Criminal Law

Wisconsin's new beer class raising questions along with glasses

Posted on November 10, 2008
The University of Wisconsin announced that it will be offering a beer brewing class this spring under the instruction of Jon Roll. According to The Chicago Tribune, the Madison campus is one of the first in the nation to offer...

Officer Reprimanded after Posting DUI Pictures on Site

Posted on November 05, 2008
Robbie Arkovich, a St. Petersburg police officer, has been using photographs taken during DUI arrests to teach at the police academy. According to the St. Petersburg Times, the 19-year-old veteran was issued a low-level written reprimand for posting pictures from...

MADD asks Everyone to be Safe this Halloween

Posted on October 29, 2008
Mothers Against Drunk Driving issued a statement asking people to designate a sober driver this Halloween weekend during festivities. The group is especially concerned since Halloween falls on a Friday this year. According to the National Highway and Traffic Safety...

Reliever for the Rockies Arrested for a DUI

Posted on October 27, 2008
Early Monday morning, Luis Vizcaino was arrested for driving under the influence in Tampa, FL, reported Sports Illustrated. The 34-year-old is a reliever for the Colorado Rockies. According to police reports, Vizcaino was driving 71 mph in a 45 mph...

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In Total DUI News Spotlight

Posted on October 24, 2008
This week on Total DUI, states are pushing for stricter DUI laws and penalties. Kansas is looking to make stiffer penalties for repeat DUI offenders, while Pennsylvania is looking into mandatory ignition interlock devices after looking into a high school student's homework assignment.

Yankee's pitcher charged with DUI

Posted on October 22, 2008
Over the weekend, Joba Chamberlain was arrested for driving under the influence. He was pulled over for speeding on Saturday morning. He will also be charged with having an open container of alcohol in his vehicle. According to news reports, Chamberlain was at a strip club near his home town...

Are strict DUI laws really that strict?

Posted on October 20, 2008
The Journal Sentinel recently conducted a survey that shows that the strict laws passed in Wisconsin in 1999 might not be as strict as law-makers once thought. According to the report, only 70 of the 161 fifth-offender convictions served time in jail, even though it is considered a felony once people have been convicted five times for drinking and driving...

Mid-tryst, couple finds out where they parked

Posted on October 15, 2008
A PA couple was busted having a tryst in their car after police officers were called because a suspicious-looking vehicle was parked outside the Hellertown Police Station. The couple told police they didn't realize that they had parked in a handicapped spot in front of the station...

Google launches new application to help stop you from drunk emailing

Posted on October 13, 2008
With the help of Google, you can now prevent yourself from sending those regretted late night emails that you type after a good night at the bar. The new application asks the sender to solve a few math problems before the message can be sent.

Woman arrested for DUI after coming to help a friend

Posted on October 08, 2008
Victoria Viviano was arrested for a DUI after she drove to Neptune Beach where her friend was being stopped for a DUI investigation. Police noticed Viviano was staggering as she walked. The arresting officer noted that Viviano smelled like alcohol and had bloodshot eyes.

Man arrested after driving through house

Posted on October 06, 2008
On Saturday, September 27, Hartmann drove his car through his neighbor's house in Hastings, NY. The total damage is estimated at $50,000. Hartmann was arrested and charged with felony DWI and reckless driving after going through the front of the house, living room, bedroom and out the back.

Man charged for DUI after blowing his horn

Posted on October 01, 2008
Rodney Northey, of Gansevoort, was pulled over after excessively blowing his horn to let people know he was in town. Northey was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated and ticketed for blowing his car horn.

Man arrested after 14th DUI

Posted on September 29, 2008
A 46 year-old man was arrested for the 14 time under the suspicion of driving under the influence. The man from Mount Vernon, WA, has been charged with a felony DUI since he has had four previous convictions in the last 10 years.

This Week on Total DUI

Posted on September 26, 2008
This week on Total DUI, an Alaska woman was given a lucky break when a judge granted her a new trial. Renee Ellison's lawyer told the judge that the victim in the two-car accident has previous injuries that the jury never heard about the first time around...

Arizona Judge Reverses Ruling on Breath Test Evidence

Posted on September 24, 2008
Judge Margarita Bernal ruled that breath tests in 19 DUI cases could not be used as evidence during trial. After hearing testimony from an unrelated Superior Court case, the city court judge threw out the tests. Recently, breath tests in more than 100 DUI cases in Tucson have been thrown out because of problems with breathalyzers and the company that makes them, CMI.

Nebraska Racks Up 80 DUI Arrests During Campaign

Posted on September 23, 2008
A two-week long national campaign, "You Drink & Drive, You Lose," yielded 80 DUI arrests in Nebraska. The campaign, which ran from August 15 to September 1, issued citations for speeding, seat belt violations, child restraint violations as well as driving under the influence...

