Criminal Law

Trial by Machine ? But How Good Are the Machines?

Posted on August 25, 2009
All states now have two drunk driving laws: (1) driving under the influence of alcohol (aka “DUI”, with local variations, such as “driving while intoxicated” or “DWI”), and (2) the so-called per se law of driving with ...

?How Can You Defend Drunk Drivers??

Posted on August 20, 2009
First off, I don’t defend drunk drivers:  I defend citizens who have been accused of being drunk drivers.  And no, that is not just a technicality — at least not in this country.  Not yet. But it always surprises me how many people are outraged that I would defend someone accused by the police of a crime – particularly when it’s DUI...

How Smoking Can Affect Your Breathalyzer Test Results

Posted on August 15, 2009
I have mentioned that a primary problem with blood alcohol analysis is that no two individuals are alike in their physiology and metabolism of alcohol (see, for example, Convicting the Average Person, Racial Differences in the Metabolism of Alcohol and High Blood Alcohol - or a Zinc Deficiency?...

The Difference Between DUI and DWT is?.?

Posted on August 11, 2009
A rash of recent studies confirm that DWT (driving while texting) is more dangerous than DUI.  For that matter, so is driving while talking on a cell phone.  See, for example,  my previous posts Inebriated or Texting: Which is More Dangerous While Driving?  and Feds Crack Down on DUI…and Cover Up DWT...

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DUI Suspect Shot by Bounty Hunters

Posted on August 04, 2009
Maybe MADD’s "War on Drunk Driving" has gotten a little out of control.  From yesterday’s Los Angeles Times: Bounty Hunter Shoots Man in Sun Valley Sun Valley, CA.  Aug. 3 –Three bounty hunters were involved in a shooting after they tried to arrest a suspect in Sun Valley who was wanted in connection with a misdemeanor DUI [...

MADD Criticizes Obama for Beer Summit

Posted on August 03, 2009
It’s interesting that Mothers Against Drunk Driving has taken no position against texting or talking on a cell phone while driving — practices which have repeatedly been proven more dangerous than drunk driving...

DUI on a Horse

Posted on August 02, 2009
More idiocy from the "War on Drunk Driving" front… Charges Dropped in "DUI On Horse" Case Dalton, CA.  Aug. 1 –Two men charged in for driving under the influence on a horse have had their charges dropped… District Attorney Kermit McManus told the Citizen that it came down to distinctions in the case–between a vehicle and a horse...

Cops Frame Woman for DUI

Posted on August 02, 2009
How easy is it for a cop to frame someone for drunk driving?  Very….if you forget there’s a video tape running in the patrol car: Charges Dropped Against Woman Framed by Cops Miami, FL.  July 29 – Alexandra Torrensvilas was the target of cops who pinned a DUI on her for an accident they caused...

Feds Crack Down on DUI?and Cover Up DWT

Posted on July 27, 2009
We all know about the federal government’s MADD-influenced "War on Drunk Driving" during recent years, forced on the states with the threat of withholding highway funds.  More recently, however, we’ve learned that driving while using a cell phone — and especially driving while texting ("DWT") — is actually more dangerous to human life...

The ?DUI Exception? Continues?.

Posted on July 23, 2009
As many of you may know, I’ve written and lectured ad nauseum about the extensive loss of constitutional rights in drunk driving cases.  See The DUI Exception to the Constitution.  For those who are unclear what this means, the following from today’s Washington Post presents a clear example: A Valid Legal Theory That Crumbles With Each DUI Arrest Washington, D...

Inebriated or Texting: Which Is More Dangerous When Driving?

Posted on July 21, 2009
Which is more deadly – driving while intoxicated or driving while texting?  Ok, so….which is a serious crime and which is not? DWT Should Be as Socially Unacceptable as DUI Halifax, Nova Scotia.  July 12  – DRIVING while intoxicated has become such a social taboo that most people recognize the acronym DUI (driving under the influence) used by police and [...

New Federal Traffic Cops

Posted on July 16, 2009
Traffic Enforcement Initiative Planned for Wednesday Erie, PA.  July 13  –  State police will ramp up patrols of highways on Wednesday as a part of a tri-state traffic enforcement program. Pennsylvania State Police, in a joint effort with the Ohio Highway Patrol, New York State Police and U...

DUI Roadblock: 1131 Stops, 114 Tickets, 0 DUI Arrests

Posted on July 13, 2009
While MADD continues to praise the efficacy of DUI roadblocks (aka "sobriety checkpoints"), most experts have come to recognize that they are simply ineffective at apprehending drunk drivers.  See Do DUI  Roadblocks Work? and Do DUI Roadblocks Work? (Part II)...

California Supreme Court: DUI Defendant Permitted to Defend Self With Truth

Posted on July 10, 2009
I’ve expounded on this blog at great length in recent years on the unreliability and inaccuracy of the various machines used to measure the breath of citizens accused of drunk driving.  See for example,  "Trial by Machine "– But How Good Are the Machines?...

