San Diego DUI Lawyers Blog

Stopped For Drunk Driving, Breath Or Blood Test Results Over .08%, Plead Guilty?

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

not guilty.jpg You are pulled over by a police officer suspected of driving under the influence. You take a breath or blood test. The result — .12 (or even higher). You are over the legal limit of .08% blood alcohol content (BAC) and you are arrested and charged with Vehicle Code Section 23152, driving under the influence of alcohol.

You ask yourself, “Should I just plead guilty? Do I need to hire an attorney?” You should never plead guilty at the arraignment stage. And yes, you need to hire a skilled, exclusively DUI defense attorney.

It is never recommended that a person plead guilty at the arraignment. At this early stage, the discovery documents are not available to the defendant or the defendant’s attorney. DUI defenses become apparent during the discovery phase of the case.

Even though the chemical test results showed you were over the legal limit, you may still have defenses in your case. Before you can even consider your breath or blood test results, you have to evaluate the prosecution’s entire case against you.

A skilled trial attorney will review all the discovery documents, evaluate the prosecutor’s case, and advise you on any defenses. Appropriate motions may be filed, which can result in your matter being dismissed or reduced.

Since a DUI conviction will be on your driving record for 10 years, it will be used as a prior to enhance the penalty of any other drunk driving cases you may pick up during that time period. Therefore, it is important to aggressively fight to get the case reduced or dismissed.

Vista Judge Sentenced Drunk Driver For Deaths Of Two In Escondido

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

A north Escondido DUI accident lead to a guilty plea and subsquent sentencing in a Vista courtroom on February 17th, according to 10news.com.

Oscar Tinoco, 19, plead guilty to several DUI charges including drunk driving, driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher, hit-and-run, and gross vehicular manslaughter on October 13, 2010. His blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was .08 percent two hours after the collision. It was estimated that his BAC was .12 or .13 when he was actually driving.

This drunk driving accident was part of a mutiple car wreck on northbound Interstate 15, near the Gopher Canyon Road onramp at 4 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2009. A sleepy driver rear-ended a Jeep and they stopped on the right side of the road. Tinoco then drove his car into the Jeep, knocking one of the passengers off the overpass killing him. Tinoco fled as another car ran into the accident scene, hit the guardrail, went airborne, and rolled down an embankment killing the driver.

The Vista judge sentenced Tinoco to 15 years in state prison.

Online Sources:

DMV’s License Suspension Set Aside, Breath Test Inaccurate

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

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) suspended Derek Brenner’s license after he gave a breath sample that read .08 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC). However, Mr. Brenner challenged this ruling and won, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. cartoon.dmv.jpg

During the DMV Hearing, he presented a forensic toxicologist’s report that claimed the breath testing device consistently overstated blood-alcohol levels by 0.002 percent. Since the test result is only given in two decimal places, the actual result could have been has high as .089 percent, but as low as .078 percent, which is below the .08 BAC limit.

A Superior Court judge set the suspension aside. That ruling was upheld by the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco in October 2010, and the State Supreme Court denied review of the DMV’s appeal. The court stated the DMV must show that Brenner’s blood alcohol was over the legal limit of .08 percent. Once he presented evidence that the readings were too high, “The burden shifted back to the department to prove the test was nonetheless reliable.”

This ruling opens the door to future challenges by drivers facing a license suspension due to a DUI where a breath sample was taken and the result of such test is at or near the legal limit of .08 percent.

If you have been charged with a DUI, you only have 10 days from the date of the arrest to contact the DMV to schedule a hearing to challenge the suspension of your license.

If you are over the age of 21 and this is your first DUI, or your first one within the past 10 years, the DMV will automatically suspended your license for 4 months after the 30 day temporary license expires. Once you have completed a 30 day hard suspension, you may be eligible for a 5 month restricted license once you provide the DMV with proof of insurance, proof of enrollment in an approved alcohol treatment program, and you pay all the DMV fees. This restricted license will allow you to drive to, from, and during work and to and from the alcohol treatment program.

If this is a second or subsequent DUI within the past 10 years, there is a one year license suspension and you are not eligible for the restricted license.

If you refused to take a blood alcohol test, the consequences are greater. There is a one year license suspension for the first offense; a two year revocation for the second; and, a three year revocation for three or more refusals within a ten year period. If you refused to take a BAC test, you are not eligible for a restricted license, even if it is your first offense.

San Diego Drunk Driving Patrols Net 160 Arrests For DUI

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

drink and cuffs.jpg San Diego DUI patrols resulted in 160 driving under the influence arrests during the Super Bowl weekend, according to the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. No deaths have been linked to drunk driving.
Included in this statistic are the nine people who were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence during the checkpoint that occurred in the 1800 block of Olivenhain Road in Encinitas on the Saturday night before the Super Bowl. Of the 1,891 vehicles that drove through that checkpoint, 1,217 were contacted, and 77 were sent to a secondary inspection.

In San Diego County, DUI arrests increased by 18.5 percent over the same two day period of the Super Bowl weekend last year. In 2010, there were 135 DUI arrests and one death in a suspected drunk driving incident.

Lakeside Woman To Stand Trial For Alleged DUI in Alpine

February 10, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

Lakeside resident, Kathleen Lucinda Sloan, 20, had a preliminary hearing in El Cajon Court on February 9th, according to 10news.com. She is accused of being under the influence of an over-the-counter medication, driving, and then crashing head-on into another motorist in Alpine on November 1st, 2010. Sergio Chan Mora, 54, of National City, was killed in the crash.

El Cajon Judge William McGrath ordered Sloan to stand trial on second degree murder and other charges on March 28th. She faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted of second degree murder.

