National DUI Crackdown Runs Through Labor Day

Going out this weekend?  Be warned. So are state and local law enforcement agencies, as they join thousands of their colleagues across the country in a nationwide DUI crackdown.

The “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.” mobilization began Friday, Aug. 20 and runs through Labor Day, Sept. 6.

In Delaware this means increased enforcement in the form of 15 sobriety checkpoints and 273 DUI saturation patrols, as well as additional radio and TV ads reminding people that one more drink could be one too many.

“Nearly 12,000 people nationwide die each year due to impaired driving,” Delaware Office of Highway Safety Director Jana Simpler said. “We want everyone to understand that impaired driving is a crime and often has deadly results. If you drive impaired, you will be arrested.”

Ninety-six drivers were arrested for DUI during the 2009 impaired driving crackdown.

During the 2009 crackdown period there were nine traffic fatalities and nearly half were alcohol-related.  Since Jan. 1, 17 of the 63 traffic deaths (27 percent) were alcohol-related compared to this time last year when 20 of the 69 traffic deaths (29 percent) were alcohol-related, OHS spokeswoman Alison Kirk said.

If you choose to drive impaired, you could face jail time, loss of driver license, and mandatory use of an ignition interlock device, installed in your vehicle at your own expense.  If you are convicted of a DUI you will have a criminal record for the rest of your life, your insurance premiums will significantly increase, and you will have to pay for and attend a mandatory eight-week DUI treatment classes with drug testing.

More than 30 state and local police agencies, representing most of Delaware’s law enforcement community, are participating in the crackdown in combination with Checkpoint Strikeforce including: Blades Police, Bethany Beach Police, Camden Police, Clayton Police, Cheswold Police, Delaware City Police, Delaware State Police, Dewey Beach Police, Dover Police, Elsmere Police, Felton Police, Georgetown Police, Harrington Police, Laurel Police, Lewes Police, Middletown Police, Milford Police, Millsboro Police, Milton Police, New Castle City Police, New Castle County Police, Newark Police, Newport Police, Ocean View Police, Rehoboth Beach Police, Seaford Police, Smyrna Police and Wyoming Police.

For more information on the drunk driving visit www.Stopimpaireddriving.org or visit the Governor’s Highway Safety Association website at www.ghsa.org.

Delaware’s participation in the national mobilization is part of its 2010 Checkpoint Strikeforce and is the final enforcement effort in the OHS’ 120 Days of Summer HEAT campaign.  For more information about Checkpoint Strikeforce and all of OHS’ campaigns visit www.ohs.delaware.gov and www.twitter.com/DEHighwaySafe.

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DUI Arrests Up in South Carolina: Some Say it’s a Fundrasing Tool

Arrests across South Carolina for driving under the influence are way up, road fatalities are way down and there’s disagreement as to why.

Spartanburg Solicitor Trey Gowdy told The GreenvilleNewshe believes the drop in highway deaths shows the latest reforms to the state’s DUI laws are working.

“I would say it’s a suc­cess,” he said. Others point to in­creased DUI arrests as well as an increase in seat-belt use by South Carolina driv­ers as the cause of the re­duced deaths. Joe McCulloch, a Colum­bia defense lawyer who has handled DUI cases for 30 years, said the new law has simply been a fundraising tool for state governmentat the expense of the rights of thosewhomight have been drinking but are innocent of DUI.

McCulloch said the in­creased DUI arrests are the result of more troopers being hired and a policy now being used nationwide of saturation arrests.

“Essentially, throw that net out, catch as many fish as you can,” he said officers and troopers are told.

“Even if you catch some who are innocent, it will all get sorted out at the jury. Officers are being told they need to err on the side of caution and not on the side of the presumption of inno­cence and that’s problem­atic.”

Mark Keel, director of the state Department of Public Safety, which over­sees the Highway Patrol, said every trooper must meet probable cause be­fore an arrest. However, he said it is true that law enfor­cement agencies are work­ing with local law enforce­ment officers using satura­tion arrests.

“It is part of the deterrent strategy,” he said.

DUI arrests by troopers are up by almost 20 percent since the new law went into effect in February 2009. DUI arrests since 2008 have increased by more than 4,000, or 32 percent, according to Public Safety records.

Keel said local law enfor­cement agencies also re­port significant increases. In fact, he said, the law en­forcement network that works with the Highway Patrol has already reached the DUI arrest numbers for all of last year.

That comes as road fatal­ities have dropped sharply. As of last week, there were 89 fewer crashes and 99 fewer people killed in road accidents year to date com­pared with the same period last year.

Deaths are also down significantly during the “100 deadly days of sum­mer,” a time period during which law enforcement of­ficials say a large number of people die in road acci­dents.

Keel calls the summer fa­tality drop, which was 87 as of Aug. 15, “phenomenal.”

In Greenville County, al­cohol- related fatalities have dropped from42 for the pe­riod of February 2008 to January 2009 to 26 from February 2009 to January of this year, Sheriff Steve Loftis said.

DUI arrests during that same period have in­creased from 421 to 445, he said. There have been eight alcohol-related deaths since February and 323 arrests, he said.

He believes the in­creased penalties of the new law are making a dif­ference.

“I think the new DUI law is having an impact,” he said.

The new law was gener­ally aimed at providing stiffer sentences for repeat offenders and those with high blood-alcohol levels. People are able to avoid jail on the first offense but do have to serve time for the second conviction and ev­ery one thereafter. They are also required to seek treatment.

The new law increases suspension periods from 90 to 180 days to six to 15 months, depending onhow many previous offenses the driver has. Drivers are still able to appeal their sus­pensions to the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings and, if successful, continue to drive while awaiting trial. Greenville defense law­yer Steve Sumner, a former prosecutor who concen­trates on DUI cases, said he believes thenewlaw has had a deterrent effect be­cause of the increased pen­alties.

However, he said in­creased media attention on DUI and more DUI arrests are also deterring drivers.

“When you add up those three, there is a deterrent effect,” he said.

Laura Hudson, who leads public policy for the state office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said she believes the in­creased arrests are the cause of any decrease in al­cohol- related crashes.

“It’s been my experience that the more enforcement we have and the more per­ception there is that ‘I am going to get caught,’ the less DUI fatalities we have,” she said.

McCulloch said most of those caught driving after drinking alcohol don’t re­peat their actions, no mat­ter what version of the law is in effect. And he said law enforcement officers are being told they can’t dis­miss their cases once the arrest is made, sending more questionable cases through the system.

“We frequently see cases where people admit that they have been drinking but then they pass two out of three field exercises,” McCulloch said.

He said he had just watched a case in which a person was given a hori­zontal gaze test, a test he said police contend is 80 percent accurate in detect­ing alcohol. The officer tes­tified that the driver passed, McCulloch said, but he still arrested him.

He believes such arrests are part of a strategy of scaring drivers by arrest­ing those who may have consumed alcohol, even if initial evidence doesn’t point to driving under the influence.

“While that might be a good psychological ploy to try and deter people from drinking and driving at all, it’s not really fair to the peo­ple who have the right to drink and drive because that is the law,” he said. “They just don’t have the right to drink too much.”

Court records aren’t yet clear on the impact of the new law.

For the June 2008 to July 2009 year, the most recent available, conviction rates for first-time offenders of both driving under the in­fluence and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 both are down from the previous year.

For the charge of DUI, the conviction rate, which includes guilty pleas and trials, went from 53.2 per­cent to 38 percent. For first offenders of the .08 law, the conviction rate dropped from 91 percent to 46 per­cent. The conviction rate percentage increased for subsequent offenses of DUI, records show.

Keel said a frequent com­plaint from troopers is that DUIcases are continued so much, sometimes for years.

“But I tell them, ‘What I would tell you to do is con­tinue to get that drunk driv­er off the road because one thing for sure is he doesn’t kill himself or he doesn’t kill somebody else that night. We have to worry about the court later.’”

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New App Measures BAC

Drinking just became much more high-tech. Funtoxication, an iPhone and iPod Touch application that measures users’ blood alcohol content, has been garnering attention recently for its fun, easy-to-use format and unique design.

Michael Tankenoff, owner of North Loop Media, LLC and creator of Funtoxication, came up with the idea last year as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. He didn’t see any apps that combined a Blood Alcohol Calculator with entertainment and decided to create his own.

Tankenoff partnered with TryCatch Games of St. Paul, Minn., to develop Funtoxication. It launched in the iTunes App Store recently for 99 cents, but Tankenoff has recently been promoting it as his schedule allows.

“There’s definitely been a good response. When it first came out, it was an interesting app because it was one of the few out there,” Tankenoff said. “… The BAC calculator and the taxi pop-up reminder and the games – those three elements have definitely set it apart from other apps.”

Funtoxication’s BAC calculator asks for a user’s gender, weight and age, as well as the type and amount of drinks consumed to estimate his or her blood alcohol content. It tracks the amount of time someone has been drinking in real time based on the initial starting point he or she indicates using a slider function.

