Archive for July, 2009

Officers record themselves setting up a DUI

Friday, July 31st, 2009

‘ >Cops cover up DUI arrest

Four Hollywood, Florida, police officers and a crime scene technician are suspended with pay — and probably contemplating career changes — after being recorded by a police dashboard camera conspiring to frame a civilian driver for a crash. Alexandra Torrensvilas was arrested for driving under the influence only after a police officer rear-ended her at a traffic light, and that officer and his colleagues openly discussed, within range of the camera’s audio pickup, doctoring their stories and the evidence to blame the woman for the collision.
One of the officers can be heard saying, “I don’t want to make things up ever, because it’s wrong, but if I need to bend it a little bit to protect a cop, I’m gonna.”
Also recorded was, “We’ll do a little Walt Disney to protect the cop because it wouldn’t have mattered because she is drunk anyway.”

Suspended in the incident are Officers Joel Francisco and Dewey Pressley, Sgt. Andrew Diaz, community service Officer Karim Thomas and crime scene technician Andrea Tomassi.
Besides blowing the DUI case against Torrensvilas out of the water (charges were dropped,) the officers have compromised every case on which they worked. Since they’re on record falsifying testimony, past and present cases in which they testified or were scheduled to testify will have to be reviewed. Some convictions may be overturned and pending charges will likely be dropped.
Broward County Chief Public Defender Howard Finkelstein has also called on state investigators and the FBI to get involved.
Up for discussion: The potential benefit to be had by making sure that all police conversations are recorded.

Archive for July, 2009

Officers record themselves setting up a DUI

Friday, July 31st, 2009

San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies will be conducting a sobriety and driver’s license checkpoint Friday in Highland.

The checkpoint will be at the intersection of Base Line and Victoria Avenue from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m., sheriff’s officials said.

The California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provided a grant for the checkpoint.

Archive for July, 2009

Officers record themselves setting up a DUI

Friday, July 31st, 2009

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 15 /PRNewswire/ — For the third year in a row, DUI deaths declined in California. The drop was 9.1 percent, from 1,132 in 2007 to 1,029 in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. The 2008 figure marks a total decrease of nearly 21 percent from the most recent high point in 2005.

Alcohol impaired deaths make up the largest category of overall vehicle fatalities. Overall fatalities declined by 14 percent, from 3,995 in 2007 to 3,434 in 2008. Total fatalities are at their lowest since 1975, when the federal government began compiling figures.

“With this third year of declines in DUI deaths, we can truly call it a trend, a trend of life saving importance,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). “Law enforcement, state and local agencies, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and other safety advocates, and the people of California have come together to address this deadly problem and are now seeing the results. As positive as these figures are, though, we can never let up until we achieve our goal of zero deaths.”

“This significant decline in traffic deaths is indeed heartening,” said California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joe Farrow. “The decrease in lives pointlessly lost can be traced back to hard, innovative work in education, enforcement, engineering and emergency medical services. Our primary objective remains to continue this trend and have more people make it home safe and alive each day.”

Many different tactics have been used recently to attack the drunk driver problem, from increases in youth public awareness programs to hospital and jail based intervention programs to expanding prosecution and probation efforts. Officials point to increases in DUI checkpoints, the Avoid DUI Taskforces program and the Report Drunk Drivers – Call 911 campaign as being particularly beneficial.

While some of the decrease can be tied to the fewer number of miles traveled by the state’s drivers in 2008, that decrease was only 3.4 percent nationally, compared to the 14 percent drop in deaths.

The one category that is bucking the trend is crashes involving motorcycles. Motorcycle deaths rose 8.1 percent, from 518 in 2007 to 560 in 2008. This negative trend goes back to 1998 when there were only 204 motorcycle fatalities, an increase of 175 percent in 11 years.

“Motorcycle safety is a rapidly emerging concern,” said OTS Director Murphy. “These bikes are heavier, faster, and more difficult to control than ever before. Riders must get proper training, must wear proper protective gear, and must be extremely mindful of safety and avoiding dangerous situations.”

