DUI: One Of The Leading Causes Of All Statistics
Our Chicago DUI Lawyers found this latest DUI article in the LA Times that reminded us of the old Lisa Minnelli quote: “smoking is one of the leading causes of all statistics”.
Huntington Beach police may identify suspected drunk drivers on its website
July 30, 2010|By Britney Barnes, Los Angeles Times
The Huntington Beach Police Department is considering posting the names of drunk-driving suspects on its website as part of a stepped-up strategy to address the problem downtown and citywide.
In a report submitted to the City Council this month, police said drinking and driving is a “significant problem” in Surf City and suggested that publicly posting names sends a message that police are cracking down.
A police official says publicly posting names would not be ‘a wall of shame’ but send a message that officers are cracking down on a ‘significant problem’ in Surf City.
Oh, of course it isn’t a wall of shame. Why would anyone think that? But what exactly is the “problem” that they are so concerned about cracking down on?
For the last three years, on average, Huntington Beach police have made 1,700 drunk driving arrests a year — the third-highest for cities in California with similar populations in 2008, according to the report.
Wow. That sure is an abnormally high amount of arrests. Are there any stats to justify those high arrest totals?
The city also has the fourth-highest number of alcohol-related traffic collisions for its population.
Ah, yes - “alcohol related traffic collisions” What does that mean?
Well The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the U.S. defines a non-fatal traffic collision as alcohol-related if either a driver, a passenger, or a pedestrian had a measurable or estimated BAC of 0.01 g/dl or above. This statistic is reported only by police reports which may be based on police suspicion due to a variety of cues or circumstances. Further these reports do not collect data in a uniform manner throughout the USA.1
In other words, each police department is free to define what creates a “alcohol-related traffic collision.”
So two sober drivers get into an accident while one is exiting the parking lot of a restaurant that serves alcohol. How is that classified? How about the sober driver who taps the bumper of a car in front of him while driving a passenger who is “suspected” of having 1 beer? Neither scenario involves “drunk driving” – but both will be reported as a “alcohol related traffic collisions”.
So that becomes the effective statistical prop to justify this behavior:
Reinhart said officers are trying to focus on being proactive instead of reactive when it comes to drinking and driving.
Great. It will be just the movie “Minority Report” in which the “Precrime” unit used 3 physics to predict murders before they happen. No word in the article as to how much money all those DUI arrests have generated the Police Department and the City – or if they employ any physics.
1http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/research/alcoholcountries/background_&_intro.htm
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DUI Attorney – Chicago DUI Checkpoint Alert
Another Drunk Driving Checkpoint coming this weekend.
DUI STRIKE FORCE PATROL IN THE MORGAN PARK (22ND) DISTRICT The Chicago Police department will conduct a DUI Strike Force Patrol in the Morgan Park (22nd) District beginning at 7:00 p.m., Friday, July 30, 2010 and ending at 3:00 a.m. on Satruday, July 31, 2010.
Our Chicago DUI Attorneys encourage everyone to be responsible while driving.
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Boy, 9, Forgotten At O’Hare Airport
Our Chicago Injury Attorneys were shocked to hear of the 9 year old boy who was stranded at O’Hare for 8 hours due to a United Airlines employee oversight.
Boy, 9, Left Stranded At O’Hare For 8 Hours
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire)
A 9-year-old boy, traveling alone and heading home to Canada, ended up stranded for eight hours at O’Hare Airport because a United Airlines employee forgot to get him out of the airline’s child-care center and bring him to the gate for his connecting flight, the Sun-Times is reporting.
And what was United Airlines’ response?
“He missed his flight — we put him on the next available flight,” Megan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for Chicago-based United, confirmed Monday.
“He missed his flight” – wow. Our trial lawyers feel that United Airlines has missed the point.
So, can the boy sue? Our Chicago Lawyers research this a little bit and found this story for some guidance:
Ark. woman’s lawsuit against airline dismissed
A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of an Arkansas woman’s lawsuit claiming she was illegally imprisoned on an American Airlines plane for 9 1/2 hours.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a federal judge that the airline’s conduct did not amount to false imprisonment as claimed in the lawsuit by Catherine Ray. She was among the passengers stranded on the tarmac in Austin, Texas, on Dec. 29, 2006 when the flight from Oakland, Calif., to Dallas was rerouted because of bad weather.
One could argue that being stuck on an airplane is far worse than being stuck at an airport. Interesting legal challenge to say the least.
Naked Cowboy Sues Naked Cowgirl
The “naked cowboy lawsuit”, as reported by the New York Post has even some of the best lawyers in Chicago shaking their heads.
Naked Cowboy Sues Naked Cowgirl
Hide ‘em, cowgirl!
The Naked Cowboy wants a judge to force the Naked Cowgirl to cover up.
The Times Square legend, whose real name is Robert John Burck, said comedian Sandy Kane has been stealing his schtick and hurting his rep.
His federal lawsuit says Kane not only dresses like the Naked Cowboy (he actually wears underwear, boots, guitar sling and a cowboy hat), but has stickers of him on her guitar, and has been falsely claiming that the CD she’s been hawking features a duet with him.
