Saturday, July 17, 2010

Kane County DUI Attorneys in need after no refusal weekend

Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti said Tuesday his office's latest operation aimed at keeping drunken drivers off the road -- held over the July 4th holiday weekend -- resulted in 12 arrests. Barsanti said the county's fifth "no refusal weekend" was conducted Saturday and Sunday evenings, with 11 law enforcement agencies participating. The program allows law enforcement to obtain quick search warrants during late-night hours when a suspected intoxicated driver refuses to submit to testing either by having blood drawn or by blowing into a Breathalyzer.
Those refusing to be tested after a search warrant is issued face additional charges, such as obstruction of a peace officer, which is a misdemeanor, and obstruction of justice, a felony. For further information, contact you local Warren County DUI Attorney or your Kane County DUI Attorney.

Lengthy prison sentence for 12th DWI for Minnesota man

A Ponsford, Minnesota man will spend 6-and-a-half years behind bars for his 12th D-W-I conviction. 48-year-old William Butcher was arrested New Year's Eve in Park Rapids on Highway 34. Police say he was urinating on the side of the road and didn't have a valid driver’s license. In May, a jury convicted him on the D-W-I charge. It's Butcher's 12th DWI conviction since 1980. For further information, contact your Minnesota DWI Attorney

Broome County DWI defendant sentenced to Prison despite Attorney's argument

The Broome County District Attorney’s Office announced that On July 15, 2010 in Broome County Court, Paul C. Williams (60) of Binghamton, New York, was sentenced to a state prison term of one to three years in connection with his March 3, 2010 plea of guilty to Driving with More than .08% as a felony. On February 25, 2009, Williams was arrested by the New York State Police on Route 17 in the Town of Kirkwood after being observed driving in an intoxicated condition. Williams was previously convicted of felony Driving While Intoxicated charges in Tompkins County in 2000 and in Broome County in 2004. The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Peter N. DeLucia. For further information, contact your Broome County DWI Attorney.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Anoka County DWI Attorneys to challenge DWI results

Human error caused the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office tri-county crime lab to report inflated blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels in 111 driving while impaired (DWI) cases. The new crime lab began analyzing urine samples in DWI cases Jan. 1 for Anoka, Sherburne and Wright counties, according to Anoka County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Paul Sommer. The error was mathematical. According to Sommer, lab scientists are supposed to multiply the end result by 0.67 to determine the grams of alcohol per 67 milliliters of urine. The multiplication was not done. “The science was not bad. Nothing was tainted. It was a human error,” Sommer said.

Unfortuntely, numerous individuals have been sentenced and fined as a result of this error. Where do these people go to have their rights restored. For further information, please contact your local Anoka County DWI Attorney.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Police need the help of a Minnesota Brown County DWI Attorney

Even the police need the help of a good DWI attorney. A local Police Officer is facing felony charges after a drunk driving accident. Officer Andrew Mathwig this week was put on paid administrative leave as he faces two felony counts of criminal vehicular operation. The Sleepy Eye Police Officer charges stem from an accident from February 18th where his passenger was seriously hurt south. A Brown County Sheriff's Deputy and Minnesota State Trooper at the scene both say they detected alcohol on Mathwig's breath while talking to him. The office failed several field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test registered a blood alcohol level of .188. That passenger suffered a dislocated hip and needed stitches causing the upgrade in the felony charges against Mathwig .The investigation is being handled by the Minnesota State patrol prosecuted by the Blue Earth County Attorney's Office to avoid any conflict of interest. For further information, contact your Local Brown County DWI Attorney or McLeod County DWI Attorney.

Friday, July 9, 2010

McLeod County DWI Attorneys in High demand after awards ceremony

Ryan Sayre readily admits which was the bigger thrill — walking on the same, perfect Target Field grass the Minnesota Twins play baseball on, or being honored as one of 30 named to the 2010 DWI enforcement All-Star team.

Walking on the grass wins hands down.

“It was surreal,” he said. “It was fun.“

But the 4 1/2-year veteran of the Hutchinson Police Department still appreciates being recognized for the first time by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. It did so for his efforts to keep the state’s roads safe by arresting 49 impaired drivers last year.

In honor of their selection, 30 officers from the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota, as well as three prosecutors, were honored prior to the Twins’ 5-4 loss July 1 to the Toronto Blue Jays. “We got down on the field before the game. They announced our names and departments and put our faces on the big screen (scoreboard),” Sayre said.

“Impaired driving remains a significant problem, and we are proud of the service of Ryan Sayre to arrest drunk drivers to keep our road safe,” said his chief, Dan Hatten. For further information, please visit McLeod County DWI Attorney.

http://www.hutchinsonleader.com/hutchinson-officer-recognized-making-dwi-arrests-107

24 years Prison for 10th DUI in DuPage County

A Wheaton man with at least nine previous drunken driving convictions was sentenced Thursday to 24 years in prison after being convicted yet again of DUI.

Gordon Vanderark, 52, was stopped last July for failing to stop at a traffic light. When an officer approached his car, he observed Vanderark with his shirt unbuttoned and wearing only one shoe, according to DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett.

Vanderark smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes and admitted to drinking that night, Birkett said. He had been driving with the car's trunk lid open, Birkett added. Vanderark's blood alcohol level was .164, more than twice the .08 legal limit, Birkett said. Vanderark, of the 1200 block of Bunker Hill Court in Wheaton, pleaded guilty in January to aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and aggravated driving with a revoked license. Birkett said he also had been charged 20 times with driving without a valid driver's license. Vanderark has been in custody since his arrest on July 18, 2009.

DuPage Judge Blanche Hill Fawell, noting Vanderark's extensive drinking record, said the 24 years was necessary to protect the public. Vanderark had faced a sentence of 30 years. For further information, please visit your Local DUI Attorney.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Larimer County DUI Attorneys and DUI Court

Daniel Ortiz might be the luckiest man in all of Larimer County.

Those were the words Larimer County Magistrate Matthew Zehe said to Ortiz, a six-time DUI offender and the first person to participate in the newly-established DUI court for the 8th Judicial District serving Larimer and Jackson counties.

"I look at your case and think you're one of the luckiest people in Larimer County, if not the luckiest," Zehe told Ortiz on Friday before enrolling him in the program and sentencing him for his sixth drunken driving conviction. "I say that because of all the times you have placed yourself and us in harm's way and no one has ever suffered - at least physically."

Ortiz also acknowledged that he's lucky not only to be alive, but because he's been given another chance by being allowed to participate in DUI court.

"At times, I think I'm lucky to still be alive," Ortiz said.

Ortiz is likely to be the first of 25 repeat DUI offenders who will participate in DUI court. Zehe couldn't say whether Ortiz's case would be representative of the norm in DUI court but said there were at least a dozen people in Fort Collins in 2008 who were arrested with five or more prior drunken driving convictions; six people had six prior convictions. For further informatin, contact your Larimer County DUI Attorney.

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100706/NEWS01/7060325/DUI-court-debuts-with-luckiest-man-in-the-county

Santa Clara DUI Attorneys in High Demand after 4th of July Weekend

Officers in Santa Clara County have arrested 72 people for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs so far during their Forth of July crackdown.

The arrests, made by officers from 15 county law enforcement agencies, took place between 12:01 a.m. Friday and midnight Sunday, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.

In 2009, there were 95 DUI arrests during the same 72-hour period.

No fatalities have been reported.

The campaign continues through midnight tonight. Contact you Santa Clara County DUI Attorney.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15443868?nclick_check=1

Need of Walworth County OWI Attorneys Increases

If you think you can escape a DUI warrant in the city, think again.

The Fontana Police Department, like other police agencies, conducts random sweeps to address DUI warrants, allowing officers to go to the front door of an offender to make an arrest. There are nearly 3,500 DUI warrants in Fontana alone.

"DUI drivers pose a significant risk to a community," said Richard Young, San Bernardino County supervising deputy district attorney for the Fontana office. "So it's important to get these cases adjudicated."

The sweeps, conducted about twice a year, are funded under a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety. It is the same grant that funds DUI checkpoints.

"We are trying to bring in some of those people who haven't answered to their charges," Fontana police traffic Sgt. Robert Morris said.

When someone is arrested for DUI, they are booked and detained, then issued a citation.