To help counter the trend in motorcycle deaths, the CHP has instituted a new campaign to convince riders to take training classes through the California Motorcyclist Safety Program. The campaign also encourages car and truck drivers to be mindful of motorcycles in traffic.

For over two years California state, county, and local governments, as well as numerous advocate groups, businesses, community organizations and individuals, have been actively pursuing work on over 150 specific actions contained within the California Strategic Highway Safety Plan. The Plan is an unprecedented collaboration of those working across the entire spectrum of traffic safety, with the goal of significantly reducing deaths, injuries and economic losses resulting from traffic safety crashes.

Archive for July, 2009

Officers record themselves setting up a DUI

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Recent statistics indicate that Social Networks and Blogs are now ranked above personal email for online activity. The Internet is a wonderful asset that we use daily for both professional and personal reasons. However, with all this technology, the Internet can also be a double-edged sword when it is not respected for the mighty power it wields.

In addition to online media, technological advancements have also reached our law enforcement agencies. For example, during a routine traffic stop, more often than not, you are being video taped with accompanying sound audio. These tapes will be used as evidence against you in later court proceedings. Most of us have shared in a laugh from watching one of those television segments showing an actual DUI stop. Although it is not humorous that the person obviously was drunk while driving, we sometimes chuckle at the excuses and comments given to the arresting officer by the driver. With the increasing popularity of law enforcement reality TV shows, YouTube now finds itself host to thousands of actual DUI arrest videos. One of the most popular hits on YouTube being a DUI/DWI on a riding lawnmower. So whether you live in Hollywood, Orange County, California, or anywhere in between, and whether you are in your car, on your boat, or even on your lawnmower, if you are not careful, you could end up being your city’s next DUI star.

Twitter and FaceBook are wonderful venues to stay connected with family and friends. However, posting a copy of your mug shot and posting the details from your DUI arrest could be detrimental to your forthcoming court proceedings, as well as harm you professionally throughout the years to come.

The MySpace generation is just now beginning to learn the damaging affects of posting information about a drunk driving arrest. Blog postings, YouTube and personal podcasts can be detrimental in your criminal proceeding – do not make yourself the prosecutor’s best witness by documenting evidence against yourself on the Internet. Once something is posted online it will never go away even if you delete it. Information can be copied and posted to places that you are not even aware of and will be viewed for years to come by potential employers or business prospects. Posting a recap of your DUI/DWI arrest whether you were maneuvering the golf cart, or riding the lawn mower, or navigating the boat, or driving the car may be humorous for today’s Blog, but tomorrow it can be financially devastating to your professional career. You cannot sue yourself for defamation of character.

Naturally, abstaining from alcohol is the wise choice when you are going to be driving. However, if you are pulled over for a traffic violation or at a DUI sobriety check roadblock always be polite and respectful to the officer.

The police are looking for supposed signs of impairment. They are listening to hear if you supposedly slur your words; they are looking to see if your eyes supposedly are red or bloodshot; they are trying to observe the proverbial strong odor of alcohol upon your breath; and they are looking to see if you supposedly have trouble locating you driver’s license. Always avoid talking any more than is absolutely necessary; idle conversation can be used against you to try to confirm that you were impaired by alcohol. If you are asked, “Do you know why I pulled you over?” it is advisable to always answer “no” since you can’t be 100% positive as to why you were stopped. If asked, “Have you been drinking?” replying with a “yes” will most likely lead you to being arrested. If you lie, you could possibly face additional charges. The best answer is “I’d rather not say or I’d rather not answer.” Of course this is a rhetorical question as the officer already supposedly has observed the odor of alcohol before he asked you the question.

You have the right to refuse to take the field sobriety tests but a police officer will perceive this refusal as a sign of you being “uncooperative” or even a sign of you trying to conceal your alcohol impairment. It is your choice alone as to undergo the supposed field sobriety tests as the police officer cannot force you to engage in these physical tasks. Just remember, your actions and words will most likely be captured on video.