“This is not about money. Its about preserving the integrity of the brand,” said the cowboy’s lawyer, Joey Jackson.
Oh, of course it’s not about money, if that’s what you think. It’s about, uh artistic integrity, right?
Burck has his own website, and sells franchising opportunities for aspiring naked cowboys and cowgirls, but Kane hasn’t signed on with the program.
So she is not a franchisee, (read: he’s not making money on her back) so she is now infringing on his “brand’ – which consists of basically playing guitar in his underwear. Classic.
MADD Given “D” Rating From Watchdog Group
Our Chicago DUI Lawyers found this interesting news item this afternoon regarding the neo-prohibitionist group MADD.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving receives “D’” score – By Sheldon Dutes
GOOSE CREEK, SC (WCSC) – Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is in the hot seat after a dismal score from the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP). The AIP Charity Guide and Watchdog Report gave MADD a “D” rating on a A-F scale in its 2010 report.
According to AIP and the American Beverage Institute, MADD received its score because of poor fund raising and accusations that it doesn’t focus on victim services as much as it should.
Based on the AIP Charity Rating Guide, MADD got such a low score because of its poor fundraising and spending practices.
According to the American Beverage Institute, in 2008 MADD spent almost $30 million on salaries, leaving just a third of its budget, or $15 million, for charitable work and victim services.
So MADD is spending 2/3′s of its budget on salary? What’s MADD’s response?
In response to the downgraded rating from the AIP Watchdog Report, MADD’s national office released the following statement:
“Our focus on drunk driving, underage drinking and victim services is stronger than ever. While methodologies for determining efficiency differ, we are proud to invest more than three fourths of our funds in programs to support people and save lives and continue to streamline our efforts to be fiscally responsible. Like many, we’ve experienced challenging economic times. Although we have saved almost 300,000 lives and counting, the problem of underage drinking and drunk driving is far from solved. This simply means we need the public’s assistance now more than ever.”
“This simply means that we need more money”. Wow.
“No Signal” Traffic Stop Thrown Out
Great news for defense lawyers from Tennessee today. A ruling from the Tennessee Court of Criminal appeals states that a driver cannot be pulled over for failure to signal when that conduct did not affect any other driver. Even the best DUI Lawyers in Chicago have struggled with how to address this type of traffic stop, which can be so easily fabricated and almost impossible to defend.
Tennessee Court Rules Overturns Turn Signal Traffic Stop
The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday ruled that a driver cannot be pulled over for failure to signal when that conduct did not affect any other driver. The decision came down in the case of Antoinette Feaster, 37, who was stopped and arrested on August 15, 2007 around 11am. Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department Officer Travis Robinson had set up a speed trap on the median of Interstate 24 when he saw Feaster’s Chevrolet Tahoe traveling about 8 MPH below the speed limit and making a lane change without signaling. Feaster’s attorney quizzed Robinson on the stand at trial about his recollection of the incident.
ATTORNEY: Okay. And did you see any vehicle put on the brakes as a result of this lane change?
ROBINSON: There were several vehicles around. I can’t recall at this time.
ATTORNEY: Did you see any vehicle having to leave the road as a result of this lane change?
ROBINSON: I don’t recall any vehicles leaving the road, no, sir.
The three-judge panel considered, based on these facts, whether the stop was justified.
“We conclude that this testimony is insufficient to support a violation of section 55-8-143(a),” Judge David H. Welles wrote for the court. “It does not establish that the defendant maneuvered her vehicle in ‘close proximity’ to other vehicles such that those vehicles may have been affected by her lane change.”
Under Tennessee case law, the signal is required when “any other vehicle may be affected” by the lane change.
“We are mindful of the fact that section 55-8-143(a) does not require evidence that other vehicles actually were affected by a defendant’s turn or lane change; our precedents have considered such evidence important only because the fact of an actual effect on another vehicle necessarily establishes the possibility of that effect… To be sure, we can easily imagine a scenario in which a vehicle, traveling in a medium amount of traffic with other vehicles around it, changes lanes in a way that may affect other vehicles. This case simply lacks specific evidence that such an event actually occurred. In order to establish a violation of section 55-8-143(a), the evidence must show that a vehicle turned or changed lanes without signaling and that this failure to signal at least threatened to create a hazard involving other vehicles.”
With the traffic stop thrown out as invalid, the court suppressed the evidence obtained after a drug dog was brought in to search Feaster’s Tahoe. The dog found two bags containing 135.4 grams of cocaine in the vehicle. Feaster had been sentenced to eight years in jail.
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Police Trainee Driving On A Suspended License
Our Chicago Lawyers have written numerous posts regarding the double standard applied to the police versus the average citizen. Below is yet another example. This time it’s a police trainee caught driving on a suspended license.
Police Dept. Unaware Of Trainee’s Suspended License
SANFORD, Fla. — Eyewitness News discovered that a Sanford police officer trainee had a suspended driver’s license, and department officials didn’t know anything about it. It started with a phone call to the Eyewitness News newsroom on Thursday. A caller said Donald Flowers, a trainee with the Sanford Police Department, had a suspended license. When Eyewitness News reporter Blaine Tolison called department officials, he alerted them about the situation.
“It certainly was a surprise to me and it was a surprise to the supervisor,” said Sgt. Dave Morgenstern, with the Sanford Police Department. After the phone call, Flowers was pulled off of training. Applicants for the police department must have a valid driver’s license, according to the online application.
Officials say Flowers has roughly one week of training left, and he has not yet received his own patrol car. Department officials are looking into why his license is suspended.
Finding out why someone’s license is suspended takes all of 5 minutes. Of course, no punishment has been handed down to the trainee as of yet. Keep in mind that driving on a suspended / revoked driver’s license, Chicago and elsewhere, is punishable by jail times and heavy fines. Apparently that’s only if your not the police.
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Hurry Up & Convict – DUI Laws Not Fast Enough For Some
It never surprises our Chicago DUI Lawyers the extent people will go to destroy the basic Constitutional rights in the name of DUI enforcement. More proof of this “war on DUI” can be found in the following story from the Rapid City Journal, in South Dakota.
DUI clusters a challenge for justice system
When drivers rack up multiple DUIs in a short period of time, they get ahead of the legal system, which allows the worst violators to potentially avoid felony convictions.
State officials and anti-drunk driving activists agree more must be done to keep dangerous motorists off the road. But there are no easy solutions to these clusters of DUIs. Prosecutors say their hands are tied by the constitutional presumption of innocence.
This fraction of DUI cases is exacerbated by the vexing challenges of addiction, state law and the methodical nature of the legal system.
“Vexing challenge of State law….methodical nature of the legal system”? Really? Are we trying to follow the law and have respect for the Judicial system, or are we trying to ram DUI convictions through the system?
Clusters appear to be a more significant problem in Rapid City than in Sioux Falls, which has approximately three times as many people. Proportionately, Rapid City police arrest twice as many repeat offenders within 90 days of their initial DUI arrest.
Combating drunk driving has been a priority for law enforcement across the country and in South Dakota for many years. Public relations campaigns and regular checkpoints deliver the message that police are paying special attention to impaired drivers.
Rapid City has placed a huge emphasis on DUI enforcement.
“Every day and night, we are looking for the drunk driver,” Rapid City police chief Steve Allender said.
A running tally of drunken driving arrests is posted on a billboard to encourage public awareness and interest.
“Paying special attention”. “Huge emphasis on DUI enforcement”. “Running tally posted on a billboard”. “Every day and night we are looking for the drunk driver”. Honestly, does anyone believe that these arrests are on the up and up? Or is it more likely that the 4th Amendment (unreasonable search and seizure, remember that one?) is being trampled on. But wait, there’s more.
The issue with DUI clusters is a byproduct a fundamental right of the United States’ legal system. People are presumed innocent until proven guilty. That means they to keep their rights and privileges –- such as a driver’s license -– until a judge has a conviction as reason to take it away.
It can take months for a case to work through the courts from arrest to a guilty plea or verdict at trial. Many offenders go through a treatment program causing additional delay.
That gap allows repeat offenders –- particularly people with serious alcohol addictions –- time to be arrested again for drunk driving.
“This happens all the time,” Lila Doud, president of Pennington County Mothers Against Drunk Driving Chapter said. “We need to get them through the system faster.”
“Get them though the system faster” No word about protecting people’s Constitutional rights, fair hearings, or due process. Oh, that’s right – we’re talking about people alleged to have been drunk driving. They should not have any rights.
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Expunge Criminal Records – Chicago Attorney Advice
How do I expunge my record? This is a question often asked by many of our clients seeking to expunge criminal records. Chicago police keep arrest records on everyone – even if your case was ultimately dismissed. These records can and will be found in background checks by employers. In this economy, you cannot afford to lose a job opportunity due to a past mistake.
Why should you get your criminal record expunged?
Once your criminal record is expunged or sealed; 1) you can pass background checks, 2) you do not have to tell employers about your past criminal records, 3) it is illegal for employers to ask about expunged or sealed records.
What kinds of records can be expunged or sealed? Many records including; 1) Criminal damage to property, 2) Marijuana possession and other drug cases, 3) Retail theft and many others..
Our expungement lawyers have handled the sealing and expungement of criminal records for many clients. Let us help you. Contact us today and get started on clearing your record.
Man Dies After Chicago Motorcycle Accident
Once again, another tragic story involving a motorcycle accident. Our personal injury attorney, Chicago update:
Cicero man dies after motorcycle crash
SUN-TIMES
A man died Saturday afternoon following a motorcycle accident in west suburban Cicero.
Jessie Vesuntia, 22, died after a collision between a motorcycle and a fixed object at Cicero Avenue and 14th Street, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. Vesuntia was pronounced dead at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn at 2:55 p.m. Saturday, according to the medical examiner’s office.
An autopsy Sunday revealed that Vesuntia died from multiple injuries from the crash and the death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office.
A Cicero Police Department detective confirmed the department is investigating the crash, but declined to provide further details Saturday night.
Our Chicago personal injury attorneys have investigated hundreds of motorcycle accidents. Contact us if you have been injured in an accident. We’ll investigate your case, protect your rights, and make sure that you get the most value for your case.