"A citation is like a traffic ticket, it's just a promise to appear with a date and time," Morris said. "A lot of the times, people just won't show up."

But, Young said, if you want to stay out of jail it's important to follow legal procedures for a DUI. During the sweeps, officers work in two-man teams and are given a handful of active warrants. They go to the address on the warrants and look for the offender.

If the person is home, he or she is arrested, Morris said. If not, police will interview everyone in the home for current information regarding the target.

A recent sweep in June netted seven people with outstanding felony or misdemeanor traffic warrants for DUI. For further information, contact your Walworth County OWI Attorney.

http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/sanbernardinocounty/ci_15445575

Sunday, July 4, 2010

DUI in Tennessee based on Vanilla Extract

A Tennessee woman has been charged with DUI after getting baked on baking supplies.

Sheriff's deputies suspect 48-year-old Kelly Moss drove drunk after drinking vanilla extract. Moss's car was spotted Thursday morning outside Arlington Middle School.
The car was straddling both the sidewalk in front of the school and the driveway.
Moss was slumped over the steering wheel.

According to the arrest record, Moss's speech was slurred and her thoughts fragmented. The arresting officer spotted a partially empty bottle of vanilla extract in the front seat and smelled a strong odor of what appeared to be vanilla on Moss's breath.

David Marbry lives across the street from the school and believes extract should only be used for cooking. "Maybe a cake or something," said Marbry. He said he was relieved Moss's car did not end up in his yard where he usually sits, especially if she was indeed drinking. "Vanilla or anything," said Marbry.

A supermarket receipt found in Moss's car listed two eight ounce bottles of vanilla extract. This was her third DUI arrest. For further information, contact your local Wilson County DUI Attorney.

http://www.wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=12746977

Blue Earth County Deputies give DWI awards

Two Blue Earth County Sheriff's Deputies are named to the Greater Minnesota DWI All-Stars.Brian Martin and Tom Coulter were both honored at Target Field before last night's Twins game.It's the 2nd year in a row for Coulter and Martin's 2nd in three years.Martin says having two officers honored speaks volumes about the problems in the county.He says he's glad to be part of the all-stars, but it isn't a goal he starts the year with.Martin adds, "It's not so much the reward. It's nice to be recognized, but that's not why we do it. We do it to get drunk drivers off the road...keep everybody safe."Martin says working the Safe-and-Sober shifts have helped earn the awards.He says he likes when they don't make any arrests during those operations, but unfortunately that doesn't happen as often as they do.
For further information, contact your local Blue Earth County DWI Attorney.

http://www.keyc.com/node/39156

Minnesota's DWI Enforcer All-Stars

The 2010 “DWI Enforcer All-Stars” were honored at Target Field at a Minnesota Twins game Thursday.

Those honored include 30 law enforcement officers and three prosecutors from the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota selected for outstanding service in enforcement and prosecution of impaired driving. Minnesota State Patrol Trooper Jack Tiegs is Minnesota’s Most Valuable Enforcer leading all law enforcement with 133 DWI arrests in 2009.

Local honorees are Beltrami County Sheriff’s Deputy Lyan Karger with 80 arrests and Pike Bay Police Officer Anthony Bermel with 23 arrests. For further information, contact your local Beltrami County DWI Attorney.

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/article/id/100020027/group/homepage/

Moorhead Police Officer receives award

A Moorhead police officer has been named to the Minnesota DWI enforcement All-Star team, the second time in three years that he’s been honored as one of the state’s top cops for busting drunken drivers.

Officer Scott Kostohryz, a seven-year veteran of the force, was one of 30 police officers picked for the team, which also included three prosecutors, Lt. Joel Scharf said in a news release.

Selection to the team was based on the total number of DWI arrests made in 2009, Scharf said. The DWI All-Stars were honored at a Minnesota Twins game, he said.

Kostohryz also promotes educational efforts related to impaired driving, said Lt. Tory Jacobson. He runs DWI portions of the Citizen’s Police Academy and helps with rollover simulations at Moorhead High School, Jacobson said. For further information, contact your Clay County DWI Attorney.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/283695/group/News/

Friday, July 2, 2010

Kane County will enforce a "no-refusal" weekend for DUIs

Kane County officials will step up their enforcement of drunken driving laws during the July 4 holiday period with another so-called "no-refusal" weekend.

