A controversial new survey by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) finds that 14% of California drivers (1 in 7) are Driving Under the Influence of DRUGS — almost DOUBLE the number of alcohol-impaired drivers (7.3%) — on weekend evenings. Other drugs-driving OTS survey findings… Of drivers tested positive for alcohol, almost one quarter…Read More
The State of California is aggressively cracking down on “Drugged Driving” – by changing DUI laws, training more officers, and teaching District Attorneys how to get more convictions – and make them stick. Drug-impaired driving is getting more attention since the release of a Nov.19, 2012 OTS survey that found a whopping 1 in 7…Read More
Shockingly, many officers don’t know how to properly administer a Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) Breath Test. When the test results get skewed, the officer blames the driver, accusing them of playing games and “refusing” the test — when in fact it was their own fault! A recent client was pulled over for weaving and charged…Read More
When someone is arrested for DUI/Drugs (Driving Under the Influence of Drugs–Not Alcohol) it is often difficult for the prosecution to secure a conviction. As a matter of law (as upheld in an appellate decision) the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the drugs have affected the nervous system, brain, or muscles as…Read More
She came in squirming and scrambling, saying the cop lied, blaming others, not taking responsibility for her actions, not facing reality… …in spite of the fact that she had just been arrested for third-time DUI Offense, with a .19% blood alcohol level (more than twice the legal limit), having violated her probation for a prior…Read More
A health administrator, already on probation for a prior DUI, was driving with friends late at night and ran into a tree, and then into a car, leading to soft-tissue injuries to one friend’s ear. He was now facing serious charges: Felony DUI with Injuries (V.C. §23153), and up to a year in jail. The…Read More
Most DUI attorneys would have plea bargained this case — bad driving, a .14 blood alcohol level — and thrown the client on the mercy of the court. Manhattan Beach police officers stopped my client based on her erratic driving, took her to the police station and gave her a breath test — which registered…Read More
Getting pulled over for DUI can make you forget your own name …or where you went to school. A San Diego colleague reports of a driver stopped for running a “stale” yellow/red light. There was no odor of alcohol, and the only objective symptom was “slightly slurred speech” — and the driver’s admission of “two…Read More
The San Diego Superior Court erred when it disallowed Hlastala from testifying about certain issues regarding breath. Also some very interesting discussions on McNeal. “Defendant’s appeal from the conviction is based on the trial court’s ruling disallowing any expert testimony from defendant that would have presented a physiologist’s scientific criticisms of the reliability of the…Read More
The highest court just expanded the right of confrontation on 6/23/11 in Bullcoming v. New Mexico which clarified and expanded the right of the defense to cross examine the witnesses against him. In this context, the state court had allowed the testimony of another analyst to validate the blood test report after the prosecution did…Read More
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