Criminal Law

DUI?or Anemic?

Posted on September 26, 2008
I’ve commented repeatedly in the past about the inaccuracy and unreliability of breath-testing devices used in DUI investigations. This is due to a wide range of factors, including inherent design defects (see, for example, my previous post “Why Breathalyzers Don’t Measure Alcohol”); ineffective calibration and maintenance of the machines; improper administration of the test; radio frequncy [...

Do DUI Laws Discriminate Against Women?

Posted on September 22, 2008
If you are arrested for DUI and a breath test shows a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% or higher, you are guilty. It does not matter, of course, whether you are a man or a women: the laws do not discriminate. Maybe they should… Researchers at the University School of Medicine in Trieste, Italy, found [...

Perspectives and Priorities

Posted on September 19, 2008
Now if MADD were truly interested in saving lives on our highways rather than in eradicating the “evils of alcohol”… Study: Texting More Dangerous Than DUI   LONDON, Sept. 19 (UPI) — Young drivers who send text messages while operating a motor vehicle are at more risk than those who drive drunk, a British study released Thursday finds...

Who Cares About Drunks?

Posted on September 17, 2008
For many years now I’ve written and lectured extensively on drunk driving litigation – on the science of blood and breath alcohol analysis, the flaws in breathalyzers, the ineffectiveness of field sobriety testing. In recent years, however, my focus has increasingly shifted to the gradual erosion of constitutional rights in DUI cases...

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Judge Orders Secrets of Breath Machine Revealed

Posted on September 13, 2008
As I’ve written in past posts (Secret Breathalyzer Software Still Secret), defense attorneys have repeatedly tried to gain access to the secret software used to run the various models of breath-testing machines.  As the geeks say, "garbage in, garbage out":  erroneous or badly written software will result in erroneous test results — and thousands of citizens wrongfully convicted [...

Immaculate Intoxication

Posted on September 11, 2008
Can alcohol be created by the human body itself — without any drinking? Apparently so. In an interesting scientific article, two physicians at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore reported that they detected the odor of beer in three of their patients...

Ready-Made DUI Arrest Reports

Posted on September 05, 2008
An increasing number of police officers are using pre-written arrest reports in drunk driving cases. In other words, they are writing out a batch of phony reports — including driving symptoms, slurred speech, failed field sobriety tests, admissions of drinking — and then just filling in the names, dates, etc...

Blood Draws in the Back Seat by the Dashboard Light

Posted on August 30, 2008
A few years ago, citizens suspected of DUI were given a choice to submit to either breath, blood or urine testing for alcohol concentration.  In the hysteria of MADD’s "War on Drunk Driving", however, things have changed.  Today, citizens (supposedly presumed innocent) are being told they must submit to a blood test — and, if they refuse, are being [...

You Knew It Would Happen?

Posted on August 28, 2008
Well, I suppose it was a logical inevitability.  Mothers Against Drunk Driving has pressured legislators into passing Draconian laws, intimidated judges into ignoring due process, and now….. MADD Volunteers Hit Road for DUI Enforcement Pilot Program Launches Labor Day Weekend in Florida Manatee County, Fla...

Alcoholics and Breathalyzers

Posted on August 26, 2008
It may not surprise you to find out that alcoholics arrested for DUI will generally have higher blood-alcohol readings. It may surprise you, however, to learn that individuals having the disease of alcoholism will generally have higher blood-alcohol readings because they are alcoholics…...

Why Is MADD Pushing Ignition Interlock Devices?

Posted on August 20, 2008
As has been widely reported in the nation’s media, Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been aggressively pushing state and federal legislators to require ignition interlock devices (IIDs) to be installed in vehicles.  MADD’s President has even publicly stated that IIDs will "eliminate drunk driving once and for all"...

The Drinking Age Debate: MADD vs College Deans

Posted on August 19, 2008
The debate over the minimum drinking age has continued for decades, with the recent focus being on whether it makes sense to send American youth to fight and perhaps die in foreign countries – but not to drink alcohol.  Our generals have expressed strong views on the subject...

Ignition Interlock Devices: The View from the Prosecution

Posted on August 18, 2008
I’ve railed in past posts about the ineffectiveness of ignition interlock devices (IIDs).  See The Truth About Ignition Interlock Devices.  This latest sure-fire weapon, which MADD loudly claims will "eliminate drunk driving once and for all", is currently sweeping the country...

Another Life Sentence for Drunk Driving

Posted on August 14, 2008
So what do you do with someone who has the genetic disease of alcoholism – and continues to drink and drive?  Get him treatment for his disease?  Or maybe you throw him in prison for the rest of his life…. Wichita County Man Gets Life Sentence for 10th DWI Wichita Falls, TX...

The Slow Death of the Fourth Amendment

Posted on August 12, 2008
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects American citizens from being subjected to police intrusions without "probable cause".  The Michigan Supreme Court held that DUI roadblocks violated this constitutional protection...

DUI Logic

Posted on August 07, 2008
For those of you unfamiliar with the logic of The War on Drunk Driving, consider the following story from yesterday’s news… Recent DUI Checkpoint A Success Pittsburgh, PA.  Aug. 6  -  The final statistics have been assessed from a recent sobriety checkpoint conducted by the West Hills Task Force in Stowe Township...

