Virginia DUI Lawyer
DUI DUIrony
Smoking Bans in Bars Might Lead to More DUI Arrests
Category: DUI DUIrony
Virginia lawmakers may someday learn their efforts to taper one vice in public could lead to an increase in another - driving under the influence.
A recent study published in the Journal of Public Economics -- "Drunk driving after the passage of smoking bans in bars" - hints at an association between smoking and excessive drinking.
In addition, The Economist reports smoking bans have shown a correlation with an increase in DUI-related auto accidents. Supposedly, smokers will travel farther to bars which permit smoking. In turn, this leads to more DUI incidents since smokers have longer distances to drive home.
Scott Adams, PhD, assistant professor of the Economics Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Chad Cotti, PhD, assistant clinical professor at the Department of Economics - Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina researched for two years and found smoking bans increased alcohol-related fatalities by 13% in a county of 680,000 people. That increase amounts to 2.5 fatal accidents and 6 deaths. Cotti found 90 percent of alcoholics smoke, they drink more if they can't smoke and smoking slows down alcohol's effect of on the body. Their study analyzed data in 2,400 counties, 100 of which had smoking bans
This data wasn't derived from behavior following recent smoking bans in bars across the country. Adams and Cotti found DUI-related fatalities rose 19% in venues where bans had been instituted for at least 18 months.
Adams and Cotti also found when one geographic location installed a smoking ban in bars, DUI-related accidents increased in neighboring locations. For instance, DUI-related accidents in Delaware County, Pennsylvania increased by 26% after neighboring Delaware implemented a smoking ban in 2002. After a ban went into place in Boulder County, Colorado, fatal accidents involving DUI cases rose by 40% in nearby Jefferson County.
Ohio Police Officer Charged With Reckless Driving and DUI After Crashing Into Own Department
Category: DUI DUIrony
Here's another one for the "do as I say, not as I do" category:
Ohio's WKYC reported that a police officer in Parma Heights, Ohio has been charged with drunk driving after he crashed into his own police department's building.
According to court records, at 5:30 a.m. on December 8, Sgt. Jeff Krepina of the Parma Heights Police Department crashed his truck into the front of the police department's building. While he was driving, the truck jumped a curb and went towards the doors of the building. The truck apparently struck the building with some force, as witnesses inside the building described it as sounding like someone slamming a door.
The impact caused pieces of sandstone to be knocked from the outside of the building and smashed the fender, bumper, and grill of Krepina's truck.
According to the crash report, Krepina's blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit, at 0.15. He was charged with reckless driving and driving under the influence.
The previous night, Krepina was working special duty at Knockouts, a sports bar. According to police records, after work he drank at least three shots and had been using the drug Ambien, a sleep aid.
Pennsylvania Officer Charged With DUI
Category: DUI DUIrony
The Morning Call reports that a police officer from Freemansburg, Pennsylvania is to face charges of drunken driving in the court of Northampton Count, Pennsylvania. On Monday, March 3, 32-year-old Kevin Kovalovsky, waived his right to preliminary hearing before District Judge Adrianne Masut.
According to Pennsylvania state police, when he was found on December 15 in Bushkill Township, stopped on the side of the road, Kovalovsky's blood-alcohol content was over three times the legal limit. Borough officials said last month that Kovalovsky had been given a 25-day suspension without pay.
Police said that Kovalovsky, a native of Bethlehem Township, is facing two counts of drunken driving. Court documents say that his blood-alcohol content was 0.277 percent.
On the day of the incident, Kovalovsky was found shortly after 2:30 a.m. alone in his car by police. He told a state trooper that he had hit a parked car and police said that there was front-end damage on his car. He was charged with hitting a parked car and leaving the scene hours before being found by state police.
Seattle's King County Climbs Aboard "Bust the Breathalyzer" Bandwagon
Category: DUI DUIrony
In Seattle's King County last week, district court judges ruled due to excessive "ethical lapses" and errors from the state toxicology lab, breath tests should not be admitted as evidence in court. Similar judicial rulings have been made in Spokane and Snohomish counties, according to the web site, dui-defender.net.
State's Toxicology Lab Losing Credibility
The lab's credibility came into question when the manager of the Washington State Toxicology Lab resigned in the summer of 2007. The manager was accused of lying about checking the lab's breath-test solutions to ensure accuracy. To that end, DUI attorneys in the state are questioning the ethics of the Washington State Patrol's Toxicology Lab.
Basically, it's all in the details and DUI defense attorneys in Washington State can thank its Supreme Court for checking.
State Supreme Court Weighs In
The state's high court recently voted unanimously to outlaw breath-test machine results as evidence in court if those devices haven't been calibrated correctly so as to reduce inaccurate readings.
The State University of New York at Potsdam Sociology Department reported that the machine's thermometers -- which must be functional to record accurate readings -- weren't properly maintained and that led to false readings in breath test results. The site said to reduce this problem, Washington state officials set regulation standards that required periodic checks of the machines' thermometers. Apparently that hasn't been done for years.
