Drug Detection Breathalyzers?

According to a report in the Egineer Online publication, sensors that can detect illegal drugs are being developed by scientists at Queen’s University Belfast.  The devices will use special gel pads to swipe an individual to gather a sample.  The sample will then be analysed by a scanning instrument that can detect the presence of chemicals within seconds. The scanning instrument will use Raman spectroscopy, which involves shining a laser beam onto the suspected sample and measuring the energy of light that scatters from it to determine what chemical compound is present, making detection faster and more accurate.

Law enforcement agencies are hoping that the new sensors will provide the basis for developing breathalyzers that could be used for roadside drug testing like current breathalyzers test for alcohol because law enforcement officers are currently only able to use a Field Sobriety Tests to determine if a person is driving under the influence of drugs. 

To view the entire article, please visit: www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/313380/Drug+detection+device.htm

OCSD Press Release: Labor Day Weekend Traffic Safety Checkpoint in Mission Viejo

According to an “Orange County Sheriff’s Department Press Release” dated: September 4, 2009, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) will be conducting a DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint in the City of Mission Viejo on Sunday, September 6, 2009 from 7:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.  The exact location of the checkpoint in Mission Viejo is currently unknown.

According to the Press Release, checkpoints are part of a grant the Orange County Sheriff’s Department received from the State of California Office of Traffic Safety, and are set up to target drivers who are driving a vehicle without a driver’s license or who are driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  Funding of this grant was provided by the State of California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA).

If you or anyone you know is charged with driving under the influence, please have them contact the Law Office of Barry T. Simons at: 949-497-1729 or visit our website at: www.duilawyerorangecounty.com.

Citizens Protest Labor Day Police DUI Checkpoints

There was an unusual protest taking place in the City of Moreno Valley, California on September 3, 2009 at a Labor Day Holiday DUI Checkpoint that began at around 9:00 p.m.  On each side of the DUI Checkpoint signs, protesters held up their own signs that said “Return (Go Back) – Police Checkpoint”.  According to reports, the protesters were extremely angry about the checkpoint as they felt they were just a ruse to conduct searches, and arrest Hispanics.  Protesters pointed to the fact that Moreno Valley has a large Hispanic population, and that they believe they are being unfairly targeted at these checkpoints.

The reporting of this protest came from a post on www.iReport.com, and many visitors to the site have commented on the original author’s post.  To view the original post, and the comments posted thus far, visit iReport’s website: www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-324563.  You can also post any comments you may have here as well. 

Orange County DUI Attorney, Barry T. Simons, has been fighting DUI Checkpoints for decades.  He authored the Amicus Curiae Brief to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Lidster v. Illinois challenging police use of “Roadblocks”.  In determing which DUI Defense Attorney to represent you in a DUI Checkpoint case, it is important to find one that understands the complex legal issues involved in these types of cases.  Barry T. Simons is such an attorney.  Barry T. Simons is a recognized leader in DUI Defense and he has successfully defended thousands of individuals charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) over the last 38 years.  If you are in need of an experienced DUI Defense Attorney, do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Barry T. Simons at: 949-497-1729 or visit our website at: www.duilawyerorangecounty.com.

Huntington Beach Police Officer Arrested on Charges of Physically Abusing Wife & Girlfriend to Keep from Losing his Job

According to news reports, Huntington Beach Police Officer James Roberts, III was arrested on charges of physically abusing his wife and girlfriend, and dissuading his wife from reporting the assaults in order to keep him from losing his job.  Officer Roberts is charged with felonies for eight counts of false imprisonment by violence or deceit, three counts of criminal threats, two counts of domestic battery with corporal injury, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of dissuading a witness by force or threat, and one count of vandalism.  If convicted on all counts, Officer Roberts faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in state prison.  

Officer Roberts is currently being held on $250,000 bail and is expected to be arraigned Friday, September 4, 2009, at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, California.

A new report to be published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine discusses how driving after binge drinking is more prevalent than previously believed.  The study obtained data from over 14,000 adults in thirteen (13) states in 2003 to determine how many people actually get behind the wheel after binge drinking, which is defined as consuming five (5) or more drinks at a given location.

The Center for Disease Control estimates that there are 1.5 billion binge drinking episodes each year in the U.S. alone.  The study also found that 11.9% of the binge drinkers drove within two hours of their binge drinking; 50% are between the ages of 25 and 44 years of age, and 54.3% were coming from bars, clubs, or restaurants, and only 23% were drinking at someone else’s home-it is unclear whether the study evaluated how many of those people were drinking at their own home?  We will just have to wait until October to obtain the Journal to find out if such a statistic was obtained.  Of the 54.3% who were coming from bars, clubs, or restaurants, the study reports that about 1-in-5 drove a vehicle afterward consuming the binge drinking episode.

According to the study author, Dr. Timothy Naimi, a physician with the alcohol team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the new research adds a timeline and other new information to what’s known about drinking and driving.  Dr. Naimi also pointed out that while laws make it illegal for bars, clubs and restaurants to sell alcohol to intoxicated people, those laws are not well-enforced.  Thus, “The key thing about this study is: it’s really illustrating the shared responsibility between individual drinkers and the places that are selling them alcohol.”  To remedy the problem, places that serve alcohol should train servers and bartenders to stop serving people who are too intoxicated and strengthening the liability of club and restaurant owners for doing so.

The article from which this blog was created was: “Driving After Binge Drinking, More Common Than Believed.”  The article was written by Kathleen Doheny and published in the HealthDay Reporter.