DUI / DWI cases are complex. Therefore, it is extremely important to hire a lawyer that specializes in DUI / DWI’s. Do not ever assume that your case is hopeless because you blew over the legal limit on the State-administered breath test. There are a multitude of factors that an experienced DUI/ DWI attorney can draw from, beginning with the actual validity of the stop, the administration and scoring by the officer of the supposed field sobriety tests, your medical health history, and several other factors that can refute the evidence being presented against you by the prosecutor. In actuality, the video recording of your encounter with the officer can be your best witness.

It is advisable to immediately retain an experienced criminal defense DUI / DWI attorney if you or your loved one has been arrested for drunk driving. Doing so is the best way to protect your rights and avoid costly mistakes.
Yes, you may be able to Twitter your way out of a DUI conviction by…
T -Talk respectfully to law enforcement.
W – Watch what you say and do.
I – Idle conversation can indicate alcohol impairment so choose your words carefully.
T – Taking field sobriety tests may not be in your best interest.
T – Ten Day Rule (Filing a request for an administrative license suspension hearing within 10 days of your arrest) also applies in other states besides California.
E – Engage & Retain an experienced DUI / DWI lawyer if ever arrested for DUI.
R – Rights! Remember, you have RIGHTS that need protecting.

My best advice: Never drink and drive. “It is far better to be ON Facebook than to FACE being BOOKED”!

Archive for July, 2009

Officers record themselves setting up a DUI

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Perhaps some readers tire of this message, as it’s presented before most party holidays: Don’t drink and drive. Drunken drivers kill and should be punished when convicted.

And we’ll repeat our other mantra: Don’t go through sobriety checkpoints. If you see one, make the first legal U-turn or turn away on a side street. Police cannot pursue you for choosing to avoid these organized violations of the Fourth Amendment protection against unwarranted searches and seizures.

While defense of the Constitution provides ample reason for avoiding sobriety checkpoints, doing so also helps encourage better procedures for catching and penalizing drunken drivers. Sobriety checkpoints, in addition to flagrantly violating the Fourth Amendment, don’t work.

Statistics show the average drunken driver who causes a fatal crash has driven with a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit. These are serious drunks and alcoholics, who aren’t in the practice of waiting in line to pass through checkpoints.

Typically, checkpoints net citations for 1 percent of the drivers detained, and the vast majority are people at the lowest threshold of the legal limit, which is .05 in Colorado – a level some adults can reach with one or two beers or servings of wine.

Is it OK to drive after a few drinks? Of course not. Don’t do it, ever. It’s a horrible idea.

But it’s also a bad idea to set up expensive checkpoints to detain thousands of motorists, in order to catch a few casual drinkers who statistically pose no significant threat.

Wasting resources on this exercise consumes our limited law enforcement resources, taking from our roads the police who should be conducting roaming patrols to catch serious drunks – the kind who swerve, drive slowly, forget to use headlights, or show other signs of drunken driving police are trained to detect.

Records from state supreme court cases in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire show roving patrols catch 10 times more drunken drivers than are netted by checkpoints, and at a far lower cost. The American Beverage Institute reports that a sobriety checkpoint may cost more than $10,000, while a roving patrol costs about $300.

If innocent, and pulled over for a sobriety check, be polite but guard against a costly false charge and a night in jail like this:

1. Refuse the roadside sobriety check. It is not required by law, is designed only to provide evidence against a driver, and is difficult to pass when stone cold sober;

2. Consider agreeing to a breath test. Doing so may save your driving privileges, which are lost for at least a year if one refuses both the blood and breath test. Unlike the blood test, results of a breath test can be challenged with relative ease in court and therefore pose the least risk of a false conviction;

3. Don’t offer information beyond providing a driver’s license; and

4. Do not allow a warrantless search of the vehicle.

We offer these tips, as put forth by criminal defense lawyers interviewed by The Gazette, for sober drivers. It’s our hope and belief that dangerous drunks have little chance of avoiding arrest, once found by police, whether or not they guard their rights.