One Washington State prosecutor even admitted, "the rules have become our own worst enemy."
Administrator Loses Influence after Drunk-Driving Arrest
Category: DUI DUIrony
One Florida DUI offender program calls its curriculum "comprehensive" and it isn't kidding.
Margot Cioffi, executive director of the Comprehensive Offender Rehabilitation and Education (CORE) program in Palm City, was suspended without pay after she received a DUI herself, according to dave'sdaily.com.
The nonprofit agency serves 5,000 clients per year in Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties, providing educational services to people on probation for DUI and other misdemeanors, according to TCpalm.com.
"I feel bad for Peggy because this is very out of character for her," said State Attorney Bruce Colton, the president of CORE's board of directors. "It's bad for her and it's bad for the public perception of the program. She's brought this program from nothing to a very comprehensive program," he said.
Cioffi faces charges of DUI with property damage, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, resisting arrest without violence and disorderly intoxication. She is out of jail on bond.
She recorded a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.336. The legal driving limit in Florida is 0.08 percent. Cioffi has been CORE's executive director since 1989 and previously worked as an instructor, the TCpalm.com reported.
Federal Judge Benched after "DUI-Dress" Debacle
Category: DUI DUIrony
It has been said that the difference between God and a federal judge is that God doesn't think he is a federal judge! For at least one federal bankruptcy judge, the problem seems to be that he liked to think he is a woman. The man with the black robe also had a "little black dress" tucked away in his closet.
Federal judge Robert Somma resigned after being arrested on drunk driving charges when he rear-ended a pickup truck with his Mercedes-Benz February 6 in Newbury, Mass. Neither the judge or the truck driver sustained injury. Offucials believe Somma drove from his home in Boston to New Hampshire since no one knew him in that state.
Case of Missing Identity
But that wasn't all she wrote.
When officers approached the vehicle, they witnessed "hizzoner" powdering his nose while gussied up in a black cocktail dress, fishnet hose and high heels but holding no gavel. The "chamber maiden" kept officers waiting while he fumbled through his purse, pushing aside the lipstick and mascara to find his official picture - the one without the makeup - on his driver's license.
Authorities would not say if there was a precedent in this case. No state "penal code" forbids a man to wear a dress in New England. You just can't be drunk and ram another vehicle in the process.
Was this "honorable" behavior? Apparently the judge-gone-wild didn't think so.
Appointed to the bench by President Bush in 2004, Somma placed himself on immediate leave. The First District Bankruptcy Court announced he will resign on April Fool's Day. That would be April 1, 2008, according to The Daily Press of Newburyport. Mass.
Before trying to drive himself home that night, Somma danced the night away at the Breezeway Pub, known as New Hampshire's "favorite gay and alternative bar," according to the Manchester Union Leader.
Prestigious 31-Year Career Tossed Aside
The judge accepted a plea deal and was given a 12-month driver's license suspension, which could be reduced to six months upon completion of an alcohol awareness program. He paid $600 in fines and penalties but was allowed to keep his party dress and cosmetic accessories.
Gary Wente, the chief administrator of the U.S. First Circuit Courts, said Somma faced no disciplinary action for the incident." We are greatly disappointed at losing him as a judge," he said. "He was a first-class lawyer, a first-class judge and a quality human being." The First Circuit courts comprise Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico.
Before being named judge, Somma had specialized in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency in private practice for 27 years and served as special assistant attorney general for bankruptcy matters in Massachusetts for 10 years. He taught at Boston University and is a fellow of the American Bankruptcy Institute and the American College of bankruptcy.
Drunk Driver Collides With Daughter of John Edwards in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Category: DUI DUIrony
As if things weren't going badly enough for Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, there was more bad news last weekend, this time, on the home front.
On January 11, his oldest daughter, Cate, was struck from behind in her vehicle by an alleged drunk driver in Chapel Hill, N.C. She suffered no injuries but her Ford sedan sustained $2,000 in damage from the rear-end hit, according to ABC News.
"I talked to Cate," Edwards said from Michigan, where he was campaigning in the Michigan primary. "She was hit from behind, I think, by a drunk driver... I don't know much more beyond than that, but she's doing fine."
The Edwards Lost a Son in a Vehicle Accident in 1996
Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth lost their son, Wade in a 1996 accident when strong winds swept his vehicle off a North Carolina highway. Weeks before the accident, Wade was honored by then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for an essay he wrote on entering the voting booth with his father.
ABC affiliate WTVD in Raleigh Durham reported the car Cate was driving was struck as she approached a red light. The station said Chapel Hill Police charged 45-year-old Carol Small with driving while intoxicated.
Edwards is a former U.S. Senator from North Carolina who sponsored over 200 bills while serving in the U.S. Senate, according to Wikipedia. His family is based in Chapel Hill. Following the New Hampshire primary in early January, Cate, 25, returned home to North Carolina. She is a Harvard Law School student but campaigned for her father in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Courts Get "Leg Up" on DUI Convicts with SCRAM Ankle Monitor
Category: DUI DUIrony
New Year's 2008 may be the first alcohol-free celebration ever for "Sheree," a 27-year-old recovering alcoholic living in Las Vegas.
