DUI Enforcement

San Diego County Checkpoints & Patrols Still Don’t Deter Some From Drunk Driving

December 12, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

xmas drinks.jpg Pacific Beach, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, and Encinitas had DUI checkpoints set up over the weekend. Fourteen drivers were arrested for driving under the influence, according to 10news.com.

A Pacific Beach DUI checkpoint was conducted by San Diego Police in the 1600 block of Garnet Avenue on Friday night from 10:15pm until approximately 2:00am. Ten people were cited for alleged drunken driving.

Chula Vista’s sobriety checkpoint was held on North Fourth Street from 7pm until midnight on Friday. One person was arrested on suspected drunk driving charges.

The Imperial Beach drunk driving roadblock resulted in one DUI arrest by the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. The IB checkpoint was conducted in the 1000 block of Palm Avenue on Friday night from 8:00pm until 2:30am.

Encinitas also had a DUI roadblock that was conducted by the San Diego Sheriff’s on Saturday night through early Sunday morning. Six hundred cars went through the checkpoint in the 1700 block of South El Camino Real, and only two were arrested for allegedly driving under the influence.

Even with all DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols that law enforcement conducts during the holiday weeks, some people continue to drink and drive throughout San Diego County. Drunk driving is suspected in an incident that occurred in Lemon Grove on Friday at 5:45pm, where two people were killed in a fiery crash on southbound 125 just south of I-8.

Lemon Grove resident, Justin Foulds, 39, was heading home from a work Christmas party driving his Chevrolet Silverado. He side swiped a car and then struck a Nissan Pathfinder from behind which immediately caused a fire and possible explosion. The Pathfinder was being driven by Celia Torres, 73. She was in the vehicle with her grandson, David Gonzalez, 16, on their way to a dentist appointment in Tijuana. Both died at the scene.

DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter are some of the charges that Foulds could face after being arrested by the California Highway Patrol. His bail is currently set at $500,000.

Before heading out to celebrate for the holidays, have a plan on how you will stay safe, avoid the possibility of being arrested for drunk driving, and keep San Diego citizens safe. Pack a bag and plan on staying at the home of the party host. Designate a driver to remain sober and be responsible to drive you home. Save a San Diego taxi company’s telephone number in your phone and use it. Use public transportation or call a sober friend or family member for a ride.

San Diego County Law Enforcement Looking For Drunk Drivers This Holiday Season

November 23, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

San Diego County law enforcement, including the San Diego Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol, have announced drunk driving saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints throughout the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The following are specific law enforcement public announcements regarding their efforts to keep drunk drivers off the road:

San Diego Sheriff’s Department: Saturation patrols throughout San Diego on Wednesday, November 23rd, and continuing throughout the holiday weekend.
San Diego Sheriff’s Department, Encinitas Station: Saturation patrols in Encinitas, Solana Beach, and Del Mar on Thursday, November 24th.
San Diego Sheriff’s, Court Services Division: Vista warrant sweep at the Walmart shopping center at the 1800 block of University on Friday, November 25th.
California Highway Patrol (CHP): Announced they received funding for their IDEA, Impaired Driving Enforcement and Apprehension, Program. They will implement their Thanksgiving Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP), specifically looking for drunk drivers and those not wearing their seatbelt, from 6:01 p.m. on Wednesday, November 23rd, through 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, November 27th.

According to CHP’s statistics, they arrested 1,546 drunk drivers during the Thanksgiving weekend in 2010, a 6% increase over the 2009 DUI arrests.

Funding for all these state and local checkpoints and saturation patrols comes from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Statistics on DUI arrests can be found on CaliforniaAvoid.com, as the website is updated throughout the holiday season.

To avoid the possibility of a DUI arrest, holiday partiers should plan a safe way home before the festivities begin. Designate a sober driver, have a taxi company’s number stored in your phone and use it, call a sober friend or family member for a ride, or use public transportation.

Note: The above list of drunk driving roadblocks and saturation patrols is not an all-inclusive list. Many law enforcement agencies in San Diego do not post their DUI enforcement details online. However, we will continue to search for any that are published and we will update this blog accordingly throughout this holiday season.

Update: (November 27th, 2011) The San Diego Sheriff’s Department, Court Services Division, held a warrant sweep in Vista at the Walmart shopping center at the 1800 block of University on Friday, November 25th. 17 people were arrested, including some for DUI.