On September 2, 2009, Westminster City Councilman Andy Quach pleaded guilty to driving under the influence-a misdemeanor-stemming from an August 2, 2009 traffic accident wherein he crashed his Mercedes-Benz S550 into an electrical pole that knocked out power to more than 300 homes.  It was reported that prior to the traffic collision, Mr. Quach was having dinner with some friends at the West Coast Seafood Buffet restaurant on Beach Boulevard.  It was further reported that Mr. Quach had a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.26%-more than three times the legal limit of 0.08%.

According to news reports, the Councilman said that he does not plan to resign and apologized for his conduct at a recent city council meeting.  Further, that Mayor Margie Rice said that Mr. Quach did the right thing by owning up to his mistake.  It was also reported that Mayor Rice said the City Council cannot legally take action against Mr. Quach because, according to California law, only elected city officials convicted of a felony are required to step down or resign.

Mr. Quach, who has served on the Westminster City Council for seven years, was sentenced on September 2, 2009 before Commissioner Thomas Rees in the West Justice Center Court in Orange County, California.  Mr. Quach was sentenced to three years of informal probation, 10 days of Caltrans, a nine-month alcohol program and nearly $2,000 in fines and court fees.

The purpose of this post is not to publicize Mr. Quach’s arrest and subsequent conviction for driving under the influence; rather it is to address the reasons for his sentence.  The sentence Mr. Quach received, while harsh, is not all that uncommon.  Pursuant to Vehicle Code § 23538, Courts shall refer a first offender whose blood-alcohol concentration was 0.20% or more to a nine month alcohol program that consists of at least 60 hours of program activities, including education, group counseling, and individual interview sessions.  The Caltrans requirement is oftentimes requested, but not always required, as a condition of a plea agreement.  This is why it is important to retain the services of an experienced DUI defense attorney to represent you if you are charged with a DUI.

If you or anyone you know is charged with driving under the influence, please have them contact the Law Office of Barry T. Simons at: 949-497-1729 or visit our website at: www.duilawyerorangecounty.com.

According to news reports, Matt Keough, one of the husbands featured on ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ was arrested last month for allegedly driving under the influence in Orange County.  According to news reports, Mr. Keough reportedly failed to stop at a stop sign, (commonly referred to as a “California Stop”) in Coto de Caza and then refused to stop until he arrived at his home.  Mr. Keough allegedly registered a breath-alcohol contentration three times the legal limit.

The purpose of this blog entry is not to advertise the arrest of Mr. Keough for DUI, but rather to highlight the fact that because Mr. Keough was convicted of felony DUI in 2005, in which he reportedly hit and injured a pedestrian, he will automatically be charged with a felony in this matter even if this new offense was actually only a misdemeanor (Vehicle Code § 23550.5(a)(1)).  This is because any prior felony will result in any new DUI charge being filed as a felony, regardless of whether the new conduct would have only resulted in a misdemeanor filing absent the prior felony conviction.  Moreover, because Mr. Keough is still on probation for the prior felony case, he will also have a felony probation violation with which to deal.  This is made more serious in this case as Mr. Keough had a prior probation violation in January of 2008 for which he was sentenced to 180 days in jail. 

As with anyone in this type of situation, it is important to seek the assistance of an experienced DUI Attorney who knows the Orange County Court system and how to deal with felony DUI cases, particularly those that are only filed as felonies as a result of a prior felony DUI conviction.

More Women Getting Arrested for DUI

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has just released a study which alleges that more women are being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI).  The study, titled “Alcohol-Impaired Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes, By Gender and State, 2007-2008)(DOT HS 811 095) points to an FBI study (Crime in the United States – 2007) which shows a nearly 29% increase in the number of women being arrested for DUI between 1998 and 2007.  There was a 7.5% drop in arrests of men for DUI over the same period.  To keep it in perspective, however, about 4 times more men than women were arrested for DUI in 2007.  The NHTSA study points out that the number of women that were arrested for DUI in 2008 versus 2007 went up or stayed the same in 15 states, compared with 13 states for the men.  The study then pronounces these changes significant in light of the 9% drop overall in DUI arrests between 2007 and 2008.  

Another way of looking at these statistics though is that in 40 states the number of women arrested for DUI either stayed the same or decreased.  In fact, although not highlighted in the text of the study, the data indicate that between 2007 and 2008, in spite of the increases in 10 states, the overall number of women arrested for DUI in the United States went down 11 percent.

While speaking at a news conference with US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) president Laura Dean-Moody was quoted by CNN as speculating on the reasons for the alleged increase.  Moody surmised that the causes of the increase might include economic pressures and television depictions of moms who stay home and drink.  In our experience, the increase might be more due to increased independence of women, who are more likely to drive themselves to events where alcohol is being served, rather than rely on men for their transportation. It is becoming more socially acceptable for women to travel alone, even at night. 

Another confounding factor is the interaction of alcohol with a woman’s unique physiology.  Studies have indicated that a woman’s alcohol metabolism may be affected by the phase of the menstrual cycle and taking oral contraceptives. Moreover, women generally have different body water content from men, which, along with weight, affects a women’s volume of distribution and can lead to higher alcohol levels.  If you are a woman facing a DUI arrest, make sure your attorney understands these special issues.

To read the NHTSA study, go to:

http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/reports/811095.pdf

To read the FBI report, see:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm

To read about DUI Issues & Women, go to:

http://www.duilawyerorangecounty.com/orange_county_dui_issue_woman.html