What most prosecutors don't seem to understand or want to acknowledge is that breath testing in DUI cases can be extremely inaccurate. It has been scientifically proven that the Intoxilyzer machine has the following accuracy rates when it comes to reporting an alcohol content that corresponds(in approximates) to the actual concentration in a person's blood:
11-percent of the time the machine is accurate
44-percent of the time the machine underestimates the person's blood alcohol content
44-percent of the time the machine overestimates the person's blood alcohol content
How is it that a machine that is that prone to getting it wrong is used in the justice system in DUI cases? That is an excellent question and one that many jurisdictions are now seeking to remedy by providing blood tests instead of breath tests.
There is no good breath test machine. Breath testing for alcohol is a crude enterprise hardly worthy of the label "science." Until breath testing is eliminated or improved from its current state, there will be people wrongly accused and convicted of DUI, and there will be people wrongly exonerated of DUI.
Until organizations such as MADD and prosecutors offices open their eyes and demand a stop to this injustice, innocent people will face the ordeal of a DUI trial in courtrooms across the country daily.
I admin that I have not followed the latest OJ circus closely. But from the beginning I knew that he would be convicted. In high profile celebrity cases a defendant may get one free pass through the system, but it would be highly unusual to get two major passes. I can't think of a single example off the top of my head where an individual has twice stood trial for crimes that could result in a life-sentence, and twice been acquitted of all charges. Given Simpson's notoriety, the chances seemed even more remote, given that there is not one adult human being in the United States that isn't at least vaguely familiar with OJ's legal history.
His attorneys promise appeal. They promise a motion for a new trial. The chances are remote. I predict that Simpson will do at least 15 years in prison, maybe longer.
NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration publishes clues for nighttime driving behaviors that are indicative of DUI driving. They do so for both four-wheeled vehicles and motorcycles. Here are their clues for motorcycles:
In the past weeks it has come to my attention that DUI officers, especially in Phoenix and Scottsdale, may be charging extreme DUI in citations without evidence to back it up. Typically, a preliminary breath test result of .150 or greater is sufficient to allege extreme DUI. If the blood test result came back under .150, then the prosecutor's office would simply dismiss the charge.
On the other hand, if the preliminary breath test came back under .150, the officers would not charge extreme DUI. If the blood test result then showed a .150 or more, the prosecutor's office would file an additional count of extreme DUI to supplement the .08 and impaired charges already issued by the officer at the time of release after the arrest.
Now it seems that the officers are starting to charge extreme DUI even if they lack information to support it. If this is the case, it could signal a new practice that would simplify things for the prosecutor's office. It is much easier for the prosecutors to dismiss an wrongly charged count of extreme DUI than to add a legitimate count of extreme DUI later.
So if you are looking at your citation and it says "extreme DUI," but you don't remember the officer taking a hand-held breath test (and you took a blood test), don't despair. It may be that they overcharged you. If this is the case, the process will sort it out.
A word of warning. DO NOT plead guilty to extreme DUI without first consulting with a DUI lawyer. If you do, you will be stuck with it even if the evidence should have exonerated you.
The new set of Arizona DUI Laws went into effect today. While there are some other minor changes, the one that warrants your immediate attention is the consequences for an extreme DUI.
For anybody arrested today or later, if you are convicted of extreme DUI (.150 or greater alcohol concentration), you will be sentenced to 30 consecutive days in jail. No jail time can be suspended.
If you are convicted for a second offense in seven years for extreme DUI, then you will be sentenced to 120 consecutive days in jail, with no time suspended.
The super-extreme (.20 or greater) remain unchanged, at 45 days for a first offense, 180 days for a second offense.
Now more than ever it is extremely important to have legal representation. The average misdemeanor DUI case in Arizona now carries more jail time than many serious felonies.
During a routine DUI arrest, police charged a suspect with battery after he allegedly farted at the police station.
As a DUI lawyer, I talk with police officers nearly every day. Getting sworn at, spit on and much worse is part of the job, and it doesn't usually phase the professional and experienced officers.
The vast majority of my clients are involved in their defenses, and cooperate with my office 100% by providing us with all of the information we need about their DUI case in a timely manner. I try to set the ground-rules early on in the attorney-client relationship. If there is something that might affect your DUI case, I need to know about it now.
Don't hold anything back from your lawyer. What your attorney does not know can only hurt you. The consequences of not telling your DUI lawyer something can be grave. A bad or embarrassing fact, something you said or did in the past, is not a surprise best left for me in the late stages of your case.
I don't want to find out in the middle of your trial that you "tweeted" somebody from your cell phone (from the bar the night of your arrest) that you were wasted and that it's fun to drive that way (fictional example). I don't want the prosecutor to confront you with facebook or myspace entries and photos that prove your guilt while you are on the witness stand. I don't want to find out that you have prior convictions after we have signed a plea agreement that calls for you to avow that you have none (also a fictional example). In short, if there is something you know about your DUI case that I don't, and I am your lawyer, then something is very wrong.
Open communication between you and your DUI lawyer is one of the most important aspects of your defense.
I have jumped on the bandwagon and am now a "Twittering" DUI lawyer. My username is ArizonaDUILaw, and my twitter page is http://twitter.com/ArizonaDUILaw,
I have also added a twitter widget to this blog, and this post is supposed to make it to my twitter page as well. We will see what happens when I press "publish."
As you can probably gather, it was a slow day for DUI news, and no changes in DUI law to speak of.
September 26, 2008 - The new Arizona DUI laws go into effect. All persons convicted of extreme DUI (.150 or more) will have to serve a minimum of 30 consecutive days in jail. For arrests on or after 9/26/08, the Judge will no longer have any power to suspend any of the 30-day sentence.
The new set of Arizona DUI Laws went into effect today. While there are some other minor changes, the one that warrants your immediate attention is the consequences for an extreme DUI.