Police will be pulling over drivers they suspect are intoxicated at undisclosed locations in the county. Prosecutors will be on call to draft search warrants aimed at compelling the drivers to provide breath, blood or urine samples.

Those who refuse to comply could face other sanctions. Prosecutors say the aim is to thwart DUI offenders, particularly repeat offenders, who believe they have a better chance at avoiding a conviction by refusing to provide breath or blood evidence.
For further information, contact your Kane County DUI Attorney or your Kane County DUI Lawyer.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-07-01/news/ct-met-0702-no-refusal-20100701_1_no-refusal-weekend-kane-county-dui-sweeps

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Repeat drunk drivers in Colorado will be forced to spend time in jail under a new law set to go into effect on Thursday. House Bill 1347 requires second-time offenders to face a minimum of 10 days in jail and third-time offenders a minimum of two months in jail. The maximum penalty for each crime remains one year behind bars.

The legislation came about after a Denver Post series of stories showing how different judges throughout the state were interpreting the current law. Roughly 200 people died in drunk driving related crashes in Colorado last year, according to the Colorado State Patrol. That is an average of one person every 43 hours.

Traffic safety officers hope the new measures will send the right message to those thinking of drinking and driving. "We can talk about going to jail," Sgt. John Hahn, the head public information officer for the State Patrol, said. "We can talk about fines, it's a $10,000 average fine for somebody convicted of DUI, but the message is this: all of that aside, the 200 deaths that happened last year at the hands of a drunk driver are absolutely preventable."

Hahn said the CSP made 572 DUI arrests during last year's Fourth of July holiday weekend. Their officers will join with officers from dozens of other law enforcement agencies throughout the state to increase patrols this holiday weekend. For further information, contact your Local Colorado DUI Attorneyor your Local El Paso County DUI Attorney.

Wisconsin OWI Laws

Starting today, drunk drivers caught by police in Wisconsin will face tougher penalties.

A number of law changes take effect July first that will increase jail time and fines for those convicted of an OWI, along with making the fourth offense a felony. The new laws make a first OWI arrest a criminal charge if a passenger in the car is under the age of 16. They will also require ignition interlock devices for first time offenders with a BAC above .15.

Frank Harris with Mothers Against Drunk Driving says it’s the most critical set of reforms for the state in several decades and they are an important step in ending the state subsidy of drunk driving.

Harris says the changes in state law are a good start, but MADD plans to continue a push for ignition interlock devices for all drunk driving convictions. He says that’s needed to show driving at anything above .08 is no longer acceptable. MADD also calls for legalizing sobriety checkpoints and criminalizing first offense drunk driving. For further information, contact your Local Wisconsin DUI Attorney.

http://www.wrn.com/2010/07/new-owi-laws-take-effect/

28% of arrests in NFL for DUI offenses

Drunken driving arrests represent 28% of all arrests of NFL players since the year 2000, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported based on its database of NFL player arrests.

The paper did an analysis of the league's policies on drunken driving as its partnership with Mothers Against Drunk Driving kicked in this week with a presentation to players at the annual rookie symposium.

Players heard from Nina Walker, whose 22-year-old daughter, Ginger, died in a accident with a drunk driver in 2001 and left behind a 3-year-old son. Walker, who works with MADD, spoke to players as part of the league's new partnership with the group as it tries to reduce the instances of drunk driving among players, employees and fans.

Among the statistics the Union-Tribune revealed:

•One out of every 165 NFL players is arrested for DUI each year. Nationwide, one out of every 91 males aged 21 and over are arrested for DUI.
•The 28% of all NFL arrests represented by DUIs were the most of any alleged crime. The next highest charge were fighting and disorderly conduct at 22%.
NFL VP of labor policy and player development Adolpho Birch told the Union-Tribune that reducing instances of drunken driving is a priority for the league. Contact your Local Carver County DUI Attorney.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2010/06/paper-drunken-driving-instances-represent-28-of-nfl-player-arrests/1

New ignition device for DUI offenders in 4 California Counties

Gary Houseman is holding a small plastic mouthpiece inside a wrapper. It goes with what’s called an “ignition interlock device” – basically, a breathalyzer wired to a car’s ignition. Houseman owns a Sacramento auto shop, and he’s one of the state’s 220 authorized dealers to install the devices. He’s demonstrating how it works.

