San Diego DUI Lawyer Blog

The Office of Traffic Safety reports that in California almost 1,500 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes last year with more than 30,600 others injured

As a result of numbers such as these, state officials and local authorities are taking on extra DUI patrols and DUI checkpoints to make sure everyone either has a designated driver or remains sober when they get behind the wheel to drive this holiday season.

Police departments across California will conduct saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints around the holidays, officials announced several weeks ago. These extra patrols and checkpoints will be funded by the state.

During DUI saturation patrols, police will have additional officers on the streets looking specifically for drivers who appear to be driving while under the influence. This is strictly additional police force and won’t affect police’s response to routine calls.

Be aware, drivers, as police have not yet set a specific location or date for the next DUI checkpoint.

Driving Under the Influence in San Diego County

DUI checkpoints do work. Police are able to clamp down on drivers who should have called a cab and checkpoints can also serve as a deterrent to drivers who think twice about getting behind the wheel. In California, it is unlawful for any person under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive.

If you have 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged with driving under the influence or DUI if apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

Costa Mesa Police Plan Three DUI-Related Patrols, DailyPilot.com, December 7, 2008

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The Marine Corps will court-martial a sergeant major charged with drunk driving, unauthorized absence, making false official statements and violating general orders.

Sgt. Maj. Mark A. Kellison has been charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with one count of drunken or reckless operation of a vehicle; one count of unauthorized leave; two counts of making a false official statement; and four counts of violating orders or regulations, according to the court docket and charge sheet.

Kellison most recently served as the sergeant major for Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.

He is charged with driving under the influence with a government vehicle near Yuma, Arizona last July and missing a meeting of the Marine Corps Installations-West Marine/Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter and Meritorious Promotion Board convened at the Sonoran Pueblo Club at Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, according to the charge sheet.

He also drove at Miramar MCAS without a valid state driver’s license and drove government vehicles without a valid state driver’s license from March 3 to July 16. He also took his personal firearms in the government vehicle when he drove from San Diego to Yuma and used that same vehicle to get alcohol in order to get drunk.
Kellison also faces aggravated DUI charges in Yuma County, according to Yuma County Superior Court records.

A hearing was held December 16, 2008 at Miramar.

Driving Under the Influence in San Diego County

No matter who you are, military or otherwise, driving while drunk is prohibited in the state of California. As noted above, military personnel will be charged in county court as well as within the military courts. In California, it is unlawful for any person under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive.

If you have 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged with driving under the influence or DUI if apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

Corps to Court-Martial E-9 Charged with DUI, MarineCorpsTimes.com, December 20, 2008

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A Yuba City, California man was put into the hospital after a car accident last week, and now DUI charges may be pending.

Samuel Galaviz Jr., 35, suffered head and neck injuries in the single-car crash, reported the California Highway Patrol.

Galaviz was taken to a local medical center and later released, reported the hospital’s chief executive.

At around 5 in the morning on Monday, December 8, Galaviz was driving alone when his car missed a curve, veered over the shoulder and struck a dirt embankment. The car then tumbled over the embankment before landing in a ditch near the roadway. Galaviz was not wearing a seatbelt and suffered head and neck injuries, reported the CHP.

Police say they plan to pursue a DUI charge against the driver for alleged use of a prescription medication. Galaviz was not immediately booked at the local county jail because of his injuries.

Driving Under the Influence in San Diego County

Prescription medications often impair a person’s ability to drive safely. In California, it is unlawful for any person under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive.

If you have 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged with driving under the influence or DUI if apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

Crash May Lead to DUI Charge, Colusa Sun Herald, December 10 2008

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Three San Diego residents died in traffic accidents during the Thanksgiving weekend, a decrease from the same weekend in 2007, police report.

In San Diego county, California Highway Patrol officers arrested 119 motorists on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. This number is 18 less than last year.

Across the state of California, traffic accidents killed 32 people during Thanksgiving weekend, compared with 41 in 2007, and also across the state of California, the CHP made 1,530 DUI arrests, a decrease from 2007. This amount is 98 less than last year.

Fatality numbers reflect deaths reported by all law enforcement agencies in California, whereas the DUI arrests are those made only by CHP personnel.

Driving Under the Influence in San Diego County

Holidays are a time when people celebrate and enjoy a good time. However, it is easy to forget how much alcohol a person has consumed before getting behind the wheel. Stay safe and don’t drive if you’re at all unsure about your sobriety. In California, it is unlawful for any person under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive.

If you have 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged with driving under the influence or DUI if apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

Three Die in Thanksgiving Holiday Traffic Accidents, San Diego 6, December 1, 2008

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Sheriff’s deputies in Imperial Beach targeted drunk drivers with a DUI and driver’s license checkpoint last week in an effort called “Drunk Driving, Over the Limit, Under Arrest.” The checkpoint was at Ninth Street and Palm Avenue between 7 pm on December 16 until 2 am the morning of December 17.

The sheriff’s office promised that vehicles driven by those without a license or on a suspended license would be placed on a 30-day hold. Storage of a vehicle can cost up to $1,500 for that 30 days.

Other checkpoints are being planned for various areas in San Diego County throughout the holiday season. The checkpoints are funded by the Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Driving Under the Influence in San Diego County

DUI checkpoints do work. If you are caught in a DUI checkpoint, your arrest is the result of many trained professionals doing their jobs right. They want drivers who drink to stay off the roads. In California, it is unlawful for any person under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive.

If you have 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged with driving under the influence or DUI if apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

Drunken drivers targeted on Imperial Beach street, SignOnSanDiego.com, December 16, 2008

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For a family on a cross-country trip to visit grandparents last summer, the blissful vacation ended in tragedy after an unlicensed driver hit and killed 3-year-old Zachary Foster of El Cajon, California. Now, police report the driver was also driving under the influence of cocaine.

Kenneth D. Edwards, 41, was arrested shortly after the August 9, 2008 wreck in Fruitland Park, Florida and jailed on felony charges of vehicular manslaughter for leaving the scene of a crash involving a death and driving without a license.

The toxicology analysis concluded that traces of cocaine in Edwards’ blood at the time of the crash. Edwards plowed through a lawn and hit Zachary Foster while he played with toy cars in his grandparents’ corner lot front yard. Zachary’s parents, Amy and Charles Foster could only watch in horrified agony as Edwards struck Zachary with a borrowed car, got out of the car to look at the boy, and then quickly drove away. Edwards was arrested at a friend’s house about a mile away.

A habitual felony offender, Edwards was released from prison in October 2007 after a five-year stint for dealing cocaine.

Although the presence of cocaine in Edwards' blood does not actually prove he was under the influence of the drug, it could assist prosecutors as they pursue a DUI manslaughter charge, which carries tougher penalties than vehicular homicide.

Driving Under the Influence in San Diego County

Driving while under the influence of any substance can impair your ability to drive safely. In this case, the driver barreled across a front lawn and struck and killed a child at play. Vehicular manslaughter charges and DUI manslaughter charges carry much heavier sentences than a typical DUI. In California, it is unlawful for any person under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive.

If you have 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged with driving under the influence or DUI if apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

Kenneth D. Edwards Could Face DUI Charge in Crash that Killed Toddler, OrlandoSentinel.com, November 20, 2008

Suspect May Face DUI Manslaughter, DailyPress.com, November 20, 2008

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Law enforcement agencies in California, although maybe not yet in San Diego County, California are relying on a new piece of DUI enforcement equipment: handheld alcohol screening devices or alcohol-sensing devices.

Opponents of these new devices insist these tools used in DUI investigations violate drivers’ rights.

“The passive hidden alcohol sensor defies the rule and belief that preliminary alcohol screening tests administered via a portable device are voluntary for adults. Obviously, secret samples obtained from these devices are not dependent on your consent or voluntary participation,” reads a press release from SanDiegoDWI.com a year ago, which leads many to believe these devices are being used in San Diego County already, if not very soon.

Starting this weekend, DUI task forces from law enforcement agencies in many California counties begin holiday season enforcement. Participating members in the program will receive the new DUI enforcement equipment, including those hand-held alcohol screening devices or alcohol-sensing flashlights.

What are these flashlights? Called passive alcohol sensors, they work much like a normal flashlight and provide light for officers who have stopped someone for a traffic violation. However, the flashlight device can also sense alcohol. The sensor triggers a color-based measurement scale, which goes from red to green, based on the amount of alcohol it picks up.

"We've used them for a couple of years in Livermore," said Livermore police Lt. Mike Peretti. "They're relatively new to most agencies in the county, but some are starting to use them.

However, Michael Risher, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, said the tool may be violating people's rights.

Risher reminds us that the state's vehicle code requires a driver's permission to take a preliminary alcohol screening test when police suspect he or she may be intoxicated.

Driving Under the Influence in San Diego County

Flashlight alcohol-sensing devices may be a violation of a driver’s rights, but an arrest because of driving under the influence is not. In California, it is unlawful for any person under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive.

If you have 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged with driving under the influence or DUI if apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

DUI flashlights help Fight Drunken Driving -- But Are They Legal?, MercuryNews.com, December 11, 2008

Alcohol-Detecting Flashlight A New Tool To Fight Drunk Driving, KTVU.com, December 11, 2008

Police Take Covert Breath Samples to Detect DUI, PRLog.com, November 7, 2007

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The trial of Shannon Shimp, 35, of El Cajon, for a double DUI accident in July 22, 2008 will be considered in a hearing this month. Witness Tessa Medearis, 19, of Vista, testified about the summer day when the accused drunk driver’s car hit her boyfriend’s car in Ramona, California, killing him instantly.