Drunk Driving Entrapment

Posted on July 07, 2009
Suppose a police officer asks or orders an individual to drive a vehicle — and then arrests him for DUI when he complies? This situation comes up more often than you might think. Take, for example, the following case that eventually made its way to the New Jersey Supreme Court…...

Fast-Food Dragnet Fails

Posted on June 29, 2009
A few days ago I posted about the latest police tactic: stationing cops in fast-food drive-thrus and nabbing drivers if they appeared to have DUI symptoms.  See Burger With Fries…and Field Sobriety Tests.   So how has that brilliant scheme worked out? Plan To Get Drunks at Drive-Thrus Falls Flat Tucson, AZ  –  A plan by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department [...

Driving While Intoxicated vs Driving While Texting

Posted on June 25, 2009
Which is more dangerous to human life: driving  under the influence of alcohol — or driving while texting?  Texting Could Be More Dangerous Than Drunken Driving June 25 –This morning, NBC’s “Today” show featured a story on how driving while texting could be more dangerous than driving while under the influence of alcohol...

DUI ?Scarlet Letter? License Plates Another Bust

Posted on June 19, 2009
I’ve railed long and hard in the past about the growing trend of humiliating citizens convicted of drunk driving by forcing them to have special license plates on their cars (no matter who is driving).  See, for example, The Scarlet Letters, The Return of the Scarlet Letter, and Washington State Says "No" to DUI Scarlet Letter ...

Burger With Fries?and Field Sobriety Tests

Posted on June 15, 2009
Want to know where we’re going with MADD’s hysterical "war on drunk driving"?  DUI Deputies May Be Posted in Drive-Thrus Tucson, AZ.  June 14  –  Drunken drivers with the late-night munchies soon could get more than just a burger and fries at the drive-through window...

Signs of Reason

Posted on June 10, 2009
For years I’ve been preaching that the focus of the so-called "war on drunk driving" should be on the problem drinker — the alcoholic with prior convictions and/or very high blood-alcohol levels — rather than on the far more commonly arrested social drinker...

Another ?DUI Exception to the Constitution?: Double Jeopardy

Posted on June 08, 2009
When a person is arrested for DUI, his driver’s license is confiscated by the arresting officer and he is given a notice of "administrative suspension". He is also given a citation to appear in court to face criminal drunk driving charges...

Pre-Written DUI Police Reports

Posted on June 01, 2009
I’ve commented in past posts that it is becoming an increasingly common practice for police officers to simply use form or template arrest reports in drunk driving cases — what I have referred to in my books as "xeroxed" reports.  See Police Using Pre-Written DUI Reports...

?Close Enough for Government Work?

Posted on May 22, 2009
With more than a little federal coercion, all states have now passed laws lowering the blood-alcohol level to .08%. And most people suspected of violating the law are given breath tests to determine the level of alcohol in their blood...

High Breathalyzer Readings?.from Dieting

Posted on May 19, 2009
I’ve written in the past about how most so-called "breathalyzers" do not measure alcohol:  they actually measure the presence of the methyl group in chemical compounds.  One of those compounds is ethyl alcohol (aka ethanol), and the machine simply assumes that the detected compound is ethyl alcohol...

Investigative Reporter Exposes DUI Attorney Practices

Posted on May 15, 2009
The May 2009 issue of California Lawyer magazine, circulated to all attorneys in the state, has just been published — featuring the cover article "The DUI Defense Bar".  Investigative reporter Tom McNichol takes a hard (and long-overdue) look at the good, the bad and the ugly among drunk driving laws and lawyers...

MADD Chief?s Nomination Withdrawn

Posted on May 13, 2009
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, Chuck Hurley, the CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, was nominated by President Obama to head the National Highway Traffic Administration.  See Ex-CEO of MADD to Set Vehicle Safety Standards.  And, along with other MADD objectives, part of Hurley’s agenda inevitably would be to require ignition interlock devices as standard [...

?The Politics of Modern Prohibition?

Posted on May 08, 2009
Recently, it seems that there has been an increasing willingness of the media willing to reject political correctness and MADD’s hysteria, instead adopting a more objective and reasoned approach to the question of traffic safety… Our View:  The Politics of Modern Prohibition Colorado Springs, CO...

Legislator Immunity From DUI Challenged

Posted on May 06, 2009
A few weeks ago, based upon a tip from a reader I posted about an item in the Denver Police Department Operation Manual which essentially instructed officers not to arrest state legislators for drunk driving.  See Legislators Vote Themselves Exempt From DUI Arrrest...

State Supreme Court Orders Breathalyzer Secrets Exposed

Posted on May 04, 2009
If you are arrested for drunk driving, you’ll probably be charged with two crimes.  The first is DUI – "driving "under the influence" (sometimes called DWI – "driving while impaired").  If the reading from a breath test is ...

Drunk Riding

Posted on May 02, 2009
In today’s stop-the-world-I-want-to-get-off department: Cowboy Ticketed for ‘Riding Under the Influence’ Arvada, CO.  May 1  –  A man in a cowboy hat who rode a horse through a Denver suburb has been cited for riding an animal under the influence… Police say deciding what to do with the horse was a "tricky call" because "you can tow a [...

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