When users hit the legal limit of 0.08, the program even offers them the option of calling a cab every time they open the app. If one chooses to call a cab, it locates a nearby taxi service using Google maps.

Have you already been accused of DUI? If so, you would be well advised to contact a Polk County DUI lawyer at our firm for a free and confidential consultation. You may be surprised at the results our Florida DUI lawyers can achieve for you.

Read further about the new app here.

Attorney tries new tack to keep record from media

A Seattle attorney is battling to keep the news media from seeing a deputy’s report from her June arrest on suspicion of drunken driving took a novel twist this week, baffling officials with the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Her attorney, Tyler Firkins, filed a motion Monday in King County District Court in Shoreline, seeking to use a rule that governs which records the court can release to bar the Sheriff’s Office from releasing the report. A Superior Court judge already has ruled the report can be released under the state Public Disclosure Act, a decision that she is appealing.

At issue in the new motion is a rule known as Administrative Rule for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction No. 9, or ARLJ 9, which exempts district-court officials from releasing police reports unless they have been admitted into evidence, incorporated into a court pleading or have been placed into public record. In district court, a police report isn’t considered evidence unless it is submitted as an exhibit during trial or a plea hearing, something that hasn’t happened in the the attorney’s case.

According to Firkins’ filing, she is seeking to have that rule extended to the Sheriff’s Office to prevent it from releasing the report.

“We release 17,000 case reports a year under the [state] public-disclosure statute and we’ve never heard this argument in the past,” said sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart.

The Sheriff’s Office and other law-enforcement agencies routinely release redacted police reports to members of the news media — often even before a suspect is charged with a crime — under the state’s Public Disclosure Act. However, under state law, law-enforcement agencies can withhold reports if releasing them would jeopardize an ongoing investigation — an exemption that doesn’t apply in a case that the Sheriff’s Office considers a straightforward DUI.

They did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday.

John Cobb, the King County deputy prosecutor who has been representing the Sheriff’s Office in the matter, has been out of town so he hasn’t seen Firkins’ latest filing.

But on Friday, the two attorneys “had a polite difference of opinion regarding the application of Rule 9 to state statute that requires the release of public records and police reports,” Cobb said by phone from Missoula, Mont.

Though he hasn’t formed an official opinion yet, Cobb said he can’t see how a District Court rule could trump the state’s Public Disclosure Act.

She was arrested early June 4 — her 52nd birthday — and later booked into the King County Jail on investigation of DUI. She has claimed in court records that she was the victim of a hit-and-run accident and suffered a head injury, producing symptoms that mimicked signs of intoxication.

During an interview earlier this month, she told a Times reporter that she had a few drinks at a dinner party earlier in the evening but said she was not drunk. She has also acknowledged that she refused to perform field-sobriety tests and submit to a breath test after she was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy.

According to a breathalyzer log from the State Patrol Crime Lab, she made five breath-test attempts before refusing to continue. As a result, her blood-alcohol content was not measured.

According to Cobb and the sheriff’s office, she didn’t mention a car accident or an injury at the time of her arrest and refused to answer routine medical questions when she was placed in a holding cell at the Kenmore precinct, according to Cobb and the Sheriff’s Office.

Last month, she filed a motion in King County Superior Court seeking to block the release of the police report, arguing that public knowledge of her purported head injury would cause her embarrassment and violate her privacy.

On Aug. 12, King County Superior Court Judge Laura Inveen ruled that the Sheriff’s Office could release the police report and some of the video footage related to her arrest to the news media.

Immediately after Inveen’s ruling, Firkins filed an appeal with the state Court of Appeals in Seattle. As a result, Inveen’s ruling was stayed until the issue could be heard by Court of Appeals Commissioner James Verellen.

Six days later, on Aug. 18, Kenmore City Prosecutor Sarah Roberts charged her with DUI.

Oral arguments before Verellen were originally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon but were canceled because Verellen transferred the case to the Court of Appeals division in Spokane. A new hearing date has not been scheduled.

The reason for the move to Spokane was not outlined in a letter from the Seattle appeals court to Firkins and Cobb. But it appears the venue was changed because friends of her’s have ties to the Seattle-based appellate court and there could be a potential conflict of interest.

In an interview with The Seattle Times earlier this month, she provided statements from friends who attended the June dinner party, including host Rosselle Pekelis, a retired judge who has served in King County Superior Court, the Court of Appeals in Seattle and the state Supreme Court. Another guest at the dinner party was federal Judge Carolyn Dimmick, on the bench in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Those statements were among the evidence presented to Inveen and are now part of the record being reviewed by the appeals court.