Update: (November 28th, 2011) 60 driving under the influence arrests were made in San Diego County by CHP between 6:01 p.m. Wednesday and 6:00 a.m. Saturday, according to cbs8.com. Last year’s total DUI arrests for the same period of time was 59. The decrease trend continued in all of California, as the CHP arrested 903 suspected drunk drivers during this year’s Thanksgiving holiday weekend throughout the state, as opposed to 975 last year.

San Diego Police and the San Diego Sheriff’s Department have not released their drunk driving statistics as of the time of this posting’s update.

BAC: What Is It And How Does It Affect My DUI Case?

October 7, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

.08.jpg BAC is an acronym that stands for blood alcohol content or blood alcohol concentration. It is the percentage of alcohol that is in your blood at the time of the test. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the higher your BAC, the more impaired you are.

In California, it is illegal to drive a vehicle while under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or a combination of both. Further, it is unlawful to drive a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration at or above a .08 percent. (See California Vehicle Code Sections 23152(a) & (b).)

Blood alcohol concentration is at issue in almost every drunk driving case involving alcohol. Within the vehicle code there is a rebuttable presumption. If the driver took a chemical test within three hours of driving, and the result of that test is a .08 percent or more, it is presumed the person had a BAC at or above a .08 at the time of driving. Because this is a rebuttable presumption, the defense can attack this at trial during cross examination of the prosecution’s experts or with a defense expert.

Even if the driver did not exhibit any signs of impairment, having a BAC of a .08 or more at the time of driving is enough for the state to file charges against you.

If your BAC is under a .08, you can still be charged with driving under the influence if you exhibited signs of impairment while driving or if the officer determined that you failed the field sobriety tests (SFST’s).

Blood alcohol content is usually tested by breath, blood, or urine samples. The officer must have probable cause to arrest you before administering such tests. (Note: The breath test mentioned here is not the PAS, or preliminary alcohol screening test, used in the field.) As a licensed driver, you have given implied consent to such tests; this means, if you are arrested for DUI, you must give one of the samples.

A breath test is most favored by law enforcement because it gives the result quickly and no sample is saved for retesting. The breath test machine is very sensitive and many things may skew the results. For instance, the machine may not have been working properly when the test was completed or mouth alcohol may have been present in the sample. Both of these can artificially elevate the results.

The blood test is done by a qualified medical professional and the results are not immediately available. This is often considered the most accurate test. However, a byproduct of blood breaking down is alcohol. Therefore, if the preservative is not thoroughly mixed through the vial of blood, the test results will be inaccurate with the result showing an inflated number.

If you are arrested for drunk driving, you owe it to yourself to hire an exclusively DUI defense firm that is familiar with all the possible defenses in your case. The BAC result is only an estimate, and it alone does not accurately determine if you are under the influence for purposes of driving. It is a tool used by the prosecutor to determine how to charge and pursue your case. A good defense looks at all the facts, not just the test result provided by the state.

Do not just plead guilty because your BAC was a .08 percent or higher. There may still be defenses in your case that can lead to reduced charges with less punishment, or even a dismissal!

The above blog entry is by no means all-inclusive and is not intended to be legal advice. To get legal advice on your particular matter, speak to a DUI attorney.

Drunk Driving And It’s Effects On A Pilot’s License

September 13, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

Driving under the influence charges can pose a threat to your livelihood. If your profession, business, or service requires you to have a state license, a criminal conviction may impact obtaining or renewing your license.

If you are a pilot, there are stringent rules and procedures that must be followed if you are arrested for DUI. A conviction or motor vehicle action (MVA) may result in sanctions against you, so you need to seek legal counsel immediately to know and understand your rights and responsibilities.

The Federal Aviation Administration is governed by the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) which are found under the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). 14 CFR Section 61.15 deals with alcohol or drug offenses, not involving the use or operation of an aircraft, and the effects on a pilot’s license.

The pilot has 60 days from the effective date of the administrative action, (driver license suspension, revocation, or cancellation), or conviction to report the MVA to the FAA. Notification must be done in writing and not over the phone. The FAA provides a standard “Notification Letter” on their website.

Each event, conviction, or administrative action must be reported. This means that one incident that leads to an administrative action and a conviction requires two notifications to the FAA. Even though two notification letters are sent, it will be deemed as one alcohol-related event for investigation purposes.

The reporting requirements for a MVA does not include a conviction for reckless, careless, or negligent driving, but it does include any administrative action. However, arrests, administrative actions, and convictions are reportable under the airman application for a medical certificate.

Once a MVA is reported, an investigation will be initiated. Investigators will ensure that the MVA was timely reported and that no other reportable actions were involved. If the MVA is reported after the required 60 days, but before the FAA discovers the MVA, that will be considered a mitigating factor in determining the sanction. Failure to notify the FAA within the 60 days may result in the denial of an application for any certificate, rating, or authorization issued for up to one year after the date of the MVA or a suspension or revocation of any certificate, rating, or authorization issued.

Due to a provision in the “Application for Airmen Medical” form 8500-8, the pilot gives consent for the National Driver Register, or NDR, to release the pilot’s driving record to the FAA. So eventually, the FAA will find out about MVA’s regardless of the pilot reporting it on their own.

If the FAA finds out about the MVA and it was not self reported, a formal investigation will be initiated. The pilot will be given a Letter of Investigation with an opportunity to respond.

Sorrento Valley Drinking and Driving Ends With Driver Killed In Crash

August 19, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

San Diego motorists called the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to report a driver on southbound Interstate 5, in the Leucadia area, throwing beer cans out the window and driving erratically around 4 p.m., according to 10news.com.

The driver then headed south on Interstate 805, through Sorrento Valley. He pulled over to urinate on the side of the road and then continued driving. CHP followed as he lost control of the vehicle and rolled over. The unidentified driver was partially ejected and was pronounced dead at the scene.

In California, it is not only illegal to drive while under the influence, it is also illegal to drink any alcoholic beverage while driving a vehicle, (see California Vehicle Code section 23220). In additional, it is unlawful for a driver to have any open bottle, can, or other receptacle, containing any alcoholic beverage in his or her possession, (see California Vehicle Code section 23223, Open Container Law).

Pacific Beach DUI Checkpoints Not Conducted On July 4th Weekend

August 5, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

Pacific Beach has hosted a drunk driving checkpoint during the July 4th weekend for the past eight years. However, the San Diego Police Department decided not to have one this year. The Pacific Beach residents are outraged by this because not only is San Diego the city with the most DUI-related arrests in the country, but Pacific Beach has the majority of those arrests.

PB Planning Committee members confronted San Diego police Officer Mark McCullough about this. He claimed the chief of police requested that the checkpoints be shared by other communities, according to 10news.com.

Instead of DUI checkpoints, San Diego Police used saturation patrols to address the drunk driving issue and alcohol-related offenses in Pacific Beach and Mission Beach this year.

San Diego DUI checkpoints are funded by grants given to the police department from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). Those funds are provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

San Diego law enforcement must use those funds to deter drunk driving throughout the city, not just in Pacific Beach and Mission Beach. Since checkpoints are intrusive and ineffective, saturation patrols, which specifically target those who are involved in alcohol-related incidents, are a much better way to use the funds and the city’s resources.

Boating Under The Influence, Can I Get Arrested For DUI?

July 26, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

In California, if you operate a motorized boat or any watercraft while under the influence in a lake, river, or the ocean, you can be arrested and charged with a crime.

The Harbors and Navigation Code provides the statutes for boating under the influence, or BUI. The language of the code is very close in the language in the California Vehicle Code for drunk driving, (see California Vehicle Code section 23152).
drinking and boating.jpg Under the Harbors and Navigation Code section 655:

(b) No person shall operate any vessel or manipulate water skis, an aquaplane, or a similar device while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, any drug, or the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage and any drug.

(c) No person shall operate any recreational vessel or manipulate any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device if the person has an alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or more in his or her blood.

(d) No person shall operate any vessel other than a recreational vessel if the person has an alcohol concentration of 0.04 percent or more in his or her blood.

The code does not bar the operator of the boat or the passengers from drinking or having open containers inside the vessel. However, it is illegal to operate a motorized vessel or serve as a crew member while under the influence or alcohol, a drug, or the combination of both, (see Harbors and Navigation Code section 655.4(a)).

A BUI is priorable, which means if you are charged with another DUI or BUI within ten years of the first one, you will be subject to the consequences of a second offense, which are more severe than the punishment for the first.

Del Mar Races Targeted for DUI Crackdown and Arrests

July 22, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

del mar.jpg Del Mar horseracing season kicked off on July 20th, and thousands of San Diegans came out to the track to bet on the thoroughbreds and have a few cocktails.

