California DUI Checkpoints 4th of July Weekend 2011

Here’s what we know so far about the upcoming California DUI checkpoints for this 4th of July 2011 holiday weekend. You can always call the local law enforcement agency a couple of hours prior to the sobriety checkpoint’s start time to find out more information.

Even if there isn’t a scheduled DUI roadblock in your area, know that the California Highway Patrol and your local sheriff and police agencies will be participating in increased DUI saturation patrols throughout the state.

Friday, July 1st
The Salinas Police Department will operate a DUI / driver’s license checkpoint Friday night in an undisclosed location within the city of Salinas.

The Riverside Police Department will conduct a drunk driving / driver’s license roadblock from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. in the City of Riverside.

The Los Angeles Police Department will be operating two sobriety checkpoints: one from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. in LAPD’s Devonshire Area on Reseda Boulevard at Nordhoff Street and the other from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. in LAPD’s North Hollywood Area on Lankershim Boulevard at Cumpston Street.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Risk Management Bureau’s Traffic Services Detail, will be conducting a DUI / DL checkpoint from 6 p.m. until approximately 2 a.m. at an undisclosed location in the City of Lancaster.

The Santa Monica Police Department will be conducting a sobriety / driver’s license checkpoint at an undisclosed location within the city of Santa Monica.

The Redlands Police Department will operate a DUI / driver’s license roadblock in the eastbound lanes of Redlands Boulevard, between Sixth and Eighth streets from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m.

Saturday, July 2nd
The Blythe Police Department will conduct a DUI checkpoint from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the City of Blythe.

The LAPD will operate a sobriety checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. in LAPD’s Southwest Area on Figueroa Street at 40th Place.

The Thousand Oaks Police Department will set up a DUI and driver's license checkpoint at an undisclosed location from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Sunday, July 3rd
Although we couldn’t find any actual DUI / driver’s license checkpoints set up for Sunday, July 3, 2011, there are going to be DUI saturation and roving patrols throughout the state.

Monday, July 4th
The LAPD will be operating a sobriety checkpoint from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. in LAPD’s West Los Angeles Area on Pacific Coast Highway at Temescal Canyon Road.

Be safe and have a great holiday weekend!

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Miss USA 2010 Arrested for Drunk Driving

By guest-writer

According to the tireless celebrity watchdogs at TMZ, the 2010 winner of the Miss USA pageant was recently arrested for a DUI, which added an exclamation point to a scandal-ridden year for the beauty queen, Rima Fakih.

Sources indicate the Fakih was arrested last week in Highland Park, Michigan when the police suspected her of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Despite the official police report, and the fact that criminal arrests are part of the public record, Fakih bizarrely denied the initial report. This weekend, she tweeted, “let’s clear things up now… I’m NOT in Michigan and I’m NOT in jail! Wrong Fakih.”

Alas, cooler heads eventually prevailed, as her DUI attorney later told the Detroit Free-Press that his famous client was, in fact, the Rima Fakih who had been arrested for a DUI in Highland Park, Michigan.

Since her attorney admitted that she had been arrested for a DUI, Fakih removed the false tweet from her Twitter account and expressed remorse, through her attorney, for the “situation that she is in right now.”

The alleged DUI incident adds another scandal to an increasingly large list of public transgressions for the Miss USA winner.

Sources indicate that Fakih was exposed as a former stripper by a Michigan radio show just one day after she won the 2010 Miss USA contest.

While the news that she had been a pole dancer didn’t immediately disqualify her from serving as Miss USA, the image-conscious competition certainly lamented the fact that there were pictures floating around the Internet of the contest winner engaging in pole-dancing competitions.

In addition to the rumors and innuendos surrounding her past career, Fakih was also targeted by critics for allegedly partying too much after she won the Miss USA crown.

While Fakih now faces real legal trouble, which is potentially more damaging than rumors about partying and dancing, she entered the Miss USA pageant as a hero to many young girls, particularly those of Arab descent.

Sources indicate that Fakih was probably the first woman of Muslim and Arab descent to win the Miss USA competition. Fakih’s family had immigrated from to the United States from Lebanon when she was a baby and eventually settled in Michigan.

Even more interestingly, Fakih’s family celebrates both the Muslim and Christian faiths, which made her a particularly appealing candidate in the Miss USA contest.

Fakih was also the first Miss Michigan to win the competition since 1993. After she was crowned Miss USA, she participated in the Miss Universe contest but did not win.

Needless to say, Fakih has seen better days, but her DUI arrest does not necessarily mean that she will have to lose her car. Punishment for first-time offenders often involves some jail time, fines, or the possibility of a temporarily suspended license.

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Coercing Breath Tests With Threats of Pain

I’ve written in the past about the growing practice of forcibly taking blood from a drunk driving suspect, sometimes done by a cop in the field.  See, for example, Taking Blood by Force, Forced Blood Draws by Cops: Constitutional?, Forced Blood Draws by Cops Spreading, Blood Draws in the Back Seat by the Dashboard Light and Forced Blood Draws: Citizen Backlash?.   

Here’s a new tactic: threaten the suspect with strapping him down and painfully jabbing a needle into him (however many times it takes to get a blood sample)…unless he agrees to "voluntarily" take a breath test.

Texas Blood Test Aims at Drunk Drivers

Wall Street Journal, Dec. 11 —  Texans arrested for drunken driving should be prepared to give blood this holiday season.

Cities and counties across the state are increasingly demanding that drunken-driving suspects who refuse to take breathalyzer tests submit to blood tests that measure the amount of alcohol in their systems.

The blood-test policy—dubbed "no refusal" by law-enforcement officials, because it prevents drivers from refusing to provide evidence of intoxication—has grown from a novel procedure used in a few Texas jurisdictions to an initiative used by police statewide, particularly during weekends and holidays when drunken driving is most common. The no-refusal initiative has also caught on in other states, including Florida, Illinois, Louisiana and Missouri…

Texas courts have uniformly upheld the constitutionality of mandatory blood testing, attorneys said. But criminal-defense lawyers say such mandatory tests trample suspects’ rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. "It’s an erosion of civil liberties," said Austin defense lawyer Samuel Bassett. "If we can poke people involuntarily for evidence, where do we draw the line?"…

Police are empowered to strap a suspect to a chair, if necessary, to obtain a blood sample. That allows blood to be drawn quickly—a key benefit to prosecutors because blood-alcohol concentrations dissipate over time…

In El Paso, police find that the policy actually encourages people to submit to breath tests. "We give people the option of blowing into a tube or getting poked with a needle," said Lt. Rod Liston. "People increasingly are going with the less painful option."…

Hmmm…Threatening to "poke" a suspect with a needle actually "encourages" him to submit to a breath test?  What a surprise!  But I guess this wouldn’t be "torture" using the Attorney General’s definition requiring organ failure.

So:  "Submit to a breath test…or we’ll strap you into a chair and jam needles into you."   Welcome to the War on Terrorism…I mean, Drunk Driving.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 12th, 2011 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Duiblog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Why You Should Fight Your California “Driving Under the Influence of Drugs” Charge

As is most often the case with a holiday weekend, California law enforcement officers stepped up their patrols this past weekend. Not only were they operating a number of DUI / driver’s license checkpoints but they were also engaging in roving DUI saturation patrols. If you were unfortunate enough to be arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, here are a few reasons why you should definitely fight the charge.

First, because of the fact that it was a holiday weekend, officers were expecting drivers to be under the influence. This inherent bias can easily lead to incomplete or shoddy investigations…investigations that lead to an illegal or hasty arrest. We will highlight the officer’s bias to prove that…in the officer’s eyes…you were guilty from the word go.

Second, unlike a DUI involving alcohol…where the jury typically sees a blood alcohol reading…allegations of driving under the influence of drugs “DUID” are often more difficult to prove. Even if there was a blood test that revealed drugs in your system, that doesn’t mean that you were under their influence at the time of driving. We know the most persuasive arguments to convince prosecutors, jurors and judges that innocent explanations such as fatigue, anxiety or illness could have been responsible for your alleged impairment.

Third, even if it appears that you were guilty of the offense, if we can present proof that the collection, storage or analysis of your blood test was improper, the prosecutor will likely reduce or even dismiss your charges.

These are just a brief sample of why it is important to fight a California “driving under the influence of drugs” charge. The fact is that there are countless other defenses that…depending on the specific facts of your case…may also be applicable. Don’t assume that just because you were arrested for DUI means that you must be convicted of DUI because it just isn’t the case.

