Colorado Explores [Much] Harsher DUI Laws: Implications for Los Angeles DUI Law in the Near Future?

Los Angeles DUI attorneys are closely watching the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado to see whether that state will soon be cracking down hard on third offense DUIs. A lawmaker in Colorado’s general assembly recently introduced a bill with bipartisan support to treat a third DUI offense as a felony.

The rules under the new bill stipulate that all DUI offenses would have to be committed within seven years of one another. Lori Saine, the bill’s author, believes her law would reduce the number of inmates in county jails and make Colorado roads safer.

Police officers around the state are not sold on the idea. Some in the police community contend that increasing penalties for repeat DUI offenders doesn’t address the heart of the issue. Police say that jails throughout the state don’t offer inmates what they need to recover from their alcoholism, citing a growing need for substance abuse therapy. They say that individuals who leave prison depressed are more likely to abuse alcohol and other substances. Substance abuse and incarceration beget one another in a vicious cycle.

Bill opponents within the CO general assembly point to increased expenses from felony charges and extended prison sentences. State funding for prisons is already tight; funding for the increased costs associated with the bill might have to be pulled from valuable social services.

These law changes mean that if you live in Colorado and have two DUIs, a third could mean serious prison time.  State laws in California already allow for a DUI conviction to turn into a felony under certain circumstances, including:

•    You caused harm or death to another individual while DUI.

•    You have 3 or more DUI convictions in 10 years.

•    You have a history of felony DUI convictions.

Locating a seasoned and qualified Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer is a critical part of the process of reclaiming your life, your time and your peace of mind. Call ex-prosecutor Michael Kraut for a free consultation right now.

Did you get arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles? If so, contact Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Michael Kraut for assistance by phone at (323) 464-6453 or online. We’re located at 6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1480, Los Angeles, California 90028.

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Colorado Researchers Race to Collect Data on Drug DUIs: Los Angeles DUI Attorney Assesses

The recent legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington – in addition to the widespread and growing approval of medical pot — has spurred some fascinating research. Scientists want to understand how the growing wave of marijuana users is influencing the landscape of DUIs. Many police officers and other professionals working on this problem contend that drug DUI driving could become increasingly disruptive and deadly as marijuana laws soften.

Medical marijuana use is legal in California, but smoking and driving can still easily land you a drug DUI in Los Angeles and around the state.

Very few studies have been done to assess the risks of driving while high on marijuana. The National Institute on Drug Abuse and the NHTSA are wrapping up one such study — a 3-year investigation that researched the drug’s effects on driving. Using one of the most powerful driving simulators on the planet, researchers gave test participants either a placebo or varying concentrations of the drug and asked them to use the simulator.

The study yielded a surprisingly negative result. The data analysis software can detect subtle changes in driving behavior; and participants on marijuana exhibited hardly any change.

Police officers are not convinced that THC is innocuous, however, and don’t hold your breath waiting for the law to keep up with the science. Roadside THC detection tests are being developed and sold to law enforcement agencies in areas where pot is legal. Drivers pulled over while under the effects of marijuana can still be given a DUI – even in states like California where consumption can be legal. In California, police test for marijuana impairment using blood tests, which can indicate recent use.

As a frequent contributor to respected media, like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Good Morning America, Los Angeles DUI attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group understands what it takes to build successful defenses in complex DUI cases. Contact him and his team today to schedule a consultation.

If police arrested you for Los Angeles DUI, you may feel scared and confused. Contact Harvard Law School educated, ex-prosecutor Michael Kraut for assistance at (323) 464-6453 or online. We’re located at 6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1480, Los Angeles, California 90028.

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Felony DUI Law Coming to Colorado?

Last year, Senate Democrats in Colorado killed a bill that would have made repeat DUI offenses a felony offense in Colorado, much to the surprise and chagrin of the proposed law’s supporters. But now a Weld County state representative is trying again, with a new bill that, if passed, would classify a charged driver’s third DUI in seven years as a class 4 felony.  A class 4 felony carries a 2-6 year prison sentence followed by a mandatory 5 year period of parole.  The fine also ranges from $2,000 to $500,000!

The new proposal calls for felony charges in the event that a driver racks up three DUI convictions in a seven-year period, or fourth DUI conviction in a lifetime.  It is important to understand that not all of the offenses have to occur in Colorado.  If the 3rd offense within 7 years or the 4th in a lifetime occurs in Colorado, this new felony law would apply to you, if the law is passed.  Additionally, the bill would require convicted drunk drivers to have their cars installed with ignition interlock devices for a minimum of five years.

“Right now, Colorado is one of the few states that does not have a felony DUI law,” District 63 Representative Lori Saine tells the news source. “Right now, your third DUI is the same as your 10th, the same as your 16th, the same as your 20th and so on.”

Currently the maximum penalty for a 3rd offense in 7 years or a 4th in a lifetime is a minimum mandatory 60 day jail sentence in county jail with a maximum penalty of up to one year in county jail and the offense remains an unclassified misdemeanor.  This also includes a minimum mandatory 2 years of probation with a maximum of 4 years and if you fail to complete probation successfully, there is another one year of county jail hanging over your head and that one year can be imposed on top of the original sentence.  So a driver convicted of a 3rd or subsequent alcohol-related offense in a lifetime does face up to 2 years in jail upon conviction and if they fail to successfully complete probation. 

As Stan Garnett, District Attorney for Boulder County, points out, many drivers convicted of DUI “usually drive impaired dozens of times before they are caught,” and while most convicted drivers may straighten out after the first offense, those who do it repeatedly present “a significant public safety risk.” Saine adds that her constituents have pushed hard for this bill precisely because of so many drivers in Weld County who have accrued DUI arrests in the double digits.  Of course neither Saine nor Garnett have any statistics to support their statements and they fail to point out that this law was killed last year because of that exact reason.  There are no statistics to show that the creation or imposition of a felony DUI law has any impact on preventing or decreasing the number of DUI offenses being committed across the country.

The focus and efforts should be on getting repeat offenders the help and treatment they need to beat their addiction problem, rather than making them felons and clogging up our prison systems with these non-violent offenders.   

If you’ve been accused of driving under the influence, it’s essential to have an expert Colorado DUI lawyer from The Orr Law Firm by your side, to expertly defend you in court and mitigate the prosecution’s case as much as possible.  The penalties as they stand in Colorado today are very tough and can be life-altering for those charged or convicted.  The proposed changes in this bill will change the conversation from misdemeanor offender to felony offender and from jail to prison.  If you have questions about Colorado DUI law

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CSP starts DUI emphasis patrols

Colorado State Patrol will have extra troopers on the state’s highways through Monday, as troopers look to crack down on impaired driving over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Last year, 411 people were arrested for driving under the influence during a Thanksgiving enforcement period. CSP and partnering law-enforcement agencies across the state use 12 DUI enforcement periods throughout the year in an effort to increase roadway safety around national holidays and large public events.
“It’s our most important job, along with other law enforcement agencies, to make sure that people get to where they need to be safely for Thanksgiving by getting impaired drivers off of the roads,” CSP Chief Scott Hernandez said in a written release.

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Colorado Senate Votes to Criminalize Marijuana Levels in Drivers

Over past years, Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been successful in getting legislation passed across the country criminalizing the presence of a largely arbitrary level of alcohol in a driver’s blood.  

Whereas previously the drunk driving laws made it illegal to drive a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, the new ones didn’t care about impairment but simply made it a crime to have a blood-alcohol level of .08% or higher.  It didn’t matter if a given driver had higher than average tolerance to alcohol; whether a citizen was impaired and a danger or not was no longer relevant.  The crime was the presence of alcohol in the body.

This, of course, made it much easier to prosecute and convict citizens of drunk driving — even if they weren’t "drunk".

Now that strategy is increasingly being adopted by states for the offense of "driving while stoned" — that is, driving while under the influence of marijuana.  As with alcohol, it is more difficult to prove that a citizen’s driving ability is impaired by marijuana than it is to prove that there is an arbitrary amount of it in his body.  

Solution: criminalize the presence of a given amount of cannabis in the blood.  Of course, there is little scientific consensus as to what levels of marijuana cause driving impairment.  But the result will be more arrests, prosecutions — and more unimpaired drivers convicted.   

"The ends justify the means", right?  

Colorado Senate Gives Initial OK to Stoned-Driving Limits 

Denver, CO.  May 2 – The Colorado Senate Tuesday gave initial approval to a bill making it easier to convict people of driving while stoned, in the toughest test yet for the proposal…

The measure, Senate Bill 117, would set a limit of THC — the psychoactive chemical in marijuana — in the blood above which it would be illegal to drive. King said numerous studies suggest that the large majority of people with more than 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood are impaired.

[Bill sponsor Steve] King said the bill is needed to stem what appears to be an increase in stoned driving in Colorado. Drivers whose blood tested positive for THC at the state toxicology lab have increased from a couple hundred in 2009 to more than 1,000 last year, King said…

Opponents say that research isn’t conclusive that everybody is stoned at 5 ng and that the bill would result in sober drivers being convicted. Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, called the bill, "a shortcut on burden of proof." Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, said state law already makes it illegal to drive while stoned — including for those drivers who are impaired at less than 5 ng.

"I would prefer to stick with current law, where the question of impairment is put to a jury and where evidence of someone’s conduct is presented in court," Steadman said.

Steadman said the bill would hurt medical-marijuana patients who regularly use marijuana and may have higher baseline levels of THC in their blood.
But King said the bill sends an important message that driving high is not OK.

"What I’m saying is, you can’t get high and drive," King said. "It has an impact on the rest of us. You can smoke and wait. You can smoke and walk. You can smoke and find a ride. But you cannot smoke and drive."

Fourteen other states have laws creating a THC limit for driving — laws that are known as "per se" laws. Several other states have zero-tolerance driving laws for THC.

Notice the focus of the law in the opening line of the story:  "a bill making it easier to convict people".  Not a bill to reduce casualties on the highways.  Not a bill to punish criminals. No, a bill making it easier to convict citizens.

The great legal scholar Blackstone famously stated back in the 1760s: "Better that ten guilty guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer".  That revered old legal principle has been reversed in DUI cases..  

The concept goes back even further — much further.  From Genesis 18:23-32 of the Bible:  

Abraham drew near and said, ‘Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?  What if there are fifty righteous within the city?  Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are in it?  What if ten are found there?".  He [The Lord] said, "I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake".  

The dragnet approach to justice.  Yet another example of what I have termed "The DUI Exception to the Constitution".

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 9:18 am 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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