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Delco DUI Taskforce to arrest everyone ‘Over the limit’

The problem of impaired-driving is a serious one. While America witnessed a decline in the number of impaired-driving fatalities from 2007-2008, the numbers are still too high. That’s why the Northern Delaware County DUI Taskforce today announced it will join other law enforcement agencies throughout the country in support of an intensive crackdown on impaired driving now until Sept. 6, known by its tagline, “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.”

The Taskforce will conduct sobriety checkpoints during the weekends of Aug. 27 within Radnor Township and Sept. 3 in Upper Darby Township. In 2008 alone, nearly 12,000 people died in crashes in which a driver or motorcycle rider was at or above the legal limit, according to the latest statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The age group with the highest percentage of alcohol impaired drivers in fatal crashes is young people age 21-24.

“All too often, innocent, law-abiding people suffer tragic consequences and the loss of loved ones due to this careless disregard for human life. Because we’re committed to ending the carnage, we’re intensifying enforcement during the crackdown. We’ll be especially vigilant during high-risk nighttime hours when impaired drivers are most likely to be on our roads,” said Taskforce Director John Viola. In every state as well as the District of Columbia it is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 grams per deciliter or higher.

About 10,000 police agencies will participate in this year’s mid-August through Labor Day crackdown, including law enforcement officers representing every State, the District of Columbia and many U.S. cities and towns. According to the latest data, 32 percent of fatalities in motor vehicle traffic crashes involved a driver or motorcycle rider with a BAC of .08 g/dL or above — an average of one fatality every 45 minutes.

The Northern Delaware County DUI Taskforce said its officers will be aggressively looking for all impaired drivers during the crackdown and will arrest anyone they find driving while impaired — regardless of age, vehicle type, or time of day. Since it’s inception in 2009, the Taskforce has conducted 12 operations to date. The taskforce has arrested 42 drivers for Driving Under the Influence of alcohol or drugs, issued 16 citations for underage drinking, 266 citations and 192 warnings for other motor vehicle violations.

“Our message is simple and unwavering. If we find you driving impaired, we will arrest you. No exceptions,” said Viola. “Even if you beat the odds and walk away from an impaired-driving crash alive, motorists should be aware that the consequences of driving while impaired can still virtually destroy your life.”

According to the Pennsylvania DUI Association (www.padui.org), violators often face jail time, loss of their driver licenses, or being sentenced to use ignition interlocks. Their insurance rates go up. Other financial hits include attorney fees, court costs, lost time at work, and the potential loss of job or job prospects. When family, friends and co-workers find out, violators can also face tremendous personal embarrassment and humiliation.

“Driving impaired is simply not worth all the consequences. So don’t take the chance. Remember, if you are over the limit, you’re under arrest,” said Viola. The national Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. crackdown is led by NHTSA and combines high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness through advertising and publicity. For more information on the crackdown, visit the High-Visibility Enforcement Campaign Headquarters at www.StopImpairedDriving.org.

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Indiana DUI Law Was Amended to Allow Lab Techs to Conduct Tests

The law which prompted the dismissal of drunken-driving charges against an I-M-P-D officer was amended this year — but not enough to salvage the case.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi dropped four alcohol-related counts against an Indiana man on Thursday, explaining that the test which showed him with a blood-alcohol level of .19% would be inadmissible because it was taken by a lab technician, and at an occupational health center, not a hospital.

The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled a year ago the law doesn’t let a lab technician do your blood-alcohol test — the law says “certified phlebotomist,” and Indiana has no such certification.

In March, legislators eliminated that language, and said anyone with the proper training, including a lab tech, can take blood — but they still have to follow established protocols, or be under the supervision of a doctor.

Former Indiana University law professor Henry Karlson says that’s where the test conducted on the man appears to have gone off the rails: the lab technician who drew his blood didn’t meet either of those criteria.

“I’ve been told that if a physician had walked by the door while the man was doing the blood sample, they would have fought it,” Karlson says. “But there wasn’t a physician supervising this man in any way, and evidently, there were no established protocols.”

There’s more disagreement over why hospitals have been added to the law.

House Courts and Criminal Code Chairman Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) says the goal was to ensure that tests performed by a lab tech at a hospital were considered admissible. But other legal experts say a properly trained lab tech should be able to perform a test at any location under proper supervision.

And Karlson says the section of the law which excludes lab techs — allowing only doctors, nurses, paramedics or E-M-T’s to administer the test — appears to apply only to a standing contract to perform those tests, such as the prosecutor in Pierce’s Monroe County has.

