Criminal Law

Why Cops Can Only Testify to Incriminating Evidence in DUI Trials

Posted on March 15, 2008
How does a police officer testifying in a drunk driving trial recall every detail of a DUI investigation conducted months earlier? When an officer stops a motorist and suspects that he may be under the influence of alcohol, he begins to mentally record various observations...

The National College for DUI Defense

Posted on March 11, 2008
Until a few years ago, attorneys attempting to defend a client against drunk driving charges were general practitioners who had little, if any, understanding of the nature of the offense. They were unfamiliar with such DUI investigatory methods as field sobriety tests, and there was an almost complete lack of seminars on how to defend [...

Catheter Forced Up Penis After DUI Arrest

Posted on March 05, 2008
I don’t think the following story needs any commentary from me: Tube Inserted Into Man Who Refused to Give Urine Sample Kelso, Wa.  March 4  –  When a man who was suspected of drunken driving in Longview refused to give blood and urine samples he was taken to a hospital...

?The Federal DUI Immunity Act of 1998?

Posted on March 05, 2008
My last two posts, concerning the notorious lack of convictions for drunk driving when a cop, prosecutor or judge is involved, has triggered a flood of email…wanting to know about “The Federal DUI Immunity Act of 1998″. Hmmm…Sorry, folks, that was just my attempt at humor...

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?Do As I Say, Not As I Do? (redux)

Posted on March 04, 2008
Apparently, Utah does not subscribe to the provisions of the Federal DUI Immunity Act of 1998 that I mentioned in yesterday’s post….or at least not as to DUIs committed by heads of the Highway Patrol’s DUI Enforcement Unit...

?Do What I Say, Not What I do?

Posted on March 03, 2008
The latest example of the ubiquitous DUI Double Standard: Regional Agency Head Suspended After DUI Arrest Palm City, FL.  –   The leader of a Treasure Coast-wide agency established to provide classes for people convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs was suspended from her job Wednesday in the wake of her DUI arrest Monday...

Breathing Paint Fumes = High Breath Test Results?

Posted on February 28, 2008
In ?Why Breathalyzers Don?t Measure Alcohol?, I mentioned one of the many reliability problems breath machines have: they falsely report any of thousands of chemical compounds as ?alcohol?.  Scientific studies have clearly proven this defect, a problem referred to as non-specificity...

How Good Are Cops at Detecting Intoxication?

Posted on February 25, 2008
The drunk driving case rests heavily upon the subjective opinions of the arresting officer ? the abilities of that officer to correctly assess DUI symptoms of intoxication: observations of driving, personal symptoms (slurred speech, flushed face, etc...

The Thin Blue Line Exception

Posted on February 21, 2008
Just the most recent example of the double standard applied when cops, prosecutors or judges are busted by honest officers for drunk driving: Officer Found Not Guilty of OUI Charge Northborough, MA.  Feb. 19  –  A judge has cleared a town police officer of drunken driving after throwing out his blood alcohol reading because it was taken at [...

Washington State Says ?No? to DUI Scarlet Letter

Posted on February 15, 2008
I posted yesterday about the Washington State legislature recently refusing to cave in to the Governor and others interested in resurrecting DUI roadblocks found to be illegal by the state supreme court.  In today’s news, that same legislature again balked at further insanities in the “War on Drunk Driving”...

Washington State Says ?No? to DUI Roadblocks

Posted on February 14, 2008
As many of you know, the United States Supreme Court in Michigan v. Sitz found that although sobriety checkpoints were apparent violations of the Fourth Amendment, they were only ”minor” violations.  Permitting police to stop citizens without reason to believe they had done anything wrong, Chief Justice Rehnquist said, was permissible in view of the government’s ongoing “War on Drunk [...

The Fading Right to Jury Trial

Posted on February 10, 2008
Ok, the cop said I looked bad on the field sobriety tests, but I know I?m not guilty: I only had two drinks and I?ve got witnesses. No matter what the police say, I can tell my side of the story to my fellow citizens and let them decide. Right? Well?...

