Los Angeles DUI Community Saddened as Redondo Beach Driver Kills Three After Taking Prescription Drugs

Los Angeles DUI accidents can claim lives at any time; an awful crash in Redondo recently killed 3 Californians and injured many more.

According to reports, twelve people suffered injuries, when a woman crashed into a group of Christmas concert-goers in a Redondo Beach church last December. Margo Bronstein had been exiting St. James Catholic Church when she slammed into pedestrians leaving the concert. Three people died; two suffered bad injuries; and seven others suffered minor injuries.

Bronstein, a paraplegic, had a spotless driving record, but she had been taking medication that day. Her car had been outfitted with various technology to assist her driving. She had hand brakes on the steering wheel and special rear-view mirrors.

Police might charge Bronstein with felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter. Her attorneys have been urging the public to avoid jumping to conclusions about the accident. It is possible, they argue, that a defect in the hand brakes could have contributed to the accident.

If Bronstein’s lawyers can prove that the incident had been an accident — and that medication had not been to blame – perhaps they can fight or eliminate the charges. Her medications included muscle relaxers and other pain relievers to help her cope with chronic health issues.

Accidents involving prescription drugs can still be charged as DUIs, and the consequences of even non-injury stops can include jail time, license suspension, fines and fees and beyond. If a blood or urine test measures a drug’s present in the bloodstream, a conviction could follow.

What should you do if you or someone you love faces a serious DUI count? Will you go to jail? Will you lose your license? Call Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer Michael Kraut immediately to understand your options and craft a strategic response.

Did police stop you for driving under the influence in Los Angeles? Contact DUI defense attorney 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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Clarification on DUI Prescription Drugs

On a recent post about DUI prescription drugs a reader commented that prescription drugs in fact do impair drivers and thus they are not innocent.  I feel this issue needs to be clarified.

Face it- Cops mess up and arrest innocent people. Bad laws just make matters worse.

While many prescription drugs can cause impairment, there is a growing number of cases where a driver took prescription drugs, was not impaired but was charged for a DUI drugs violation anyway. A doctor prescribed drug is perfectly safe and non-impairing despite use when the person is in the therapeutic range which is totally different from person to person and over the use history by that person.  Here is a common scenario:

A common citizen who is not impaired is driving down the highway late at night.  The person doesn’t keep a perfect lane.  A police officer working on a DUI patrol sees this and pulls the driver over.

When asked to perform the field sobriety tests, the driver (maybe from nervousness or drowsiness) stumbles.  The officer assumes this person is impaired.  Upon questioning the driver honestly reveals that he/she takes prescription medication.  The officer assumes that the prescription drug is causing the perceived impairment and arrests the driver for DUI drugs.

Swerving and stumbling are not specific to impairment.  Someone could be drowsy or clumsy. [Even some police officers can't do the sobriety tests.]  Furthermore, all prescription drug users are not impaired.   The assumption that prescription drugs must have caused this impairment is faulty and downright ridiculous.

Like I have mentioned before, law enforcement is a human endeavor.  Police officers make mistakes and this problem is compounded by the fact that they go through very little meaningful training on DUI or DUID.

If the police were perfect, we wouldn’t have criminal defense attorneys and we wouldn’t have movements like The Innocence Project.

View the original article here

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DUI Prescription Drug Help

Attorney McShane has handled several DUI prescription drug cases.

One trend I that have noticed here in Pennsylvania is an increase in drug related DUI arrests and in particular arrest related to prescription drugs.  We  have discussed DUI prescription drugs before in our post: DUI Arrests Purposely Targeting Innocent People.

DUI drug cases are complex because there are many different types of drugs that fall under this category.  What’s even more alarming is that Pennsylvania treats DUI prescription drugs as equal to someone who is at the “Highest Rate” of blood alcohol.  The penalties such a charge (first time) are:

Mandatory prison time up to 6 months12 month license suspensionUp to $5,000 in fines

What becomes bizarre is that if you are convicted of a DUID and it is a second or subsequent offense, you have to get an alcohol interlock in your car? What sort of sense does that make?

It is important to find an attorney who has the knowledge and experience to fight DUI prescription drug cases.

In addition to conducting dozens of lectures on the subject of DUI drugs, Attorney Justin McShane has publish several academic papers calling into question the Drug Recognition Expert protocol which is the procedure used to test DUI drug cases.

If you are charged with a DUI prescription drug offense in Central Pennsylvania, please call The McShane Firm for a free consultation at 1-866-MCSHANE.

View the original article here

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