October 2009 - Posts

• DUI….in a Lounge Chair

  The latest news from the front lines of MADD’s "War on Drunk Driving": Man pleads guilty to DWI in motorized La-Z-Boy Duluth, MN.  Oct. 22 – A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to driving his motorized La-Z-Boy chair while drunk. A criminal complaint says 62-year-old Dennis LeRoy Anderson told police he left a bar in the northern Minnesota [...] Posted Oct 24 2009, 06:19 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Police Plan Fundraiser in DUI Double Fatality…for the Drunk Driver

  So two people are killed by a drunk driver with a blood alcohol level over three times the legal limit.  So maybe there’s going to be a fundraising benefit for the families of the victims, right? Wrong.  The benefit is for the drunk driver — if he’s a cop. Cops Plan Benefit for Officer Charged in Fatal [...] Posted Oct 22 2009, 12:54 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• DUI Quotas

  DUI attorneys have long contended that many police agencies impose quotas on their officers for drunk driving arrests.  And police agencies have long contended that this is simply not true.  Imposing quotas, of course, has a coercive effect on officers to make arrests — even if those arrested are innocent. Consider the following article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: An Atlanta police [...] Posted Oct 21 2009, 09:21 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• A “Fraudulent” Field Sobriety Test?

  The critical part of any drunk driving investigation is the administration of "field sobriety tests" (FSTs).  These usually consist of a battery of excercises involving balance, coordination and mental agility — and are difficult to perform for even a sober person under ideal conditions (see "Field Sobriety Tests: Designed for Failure?").  Although there are many different tests [...] Posted Oct 13 2009, 10:31 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Another “DUI Super Cop”

  I’ve written repeatedly in the past about the growing phenomenon of the so-called "DUI Super Cop".  See, for example, DUI SuperCops, How to be a "Top Cop" and SuperCops: The Smoking Gun.  The are cops who rack up high numbers of drunk driving arrests — resulting in awards from MADD, departmental promotions and higher salaries from overtime.  Problem: [...] Posted Oct 07 2009, 09:21 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog