Marin DUI Lawyer Blog

In a county wide effort to curb driving under the influence, Marin County Police Departments will be conducting increased saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints over the Thanksgiving holiday. Police officers said that special saturation patrols will be sent out beginning Wednesday night and they are urging people to find a safe ride home after drinking.

DUI checkpoints are a common sight during the holiday season as more people are out celebrating and attending holiday parties. The courts have found that the use of checkpoints, so long as conducted with a plan and pursuant to guidelines, do not violate our rights to be free from unreasonable searches under the 4th amendment to the Untied States Constitution.

Marin County police departments received funding to conduct driving under the influence checkpoints in an effort to reduce the number of traffic collisions related to intoxicated drivers and hit and run collisions. DUI roadblocks and saturation patrols serve as a reminder to use designated drivers and not drink and drive.

Continue reading "Marin County Cops plan DUI saturation over Thanksgiving Holiday" »

The San Rafael Police Department will be conducting a DUI and driver's license checkpoint beginning this Friday at 6:00 p.m. The checkpoint will take place at an undisclosed location in San Rafael and will end at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Police checkpoints aimed at stopping people from driving under the influence and getting unlicensed drivers off the roads have become more common in recent years. Police Departments throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and California have been receiving grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to fund such checkpoints. This Friday's DUI checkpoint is being funded by such a grant.

Cars entering a checkpoint will stopped based on a predetermined mathematical formula. If a driver who is stopped appears to the police to be driving under the influence they will be asked to pull into a screening area where officers will conduct a DUI investigation. The driver may then be asked to exit the vehicle and submit to field sobriety testing which may include the administration of a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) device. Submission to field sobriety testing and/or a PAS breath testing device is not required under California Law. However, if a police officer has cause to arrest a person for DUI they must submit to a chemical test to determine their blood alcohol concentration.

Continue reading "San Rafael DUI Checkpoint Friday November 20, 2009" »

City of Fairfax police officers found 35 year old Henrik Carl Schmidt hiding in the attic of a home on Kent avenue on Wednesday morning. Police went to check on the home after receiving a call from a woman indicating that her keys and address information had been taken from her purse.

When the officers arrived at the home they found an open window on the second floor. They then contacted the home owner who confirmed that no one should be in the house and that she had closed all windows prior to leaving for work. Officers then entered the house and saw that it had been ransacked. After conducting a search they found Mr. Schmidt and a bag full of items in the attic.

Mr. Schmidt was arrested and taken to Marin General Hospital for asthma related treatment. His case report will now be turned over the the District Attorney and he is to appear in court for an arraignment on Thursday. Mr. Schmidt could be charged with 1st degree residential burglary in violation of Penal Code section 459/460. First degree burglary is a felony punishable by up to six year in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Continue reading "Marin County - Suspected Burglar found in Fairfax attic" »

Chris R., a driver for the San Francisco Municipal Railway, was arrested for DUI in April 2009 after being stopped for speeding while coming off of the San Francisco Bay Bridge in Oakland.

Chris was charged by the Alameda County District Attorney with driving under the influence, Vehicle Code section 23152(a) and driving with a .08% or greater blood alcohol concentration (.16 blood test). As a Muni driver Chris has a commercial driver's license privilege and he was also facing a dmv administrative suspension of 4 months for his personal driving and of 1 year on his commercial license. If convicted of DUI or of driving with a .08% bac he would also lose his commercial privilege for 1 year.

After several court appearances, including a motion to suppress evidence, and more than five months of negotiations Chris' case was set for trial. Prior to setting the trial, Attorney John Stanko attempted to convince the DA to resolve the case for a reduced charge and to agree to an acquittal so that Chris could keep his commercial license. Unfortunately, the DA told Mr. Stanko that Chris would "never" get that deal. So, Chris' withdrew his time waiver and demanded that a speedy trial be set.

When the case came on the court's trial calendar Attorney Stanko got Chris the deal he wanted. The DA was convinced to dismiss the driving under the influence charge, Chris plead no contest to a wet reckless, and the judge found him not guilty of driving with a .08% or greater bac. As a result, the DMV cannot take any action against Chris' commercial driving privilege and his administrative suspension was set aside.

Continue reading "Oakland DUI - Commercial Driving Privilege Saved" »

In response to the numerous crashes since the new S-curve was installed over labor day the California Highway Patrol stepped up its speed limit enforcement on the Bay Bridge this week. Authorities indicate that there have been at least 43 crashes on the S-curve, the temporary bypass to be used on the Bay Bridge until the new Eastern span is completed in 2013, which was put in place over the labor day weekend.

The worst crash happened last Monday when a 56 year old truck driver was killed when his big-rig went off the side of the bridge, landing on Treasure Island. The investigation into Monday's crash indicates that it, like all the other on the S-curve crashes, was related to speeding.

In an attempt to prevent any further accidents the CHP began cracking down on speeding on Wednesday, November 12, 2009. From 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday to 4:00 a.m. on Thursday, officers issued 34 speeding tickets and arrested one driver on suspicion of driving under the influence. The speed limit on the Bay Bridge is 50 mph but drops to 40 mph on the S-curve portion.

If you are ticketed for speeding on the Bay Bridge you may be cited for one of several Vehicle Code sections related to speeding, including: section 22405 which specifically relates to speeding on bridges and structures; section 22350, the basic speed law which requires drivers to drive at reasonable and prudent speeds; or section 23336, a common ticket given out by the CHP, which makes it unlawful to violate any rule or regulation posted by a sign on a vehicular crossing.

