Marin DUI Lawyer Blog

Holiday drivers in Marin County, San Francisco, Oakland and throughout California should really think when they drink this weekend. The CHP will be conducting their last MEP, Maximum Enforcement Period, of the summer this Labor Day weekend.

The Highway Patrol will be rolling in force beginning Friday, September 3, 2010 and ending Monday, September 6, 2010, as part of their ongoing aggressive crackdown on impaired driving which began on August 20. Last year the CHP arrested 1,417 drunk drivers over the Labor Day holiday.

To aid in the crackdown against driving under the influence the CHP is urging motorists call 911 if they see any drivers whom they suspect drunk. Motorist who call 911 to report drunk drivers should be prepared to provide CHP dispatchers with a description of the drunk driver's car, its location and direction of travel.

Drivers arrested for DUI/DWI in California face severe consequences including a potential jail sentence: 0 to 180 days on a first offense, 10 days minimum on a second DUI, 120 days to 1 year on a 3rd drunk driving charge and possible state prison if convicted of a 4th offense for driving under the influence. In addition to possible jail time, DUI offenders must pay hefty fines to the court and fees for attendance at mandatory DUI school. Further, drunk drivers face the possible suspension, revocation or restriction of their driving privileges. Moreover, the installation of an ignition interlock devices (IID) is mandatory for even a 1st offense DUI conviction in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Tulare counties. Those counties are conducting a pilot program for 1st offender IID devices and the IID requirement on a 1st DUI may be expanded statewide in the future.

Continue reading "Marin Drivers Beware - DUI Patrols at Max Level this Labor Day" »

In late 2009 a driver was arrested for DUI in San Francisco after crashing into a guard rail on I80 Eastbound. The San Francisco District Attorney waited almost six months to decide to charge the driver with driving under the influence and driving with a .08 or greater blood alcohol level.

After his arrest the driver submitted to a breath test to determine his blood alcohol level. The machine that he blew into required multiple blows and showed several errors related to alcohol being present in the ambient error. Eventually the diver blew a .12, .13 and a .14.

Attorney John Stanko appeared in court for the driver and entered a plea of not guilty. After thoroughly reviewing the police reports and discovery related to the maintenance and calibration of the breath machine Mr. Stanko appeared at a pre-trial conference. After pointing out the weaknesses in the District Attorney's case, including the problems with the breath testing equipment, he was able to convince the District Attorney to dismiss the DUI charges against the driver and agree to a plea of no contest to a Dry Reckless.

A Dry Reckless charge is a non alcohol related reckless driving charge and a conviction for it carries substantially less punishment than a conviction for drunk driving. Further, because a Dry Reckless is not alcohol related it is not a priorable offense and if the driver picks up a DUI in the future the Dry Reckless cannot be used against him.

Continue reading "San Francisco DUI with accident - driver pleads to Dry Reckless" »

At around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 21, 2010, a 25 year old Vallejo woman had herself arrested for drunk driving. Nancy Murcia told Vallejo police officers that she felt compelled to call 911 to report that she had been drinking and driving. Officers pulled her over near Florida and Sacramento Streets in Vallejo and found that she was in fact driving under the influence.

Ms. Murcia could be facing possible county jail time ranging from six months to one year depending on whether this is her first or multiple arrest for DUI. Driver's in California arrested for drunk driving also face the potential loss of their driving privilege from the DMV for between four months to four years. The length of driver's license suspension or revocation varies based on factors including prior convictions and whether the driver refused to submit to a chemical test to determine their blood alcohol concentration.

Multiple offenders can now obtain a restricted driving privilege after ninety days of suspension on a second offense and six months of suspension on a third offense provided they install an ignition interlock device (IID) on their car and provide proof of DUI program attendance and and SR22.

Continue reading "Vallejo DUI driver has herself arrested." »

The San Rafael Police Department will be conducting a DUI and driver's license checkpoint this Friday from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m. on Saturday, August 7, 2010. The location of the checkpoint has not been disclosed.

This weekend's checkpoint will be funded by a DUI mini grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The last checkpoint conducted under the same grant in San Rafael on July 23, 2010 resulted in 17 drivers submitting to field sobriety tests but no drivers were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Submission to field sobriety testing and/or a PAS breath testing device is voluntary and 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. Refusal to take a chemical test can result in a drivers license suspension for one year on a first offense or a two or three year license revocation on a second or third offense.

Continue reading "DUI Checkpoint in San Rafael set for this Friday" »

24 year old Jakclin Deleon crashed the car he was driving into a vacant home in Vallejo on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 after being unable to navigate a curve in the road. Mr. Deleon was treated for a complaint of neck pain and subsequently arrested for driving without a license and driving under the influence.

DUI arrests in Vallejo are prosecuted in the Solano County Courthouse at 321 Tuolumne Street. Depending on whether Mr. Deleon has any prior drunk driving convictions in the last ten years, he could be facing a sentence including possible county jail time from zero to 365 days.