The Nevada resident sustained a second DUI in 2006 and is fortunate to be living after her blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) reading of .35. "It was very, very high," she said. "I was close to comatose," Sheree told KLAS-TV, the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas.
Now, there's no way she will drink without being arrested. Reason is, she's wearing an ankle monitor known as Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM). It is shackled to the ankle of DUI offenders as determined in sentencing by the courts.
Developed and trademarked by Alcohol Monitoring Systems (AMS), BAC readings from SCRAM are transmitted to a company data base 24 hours a day. Since 2003, courts in 43 states have administered the SCRAM device within sentencing guidelines. Thrity-two thousand offenders currently wear the device. It remains the only commercially available continuous transdermal alcohol monitoring technology, according to the AMS web site.
In Sheree's case, the judge gave her a choice -- six months in jail or wear the ankle monitor. "It's a visual reminder every day," said Sheree, who opted for the monitor after a night in jail. "It's a little vibration every hour," she said. "I know that if I drink, I'll go back to jail."
Monitor Removes "Dependance" from Equation
The ankle monitor sends "tele-reports" through a modem in her telephone line to an AMS computer. The device measures the BAC in bodily perspiration. The SCRAM sweat sensors determine if a person has sipped alcohol and will immediately inform local police and the court.
Sheree is approaching her one-year abstinence anniversary. She's worn SCRAM for three weeks and is taking no chances. "The bracelet is letting the court know I'm sober," she said.
Sixty-six DUI defendants in Clark County, Nevada have been required to wear SCRAM, which costs $100 to rent and $12 a day. In Las Vegas, the compliance rate is high according to KLAS but the station reported some offenders tampered with the device. However, AMS says offenders are always caught.
"Every hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, SCRAM takes readings," said Aaron Fleisher, AMS spokesman.
Former Head of New Jersey MADD Chapter charged with stealing $150K from MADD
Category: DUI DUIrony
Just when you thought my post about an actor named Rip Torn being charged with a DUI was going to win top spot for this month's DUIrony category, along comes the indictment of a former New Jersey police chief and head of the state's Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) chapter for allegedly embezzling $150,000 from MADD.
New Jersey State Attorney General Stuart Rabiner alleges that Clayton police chief Frank Winters, 60, and his wife Bernice, 56, created a company called "Holiday House" that received $150,000 to produce promotional items for MADD. The promised key chains, pens and other promotional items were never produced, but, according to the indictment, the funds ended up in a bank account belonging to the couple.
In addition to being police chief for the borough of Clayton, Frank Winters was a Newfield borough councilman, former chairman of MADD-New Jersey and a member of the national board of directors for MADD. According to the charges filed, the funds that they allegedly embezzled were used to pay off their own credit card bills and cover other personal expenses between July 2001 in March 2004.
"The alleged scheme is shocking on a number of levels," Attorney General Rabner said in a statement."The head of any police agency bears even greater responsibility to uphold the public trust than his or her sworn members. It's rare but tragic when someone in this position lets the public down in such a profound way," New Jersey State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes said.
This is not the first reported case of financial mismanagement at MADD. The Toronto Star reported in December that MADD Canada spent 81% of donations on telemarketing and fundraising with only 19% going toward projects related to the group stated mission. The group's website had previously claimed 83.6% of donations went directly to its programs. After the Toronto Star story, the 83.6 % claim was removed from MADD Canada's website.
Actor Rip Torn takes DUI case to non-jury trial in New York
Category: DUI DUIrony
Today's winner in the DUI DUIrony category, in the name that sounds most appropriate for a DUI defendant, actor Rip Torn is requesting a nonjury trial on his DUI charge in North Salem, New York. Torn, 76 was charged with DUI in December 2006 after a car crash in North Salem, about 60 miles north of New York City. Torn's vehicle struck a tractor. He refused sobriety tests at the scene.
Torn has replaced his attorney, Adam Levy, son of "Judge Judy," and hired a new lawyer. Levy successfully defended Torn in a 2004 DUI charge in New York City convincing a jury to acquit Torn on his DUI charge.
To add irony to irony, Torn won an Emmy Award in 1996 for playing the hard-drinking producer on the TV show "The Larry Sanders Show."
Annual DUI DUIrony Award- And the Winner Is...
Category: DUI DUIrony
In honor of last night's Academy Awards, Bob Battle presents his "DUIrony Awards," those DUI cases you read about that would illicit a resounding "Doh!" from Homer Simpson. (Speaking of irony, isn't it ironic that Alanis Morissette's song "Ironic" shows that she does not know the difference between irony and "bummers?")
The winner is Madison, Wisconsin lawyer Rick Petri. Petri, who once prosecuted drunken drivers for the Madison attorney's office, was arrested by Madison police for DUI after he went to the station to pick up a client who had been arrested for DUI! Petri's client blew a .08 on the breath test while Petri blew a .09. To read more about this case, click here.