Preliminary hearings pertain to felony cases. It is usually held within 10 days of the arraignment or when the defendant enters a plea, whichever is later. At the hearing, the prosecutor must present sufficient evidence that there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed and this defendant comitted it.

If probable cause is shown, the judge will hold the defendant to answer in the trial court. The prosecutor then has 15 days to file the information with the trial court and within 60 days the trial will begin unless time is waived.

If the judge finds that there is not sufficient evidence, the case is dismissed. The prosecutor may refile the case as long as there has not been two dismissals unless an exception under Penal Code Section 1387 applies.

Pacific Beach DUI Arrest Rate The Highest In San Diego County

February 8, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

Pacific Beach has the highest DUI arrest rate in San Diego County, according to voiceofsandiego.org. San Diego Police made 514 drunk driving arrests in 2009 in the police beat that roughly covers the Pacific Beach neighborhood. Of those, only 26 were arrested in DUI checkpoints. In 2008, there were 594 driving under the influence arrests in this same area; however, there were no DUI checkpoints in San Diego that year.

The average police beat in San Diego had just 33 DUI arrests in 2009. The top twelve beats for DUI arrests were:

Pacific Beach: 514
East Village: 152
Core-Columbia: 151
North Park: 145
Hillcrest: 140
South Park: 131
Grantville: 104
Mission Valley East: 102
Mira Mesa: 84
Logan Heights: 82
Kearny Mesa: 80
La Jolla: 69

San Diego County DUI Checkpoints and Saturation Patrols For Super Bowl Weekend

February 3, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

super bowl.jpg San Diego will have saturation patrols in more than 20 communities throughout the County to stop and arrest drunk drivers, according to a San Diego Sheriff’s Department press release.

Encinitas will also be conducting a driving under the influence (DUI) checkpoint on Saturday, February 5th, 2011. The location of this checkpoint has not been released on the San Diego Sheriff’s website or 10news.com.

Fans are encouraged to have a good time without drinking and driving. Authorities are asking everyone to consider the following options when making plans for the Super Bowl:

Participate in the designated driver program. Make sure you designate a driver to refrain from drinking before the party begins.
Add a local cab company to your cell phone contact list. If you are drinking, use that cab company’s number.
Pace yourself and mix in non-alcoholic drinks and food.
Stop drinking in the third quarter.
Stop anyone who is impaired from driving.

Temecula Alleged Drunk Driving Crash Kills Daughter, Mother Had 4 Prior DUI’s in San Diego

February 1, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

San Marcos’ former resident, Karen Faye Honeycutt, 41, was charged with second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, drunk driving causing great bodily injury, and other crimes in connection with a crash in Temecula that killed her nine year old daughter and injured two of her sons on January 21st, 2011, according to the North County Times.

Honeycutt’s license was suspended for a previous DUI conviction at the time of this incident. She had two previous convictions for driving on a suspended license in the past two years, as reported by 10news.com.

A sentencing enhancement was added for having prior driving under the influence (DUI) convictions in San Diego County. It is alleged that she had four convictions since 1994; however, according to Vehicle Code Section 23540, the prior DUI offenses must be within ten years of this offense to be counted as a prior for purposes of sentencing. Punishment is enhanced with every prior driving under the influence charge within that ten year period.

Honeycutt is facing 22 years to life in prison if convicted as charged.

Prescription Medications and Driving = Driving Under the Influence?

January 28, 2011 | The Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman

pills.martini.jpg You are legally on a prescription or even an over-the-counter medication. You are driving your vehicle. Can you be pulled over, cited, and convicted of a driving under the influence (DUI) charge?

The answer is yes, if you are in fact under the influence and driving!

Driving under the influence, Vehicle Code Section 23152, provides: “It is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug, to drive a vehicle.”

So what constitutes a drug? According to California Vehicle Code Section 312: “The term “drug” means any substance or combination of substances, other than alcohol, which could so affect the nervous system, brain, or muscles of a person as to impair, to an appreciable degree, his ability to drive a vehicle in the manner that an ordinarily prudent and cautious man, in full possession of his faculties, using reasonable care, would drive a similar vehicle under like conditions.”

The fact that you are legally entitled to use the drug is not a defense to a DUI case, per California Vehicle Code Section 23630.

According to the DUI jury instructions (2110), you are under the influence “if, as a result of…taking a drug…[your] mental or physical abilities are so impaired that [you are]…no longer able to drive a vehicle with the caution of a sober person, using ordinary care, under similar circumstances. The manner in which a person drives is not enough by itself to establish whether the person is or is not under the influence of…a drug…However, it is a factor to be considered, in light of all the surrounding circumstances, in deciding whether the person was under the influence.”

Second Drunk Driving Conviction Lands Motley Crue Singer In Jail

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

After pleading guilty to his second driving under the influence (DUI) charge, Vince Neil, the singer of the rock band Motley Crue, will serve two weeks in jail plus two weeks of house arrest, according to news.yahoo.com.

Neil plead guilty to the misdeamenor DUI charge, stemming from an incident on June 27, 2010. His sentence will commence on February 15th, 2011, in Las Vegas. vince.neil.jpg Neil’s first DUI conviction was In 1984, when he plead guilty to driving under the influence and manslaughter after crashing in Redondo Beach, California, killing his passenger. For that DUI, Neil served twenty days in jail and paid $2.5 million in restitution to the victims.

The defense lawyer on the case commented that Neil faced six months in jail for this second DUI in Nevada. However, if Neil picked up the second misdemeanor DUI in California and that second conviction was within ten years of a first conviction in any state, he would have been exposed to one year in the county jail (California Vehicle Code Section 23540).

Online Sources:

Motley Crue Singer Gets 2 Week Jail Sentence: news.yahoo.com
Motley Crue’s Vince Neil To Serve Two-Week Jail Sentence: mtv.com