary Amstutz, president of the Democratic Club of Kern Valley. "'Family Values' is just an empty campaign slogan; another myth perpetuated by opportunistic politicians playing on the sentiments of the religious right. The reality for many Republicans is that they are not who they say they are."

In an on-air interview with KERN Newstalk 1180 Inga Barks Monday morning, Ashburn told Barks, "I am gay and so those are the words that have been difficult for me for so long."

Ashburn served six years as a state Assemblyman before being elected to the State Senate. Ashburn represents the 18th Senate District, encompassing Kern, Tulare, Inyo, and San Bernardino Counties.

"We can't expect our politicians to be saints, but we can expect them to follow the law," said Steve Maviglio, a Sacramento-based Democrat strategist.

Attempts to contact local Republican leaders went unanswered.

Irvine DUI Attorney School Bus Driver Charged with DUI

2010-03-11T02:27:22Z

nbcchicago.com

A northwest suburban school bus driver was charged with DUI on Tuesday after registering nearly three times the legal limit on a breath test shortly after dropping off about 50 students, police said.

Betty A. Burden, 54, was pulled over in her empty bus after a colleague of hers called the transportation coordinator for the school district to report that Burden's breath smelled of alcohol.

Mount Prospect police Sgt. Michael Eterno stopped the bus on River Road, just north of Euclid Avenue. He said he immediately smelled alcohol on Burden's breath and conducted DUI field sobriety tests, which she failed, according to a police report.

No alcohol was found on the bus, though Eterno said Burden admitted to drinking. He arrested her and took her to the police station, where she registered a .225 blood alcohol content, which is nearly three times over the legal DUI limit.

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Mug Shots: 21 Pounds of Pot Edition

One parent that works at an area bar said she was shocked at the allegations.

"I work at a bar. She's never had a drop to drink there when I was there," said Tracy Kanelos, whose son, Hunter, used to ride Burden's bus.

Burden had a "clean disciplinary history and has passed each of the random drug tests we require of all of our bus drivers," said Superintendent Elaine Aumiller in a prepared statement.

District officials said Wednesday that Burden has been suspended without pay and it will be recommended that she be terminated, the Daily Herald reported.

Burden, of the 1400 block of Park Dr. in Mount Prospect, was charged with one count of aggrevated DUI , a Class 4 felony, for being drunk while driving passengers under 18, Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said.

She was ordered held on $10,000 bond by Judge Joseph Urso and a preliminary hearing was set for April 1 at the Rolling Meadows Courthouse, Simonton said.

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/mount-prospect-bus-driver-87290717.html#ixzz0hpbHQsAF

Newport Beach DUI Attorney RCPD plan a sobriety checkpoint

2010-03-10T00:43:58Z

kstatecollegian.com

This Saturday night, March 13, the Riley County Police Department and Kansas Highway Patrol will conduct a DUI sobriety checkpoint in the south-central section of Manhattan, according to a press release from the RCPD. The DUI checkpoint will run into the early hours of Sunday, March 14.

The DUI checkpoint will be set up to detect and deter impaired drivers, according to the report. These efforts are funded in part from a DUI grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation, according to the report.

Newport Beach DUI Attorney We Need Sobriety Checkpoints On Back Roads - And Response

2010-03-10T00:39:29Z

chattanoogan.com

A woman just died on Old Dayton Pike in a single car accident, and I have read that DUI has played a factor in her death. I am saddened but must say I'm not surprised. She died on one of several notoriously dangerous roads in the area.

I live on Browntown road about a half mile from where she died. The roads out here are very narrow. There are many curves and blind hills. They, unfortunately, are used by many people who prefer to DUI. Drunks know they can run these back roads without fear of running into a DUI check point.

The ditches are filled to the brim with beer cans and liquor bottles, and when the "community servants" come around and clean them up they quickly fill back up again with the same. Drunken driving is rampant on these back roads, and it is rare that I ever see any police presence at all even though this woman died only a half mile away from the North County Sheriffs Annex. In my opinion, more drunk drivers would be stopped by DUI sobriety check points on these smaller back roads than on the main roads.

On a side note, many cyclists like to use these roads for training. They are in greater danger than they really know.

Marty Fields

* * *

I personally believe that drunk driving related issues would be reduced if the punishment fit the crime. You are right though, I've been a licensed driver in Hamilton County for 12 years and have never so much as seen a sobriety checkpoint...even on popular drinking holidays like July 4th and New Years.

Thank you for looking out for us cyclists. I am one of them, and thanks to your article, I now know never to ride my bike in that area as I often venture into Red Bank on my training rides. Hopefully, I won't get a ticket on my bike from one of those cameras.

Huntington Beach DUI Attorney An off-duty Orange County sheriff's deputy, who allegedly was intoxicated when he crashed his Mercedes-Benz into another vehicle and injured a passenger, had crashed 30 minutes earlier

2010-03-09T05:47:31Z

latimesblogs.latimes.com

An off-duty Orange County sheriff's deputy, who allegedly was intoxicated when he crashed his Mercedes-Benz into another vehicle and injured a passenger, had crashed 30 minutes earlier and was allowed to drive from that accident scene by fellow deputies, authorities said Friday.

Sheriff's deputies were called Monday afternoon to a DUI crash involving Deputy Allan James Waters, 36, and another vehicle outside City Hall in Dana Point. Deputies took a DUI report and permitted Waters keep driving, said Assistant Sheriff Mike James.

About 30 minutes later, at 5:20 p.m., Waters crashed his Mercedes-Benz into a Toyota in Laguna Niguel, causing it to cross the center median and slam into a tree, according to the California Highway Patrol. Dolores Molina, a 78-year-old passenger in the Toyota, suffered minor injuries.

CHP officers said Waters showed signs of being intoxicated and was booked on suspicion of DUI. He was released Wednesday, according to jail records.

Waters is a 13-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, assigned to south Orange County, James said.

The department is conducting an internal DUI investigation to determine why Waters was allowed to keep driving, James said.

Waters had been placed on administrative leave about two months ago, but James would not say why. He said the deputy will remain on leave while the investigations are conducted.

Huntington Beach DUI Attorney DUI trial of Judge David Hall delayed

2010-03-09T05:42:37Z

chicagotribune.com

The DUI trial of former Lake County chief judge David Hall was postponed indefinitely Monday as prosecutors sought to salvage their case in a higher court.

A ruling last week to toss out the blood sample taken from Hall at a Libertyville hospital after his 2008 arrest "substantially impaired" the case against him, prosecutors said.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office, which is presenting the case against Hall, will seek to have that ruling overturned at the Appellate Court, officials announced in court Monday.

That came just before jury selection was to begin, and just after Judge Keith Brown, who was brought in from Kane County to handle the DUI case, denied the prosecution's request to reconsider his ruling that the blood sample was improperly handled and inadmissible.

Given that, Assistant Attorney General William Elward said he "cannot go any further with this DUI case" without the Appellate Court reversing Brown's decision.

Defense attorney Douglas Zeit said Monday his team was "geared up to do this today and would've liked to have been done with it. Now we'll just have to wait for the Appellate Court to make a determination."

Hall was charged with DUI and resisting arrest in April 2008 during a Vernon Hills traffic stop in which an officer used pepper spray on him, authorities said. Blood samples were taken from Hall at a hospital that day for medical tests later used to measure his blood-alcohol level, but Brown ruled last week that authorities waited too long to do so and hadn't used preservatives to protect the sample.

Prosecutors said they showed the sample was not contaminated despite possible procedural missteps.

The officer who stopped Hall, Jesse Goldsmith, died of a heart attack a few months later.

Hall has stepped down as chief judge since his arrest but remains a Lake County circuit judge.

Irvine DUI Attorney Lyons: DUI arrest valid in school tax debate?

2010-03-05T05:23:19Z

heraldtribune.com

A public school teacher with a serious serial-DUI arrest problem is newsworthy.

But is he valid fodder in the debate over renewal of Sarasota's special school tax?

Anyone arrested on four charges of DUI has a serious problem, and that would be so even if those incidents were the only times the guy has ever been impaired.

And so, reading about the arrest of a Venice Middle School music teacher convinced me he is, at the least, a sometimes binge drinker who hasn't learned to stay away from a steering wheel while intoxicated.