Houseman: “It’ll tell you to blow. You have to exhale into the end of the unit for four seconds. (exhale) Then you will inhale for four seconds (inhale) and it’s counting it with beeps. Then you will exhale for four seconds (exhale), then it’ll double-beep. And if it passes, it’ll say passed, okay to start. Then you would start your car and drive your car.”

But if there’s even a trace of alcohol on your breath, the ignition won’t start. And not just that – the device records the fact that you tried to drink-and-drive.

Right now, California judges only order a fraction of convicted drunk drivers to install an ignition interlock device – mostly repeat offenders. But starting Thursday, they’ll be assigned to all DUI offenders in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Tulare Counties as part of a pilot program. The drivers themselves will have to pay for the devices, which cost at least $75.

Feuer: “The goal of the bill is to deter drunk driving and convince Californians that they ought to place safety on the road above all else.”

Assemblyman Mike Feuer wrote the law last year. He hopes it’ll make Californians think twice before driving drunk. He also believes it’ll reduce the state’s high rate of repeat drunk driving.

Feuer: “The use of ignition interlocks in other states has shown that once individuals get in the habit of driving in a sober way, because the interlock requires it, they continue that habit even when the interlock is removed from their vehicle.”

There are a couple of potential questions about the devices. They register any amount of alcohol, so it’s possible some medicines, minty gum or mouthwash could trigger false positives. And since they also require random breathalyzer tests while the car is running, a driver forced to breathe into the tube could get distracted.

The pilot program runs through 2015. Feuer hopes lawmakers will then expand it to the entire state. Contact your local California DUI Attorney.
http://www.capradio.org/articles/articledetail.aspx?articleid=8453

12 year sentence for Deadly DUI driver in Florida

On the day he admitted guilt for driving drunk and killing a retired Maryland couple, Thomas D. Cypress did not have to face the victims' grandchildren.

But their words, read from letters Wednesday in a Miami-Dade courtroom, carried more than enough emotional sting:

Cooper Kirkpatrick, 6: ``Once, I saw a jellyfish in the water with them. That was an awesome time.''

Quinn Kirkpatrick, 7: ``I love them so much that I wish that I would die with them and I missed sailing with them and canoeing.''

Katie Kirkpatrick, 9: ``I never finished my drawing lessons with Pop. He was a wonderful artist.''

In the jury box, Cypress, 56, his face sallow and draped by stringy locks of hair, looked down. Relatives of victims Robert and Paulette Kirkpatrick burst into tears as the young children's mother read the letters into the record.

Cypress, the brother of former Miccosukee Chairman Billy Cypress, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He did not address the court or the Kirkpatrick family.

Prosecutors said Cypress' blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit in February 2009 when he veered his truck into the opposite lane on the Tamiami Trail in West Miami-Dade, smashing into the sedan rented by the victims, both 63.

Retired grade-school teachers-turned-artists, the Kirkpatricks were in Florida for an art show and vacation.

At the time, Cypress was driving with a suspended license after an earlier DUI charge. Before that, he had twice been arrested on DUI charges, including one in 2004 that was dismissed because court-hearing notices could not be served at the tribal reservation deep in the Everglades.

The deadly crash came at a sensitive time for the Miccosukees, who were sparring with Miami-Dade prosecutors over the release of tribal police records chronicling a separate fatal crash involving a tribe member.

In the Kirkpatrick case, the accident was investigated not by Miccosukee police but by the Florida Highway Patrol, which amassed overwhelming evidence against Cypress, an unemployed airboat driver.

Rescuers pulled Cypress from his mangled truck. His blood-alcohol level measured .249, well above the legal limit of .08. Officers found beer cans in his truck, and witnesses had seen him weaving in and out of traffic.

Because of his driving record and the fear that he might flee to the reservation, where state authorities have no jurisdiction, he was held in a Miami-Dade jail until Wednesday's hearing. For further information, contact your Local Florida DUI Attorney.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/30/1709631/deadly-driver-sentenced-as-tearful.html#ixzz0sQecwz8l