Continue reading "San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge - Speeders beware." »

The City of South San Francisco Police Department has received state monies to increase the use of DUI checkpoints, patrols and courthouse stings in 2010. They have received almost $140k from the California Office of Traffic Safety and will apparently use some of that money to stake out repeat DUI offenders.

According to the Office of Traffic Safety the people of South San Francisco will also receive an education on the dangers of drunk driving. Office of Traffic Safety Director Christopher Murphy says the grant money will keep the annual trend of declining alcohol impairment related crashes going.

If you get a DUI in California there is a good chance you are going to have your driver's license suspended. On a first offense you have only ten days to request a DMV administrative hearing and if you fail to do so, or lose the hearing, your license will be suspended for four months, longer if you are under 21 years old or refused a chemical test. You will also lose your license for six months if you are convicted of driving under the influence.

Continue reading "South San Francisco Police out to fight drunk driving in 2010" »

The City of Napa Police Department will be out in force looking for people driving under the influence this Saturday night. This DUI saturation patrol is being funded by a grant from the Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Napa police officers will concentrate their anti DUI efforts on areas of the city with a history of traffic accidents and large numbers of arrests for driving under the influence. They are cautioning residents to take public transportation or to use a designated driver. Remember that driving under the influence is illegal.

In California it is not illegal to drink and drive but it is illegal under Vehicle Code sections 23152(a) and (b) to drive while under the influence and to drive with a .08% or greater blood alcohol concentration. Although it is legal to consume alcohol and drive a car it is best not to take the risk.

Continue reading "Napa DUI saturation Saturday Night November 14" »

On Monday night CHP officers and firefighters responded to a single car accident on rural Bennett Valley Road east of Santa Rosa. They arrived to find a 31 year old Santa Rosa woman trapped inside her car. Firefighters had to cut the woman out of the car as it was smashed into an oak tree.

The injured driver was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and she was arrested on suspicion of DUI. If she is convicted of a DUI in Sonoma County she could be placed on probation, serve a jail sentence, pay fines and have to attend a drinking driver program. Driving under the influence in California is usually a misdemeanor but can be elevated to a felony if the suspect has multiple prior convictions, prior felony convictions or if another person is injured or killed.

Continue reading "Woman from Santa Rosa arrested for Driving Under the Influence" »

On Friday October 30th police responded to a call that a Disc Jockey had gotten into a dispute with the owner of a restaurant where he was to perform in the City of Sonoma. Officers were informed that the DJ, 28-year-old Scott Woebcke of Sonoma, had poured a pitcher of beer on an expensive turntable at Emmy's Spaghetti Shack on Broadway after getting into an argument with the proprietor.

When police responded they found Mr. Woebcke agitated and yelling in the street. They then got word that someone had entered Shiso restaurant on Broadway, damaged some property and attacked restaurant owner and chef Ed Metcalf as he tried to subdue the vandal. Police took Mr. Woebcke to both restaurants and he was identified as the suspect who soaked the turntable and committed battery on Mr. Metcalf.

Mr. Woebcke was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism, battery and for being drunk in public. He was booked into the Sonoma County Jail. If convicted for the felony he faces the possibility of going to state prison, or being placed on probation with possible county jail time. In California battery and being drunk in public are both misdemeanors and carry potential jail sentences, fines and could result in court ordered alcohol or anger management classes.

Continue reading "Sonoma man arrested for drunkenness, battery and vandalism." »

Around 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday night the driver of a Volkswagen Golf struck another car and crashed into a sound wall on Interstate 80 in Solano County. The CHP was following the speeding driver at approximately 100 miles per hour, when he began to drive erratically, recklessly switching lanes, and crashed before they could initiate a traffic stop.

The driver, a 28 year-old man from Davis, California, was able to get out of his car before it fully burst into flames. Firefighters from the City of Vacaville quickly controlled the fire before it caused extensive damage.

Observations of speeding and erratic driving will give a police officer reasonable suspicion necessary to initiate a traffic stop. Further, many San Francisco Bay Area police officers are trained in the Visual Detection of DWI/DUI Motorists. That training is done under the guidelines established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA. Phase one of DWI detection is Vehicle in Motion, and during that phase an officer must make observations of visual cues while deciding whether to stop the driver. Speeding itself is not listed among the NHTSA visual DWI detection clues, but weaving and weaving across lane lines are. The CHP appear to have had cause to stop the Davis man to begin DUI investigation before he crashed.

Continue reading "Solano County crash - Driver arrested for DUI" »

The CHP's efforts to stem drunk driving over the Thanksgiving Holiday resulted in more arrests than over the same period in 2008. The CHP began a DUI crack down in the San Francisco Bay Area at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25, 2009 and by 6:00 a.m. on Friday, November 27, 2009, they had made 87 arrests for driving under the influence.

The 87 San Francisco Bay Area DUI arrests were moderately greater than the 83 drunk driving arrests over the same period in 2008. Throughout California the CHP made 542 arrests for driving under the influence compared to 513 last year.

Anyone arrested during the holiday DUI sweep will face possible driver's license suspensions and criminal prosecution. It is important that a suspected DUI driver contact the DMV within ten days of their arrest to request an administrative hearing or their license will automatically be suspended. Further, the police report concerning their arrest will be forwarded to the local district attorney's office for review and prosecution. If arrested in Marin or Solano County a person will likely be arraigned within 30 days. Arraignments in San Francisco are often held much sooner.

Continue reading "More Bay Area DUI arrests over Thanksgiving holiday" »