Don’t protect your rights for the sake of inconveniencing police officers, who are extraordinary citizens working hard this holiday to uphold the law and save lives. Do it to protect yourself from the possibility of a false charge or conviction. Do it to limit the authority of the state. Do it this July Fourth weekend mostly to protect one of the fundamental freedoms that led our Founders to fight for independence: freedom from unwarranted searches and seizures by government.

As I’ve said many times, DUI checkpoints don’t work.  If you have questions for an Orange County DUI Attorney, call me anytime at (714) 568-1560.

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Archive for July, 2009

Officers record themselves setting up a DUI

Friday, July 31st, 2009

From Time Magazine:

Nearly 13,000 Americans die in traffic accidents every year. Now Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is opening a new front in its war on drunk drivers, and it’s getting help from the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

A new highway bill pending before Congress would instruct all 50 states to require all motorists convicted of driving under the influence to equip their cars with interlock systems that shut down a vehicle when a measured amount of alcohol is detected.

There are already about 150,000 interlock systems now in cars in the U.S., placed there for drivers with multiple DUI convictions. But the proposed mandate would expand the use of interlock systems exponentially; MADD’s statistics indicate that nearly 1.5 million Americans are arrested annually on DUI charges, making it the No. 1 crime for which Americans are arrested.

States wouldn’t have to abide by the ruling, but there would be heavy pressure to conform, since states that don’t adopt the mandate could lose their highway funds. “The national 21 minimum drinking age and the .08% law [for allowable alcohol in the bloodstream] both resulted from federal highway sanctions. History tells us that this approach works,” says Laura Dean-Mooney of MADD. So far only 11 states require interlocks for anyone with one conviction who is currently driving on a DUI-restricted license.

Opponents of the MADD push for stricter laws warn that a federal interlock requirement would serve as a Trojan horse, opening the way for even more sophisticated interlock technology that would be required on every car sold in the U.S., according to Sarah Longwell, managing director of the American Beverage Institute, which lobbies on behalf of taverns and restaurants. “If you go to the ball game and happen to have a beer you wouldn’t be able drive home,” she says.

Like those “Objects may be closer …” warnings on outside car mirrors, opponents warn that brave new technology may be nearer than it appears. Nissan is now testing various systems that don’t even require a Breathalyzer to detect drinking. One system uses a tiny camera to observe facial expressions, another system being tested checks blood alcohol levels though sensors when the driver grasps the shift control and a third system uses the car’s internal computer to calculate if a motorist is steering erratically. Ford already has a system that allows parents to limit the speed of a vehicle driven by a youthful motorist, and Mercedes-Benz‘s new E-Class comes with a system that issues an audible warning if the driver gets drowsy.

MADD president Chuck Hurley doesn’t deny he would like to see such systems put into service, but says wider use of such technology is 10 years off, and MADD isn’t calling for automakers to install it now. Current Breathalyzer technology, he said, would make a big difference almost immediately. In New Mexico, for example, DUI fatalities have been reduced 35% since the state began requiring all convicted DUI offenders to use an ignition interlock device. “Studies have shown alcohol ignition interlocks to be effective in reducing recidivism,” concurs Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

In continuing to look for ways to curb drunk driving, MADD is emphasizing its negative economic impact. MADD estimates that drunk driving now accounts for 18% of the nation’s auto-insurance bill and 20% of all emergency-room costs that are never reimbursed, as well as 16% of all probation costs and 6% of all jail cells used in the U.S.

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Archive for July, 2009

Officers record themselves setting up a DUI

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Jani Lane lead glam-rock band.