High School Student Driving 118 m.p.h. arrested for DUI

Posted on September 18, 2008
According to the police report, a 17 year-old girl, driving a 2000 Toyota Celica, was pulled over for weaving in and out of traffic. The police clocked the high school student going 118 m.p.h. near Merrillville, IN on September 10. The officer detected the smell of alcohol in the car, and during a breath test, the girl registered higher than ...

Near Collisions with Train Results in DUI

Posted on September 17, 2008
Around 5 am on Saturday, an Ocala police officer saw a woman's 2001 Honda stuck on the tracks and called for assistance as well as alerted a train headed in the direction of the car. Officers detected alcohol on the breath of the 23 year-old woman. She failed the sobriety test and blew a ...

UK Man Attempts to Beat the Test with Copper Penny

Posted on September 15, 2008
Martyn Shepherd, 47, was stopped while driving a Vauxhall Combo van in St. Annes for suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol. The police reported that Shepherd had a copper coin in his mouth with the hopes of adversely influencing the breath test...

Show Your Tickets at the Prom then Step in Line for a Breathalyzer Test

Posted on September 10, 2008
School officials are hoping to curb teen drinking by making the students of Albert Lea High School take a breathalyzer test before entering the prom. Students attending the prom will have to blow into a preliminary breath test's capture column and will win a prize if they pass...

Florida Man Arrested for Driving Drunk in School Zone

Posted on September 09, 2008
On Wednesday, August 20, police arrested 28 year-old Michael Trotter Shaffer for driving under the influence in a school zone. A deputy monitoring traffic pulled Shaffer over around 2pm, and the breath tests registered his blood alcohol level at .376 and ...

Three Strikes He's Out?

Posted on September 08, 2008
In eight days, Professor Jeffrey Hunker has been charged with three DUIs. Hunker is a teacher at Carnegie Mellon. According to police, in one incident, Hunker drove his car through his neighbor's yard and hit the house. On Wednesday, August 27, Hunker enrolled in a 28-day treatment program in Virginia...

Drunk 12 year-old Found Driving Stolen Car

Posted on September 04, 2008
Police intercepted a car full of youths on Thursday night in Palmerston in Australia. The driver of the car was a 12 year-old girl who had a blood alcohol level of .65 percent. The legal limit in the Northern Territory is .05 percent. The females that were caught in a short chase that pursued after the car was stopped have been arrested...

Kiss and Tell

Posted on September 02, 2008
Mankato police found James A. Carroll stumbling on the street Saturday morning. He scored a .063 on the breath test. The 18-year-old college student told police he was drunk from making out with a girl 30 minutes earlier; however, police said that scenario is not possible.

MADD and Police Join Hands in Pilot Program Launching this Weekend

Posted on August 28, 2008
Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Manatee Country Sheriff's Department in Florida will be working together on a "first in the nation" program that will put trained MADD observers on the road to watch and report for potential drunk drivers. The volunteer teams will be in unmarked, private vehicles and using their personal cell phones to communicate with police...

Tenth Time is a Charm

Posted on August 26, 2008
Janet Landrum was arrested on Saturday for driving under the influence. This is Landrum's tenth arrest in four different states over the past 20 years. Ironically, Landrum was driving because her passenger was reportedly too drunk to drive. Although no one was injured or killed, Landrum could face up to five years in prison for the number of convictions she has.

Geosat 6 with Breathalyzer Now Available to the Public

Posted on August 25, 2008
Originally developed for the Peugeot 107 Sweet Year, the Geosat 6 Drive Safe satellite navigation system is now available to the public. On Thursday, August 14, Italian GPS equipment manufacturer, AvMap, announced that the navigator would be available to the public...

College Presidents Support a Lower Drinking Age

Posted on August 21, 2008
College presidents are asking for lawmakers to consider hearing a debate about why the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18. While the supporters are claiming the lower drinking age will decrease binge drinking on campuses, MADD and other groups feel that it will only lead to more fatal accidents.

The Onion Goes Statistical...err, Satirical on DUI

Posted on August 11, 2008
Delivering their usual satirical take with all the news that's (un)fit to print, the latest issue of The Onion provided this little news item on DUI: According to a report released Monday by the National Institutes of Health, 93 percent of those who get behind the wheel while intoxicated arrive at their homes safe and sound, just like they told everybody they would...

Is a Beer Cooler Really a Vehicle?

Posted on June 13, 2008
Now we've seen just about everything. A man in Whitehall, New York was recently arrested for DUI after he was seen swerving around while driving his "Cruzin Cooler" - a beer cooler with three wheels, a handlebar and an electric motor.

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