Ronald Jodwalis' previous arrests included a DUI crash that injured a 15-year-old boy on a moped. That should have made a major impression on anyone, and especially on a teacher.

That makes it all the scarier that two more incidents have followed, and that the latest arrest report from Sunday has Jodwalis so stupid-drunk that he was barely able to walk or stand. The report says his blood-alcohol level tested at 0.31 percent, nearly four times the 0.08 percent level at which Florida drivers are considered intoxicated.

So I'll dispense with the usual nod to his possible innocence and accept the report's assertion that Jodwalis confessed to being drunk. I have to hope he is convicted, and that this time a judge's actions will be designed to make a stronger impression and keep him off the roads from now on.

But some people are insisting this teacher's return to the classroom while the charge is pending is reason to vote against Sarasota County's local option school tax.

Huh?

"Here is another reason not to vote for the extended tax," proclaimed the first comment posted by a reader after that story appeared on heraldtribune.com.

Soon after, a reader called me to make the same point at greater length. Allowing that teacher to return to teach choir is a sign of such bad management, he implied, that it proves the School Board should not be trusted with extra property tax money.

The illogic is overwhelming.

Any teacher who is a repeat DUI offender needs to be assessed for signs that his teaching might be as impaired as his driving. But a principal has decided Jodwalis is doing well enough at work and shows no sign of an alcohol problem on the job, and I have no reason to assume otherwise.

More to the point, though, even if the principal has made a really bad decision, the matter has nothing to do with the tax issue voters are to decide. Pretending otherwise is political hype.

Any school system with 5,000 employees is going to have some with worrisome issues that arise, and some generate bad publicity. And there will always be tough calls, some made in the public spotlight, about who is to be taken out of the classroom and who gets another chance.

There will also always be room to debate whether school officials got it right. And, I'm sure, there will always be some decisions some of us find inexplicable.

But I can't think of anything about this that gets better with less money.

Irvine DUI Attorney CHECKPOINTS: Lomita results. CHP to nab offenders.

2010-03-05T05:20:30Z

dailybreeze.com

Lomita. Sheriff's deputies conducted a DUI sobriety and driver's license checkpoint Feb. 26 on Lomita e for unlicensed drivers, and towed one car.

CHP to nab offenders

California. The California Highway Patrol is taking an aggressive approach to going after people who fail to appear in court following DUI arrests.

The CHP will seek out and serve warrants on DUI drivers who ignored court orders, failed to appear and refused to pay fines.

A federal grant will help the CHP rein in people with outstanding DUI felony and misdemeanor arrest warrants by establishing teams of officers whose specific purpose is to serve DUI warrants throughout the state.

Over the next several months, the teams will focus their attention on counties with an overwhelming number of outstanding warrants, including in Southern California. About 6,000 warrants will be served through Sept. 30.

Funding is provided by a $311,568 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety

through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Costa Mesa DUI Attorney DUI saturation planned in Ontario tonight

2010-03-03T02:26:45Z

sbsun.com

The Ontario Police Department will conduct a DUI saturation patrol from 6 tonight until 2 a.m. Saturday.

Officers will be patrolling for DUI drivers and enforcing traffic laws throughout the city, according to a news release from the police department.

The DUI patrol is funded by a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Costa Mesa DUI Attorney 12 People Arrested During Checkpoint in Coachella

2010-03-03T02:20:35Z

.kpsplocal2.com

The Coachella Police Department arrested 12 people while conducting a DUI, driver's license checkpoint Friday night.

The 12 people taken into custody were either arrested for suspicion of DUI or they had warrants.

Another 18 people were cited for several different vehicle violations.

In an effort to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol involved crashes, DUI checkpoints are conducted to identify offenders and get them off the street, as well as educate the public on the dangers of impaired driving.

A major component of these DUI checkpoints is to increase awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and to encourage sober designated drivers.

By publicizing these enforcement and education efforts, the Coachella Police Department believes motorists can be deterred from drinking and driving.

Traffic volume and weather permitting, all vehicles may be checked and drivers who are under the influence of alcohol and or drugs will be arrested.

The public is encouraged to help keep roadways safe by calling 911 if they see a suspected impaired driver.

Orange County Criminal Attorney City council gets first look at medical marijuana ordinance

2010-02-24T23:16:29Z

laureloutlook.com

The recent increased interest in the use and distribution of medical marijuana in the state has generated concern from many community leaders and members of the law enforcement community.

At the request of Ward One Alderman Doug Poehls, the Laurel City Council is considering adoption of an ordinance establishing a moratorium on approval of medical marijuana businesses in Laurel.

The council got a first look at the proposed ordinance drafted by the city's attorney Sam Painter at last night's city council workshop meeting. The purpose of the moratorium is to allow city officials time to consider how to regulate where the businesses could be located. The council could act on the moratorium at its next regular meeting, March 2.

With the allowed use of legally acquired medical marijuana, there are two major concerns that have surfaced with law enforcement personnel. They are the possible impairment of drivers who have legally consumed medical marijuana and the difficulty for officers in determining if a driver is impaired by consumption of marijuana.

For many years it was the general assumption that DUI meant driving under the influence of alcohol. Law enforcement personnel say they suspect that more DUI tickets will start to be written for driving under the influence of drugs (marijuana) as more medical marijuana user cards are issued.

The recent statewide increase in the number of medical marijuana cards being issued has jumped since U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder issued a statement last October directing federal prosecutors to back away from pursuing cases against medical marijuana patients.

Attorney General Holder said that in 14 states with some provisions for medical marijuana use, federal prosecutors should focus only on cases involving higher-level drug traffickers, money launderers or people who use the state laws as a cover, according to news reports at the time.

Some local law enforcement officers believe this is a first step down a "slippery slope" that will probably lead to the legalization of the use of marijuana. "This sends the message that we have lost the war," one officer said.

Yellowstone County Sheriff Jay Bell said there is a lot of confusion among law enforcement agencies across the state about how to deal with medical marijuana users and care providers.

Bell noted that only a handful of officers in the state are qualified to determine if a person is under the influence of marijuana. He said there are a couple of Montana Highway Patrol troopers assigned to the Billings District that have had that training, but he noted that it is more subjective and depends on observation than the use of a breathalyzer to determine if a driver is under the influence of alcohol.

The sheriff noted that many in law enforcement view marijuana as a "gateway drug" to the use of other illegal narcotics. "We will have to wait and see what impact the wide-spread use of medical marijuana has on the abuse of other illegal drugs," he said.

While an officer may suspect a driver has been using marijuana, he must take a blood sample to determine if the chemical THC is in the suspect's blood - and that can become an expensive proposition.

Laurel Police Chief Rick Musson said his department recently suspected someone of driving while under the influence of marijuana. That person had to be transported to a Billings hospital so a blood sample could be taken. Musson said it cost his department $187 to have the blood drawn, not including the cost of transporting the person to Billings. That sample has to be sent to the State Crime Lab in Missoula for testing to determine if there is THC in the blood - a much more time consuming process than determining if a driver is under the influence of alcohol.

Both Bell ad Musson agreed that they suspect to see more drug-related DUI violations as the use of medical marijuana becomes more wide spread.

Bell said the State Department of Health and Human Services maintains a listing of medical marijuana users that have been issued cards and medical marijuana care providers that may possess marijuana. The problem though, according to Bell, is that although the listing exists, there is no mechanism at this point to allow good access to it by law enforcement.

Now, law enforcement departments have to place a phone call to Helena during regular business hours to determine if someone possessing marijuana has been issued a medical marijuana users card or a caregiver's permit.

Bell said there will be a bit of a learning curve for officers as they come into contact with those who can legally possess marijuana and they try to sort them out from those who illegally possess the drug.

Bell said he hopes during the next session of the legislature (2011), lawmakers will clear up some of the areas of confusion that now exist.

Chief Musson noted a significant difference between prescriptions issued by medical doctors for conventional pain medications and the prescribed use of medical marijuana. "It appears the use of medical marijuana is pretty much 'open-ended' with no recommended daily dosages and no point in time when the use should be discontinued. The potency of different grades of marijuana may also vary and there is no established method to determine what constitutes a 'safe dose' of the drug," Musson said.