Moreover, an arrest for DUI starts a DMV administrative suspension of a person's driving privilege. Pursuant to the California Vehicle Code a first arrest for DUI results in a four month license suspension, assuming the grounds for the suspension are found to be justified by the DMV. After the first month of suspension a driver can apply for a restricted driver's license for driving to, from and during employment and to and from a DUI program. booked into Solano County Jail.

Continue reading "Car crashes into house in Vallejo, Driver arrested for DUI" »

The California Highway Patrol and the state's Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), have named Alameda County's multi jurisdictional DUI enforcement campaign the best in the state. The driving under the influence campaign, "Avoid the 21", involves police departments from the cities of Pleasanton, Livermore, the CHP and municipalities throughout Alameda County.

Police officers in Alameda County made 897 arrests for driving under the influence during a 17-day enforcement effort at the end of 2009. Only Los Angeles County, which had 2,622 drunk driving arrests had more during the same DUI campaign.

This year officers will be running their DUI campaign over the Fourth of July weekend beginning on Friday, July 2, 2010, and ending at midnight on Monday, July 5, 2010. As part of the effort to reduce traffic accidents and get drunk drivers off the roads, the city of Fremont Police Department will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint from 6 p.m. on July 3, 2010 to 3 a.m. on July 4th.

Continue reading "Alameda County DUI crackdown program named best in California for 2009" »

The California Highway Patrol will be conducting a DUI and driver's license checkpoint this Friday, July 2, 2010 in Southern Santa Rosa from 6:30 p.m. to midnight. The location of the checkpoint has not been disclosed.

According to Sergeant Allan Capurro, the CHP will be focussing on drunk drivers throughout Sonoma County over the Fourth of July Holiday weekend. Driving under the influence patrols will be made in an effort to reduce traffic crashes due to drunken drivers.

Suspended license and DUI checkpoints are becoming more and more common in Sonoma County and throughout California. Recent studies, including one at the University of California Berkeley, have found that these Drunk Driving checkpoints have become extremely profitable for local municipalities as they are far more likely to seize cars from unlicensed motorists than catch drunken drivers. Past checkpoints in Marin County for driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license raised legal questions in the UC Berkeley Study as during the past two years, 10 San Rafael's 12 sobriety checkpoints took place on streets surrounding neighborhoods with large Hispanic populations. Those operations resulted in only 4 DUI arrests but netted fees for the 121 impounded cars for driver's license violations.

Continue reading "Santa Rosa DUI checkpoint this Friday" »

45 year old Primitivo Piceno of Santa Rosa was arrested on May 30, 2010, by the CHP in Cloverdale. Police officers contacted Mr. Piceno after being notified that a driver was traveling well under the speed limit and impeding other drivers.

Responding officers found Mr. Piceno parked on the shoulder being detained by other drivers. He was apparently so drunk that was unable to speak coherently and fell to the ground while attempting to perform field sobriety tests.

Mr. Piceno was arrested and booked in to the Sonoma County jail for numerous counts including felony drunken driving and driving with a suspended license. Anyone charged with their fourth DUI in a ten year period or who has a prior felony DUI within the last ten years can be charged with a felony for driving under the influence. Mr. Piceno was charged with a felony due the number and recency of his prior DUIs.

Police officers said that Mr. Piceno had an order to drive any vehicle not equipped with an ignition interlock device installed in it. The Vehicle he was driving did not have an IID in it.

Continue reading "Marin County DUI lawyer, Santa Rosa man arrested for 6th DUI since 01'" »

Eliseo Hernandez, 43, was arrested on Friday evening after crashing his SUV on northbound highway 101 in Novato. Novao Police Officers said that Hernandez crashed after cutting off another vehicle and losing control.

Mr. Hernandez suffered minor injuries in the rollover and was treated at Marin General Hospital for head cuts. After receiving treatment at Marin General he was booked into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of drunk driving and driving with a suspended license.

The Marin County District Attorney will review the case and make a charging determination. Mr. Hernandez could be charged with a misdemeanor suspended license violation and a misdemeanor or felony DUI depending on whether he has any prior convictions for drunk driving. A conviction on a first offense for driving under the influence can result in the punishment including fines, license suspension, probation and mandatory attendance at a first offender DUI program.

Continue reading "Novato rollover crash nets Marin County DUI arrest" »

Last weekend the San Rafael Police Department conducted two DUI/driver's license checkpoints in the city.

Both San Rafael driving under the influence checkpoints were set up on Friday May 7, 2010. The first suspended license checkpoint was located on North San Pedro Road in the early evening and the second DUI and driver's license checkpoint was done at the intersection of 5th and Irwin in downtown San Rafael.

San Rafael Police Sergeant Christopher Coale said that approximately 1,200 cars passed through both checkpoints. When all was said and done police officers arrested only two people for driving under the influence. Eighteen additional people were cited for driving on a suspended license or driving without a license in their possession. The San Rafael Police Department issued an additional eight traffic tickets for moving violations and safety violations.

Anyone charged with a traffic ticket for a moving violation faces a fine if convicted and would receive one or more points on their DMV driving record. Further, their insurance rates could go up for at least three years.