The man still faces a reckless homicide charge and two counts of recklessness in the crash which killed motorcyclist Eric Wells.

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Clearwater DUI Lawyer

If you have recently been accused of DUI, BUI, DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, an underage .02 violation or a related drunk driving crime in Clearwater, FL you need an attorney. An experienced attorney will know all the necessary steps to investigate your case and determine either the best way to fight your charge or when it’s time to work out a plea agreement with the prosecution. As for expenses, an attorney’s fee can pay for them self in the long run; getting fines, jail time and other time consuming penalties reduced and keeping his or her client’s criminal record clean is all part of a Clearwater criminal defense lawyer’s job.

Want to speak with an expert about your Clearwater DUI charge? Call 727-480-9675 to schedule a free initial consultation with a Clearwater drunk driving lawyer at Musca Law.

The attorneys at Musca Law, who have over 100 years combined experience, are well prepared to represent you against any criminal charges in the State of Florida. Whether you are charged with driving under the influence (DUI), a drug possession/distribution crime, etc. our attorneys can fight for you at this critical time.

Give the Clearwater, FL DUI attorneys at Musca law a call at 727-480-9675 to discuss the unique circumstances of your case.

Missouri to Crack Down on Drunk Driving

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri law enforcement officials will start cracking down on those who get behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

It’s part of a new law that sets tougher regulations on DWI offenders. The new law is being coordinated with a statewide campaign whose slogan is “You drink, you drive, you lose.” The campaign will run from Aug. 20 to Sept. 6.

During the campaign, multiple law enforcement agencies will hit the streets setting up DUI checkpoints and searching out drunk drivers. Last year, 280 people were killed, more than 1,100 were seriously injured and nearly 4,000 people received minor injuries because of impaired drivers in Missouri, law enforcement officials said.

Those who are caught under the new law can expect more jail time for repeat offenders. and people with higher blood alcohol levels. Officials said more cases will go straight to state courts rather than being tried in municipal courts. The result will be stiffer penalties for violators. Officials said record keeping will be tightened making it easier to track past offenders.

Some offenders will be offered the opportunity to take part in a court program that will closely monitor them and make treatment available, rather than go to jail.

Last year, nearly 200 law enforcement agencies took part in the campaign. They issued nearly 1,000 DWI citations.

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Bengals’ Rey Maualuga gets fine, no suspension, after DUI conviction

The NFL will fine Cincinnati Bengals LB Rey Maualuga two game checks but will not suspend him for his DUI conviction last winter, ESPN and PFT reported.

Maualuga pleaded guilty to a DUI charge in February and then entered rehab. He will be eligible for the Bengals’ season opener in New England on Sept. 12 but will not be paid for two weeks this season.

The second-year defender said in May his time in rehab was a “life changer.” His guilty plea came just days after his arrest for DUI in late January. He apologized at the time for “for bringing such great humiliation and embarrassment to the team.”

Maualuga is the second member of the Bengals to escape a suspension in recent weeks. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell opted not to discipline RB Cedric Benson after his arrest for an alleged assault this summer.

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New NY Law Cracks Down On Drunk Drivers

A new law in New York that took effect on Sunday could keep repeated drunken drivers off the roads.

A small device is expected to make a big impression on convicted drunken drivers under a provision of Leandra’s Law, which requires any driver convicted of DUI to have an ignition interlock device installed on any car they drive.

“There’s an additional impact upon them should they drink and drive and be convicted of that,” said Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie.

What’s more, Wylie said the devices cost nearly $1,000 each.

“The operator — the defendant who is charged with and convicted of the driving while intoxicated charge — is paying for it,” he said.

The device is similar to a Breathalyzer device. The driver has to blow into it, and if there’s a reading of .025 or higher, the car will not start.

Big Apple Audio in Plattsburgh is one of several businesses contracted to install the ignition interlock devices, and the owner, Bill Ferris, said the devices will also require a random hourly “breath sample” while the vehicle is being operated.

“The random sample keeps everybody honest,” Ferris said. “You never know when you’re going to have to provide a sample.”

The Clinton County Department of Probation said it intends to closely monitor the results.

“We will get notified either via e-mail or through the Internet of violations and how they are doing on the system,” said David Marcoux, with the department.

The devices must be installed for at least six months; although, those convicted of a felony drunken driving charge may be required to have the devices in their cars for up to five years.

Have you been arrested for DUI, DWI or a related criminal offense in New York? If so, you would be well advised contact a NY drunk driving attorney ASAP.

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