During the first four years since enactment of the Medical Marijuana Initiative, only 801 state-issued medical marijuana user cards were requested from 2004-2008. That total grew to 8,604 through the end of January 2010.

The highest numbers have come in the last three months, with 944 cards issued in November, 1,864 in December and 1,301 in January.

The Montana counties with the highest numbers of registered patients are Gallatin (1,411), Missoula (1,211), Flathead (1,116) and Cascade (812). Yellowstone County has 590 medical marijuana users.

To date, no one has applied for a Laurel business license to open a medical marijuana business here. State officials were not able to provide the number of medical marijuana patient registration cards that have been issued to Laurel residents or the number of registered caregivers that can legally possess marijuana. There are 137 medical marijuana caregivers registered in Yellowstone County.

The Montana Medical Marijuana Initiative was approved by 62 percent of state voters in 2004. It allows people with certain ailments to alleviate their symptoms with marijuana if its use is recommended by a doctor. The law also allows registered caregivers to grow marijuana and sell it to registered patients.

Provisions of the Montana Medical Marijuana Act are found in Montana Code Annotated 50-46, Parts 1 and 2.

To become a registered medical marijuana patient, qualifying patients must register with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Licensure Bureau, 2401 Colonial Drive, P.O. Box 202953, Helena, MT 59620-2953. The department's phone number is 406-444-2676.

There is a $25 registration fee and a $10 annual renewal fee. Filled-out applications must be accompanied by a signed physicians statement by a medical doctor or a doctor of osteopathy.

To participate as a medical marijuana user, a patient must have cancer, glaucoma, positive status for HIV, AIDS, or be under treatment for these conditions. A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition could be a condition that produces cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, or severe and persistent muscle spasms.

Approved and registered qualifying patients under the act may grow their own medical marijuana and possess up to a limit of six plants and one ounce of dried marijuana in their possession.

The act bars consumption of medical marijuana in a school bus, or other form of public transportation, on any school grounds, in any correctional facility or at any public park, public beach, public recreation center or youth center.

In October, Billings placed a six-month ban on any new medical marijuana shops to allow time to develop zoning rules. Whitefish followed with a similar ban in December, even though it doesn't have any pot shops. Great Falls and Lewistown have followed suit. The Kalispell City Council also plans to consider an emergency ordinance placing a 90-day moratorium on medical marijuana businesses.

Under Montana law, people suffering from terminal conditions or chronic pain may qualify for a medical marijuana card. Anyone with the card issued by the Department of Public Health and Human Services may have six marijuana plants and an ounce of pot at any given time.

A licensed caregiver may also legally possess six plants and an ounce of pot for each of their patients. Patients may be attached to only one licensed caregiver from which they obtain marijuana.

Marijuana and other cannabis products are usually smoked, sometimes in a pipe or water pipe, but most often in loosely rolled cigarettes known as "joints." Smoking, however, is not the sole route of administration. Marijuana can be brewed into tea or mixed in baked products (cookies or brownies).

The effects of smoking are generally felt within a few minutes and peak in 10 to 30 minutes. Moderate doses tend to induce a sense of well-being and a dreamy state of relaxation. Stronger doses may prompt more intense and reactions including paranoia and hallucinations.

Most of marijuana's short-term effects wear off within two or three hours. The drug itself, however, tends to linger on. THC, the mind-altering chemical in marijuana, will show up in urine tests three days after use, and traces may be picked up by sensitive blood tests two to four weeks later.

Newport Beach DUI Attorney Jackson pleads guilty to DUI

2010-02-24T23:12:40Z

otrsportsonline.com

San Diego Chargers star WR Vincent Jackson pleaded guilty to DUI Monday on charges stemming from a January 2009 arrest, according to the San Diego City's Attorney's office. He was given the standard punishment for DUI with one prior, five years on probation and 96 hours in custody. That's right, V-Jax is going to do time! Hard time!

Photo Caption: Jackson can elude an arm tackle, but not the long arm of the law.

He will also have to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving class, pay a fine north of $2,000 and participate in a multiple DUI conviction program.

Judge David Danielsen said, "We are going to treat him like everyone else."

We'll see what the NFL decides to do in terms of a suspension. Our guess is that he has to sit out at least one game.

