DUI Lawyer

Often times people act very harsh towards those who have had the misfortune of getting a DUI or drunk driving related offense.  I use the word ‘misfortune’ because in a large percentage of cases that is exactly what it is… misfortune.

People say things like, “you shouldn’t have been driving drunk…”  “you deserve everything that happens to you since you were driving drunk,” etc…

As I said they take a very hard line stance against drunk driving and DUI in general. 

Now, no one condones drunk driving and the fact that DUI and drunk driving has been responsible for lost lives is a true tragedy.  One that should have never happened.

But in order to properly address the situation and apply corrective actions you have to be honest and REAL about the situation.  One of the biggest misperceptions about drunk driving is the BAC level.  Organizations like MADD put forth erroneous statistics in an effort to further their own narrow objective.  Prohibition.

Fact is that a .08 % BAC driver is less likely to cause a traffic fatality than a driver traveling in excess of 10-15 MPH over the posted speed limit.  What is the difference in a DUI charge versus a speeding charge?  Why is the low BAC DUI met with such harsh penalties, stigma and life altering consequences when the speeding violation is proven to cause more traffic fatalities?

Aren’t we trying to save lives here?  Yes or no?

Why doesn’t the federal government put forth more funding towards DUI prevention rather than DUI checkpoints, and other ‘catch them’ programs.  If we wanted to SAVE LIVES wouldn’t we try to affect change prior to the offense rather than trying to ‘catch them’ ? 

The answer is complicated but in essence DUI is a vital revenue source for the unstoppable cash machine named MADD and the federal and state governments.  It is actually used in budgetary planning.  They COUNT ON bringing in this money. 

They need this money to carry out other government actions. 

So back to the original point of this post.  What are the real statistics to impairment?  Where do they come from?  Just make sure to check the source of the statistics that are put before you.  If they are from the government, look to see if that government receives money based on those statistics….  do they make them any money?

If the statistics come from ‘non profit’ organizations like MADD, do those statistics make MADD any money?

Where are the real statistics?

Is there hypocrisy in DUI laws?

It seems that every day you hear about law makers and cops getting busted for DUI.  Just recently in San Diego a sheriff’s deputy was busted at nearly 3x the legal limit.  He smashed his pickup truck into a tow truck severely injuring 2 other men on a local highway in San Diego county.

My question is, ‘how often do you think this occurs?’  Not the accident but police officers driving after having a couple drinks.  Would we even be hearing about this offense had there not have been an accident?  Or would he had been given a ride home as a professional courtesy?

I applaud everything the police do to keep us safe but for some reason it seems like these guys think they are ‘above the law.’  How many people do you think this guy issued previous DUI offenses to? 

If he is treated as a “normal drunk” then there would be several assumptions made after this particular offense:

1.  This is not the 1st time he has driven drunk.

2.  He has a drinking problem and most likely and alcoholic.

3.  Someone who may be subject to the term ‘moral turpitude’

Now those aren’t my opinions but the assumptions that society in general makes about drunk drivers, especially those that crash their cars and cause death or injury due to the fact that they get behind the wheel and drive after drinking enough alcohol to push them over the legal limit (in this case 3x the legal limit).

Now based on those assumptions, whose to say this guy wasn’t drunk when he issued those previous DUI citations to others?  How can those arrests be ‘just’ if he was drunk?  Most likely if he is an alcoholic that means that he has drank on the job before, right?  That’s the assumption that gets made after someone is caught for an offense of this severity.

Yes i’m playing devils advocate here but again, these are the scrutinies that the ‘average joe’ faces when they do somthing similar.  It will be interesting to watch how this case develops… let’s see how this one plays out and what assumptions are made in this case by the police dept., defense attorney’s, and the DA’s office.

For more information you can read about the story here,

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20061107-9999-1m7deputy.html

Disclaimer:  The above blog post are opionions and are not to be considered facts of any specific case and are not meant in malice in any way.  These are not slanderous comments but are intended to stimulate thought and to evaluate the fairness of DUI laws in general.  I do not know the sheriff’s deputy nor am I privy to any case details therefore I am not making any comments about his guilt or innocence.  I am merely expressing my right to free speech based on the media releases about this specific topic.  This is a general post about a broader issue; DUI laws.

An interesting post from Lawrence Taylor concerning the collection of evidence in DUI cases.  What is evidence in a DUI case?  Depending on the actual case there could be much evidence that the prosecution will have to prove your guilt such as videotape of the stop, witness testimony and statements, officer field notes, etc, etc…

 But how about for the accused?  What is the evidence?  Its the sample provided.  Whether that be breath, blood, urine, etc…  But in mostly every single case law enforcement does not keep the sample.  They destroy the very evidence that they are using against you.

You blow into the intoxilyzer machine and they take the readings and then the breath sample is destroyed.  No chance for you to examine the evidence used against you.

Very interesting perspective.  Read more about it here:  http://www.duiblog.com/2006/10/18#a487

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