July 2008 - Posts

• Drunk Driving – Without Driving

  I’ve posted in the past about the ludicrous extent law enforcement and the courts will go to get drunk driving convictions — even where the accused was not driving.  See, for example, Parking Under the Influence and Pulling Over and Sleeping It Off: Still a DUI?. But occasionally there is a ray of light from some [...] Posted Jul 28 2008, 02:17 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Judges Told They Have “Different Role” in DUI Cases

  Most of you out there probably thought that citizens accused of drunk driving were afforded the same constitutional rights as citizens accused of any other crime.  Included in this, presumably, is the right to have a fair and impartial judge hearing your case. Wrong. Consider the following excerpts from a website entitled "The Court’s Role in Reducing the Incidence of Impaired [...] Posted Jul 25 2008, 10:39 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Drunk Biking

  Latest news from MADD’s War on Drunk Driving… Macon Man Charged with DUI After Falling Off Bicycle Macon, GA.  July 24  -  A 38-year-old Macon man was charged with DUI after an officer spotted him weaving as he rode a 5-speed boys’ bicycle on Jeffersonville Road, according to the Macon police… The officer smelled alcohol on (Clifton) Taylor’s [...] Posted Jul 24 2008, 09:35 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Cops Using Impounded Cars as Personal Rental Fleet

  So you you were busted for drunk driving and your car was taken by the police and impounded for 30 days. Ever wonder what’s happening to it? Missouri: Police Caught Driving Impounded Cars Police in St. Louis seized cars, then freely drove them for months at a time. Perk extended to troubled daughter of police chief. St. Louis, [...] Posted Jul 21 2008, 11:50 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Cops Cheating on Breath Test Exams

  In the Who-will-guard-the-guardians? department: Inspector General: Canton Troopers Cheated on Breathalyzer Exams Columbus, OH.  AP, July 17  -  An Ohio Inspector General report says state troopers assigned to the Highway Patrol’s Canton post cheated on yearly exams required for law enforcement officers who give breathalyzer tests. The report says Trooper Anthony Maroon made copies of an exam he took [...] Posted Jul 17 2008, 10:37 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Law Trumps Science…in Drunk Driving

  It is an unfortunate fact that law and politics repeatedly trump science when it comes to prosecuting citizens accused of drunk driving…..   In People v. Bransford, to cite one notable example, the California Supreme Court was confronted with a defendant who was challenging his DUI conviction on the grounds that he was not permitted to offer [...] Posted Jul 16 2008, 10:21 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• The Great Cookie Caper

  I posted a few days ago about a typical "rush to judgment" in today’s hysterical drunk driving environment (Anatomy of a Lynching).  Here, the latest example – complete with initial disavowals by MADD, later reluctantly withdrawn: Man Accused of Taking Drug-Laced Cookies to Cops Fort Worth, TX.  AP, July 8 -  A man accused of delivering baskets of [...] Posted Jul 13 2008, 10:57 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• More News from the Front…

  Apparently, the MADDness isn’t limited to the U.S…. Richmond Hill Man Charged with Drunk Driving on Lawn Mower Toronto, Canada.  July 11  -  A Richmond Hill man faces a drunk driving charge after York Regional Police caught him riding a lawn mower on the sidewalk Sunday allegedly drinking a beer… Police took the opportunity to remind residents any motorized vehicle [...] Posted Jul 11 2008, 01:07 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• The DUI Double Standard

  So what happens when a cop drives drunk? Ex-Cop Charged with DUI STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL TOOK OVER CRASH CASE   San Jose, CA.  July 4  -  More than three months after San Jose police failed to test a former cop for intoxication or cite her after a serious multi-car accident, the state attorney general has charged Sandra Woodall with [...] Posted Jul 07 2008, 07:10 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• 0.00% = DUI Prosecution

  According to police, prosecutors and MADD those breathalyzers are deadly accurate…unless it contradicts a cop’s opinion. Sober, and Now Outraged as Well DUI Case Was Dropped, But Driver Wants to SueBredenton, FL.  July 3  -  If there is a lucky four-digit lottery number in DUI cases, it is this: a 0.000 on the blood-alcohol breath test. Gary Shuchat hit quadruple [...] Posted Jul 04 2008, 11:03 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Another Day on the Frontlines

  I think the following typical news story speaks for itself: DUI Checkpoint Nets 2 Citations, No Arrests Made Costa Mesa, CA.  June 27  -  The Costa Mesa police ran a sobriety checkpoint Thursday at Santa Ana Avenue and 18th Street, citing two drivers and impounding two vehicles.One driver was cited for driving on a suspended license. The [...] Posted Jul 01 2008, 08:57 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog