November 06

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Tags: 4th Amendment, Search & Seizure
Date: November 6, 2022
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- 154

Court Rules Cops May Stop and Frisk In Certain Situations

What Is An Unreasonable Search and Seizure? Mr. Terry was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon and sentenced to prison. Under Penal Code Section 1538.5, his defense attorney filed a motion to suppress evidence police found on Mr. Terry and his co-defendant. Penal Code Section 1538.5 “provi...

October 10

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Tags: Breath Testing, DUI
Date: October 10, 2022
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- 242

Breath Testing While Absorbing Alcohol Causes False Readings

Alcohol’s Path Through the Human Body After you drink alcohol, it enters your stomach and then your small intestine, where it enters your bloodstream and affects your brain and central nervous system. Your ability to drive is not affected by the alcohol your body has not yet absorbed. Because ...

October 09

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Tags: Speedy Trial
Date: October 9, 2022
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- 187

No Automatic Dismissal For Federal Speedy Trial Violation For 19-Month Delay In Misdemeanor DUI

What is a Speedy Trial? Keith Laroy Dews was arrested for DUI on January 29, 2011. Mr. Dews appeared in court on February 14, 2011. His case was “discharged by the district attorney pending further investigation.” After receiving a blood-alcohol-analysis report, the DA filed charges against Mr. ...

October 06

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Tags: Tinted Windows
Date: October 6, 2022
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- 235

Can You Get Pulled Over For Tinted Windows in California?

Are Tinted Windows Illegal In California? Is it legal for an officer to stop you for tinted windows and then arrest you for DUI? Yes. But, in court, the officer has to say more than just that he just saw tinted windows. As the cases below show, the officer also needs to have significant experience [...

September 23

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Tags: DMV Hearings, Under 21 DUI
Date: September 23, 2022
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- 221

17-Year-Old Loses DMV Hearing But Gets License Back On Appeal

17-year-old Erik Taylor was driving two friends home from a school dance in his Toyota pickup truck. As Officer Hohmann’s car passed by Taylor’s truck, “someone inside [Taylor’s] vehicle yelled loudly, and [Taylor’s] vehicle cut sharply behind Hohmann” as Taylor m...

September 20

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Date: September 20, 2022
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- 266

If Cops Have Probable Cause Car Contains Unlawful Amount of Marijuana, Cops Can Search Car Without Warrant

The automobile exception to the warrant requirement authorized a police officer to search a backpack, left in a friend’s car because the officer had probable cause to believe the car contained an unlawful amount of marijuana. Because the officer had probable cause to search the car for an unla...

August 31

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Date: August 31, 2022
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- 331

California DUI Statistics

This latest report by the California DUI Management Information System presents information and statistics on DUI arrests, convictions, postconviction sanctions, driver license suspension/revocation actions, and on drivers in alcohol-or drug-involved crashes. ⇒ Alcohol-involved crash fatalitie...

August 26

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Tags: Marijuana, Probable cause, Search & Seizure
Date: August 26, 2022
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- 313

Smell of Marijuana and Marijuana in Car Not Probable Cause To Search Car

Is the smell of marijuana and a driver telling the police officer that he has marijuana in the car enough to justify the search of the car? Officer Jones was on “specialized DUI patrol.” She testified at the hearing to suppress the evidence that she saw Mr. Shumake driving with no front licens...

August 22

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Tags: DMV
Date: August 22, 2022
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- 320

Court Rules DMV Violates Drivers’ Rights

In 2014, the California DUI Lawyers Association (CDLA) sued the DMV, claiming the system used by the DMV for DMV hearings is unfair and unconstitutional. The DMV uses the ‘administrative per se’ or ‘APS’ system to suspend driving privileges following a DUI arrest. When a driver is arrested f...

August 18

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Tags: Field Sobriety Tests, HGN
Date: August 18, 2022
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- 297

Supreme Court Sends DUI Case Back to Orange County Court

Police stopped William Leahy for driving 55 in a 25-mile-per-hour zone. According to the officer, “Leahy’s face was flushed, his eyes were red and watery, his speech was slurred, his balance was unsteady, and he exuded the odor of alcohol.” HGN EYE TEST “Leahy took the HGN test. &#...

August 11

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Tags: Retrograde Extrapolation
Date: August 11, 2022
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- 300

Dismissed DUI Reinstated After Prosecutor Appeals Exclusion of Retrograde Extrapolation Evidence

Q: How likely is it to be convicted of a DUI when your blood alcohol content is below the legal limit? Q: Can you still get a DUI with a BAC below 0.08%? Benjamin F. Warlick got into a traffic accident and California Highway Patrol Officer Chris Jensen came to investigate. Mr. Warlick told the [&hel...

August 07

Posted By: Richard Wagner
Posted In: Sidebar
Date: August 7, 2022
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- 212

Judge Committed Multiple Errors Related to Expert Witness Testimony

A Monterey County jury convicted Brad Azcona of two premeditated murders, two attempted murders, three assaults with a deadly weapon, negligently discharging and possessing a firearm, and attempted robbery. The jury also found true the special circumstance allegation that Mr. Azcona committed multip...