February 2009 - Posts

• 3rd Chicago “DUI SuperCop”

  In my previous post, I mentioned the growing phenomenon of the DUI "SuperCop" – officers who get MADD awards and departmental promotions from racking up the highest numbers of drunk driving arrests.  See More DUI "Super Cops"…and More Innocent Victims.  The accompanying news story was about two Chicago cops who had gotten caught framing innocent citizens [...] Posted Feb 27 2009, 01:22 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• More “DUI Super Cops”…And More Innocent Victims

  As I’ve documented in past posts, MADD’s "War on Drunk Driving" has been instrumental in the gradual erosion of our Constitution.  See The DUI Exception to the Constitution.  But the hysteria has created other problems as well.  One of these is the advent of the "Super Cop" — officers who receive MADD awards and promotions as [...] Posted Feb 23 2009, 10:27 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Drunk Cop Kills Woman, Cops Arrest Scapegoat

  This one pretty much speaks for itself, too: Victim’s Family: Wrong man Charged Lake County, CA.  Feb. 19  –  It’s very unusual in a manslaughter case for a victim’s family to speak out for the defendant. But that’s what’s happening in the fatal boat crash case in Clear Lake… Lynn Thornton died after a horrible boat crash in [...] Posted Feb 22 2009, 04:51 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Driving + Trace of Marijuana = DUI

  In the This-Is-Getting-Ridiculous department: Blood Test for Marijuana Unreliable for DUI Penalty Lexington, KY.  Jan. 17  - Once again, a bill that seeks to punish prior use of a controlled substance with an automatic DUI conviction is before the Kentucky legislature. Like its predecessors, Senate Bill5 cleverly attempts to bootstrap an ill-advised rule regarding all drugs onto a rule [...] Posted Feb 21 2009, 11:17 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• The “War on Drunk Driving” Marches On…

  In the no-comment-necessary department…. Man Charged With Drunk Driving on a Bicycle Warwick, RI.  Feb. 16  -  Police have charged a man on a bicycle with driving under the influence. Police said Gary Merritt, 49, was riding his blue Roadmaster bicycle on Sunday in the middle of the travel lane at the intersection of Warwick Avenue and Airport [...] Posted Feb 17 2009, 12:54 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• “Trial by Machine”….But How Good Are the Machines?

  All states now have two drunk driving laws: (1) driving under the influence of alcohol (aka “DUI”, with local variations, such as “driving while intoxicated” or “DWI”), and (2) the so-called per se law of driving with .08% or higher blood-alcohol concentration (BAC). Unless you refuse to take a chemical test, you will be charged [...] Posted Feb 15 2009, 10:52 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Blood Test Error Nearly Sends Man to Prison

  I’ve posted in the past about various problems, such as fermentation and coagulation, in analyzing human blood samples for alcohol content.   But human error in the lab is just as insidious.  I mentioned in an earlier post one of my firm’s cases in which we had our client’s blood sample analyzed for DNA — which proved that the blood tested was not [...] Posted Feb 09 2009, 10:05 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Ignition Interlocks: Is the Media Finally Getting It?

  As most of you know, MADD has focused on ignition interlock devices (IIDs) as the answer to the drunk driving problem in America.  The organization has even widely trumpted the device as the way to "literally wipe out drunk driving in the United States".  MADD Announces End to Drunk Driving: A Reply.  But there appears to be [...] Posted Feb 05 2009, 02:10 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• When Judges Protect Their Own

  I’ve posted stories over the past week about what happens to cops, prosecutors and judges when they’re arrested for drunk driving — or, more accurately, what doesn’t happen.  Following is yet another example of the prevalent DUI double standard: Plenty of Blame to Go Around in Tarrant Judge’s DWI Case Dallas, TX.  Jan. 29 – Tarrant County [...] Posted Feb 02 2009, 02:45 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog