Better Call the Right Cab If You’re Worried about DUI in Los Angeles

Motorists who know they’ve had too much to drink do the right thing when they call a cab to take them home. But if they get into the wrong cab, they could end up talking to a Los Angeles DUI lawyer, not as a client but as a witness.

Television station KSBY, which serves California’s central coast, reported in early March that taxi driver Christel Mona Wikstrom is facing DUI charges after smashing into parked vehicles at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez Valley. Wikstrom’s taxi, a white Toyota van, damaged three cars. According to police, the cab driver’s blood alcohol content at the time of the incident measured more than twice the legal limit.

Of course, cab drivers are human, and they make mistakes just like everyone else. A Google search reveals multiple incidents of cab drivers in various states arrested for DUI over the past year. Last July, a Bluegrass Taxi driver in Lexington, Kentucky, William Maddox, started talking to police at a convenience store where he had just bought beer. It didn’t take officers long to realize that the cab driver was too impaired to drive.

Ironically, the police had been searching for an hour for this driver after receiving reports of his erratic driving, but they had not been successful in locating him. They might not have even stopped Maddox if he hadn’t approached them and started a conversation. Maddox’s slurred speech and the smell of alcohol that emanated from him alerted the officers to his condition.

Despite these arrests, calling a cab is always a better alternative than attempting to drive when you’ve had too much to drink. California law treats drivers convicted of DUI harshly, with fines, penalties, suspension of driver’s license and sometimes jail time as well.

Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Law Group is standing by to offer critical insight into your case and potential defense options. Call him and his team today to begin regaining control over your case and your life.

Have you been stopped for DUI in Los Angeles, contact attorney Michael Kraut at (323) 464-6453 or online. Our team is located at 6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1480, Los Angeles, California 90028.

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You have the right to remain silent !! Do you have the ability?

You have the right to remain silent !! Do you have the ability? | Orlandoduiteam#topnav ul li a,.sidebar h4,.tk-news-gothic-std{font-family:"news-gothic-std",sans-serif;}p{margin-left:0 !important;}a{color:#0D8BB7 !important;} Orlando DUI Team Published by Orlando, Florida DUI Lawyers :: Katz & Phillips, P.A.(321) 332-6864 HOMEBLOGCONTACT US David S. Katz Founding partner
Katz & Phillips, P.A James D. Phillips Founding partner
Katz & Phillips, P.A Annmarie Jenkinson Associate Attorney Matthew R. Gunter Associate Attorney David A. Faulkner Associate Attorney Catherine Gleason Attorney

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Contact Us DO YOU HAVE A CASE?Contact our attorneys NOW Name: Email: Phone: Comments: Enter text from the Image Above: You have the right to remain silent !! Do you have the ability?

Everyday I sit down in my conference room with someone who has been arrested for DUI and hear virtually the same thing. The individual tells me that they were stopped, and eventually the officer asked them how much they had been drinking. Thinking if they cooperate, the officer will go easy on them, they admit to having consumed some quantity of alcohol. I often hear the phrases, “I wanted to be honest with them,” or “I didn’t want to lie.”

So first, understand that I am not advocating that you lie to the police when you speak with them. But you must understand that the officer standing by your window on the side of the road in the middle of the night is not stopping you to make a new friend. They are investigating a crime and attempting to gather evidence. You are not required to answer their questions beyond your name and address. If asked, you must provide your driver’s license, registration and insurance. That is it. Nothing else is required.

I am also not suggesting that you be rude to the officer. Simply state that you decline to answer any questions you are not legally required to answer and do not wish to speak with the officer. Tell them you will only speak with them with your lawyer present and do not say anything else. Sure the officer may arrest you, but at least you have not helped them convict you of a crime.

DUI is a serious offense. Alcohol is known to loosen lips. People often say things that will hurt their case later on. Do not help the police convict you. You have the right to remain silent. Use it.

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What Do You Have the Right to Remain Silent About?

One of the most common questions DUI clients ask me is, “What if they didn’t read me my rights?” This question is generally posed in a way that clearly suggests that the client believes he or she has their smoking gun to get out of the problem they have recently got themselves into.

There is no question that at the time the question is posed there is a misunderstanding on the part of the client about what “reading their rights” means. In fact in every occasion where I have questioned the client as to what the rights were, they parroted these rights exactly as they heard them on their favorite television police or detective show always starting off with: “you have the right to remain silent . . . . .”

Interestingly enough, it’s the right to remain silent people don’t understand and fail to invoke.

It seems to me that people, knowing they have a right to remain silent, will lie rather than remain silent. Lying and remaining silent are 2 completely different things with 2 completely different effects on a case.

A lie takes away from the client’s credibility as well as proposes to a jury that the fact the client lied could suggest the client had some knowledge of his or her guilt. In fact if it is established through trial that a defendant may have lied then the jury is given a jury instruction that they could consider that to be because the defendant had knowledge of his guilt.

Whereas, remaining silent is just that. In fact a jury can’t ever be informed by any means that a defendant chose to remain silent or invoked his rights under the 5th amendment to the constitution to remain silent. It is required to be a void in the line of information allowed to be given to a jury.

So it is important to not only be able to say the Miranda Rights like they do in the television shows, but, more importantly, to understand those rights, especially the right to remain silent.

First don’t be afraid to invoke the right. Cooperating with the police when you are the target of an investigation does not mean you have to speak to them. Call your attorney first or let the police know you “won’t answer any statements without an attorney present.”

Second, recognize WHEN you need to invoke these rights. For instance, if you are stopped by police and the officer tells you he stopped you for speeding, a question regarding alcohol is a sign to remain silent.

If you are asked to perform ANY type of physical field sobriety test after you are stopped for speeding, then you respectfully refuse to do that. That includes following an officer’s finger!

If you are asked to blow into a hand-held breathalyzer test prior to being place under arrest, then you respectfully refuse that to. It may be a good idea at that time to request to take a blood or breath test IF YOU ARE BEING PLACED UNDER ARREST FOR DUI.

Lastly, be respectful while still staying strong. There is no reason to be rude to a police officer. In fact, it can prove to be a very bad idea. But don’t give in. Remain silent. Refuse those things you are legally allowed to refuse. Invoke your rights. There are more than just parroted words.

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