San Diego and Oceanside Police Departments, along with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, stopped 349 motorists near the track between 3 p.m. Wednesday and midnight on opening day, according to 10news.com. Fifteen people were arrested for drunk driving, four were arrested for driving without a license, fourteen vehicles were impounded, and thirty-five citations were issued for other traffic violations.

Included in the DUI arrests was jockey Mike Smith, a 2003 inductee in the horse-racing Hall of Fame. He has won 10 American Classic and Breeder’s Cup races, including the big three, the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and the Preakness.

Earlier in the day, Smith rode Mr. Commons to win the Oceanside Stakes. However, around 11:30 p.m., we was allegedly seen driving very slowly and weaving by Carmel Valley Road and Via Albertura, approximately five miles from the track. He was pulled over by San Diego Police and arrested for drunk driving.

The jockey was booked into jail and later released after posting bail. Smith, who weighs only 115 pounds, apologized for his actions after he admitted to drinking about 3 glasses of wine. He is due in court on September 1st.

According to the “Blood Alcohol Concentration Chart” on the California Department of Motor Vehicles’ website, a 115 pound person having consumed 3 drinks, would likely be under the influence for purposes of driving within the four hours of the first drink. (Note, this is just an estimate as many factors will effect the actual blood alcohol content, or BAC.)

The Del Mar Races will continue through September 7th. You can expect the police will be out in full force in the Del Mar area looking for drunk drivers. So if you plan on attending the races and indulging in a few adult beverages, make sure you utilize public transportation or designate a sober driver. However, if you are driving, stopped, and ultimately arrested for drunk driving, contact

Vista Judge Rules Escondido DUI Checkpoint Case To Go To Trial

July 18, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

A Vista judge denied the motion to exclude evidence against two men who were passing through a drunk driving checkpoint and refused to unroll their window, which prompted an Escondido officer to break his window and make an arrest for resisting an officer.

The North County Times reported that Angel Navarrete and his passenger, Daniel Alfaro, drove through a sobriety checkpoint on February 11th, 2011, around 7:30 p.m., on East Valley Parkway and Juniper Street. Navarrete refused to roll his window all the way down as he video recorded the police response. His intention was to challenge the Escondido checkpoint and was totally sober while confronting the officers.

The motion was heard on July 8th, in front of Judge Robert Kearney. The attorneys for the men argued that the arrest was illegal because drivers are not required by law to roll down their window at a checkpoint and Navarrete’s window was unrolled enough for the officer to conduct an investigation. They also pointed out that the proper procedures for a checkpoint were not followed in this case. The judge disagreed and denied the motion. The trial is set for August 30th.

A defendant may motion the court to suppress evidence under Penal Code section 1538.5, if the search or seizure without a warrant was unreasonable. Under People v. Williams, a warrantless search or arrest is presumptively illegal. When the question of the legality of an arrest or a search or seizure is raised, the defendant makes a prima facie case of illegality where the arrest, search, or seizure was accomplished without a warrant, then the burden rests upon the prosecution to show proper justification for the arrest, search, or seizure.

If the court finds the prosecution failed to meet their burden, the defense motion will be granted. The prosecution will then decide if it has enough evidence that is admissible to proceed with the matter. Often cases are dismissed or lesser charges with lesser penalties are offered.

Note: This is a follow-up story to one previously published in this blog on May 6th, 2011, (see “Escondido Sobriety Checkpoint Challenged“).

Drunk Driving Crackdown During San Diego Pride Weekend

July 15, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

pride drink.jpg As San Diego Pride Weekend is about to kick off, San Diego Police have warned that they will be out in force looking for drunk drivers.

A DUI checkpoint will be conducted on Saturday, July 16th, between 9:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. The location of the roadblock was not published.

In the press release, the police department warned that those who are arrested for drunk driving can expect to go to jail, have their license suspended, and have to pay for vehicle storage fees, insurance increases, various fines and fees of the court and DMV, and attend DUI classes. A cost of over $10,000.

Before heading out to participate in the San Diego Pride activities, make sure you plan ahead. Use public transportation, designate a sober driver, or plan to stay at a local hotel or a friend’s home.

If you choose to ride a bicycle to the parade or festival, keep in mind that it is a misdemeanor to ride a bike while intoxicated, (see California Vehicle Code section 21200.5).