Marin DUI Lawyer Blog

On Monday morning a Petaluma Police Officer was responding to a crash around 1:30 a.m. when he was side swiped by a suspected drunk driver. Twenty six year old Keith Obryan Johnson failed to move out of the way when the officer pulled up behind him with his lights flashing and siren blaring. When the officer changed lanes to go around him, Mr. Johnson turned to the left and struck the officers police cruiser.

Neither the officer nor Mr. Johnson were injured in the crash. Mr. Johnson was arrested after the accident and booked into the Sonoma County Jail with a blood alcohol test result of .12%, more than the California limit of .08%. Monday's driving under the influence arrest was the second for Mr. Johnson in February 2010. He was arrested for a DUI, assault and battery, car theft, driving on a suspended license and violating his probation on February 6 in Rhonert Park.

Mr. Johnson could be charged with a third DUI as he was convicted of driving under the influence in 2008 and placed on probation. DUI in California is a priorable offense for ten years from the date of arrest. As such, anyone convicted of driving under the influence or driving with a .08% or above can have their sentence enhanced if they are convicted of any subsequent DUI in the next ten years.

A third offense DUI can be punished with probation including a minimum jail term of 120 days, fines of more than $2,000.00, and mandatory attendance at a DUI program of 18 or 30 months. The DMV can also revoke a third offender's driving privilege for 3 years and will require the installation of an ignition interlock device, IID, upon application for a restricted license.

Continue reading "Sonoma County man hits Cop car - Arrested for DUI" »

The Santa Rosa Police Department will be conducting a DUI and driver's license checkpoint beginning this evening at 7:00 p.m. and ending at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday. The checkpoint will take place at an undisclosed location where police indicate a significant number of DUI-related collisions and DUI arrests have occurred.

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.

Court cases dealing with the legality of checkpoints mandate that 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 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.

Continue reading "DUI Checkpoint Tonight in Santa Rosa" »

Three people were arrested on Monday while driving away from the courthouse after being told by a judge not to drive.

Costa Mesa, Orange County, Police Officers, staked out sixteen offenders and followed them to the parking lot after they were instructed by a judge not to drive. Four of those people got behind the wheel and drove away from the courthouse. Officers stopped all four drivers and issued three citations for driving on a suspended license and one for driving while unlicensed. The sting was funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

California drivers are subject to license suspensions for a variety of reasons including failure to appear in court or failure to pay fines, arrest or conviction for DUI, or being deemed a negligent operator for acquiring to many moving violation points. Depending on the reason for a suspension, a conviction can result in jail time, fines, the installation of an ignition interlock device and vehicle impoundment or forfeiture. Drivers may have the right to a DMV administrative hearing to contest their suspension.

Continue reading "Suspended License - Don't drive to court" »

Last week Marin County DUI Lawyer John Stanko concluded a jury trial on a 3rd offense case in Vallejo, Solano County. The trial began on February 3 and concluded on February 4, 2010.

Attorney Stanko convinced the court to not allow the prosecution to introduce the testimony of any forensic toxicologist and the breath alcohol results, .08/.09 were excluded due to a lack of foundation. In excluding the testimony and breath results the court ruled that the prosecution had failed to provided the name of their toxicologist to Mr. Stanko in a timely fashion and did not comply with a court order to furnish that information.

The trial proceeded on charges of driving under the influence, vehicle code section 23152(a), and driving with a .08 % or more blood alcohol level, vehicle code section 23152(b). At the conclusion of the prosecution's case in chief, Mr. Stanko made a motion for the entry of a judgment of acquittal on the 23152(b) charge. That motion was granted.

Thus, the jury was asked to decide only whether the defendant was driving under the influence. Unfortunately the jury found the defendant guilty of that charge. According to one juror, the jury believed that the .09/.09 result on a preliminary alcohol screening device (PAS), was sufficient to show that the defendant was at least a .08 and under the influence. Defense motions to exclude the PAS results were denied by the court.

Continue reading "Marin DUI Lawyer - Vallejo Jury Trial" »