Jani Lane, the lead singer and songwriter for the band Warrant, was arrested for driving under the influence in the Los Angeles area. Lane reportedly struck a parked car in the San Fernando valley around 9:30 pm Wednesday. Officers form the Los Angeles Police Department suspected intoxication after Lane failed a field sobriety test and booked him at the Van Nuys Division station for misdemeanor CA DUI. His bail was set at $30,000.

Lane, 45, lead the glam-metal band during the late 80′s and into the 90′s, creating hits like ‘Heaven’ and ‘Cherry Pie‘. He left Warrant in 2002 to start a solo career. Shortly after releasing an album, he entered a rehab program due to exhaustion from alcohol and drug use. He later rejoined Warrant only to again leave the group and be replaced as lead singer.

If you have questions for an Orange County DUI lawyer, call me at (714) 568-1560.

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Archive for July, 2009

Officers record themselves setting up a DUI

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Orange County Announces July 4th Crackdown On Drunk Drivers

The Avoid the 38-Orange County DUI Campaign Task Force today announced its officers will be out in full force during the Fourth of July holiday period, cracking down on impaired drivers with an aggressive “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest” enforcement blitz. “Driving while drunk isn’t worth the tremendous risk. No matter your age, if you’ve had too much holiday spirit, you’d better find a safe and sober ride home or your chances of arrest are high,” said Anaheim Police Chief John Welter.

Avoid the 38 – Orange County cited recent nationwide statistics to underscore the importance of the crackdown. In 2007, 34 percent of all drivers involved in traffic-related crashes during the July 4th holiday period (6 p.m. Tuesday, July 3, 2007 to 5:59 a.m. on Thursday, July 5, 2007) had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher, the legal limit in all states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

During the July 4th holiday period in 2007, there were a total of 200 traffic-related fatalities. Of those, 44 percent involved a driver or motorcycle rider with a BAC of .08 or higher. . During the 2008 Independence Day Holiday weekend, California’s Alcohol Involved Deaths totaled 17 and another 382 suffered injuries, some life changing, due to intoxication. (The 2008 data is provisional information) “Too many people still fail to understand that alcohol and driving don’t mix. Impaired driving is no accident—nor is it a victimless crime. It’s vitally important that we bring this tragic situation to an end,” said Chief John Welter.

The Avoid the 38 campaign failed to mention the substantial drop in DUI arrests for 2008.

Avoid the 38 – Orange County will be deploying a large number of officers for DUI/Drivers License Checkpoints and multiple Local DUI Saturation Patrols during the 3 day holiday weekend. All city police and Orange County Sheriff patrols along with the CHP, who is deploying 80% of all officers onto freeways, state routes and county roads will be stepping up DUI stops locally and statewide. Chief Welter said following these easy steps, a driver can enjoy a safe and festive holiday without jeopardizing their life and the lives of the others who may be on the road.

- Plan a safe way home before the festivities begin;

- Before drinking, please designate a sober driver and give that person your keys;

- If you’re impaired, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation so you are sure to get home safely;

- If you happen to see a drunk driver on the road, don’t hesitate: Report Drunk Drivers, Call 9-1-1!

Driving impaired is simply not worth the risk. The consequences are serious and real. Not only do you risk killing yourself or someone else, but the trauma and financial costs of a crash or an arrest for driving while impaired can be significant. Violators often face jail time, the loss of their driver’s license, higher insurance rates, and dozens of other unanticipated expenses.

“No matter what you drive—a passenger car, pickup, or motorcycle—if you are caught driving impaired, you will be arrested,” said Chief Welter. “Don’t let this Fourth of July blow up in your face. Remember. Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.”

For more information, please visit www.StopImpairedDriving.org

CONTACT:
Sgt. Rick Martinez, Anaheim Police Department Public Information Officer: (714) 765-1521
Mr. Jim Amormino, Director of Public Affairs, Orange County Sheriff’s Dept. 714 647-7042
For further information, contact: www.californiaavoid.org

And, if you have questions for an Orange County DUI Specialist, or have been arrested for DUI, call (714) 568-1560.

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