Continue reading "San Rafael DUI Checkpoints net two Drunk Drivers" »

26 year old Clinton Mark Dahms of Sonoma was arrested on Monday after driving his van through front yards and hitting a house in a Novato neighborhood.

Novato Police Officers said that Mr. Dahms drove his 1994 Pontiac through multiple lawns hitting shrubs, a tree, a parked car and retaining wall before smashing into a home on Rowland Blvd. Mr. Dahms ran from his Pontiac Van after hitting the parked car an pushing it into the residence.

It took three Novato Police officers to arrest Mr. Dahms after he ran through another home. He apparently did not cooperate with the officers and was booked into the Marin County Jail on a charge of resisting arrest. He was also booked for DUI, hit and run, being under the influence of a controlled substance, battery on a police officer and trespassing.

The case will now be reviewed by the Marin County District Attorney's Office for a formal charging determination. The charges for which Mr. Dahm's was arrested are mix of misdemeanors and felonies and if convicted he could be placed on probation with county jail time or he could be sent to the California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, prison. Being under the influence of a controlled substance in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11550(a) carries a minimum sentence of 90 days in jail. If convicted in this case Mr. Dahms may be required to attend a driving under the influence program, make restitution for the damages he caused, and attend drug treatment.

Continue reading "Marin DUI lawyer - Man arrested for drunk driving in Novato after plowing into a house" »

The San Rafael Police Department will be conducting a DUI and driver's license checkpoint on Friday April 23, 2010 from Saturday April 24, 2010. The checkpoint will be held at an undisclosed location.

San Rafael Police Officers acting under a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety will be checking drivers from 6 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday in an attempt to identify drunk driving offenders, and driver's without a valid California driver's license.

Suspended license and DUI checkpoints are becoming more and more common in Marin County and throughout California. Recent studies, including one at the University of California Berkeley, have found that these Drunk Driving checkpoints have become extremely profitable for local municipalities as they are far more likely to seize cars from unlicensed motorists than catch drunken drivers. Past checkpoints in Marin County for driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license raised legal questions in the UC Berkeley Study as during the past two years, 10 San Rafael's 12 sobriety checkpoints took place on streets surrounding neighborhoods with large Hispanic populations. Those operations resulted in only 4 DUI arrests but netted fees for the 121 impounded cars for driver's license violations.

Continue reading "Marin County DUI Checkpoint this Friday through Saturday in San Rafael" »

A former Marin resident, Thomas John Clagett, 27, was arraigned in the Marin County Superior Court on Monday. Mr. Clagett has been charged with robbing a bank in Novato in 2007.

He was extradited to Marin County from Ohio last week after the FBI arrested him at his father's home.

Bank robbery is a "strike" offense and is charged under Penal Code section 211. Being defined as both a serious and violent offense a conviction for a robbery carries a presumptive state prison sentence of up to 5 years.

Mr. Clagett will be back in the Marin County Courthouse on Thursday to enter a plea.

Continue reading "Marin County Criminal Defense - Bank Robbery Suspect Back in Court" »

19-year-old Madeline Cast from Healdsburg was cited for driving under the influence after crashing her SUV early Sunday morning on Healdsburg Avenue just south of Alexander Valley Road.

According the Healdsburg Police Department, Ms. Cast hit a dirt embankment and rolled her Toyota 4-Runner. She was the only occupant in the vehicle and she was moderately injured in the accident. Sunday's arrest is the second DUI arrest for Ms. Cast this year. She was also cited for a drunk driving in Sonoma County in March.

Being under 21 years old Ms. Cast could be charged by the Sonoma County DA with a variety of alcohol related California Vehicle Code violations. It is illegal for anyone under 21 to drink alcohol in California and to drive with any measurable amount of alcohol in their system and she could be charged with an infraction in violation of section 23140 for having .05% or greater blood alcohol concentration. She could also be charged as a person over 21 would be, with a violation of sections 23152(a) and (b), driving under the influence and driving with a .08 or above blood alcohol level.

However, due to her arrest arrest for DUI in March it is likely that the DA will charge her with a 2nd offense for "adult" DUI.

Continue reading "Easter Morning roll over - 19 year old from Healdsburg arrested for DUI" »

A 46-year-old Woodacre woman was arrested for driving under the influence on Sunday night in San Anselmo.

San Anselmo Police officers got a call around 6:30 p.m. concerning a car being driven erratically. They located the suspected vehicle near the intersection of Red Hill and Sir Francis Drake and effectuated a traffic stop.

The driver was found to have an alleged blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit of .08 percent. She was booked into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of DUI and child endangerment as police officers found a 6-year-old boy in the car with her.

The suspect could be charged with an enhancement, specific to driving under the influence, for having a minor under the age of 14 in the car with her at the time of her arrest. However, the Marin County DA could also elect to charge her with a separate offense for child endangerment which could carry a county jail sentence of up to one year and result her her attending parenting classes if she is convicted.

Continue reading "Marin County woman arrested for DUI with 6 year old in car" »