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New Jersey enacts new winter weather safety law.

We understand that you may have just been involved in a Pennsylvania or New Jersey car accident and are looking for information OR it may be weeks since your auto accident and you may be looking for a great injury attorney to help you. Our goal with this car accident injury website is to provide you with important car accident claim information and educate you about the auto accident claims process. In some cases, you may NOT NEED a PA or NJ car accident attorney and in other cases an auto accident lawyer it is highly recommended.
The hours and days after an auto accident in PA and NJ are absolutely critical. Unfortunately for the inexperienced car accident victim, auto insurance companies do their best to take advantage of you and get the upper hand so they can aggressively defend your injury claim and pay you as little as possible. During this time, people injured in auto accidents often make major mistakes such as:
Speaking with the other driver's auto insurance companySigning Releases with the other driver's auto insurance company Failing to secure valuable evidence Failing to take photos of the vehicle damage and scene of the accidentFailing to obtain witness assistanceFailing to get proper medical treatment
In his career long effort to help protect innocent car accident victims from the unfair tactics of auto insurance companies, NJ and PA injury lawyer, Michael L. Saile, Jr., wrote the book titled:
"How to Maximize Your Auto Insurance Case
Before an Insurance Company Takes Advantage of You"
If and when you decide that you need the assistance of a PA or NJ auto accident attorney, contact us to see if you qualify for us to accept you as a client. If you meet our case acceptance guidelines, we offer experienced, attentive, aggressive, high quality legal representation of auto accident claims throughout the Philadelphia Area, including Bucks County, PA and Mercer County, NJ.
We all like to think that our Pennsylvania and New Jersey roads are safe. As responsible drivers we stay focused on the road, obey all traffic laws, and remain aware of last-minute adjustments that might be needed. However, not all drivers operate this way. Unfortunately, many Pennsylvania & New Jersey drivers are speeding, distracted, or just plain negligent on our roads.
These negligent drivers cause serious NJ & PA car accidents. There are more than 6 million auto accidents each year in the United States, and 40,000 people die in these accidents. Someone is injured in a car accident every 14 seconds in the U.S., and over 25% of drivers will be in some accident in their lifetime.
Unfortunately, dangerous New Jersey & Pennsylvania car accidents are a reality we all have to live with.
There are many possible causes for car accidents. Bad road conditions may cause a rear end collision; failure to yield the right-of-way may cause a side impact collision, or 'T-bone' accident; excessive speeding can cause one-car accidents when drivers swerve off the road; distracted driving can cause needless pedestrian or bicycle accidents; and perhaps worst of all, drunk driving can cause serious head on collisions.
These types of car accidents can result in many different types of injuries. Car crash victims can suffer dislocations, sprains, and broken bones in their ankles, knees, hips, shoulders and limbs. Car accident victims can also suffer back and neck injuries that lead to lifetime pain and disability. Brain and head injuries are also common, which can be fatal.
Simply stated, negligent drivers cause car accidents that seriously injure their victims, leading to extensive treatment or even loss of life.
When victims of these injuries undergo extensive medical treatment and the ongoing physical, mental and emotional therapy needed to recover from their accidents, they incur significant costs. Some of these bills are in the tens or hundreds of thousands, all because they were hit and injured by a negligent driver.
According to New Jersey and Pennsylvania law, victims of car accidents have a right to file a personal injury claim, getting fair compensation for their medical bills, missed time at work, and emotional suffering related to the accident. This gives them an opportunity to get their life back to where it was before the traumatic event.
However, even though it is the victim's right to recover damages from a car accident, the insurance companies don't always see it that way. Insurance adjusters will use every trick in their bag to stall, derail, or just delay paying out your car accident claim. Their goal is to make money -- making you settle for less than you deserve -- rather than pay money.
Just because you have been the victim of a car accident, doesn't mean the insurance companies will pay you what you deserve.