Newport Beach DUI Attorney Deputy Mark Crandell Is Honored As County DUI Officer Of The Year

2010-02-24T23:08:39Z

azjournal.com

Navajo County Sheriff's Deputy Mark Crandell was recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) as the Navajo County DUI Officer of the Year at the group's annual DUI enforcement awards banquet held Feb. 12 in Phoenix.
   Crandell was nominated for the award by his supervisors, who noted that he was self-motivated to learn more about DUI enforcement. In order to successfully identify and prepare more DUI cases for prosecution, Crandell became a certified phlebotomist and obtained his certification in horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN). HGN is a field sobriety test that uses involuntary reactions of the eye to help determine sobriety.
   In the nomination letter, Commander Heidi Person wrote, "During 2009, Deputy Crandell (handled) a total of 13 DUIs, which is the highest total for any NCSO deputy. He also showed the most improvement in the number of DUIs he handled between 2008 and 2009.
   "Deputy Crandell was also involved in his community by participating in 'Teen Maze,' which is geared toward, among other things, teaching children about the effects of alcohol and drugs by simulating the difficulties of driving while impaired.
   "He is also one of the most active NCSO deputies in the White Mountain DUI Task Force."
   Crandell noted that the awards banquet became more than a ceremony for him as he got to spend time speaking with a family that lost a child to a drunk driver in 2008.
   "It was emotional, as well as an honor to be there," he said.
   Among those who congratulated him on the award were MADD administrator Jane Hulverson, Governor's Office of Highway Safety Director Alberto Guteir and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.
   MADD notes that its mission "is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking." The organization offers educational programs and resources for preventing underage drinking, an organized campaign against drinking and driving, services for victims of drunk drivers and support for law enforcement DUI programs, as well as research and lobbying for strengthened DUI laws.
   The organization also works to increase law enforcement visibility, especially as it relates to DUI enforcement.
   "Highly visible law enforcement crackdowns, including checkpoints and saturation patrols, are proven to keep drunk drivers off the road," the organization's Drunk Driving Enforcement Fact Sheet notes. "MADD is working with law enforcement agencies, as well as federal, state and local governments, to increase DUI enforcement, especially during peak holiday periods."
   Crandell noted that he was pleased to have been honored, and he plans to continue his DUI enforcement efforts.
   "It was a great experience," he said.

Irvine DUI Attorney Unlicensed Drivers: A View From California

2010-02-24T02:41:16Z

nytimes.com

Re "Unlicensed Drivers Are Caught in Net for Drunken Ones, and Lose Their Cars" (Bay Area section, Feb. 14), about California's DUI sobriety checkpoints:

There is nothing wrong if sobriety checkpoints find people who are "only" driving without a license.

According to "Unlicensed to Kill," a definitive study of the problem published by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, from 1993 to 1999, an average of a little more than 8,000 people were killed each year in driving-without-a-license crashes. That's 20 percent of all fatal crashes. (By comparison, DUI drivers are involved in 32 percent.)

Compared with licensed drivers, unlicensed drivers are 4.9 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash; 3.7 times more likely to drive while impaired; and 4.4 times more likely to be in hit-and-run crashes.

Studies have shown that checkpoints help remove unlicensed drivers from the road and save lives. That is why our center applied to help administer the grants for the California program. We recognize the importance of balancing personal freedom with enforcement of rules to protect the public's health. That is why it is so crucial that people understand the seriousness of driving without a license.

D.W.L. is a huge problem, and one that is growing. It's time we raised public awareness and did the same for D.W.L. that Mothers Against Drunk Driving and others did for DUI.

Irvine DUI Attorney Five arrested,34 warned at DUI checkpoint

2010-02-24T02:37:22Z

publicopiniononline.com

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, Sunday, Feb. 21 - Five people were arrested and 34 DUI warnings were issued during a DUI checkpoint operation conducted by Pennsylvania State Police, Chambersburg, late Friday night and early Saturday morning on Lincoln Way West at Radio Hill.

Two people were arrested for DUI, two were arrested on drug charges and one person was arrested for underage drinking, police said.

Police also investigated one accident and issued seven citations for summary violations during the checkpoint operation that began at 11 p.m. Friday and ran through 3 a.m. Saturday.