?Slurred Speech?

Posted on August 06, 2008
As with the odor of alcohol on the breath, few police reports will fail to include an observation by the arresting officer that the arrestee exhibited “slurred speech”. (See my earlier post, “Alcohol on the Breath: Evidence of DUI?”)...

DUI Logic: Roadblocks Effective Because They?re Ineffective

Posted on August 01, 2008
Ok, so DUI roadblocks (aka "sobriety checkpoints") are a violation of the 4th Amendment.  But the Supreme Court found a "DUI exception", ruling that although it is a violation of our rights, it is only a "minor intrusion" which is "outweighed" by government’s interest in identifying and arresting dangerous drivers...

Drunk Driving ? Without Driving

Posted on July 28, 2008
I’ve posted in the past about the ludicrous extent law enforcement and the courts will go to get drunk driving convictions — even where the accused was not driving.  See, for example, Parking Under the Influence and Pulling Over and Sleeping It Off: Still a DUI?...

Drunk Biking

Posted on July 25, 2008
Latest news from MADD’s War on Drunk Driving… Macon Man Charged with DUI After Falling Off Bicycle Macon, GA.  July 24  -  A 38-year-old Macon man was charged with DUI after an officer spotted him weaving as he rode a 5-speed boys’ bicycle on Jeffersonville Road, according to the Macon police… The officer smelled alcohol on (Clifton) Taylor’s [...

Judges Told They Have ?Different Role? in DUI Cases

Posted on July 25, 2008
Most of you out there probably thought that citizens accused of drunk driving were afforded the same constitutional rights as citizens accused of any other crime.  Included in this, presumably, is the right to have a fair and impartial judge hearing your case...

Cops Using Impounded Cars as Personal Rental Fleet

Posted on July 21, 2008
So you you were busted for drunk driving and your car was taken by the police and impounded for 30 days. Ever wonder what’s happening to it? Missouri: Police Caught Driving Impounded Cars Police in St. Louis seized cars, then freely drove them for months at a time...

Cops Cheating on Breath Test Exams

Posted on July 17, 2008
In the Who-will-guard-the-guardians? department: Inspector General: Canton Troopers Cheated on Breathalyzer Exams Columbus, OH.  AP, July 17  -  An Ohio Inspector General report says state troopers assigned to the Highway Patrol’s Canton post cheated on yearly exams required for law enforcement officers who give breathalyzer tests...

Law Trumps Science?in Drunk Driving

Posted on July 16, 2008
It is an unfortunate fact that law and politics repeatedly trump science when it comes to prosecuting citizens accused of drunk driving…..   In People v. Bransford, to cite one notable example, the California Supreme Court was confronted with a defendant who was challenging his DUI conviction on the grounds that he was not permitted to offer [...

The Great Cookie Caper

Posted on July 14, 2008
I posted a few days ago about a typical "rush to judgment" in today’s hysterical drunk driving environment (Anatomy of a Lynching).  Here, the latest example – complete with initial disavowals by MADD, later reluctantly withdrawn: Man Accused of Taking Drug-Laced Cookies to Cops Fort Worth, TX...

More News from the Front?

Posted on July 11, 2008
Apparently, the MADDness isn’t limited to the U.S…. Richmond Hill Man Charged with Drunk Driving on Lawn Mower Toronto, Canada.  July 11  -  A Richmond Hill man faces a drunk driving charge after York Regional Police caught him riding a lawn mower on the sidewalk Sunday allegedly drinking a beer… Police took the opportunity to remind residents any motorized vehicle [...

The DUI Double Standard

Posted on July 07, 2008
So what happens when a cop drives drunk? Ex-Cop Charged with DUI STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL TOOK OVER CRASH CASE   San Jose, CA.  July 4  -  More than three months after San Jose police failed to test a former cop for intoxication or cite her after a serious multi-car accident, the state attorney general has charged Sandra Woodall with [...

0.00% = DUI Prosecution

Posted on July 04, 2008
According to police, prosecutors and MADD those breathalyzers are deadly accurate…unless it contradicts a cop’s opinion. Sober, and Now Outraged as Well DUI Case Was Dropped, But Driver Wants to SueBredenton, FL.  July 3  -  If there is a lucky four-digit lottery number in DUI cases, it is this: a 0...

Another Day on the Frontlines

Posted on July 01, 2008
I think the following typical news story speaks for itself: DUI Checkpoint Nets 2 Citations, No Arrests Made Costa Mesa, CA.  June 27  -  The Costa Mesa police ran a sobriety checkpoint Thursday at Santa Ana Avenue and 18th Street, citing two drivers and impounding two vehicles...

In the who-will-guard-the-guardians

Posted on June 29, 2008
In the who-will-guard-the-guardians department: Ex-Detective Gets More Jail Time in Alcohol Cases Seattle, WA.  June 27  -  A former Seattle police detective who set a breath-test record was sentenced to more than a year in jail and three months in home detention for a series of alcohol-related driving cases, two of which involved minor crashes… Last year, Jarrett [...

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