At Saile & Saile LLP, we know all the tricks and tactics that the insurance companies use. We stand up for our client's rights, fighting in a court of law to earn them the full amount of compensation they deserve. The Pennsylvania & New Jersey car accident victims we represent keep their dignity throughout the process.
If you, or a loved one, have been injured in a PA & NJ auto accident, it is very important that you contact a Philadelphia car accident attorney. An experienced accident lawyer can guide you through the personal injury claim process, ensuring you make none of the critical mistakes that the insurance companies pounce on.
In some cases, it is very risky to proceed in a New Jersey & Pennsylvania car accident injury case without the help of an attorney! Call Saile & Saile LLP today!
Contact the experienced and aggressive PA & NJ car accident attorneys at Saile & Saile LLP today, for first-class representation in Bucks County and beyond. You can reach our Langhorne, PA office toll free at (800) 860-5801
We at Saile & Saile LLP represent injured individuals throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, specifically focusing on the following areas throughout the greater Philadelphia area and Delaware Valley including: Bucks County, Mercer County, Philadelphia, Trenton, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Chester County, Burlington County, Hunterdon County, Middlesex County, Camden County, Gloucester County, and North East Philly.  In Bucks County we represent clients in Bensalem, Bristol, Levittown, Langhorne, Morrisville, Trevose, Feasterville, Warmister, Warrington, Buckingham, Yardley, New Hope, Doylestown, Chalfont, Sellersville, Reigelsville, Upper Bucks County, and Quakertown.  Other areas include: Ewing, NJ, Hopewell, Lawrenceville, Hamilton, and West Trenton. Other areas: Montgomeryville, Horsham, Willow Grove, Jenkintown, Lansdale, Norristown, Conshohocken, East and West Norriton, Ardmore, King of Prussia, Broomall, Drexel Hill, Chester, Camden, Woodbury, Bellmar, Pennsauken, Marlton, Palmyra, Bordentown.
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If you’ve suffered a muscular or skeletal injury in a Bucks County accident, an orthopedist can help get your life back to normal. Learn more here.Bucks County Auto Accidents can lead to Costochondritis
Did you know costochondritis can result from Philadelphia auto accidents? Learn more about symptoms and treatments for this chest condition here.Did You Suffer a Broken Collar Bone in a Bucks County Accident?
Broken collar bone may also indicate an acute tear of the rotator cuff. Bucks County personal injury lawyer, Michael L. Saile, Jr. explains.Three Common Philadelphia Car Accident Injuries
Call the Saile & Saile Law Firm today if you have been involved in a Pennsylvania car accident that has left you or a loved one with a serious injury.Has Your Doctor Recommended an Epidural Injection for Your Neck or Back Injury?
Auto accident victims often have back or neck pain; an epidural injection may be indicated. A Doylestown area auto injury lawyer at Saile & Saile LLP explains.Epidural Injections Could Ease Back Pain Associated with Disc Injuries
If your back pain is from a disc injury sustained in a Bucks County accident, you may find relief from an epidural injection. Learn the risks and benefits here.Saile & Saile LLP’s First Fee Agreement Makes Contingent Fees as Fair as Possible
If a law firm charges a large contingent fee on a case that settles early, the client is being treated unfairly. View Saile & Saile LLP’s contingent fee policy.Can Pregnant Dummy Help Avoid Injury for Local Women?
At risk for Philadelphia crash injury are pregnant (final trimester) women and their unborn children. PA personal injury lawyer offers update on crash safety.Several Causes lead to Accidents on the PA Turnpike
Accidents happen every day on the PA Turnpike that lead to unintended injuries. What causes these accidents? Learn more about turnpike dangers here.Speeding: A Leading Cause of Car Accidents
Speeding, even by a little, significantly increases your chance of getting in an accident. Speeding also increases your chance of injury.Spinal Fusion Surgery: A possible treatment for your car accident pain
Spinal fusion surgery is an option for victims of spinal injuries from Bucks County auto accidents. Learn more about the surgical procedure here.Consequences of tailgating on dangerous Bucks County roads
Sick of that driver behind you getting too close, especially on the busy roads of Bucks County and Philadelphia? Learn more about this dangerous behavior here.Do You Have a Concussion from Your Auto Accident?
Auto accident victims may be unaware they have a concussion. Bucks County personal injury lawyer discusses this brain injury, its symptoms and treatment.Physical Therapy for Car Accident Injuries
In Bucks County, car accident injuries can be severe. Some of those injuries can be treated with physical therapy.

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