“All of a sudden, I see this white flash and hear this screeching noise, and the next thing I know, I wake up, it's completely black, everything's gone wrong; there's a car on top of me,” Tessa Medearis testified in El Cajon Superior Court.

Shimp is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter.

Medearis' boyfriend, Ian Kinney, was killed, as well as Shimp’s passenger, Joseph Edwards, 52.

Shimp had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 nearly two hours after the crash and is also charged with drunken driving causing injury. The legal limit in California is 0.08.

Witnesses testify that Shimp was driving a white flatbed truck east on state Route 78 near Ramona about 6 pm. He then crossed into the westbound lane to pass three vehicles, lost control of the truck and skidded sideways into a westbound Lexus driven by Kinney. The Lexus was pinned under Shimp's truck.

Driving Under the Influence in San Diego County

The father of the victim Ian Kinney has stated publicly that choosing to operate a vehicle while under the influence makes any events that occur as a result of driving while under the influence not accidents. In California, it is unlawful for any person under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive.

If you have 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged with driving under the influence or DUI if apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

El Cajon Man To Stand Trial for Murder in DUI Fatalities, SignOnSanDiego.com, November 19, 2008

Suspect In DUI Double Fatal Pleads Not Guilty, 10News.com, July 25, 2008

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A teenager driving an SUV while drunk that crashed—the crash killed one of his passengers—back in April has pled guilty to two felony charges.

DUI driver Richard Caldwell, 19, faces punishment for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury. He may be sentenced to more than 12 years in prison at his January 20 hearing.

The group in the SUV was returning home from a party and Caldwell’s blood alcohol level was 0.12. The legal limit in California is 0.08. The SUV was driving down a residential street traveling at more than 70 mph when Caldwell lost control of the vehicle. The speed limit on that part of the road is 35 mph. The victim, 20-year-old Charles Elias Amaro II, was crushed to death in the back seat.

In last week’s hearing, Caldwell admitted that his conduct caused great bodily injury to two of passengers. Caldwell himself suffered a broken elbow and brain injury, and he is now deaf in his right ear.

The judge told Caldwell his case would normally result in prison, but told the defendant that he would consider his background and the victims' wishes before fashioning a fair sentence.

"I think it's going to be a very difficult sentencing hearing," the judge said.

Any future felony "strike" conviction could bring a third strike sentence of 25 years to life behind bars, the judge told the defendant.

Amaro, 20, who was crushed to death in the back seat, was scheduled to appear in court on the day of his death on an unrelated drunk-driving manslaughter accident that killed a 19-year-old Temecula woman and injured a second passenger.

Driving Under the Influence in San Diego County

This San Diego County DUI case is an all-too-real example of endangering one’s own life as well as the lives of friends by choosing to drive while intoxicated. In California, it is unlawful for any person under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive.

If you have 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged with driving under the influence or DUI if apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

Teen Pleads Guilty In Fatal DUI Crash, 10News.com, December 3, 2008

Valley Verde crash driver pleads guilty, Outside.In.com, December 6, 2008

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This holiday season the San Diego County Sheriff’s department is ready to combat drivers who drive while under the influence. They may be better prepared than ever. San Diego County sheriff’s department was just awarded a $1.1 million-dollar grant to increase DUI patrols and checkpoints.

Paid out over the next three years, the AVOID program grant will cover extra shifts for 760 deputies (6,000 extra hours), 32 additional DUI checkpoints, and 207 saturation patrols. All this aimed directly at drivers who may have had too much to drink.

Pat Hodgkin from Mothers Against Drunk Driving reports that drunk driving crashes kill two people every week in San Diego County on average. She hopes with this AVOID program grant, those numbers will change.

"Everybody is behind this. Everybody is very excited about this," Hodgkin said.

Corporal Jason King with the sheriff's department agrees. "Economically this is going to put extra officers and deputies out on the street to actively pursue DUI enforcement."

Sixteen separate police agencies will join for the program in cities in San Diego County, including Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Coronado, El Cajon, Escondido, La Mesa, National City, Oceanside and San Diego. The money will also provide beefed-up patrols for big drinking events through the year, including opening day at Del Mar racetrack, St. Patrick’s Day in downtown San Diego, and events at Qualcomm stadium.

The grant money goes into action this weekend, with seven DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols across the county.

Driving Under the Influence in San Diego County

A San Diego County DUI is expensive in 2008, with court costs, fines and fees, drivers arrested for DUI could be looking at a cost over $10,000. In California, it is unlawful for any person under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive.

If you have 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged with driving under the influence or DUI if apprehended. You could face a fine and jail time if convicted.

Sheriff's Department Lands Million-Dollar DUI Grant, CBS8.com, December 11, 2008

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