Fraudulent Crime Lab DUI Tests: Update

Posted on February 05, 2008
My last post reported on the findings of a panel of Seattle judges which concluded that the state’s crime lab responsible for breath testing had routinely engaged in ?fraudulent and scientifically unacceptable? practices that have compromised breath-test readings across Washington...

Judges: Crime Lab DUI Records ?Deceptive & Fraudulent?

Posted on January 31, 2008
In today’s I-told-you-so department: Judges Reject DUI Breath-Test Results Seattle, Jan. 31  –  In a ruling that could affect thousands of cases, a panel of King County judges said Wednesday that the state’s toxicology lab engaged in “fraudulent and scientifically unacceptable” practices that have compromised breath-test readings used to prosecute suspected drunken drivers… In its blistering 29-page ruling, the [...

DUI Double Jeopardy and Multiple Punishment

Posted on January 30, 2008
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. These are usually two very different procedures: (1) the administrative suspension for driving with blood-alcohol [...

When is a Refusal Not a Refusal?

Posted on January 29, 2008
When a DUI suspect is arrested, he is asked to submit to a blood, breath or urine test. If he refuses, his license will be suspended ? for a considerably longer time than if a test had shown .08% or higher. In addition, many states impose an increased penalty in the criminal phase, usually a [...

Breathalyzers Don?t Measure Alcohol

Posted on January 26, 2008
That?s right.  What these machines actually detect and measure is any chemical compund that contains the methyl group in its molecular structure. There are thousands of such compounds ? including quite a few which can be found on the human breath...

Breathalyzer Results Depend on Body Temperature

Posted on January 24, 2008
As I have said in earlier posts, law enforcement investigation techniques depend largely upon the fictitious premise that all humans are physiologically identical (see ?Convicting the Average DUI Suspect?). Without that presumption, field sobriety and breath alcohol tests would not be possible...

Justice and Semantics

Posted on January 19, 2008
The latest weapon in MADD’s politically correct War on Drunk Driving: New Law Strengthens DUI Penalties San Jose, CA.  ABC News  –  Each year, an estimated 17,000 people are killed in drunk driving crashes. In October the governor signed a bill that got by-partisan support to strengthen the law against first time DUI offenders...

Today, DUI Roadblocks?Tommorrow?

Posted on January 15, 2008
My last post concerned the current efforts by the Governor of Washington to get legislation authorizing drunk driving roadblocks.  This would trump their own Supreme Court’s holding that these roadblocks  violate the state constitution’s prohibition against stopping citizens for no apparent reason...

Are DUI Roadblocks Effective?

Posted on January 09, 2008
I’ve railed in the past about the unconstitutionality of DUI roadblacks, aka “sobriety checkpoints”, as well as their ineffectiveness.  Increasingly, they are being used as revenue generators and illegal subterfuges to stop innocent citizens for unrelated matters...

Backlash?

Posted on January 08, 2008
Is the tide finally turning?  For years I’ve expected to see a backlash from the citizens of this country as politicians and judges continue to bow to MADD’s hysterical crusade against drinking (and, secondarily, drunk driving) and whittle away at the Bill of Rights and basic concepts of justice and fairness...

What Does a DUI Cost?

Posted on January 05, 2008
Did you ever wonder how much it could cost you today if you’re arrested for drunk driving?  Not necessarily guilty of drunk driving, just suspected of it?  Maybe $500?  Or $1000?… Drunk Driving Could Cost $20,000 CNBC News...

TV?s DUI SuperCops in Action

Posted on January 02, 2008
I’ve commented in the past about the emerging phenomenon of “DUI SuperCops”, and a few days ago about a new TV series starring the heroic DUI warriors of the Fresno Police Department.  Let’s look in on our new media stars…...

The Next Step: Arrest the Passengers

Posted on December 31, 2007
As I’ve pointed out in previous posts, the harsh penalties, convoluted laws and unconstitutional procedures have not lowered the alcohol-related fatality rate.  And MADD is unwilling to consider rational solutions to the problem.  So where does it go from here? Roadshow: Where DUI Enforcement is Tougher San Jose Mercury News, Dec...

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