Largo, Florida — Largo Police responded to a crash at Huntington and East Bay.Police say 55-year-old Alfredo Villada Martinez made a U-turn in front of another vehicle and caused the crash. Police say Martinez’s actions and responses afterwards demonstrated impairment.
Martinez kept asking the officer why he was pulled over and had no idea he had been in a crash.
While attempting to do a field sobriety, he bent forward and pitched head first into the sidewalk. He was transported to Largo Medical Center for treatment, since he indicated he was not well after his fall.
At the hospital, his blood alcohol content registered .413! A person is considered impaired at .08 in the state of Florida. He was likely to be admitted, so the officer got consent to take legal blood and charges are pending results of that test.
Supreme Court: DUI test results should not have been suppressed
COLUMBIA, S.C. The state Supreme Court says a lower court will have to review evidence of prejudice in the administration of a breath-test in a drunken-driving case.
In a ruling released today, the high court says a trial judge erred in supressing the results of Ronald Landon’s breath test in 2002 without finding that the testing was unfair. Justices upheld Circuit Judge G. Thomas Cooper’s 2005 decision that Richland County authorities were failed to keep adequate records of maintenance and testing on the DataMaster machines used to administer the tests.Under state law, both local agencies and the State Law Enforcement Division are responsible for keeping records on the state’s 158 DataMasters.Defense lawyers say the machines routinely break down and give false blood-alcohol readings. Shoddy record-keeping, they argued, gives the impression the machines are more reliable than they are.
You are presumed innocent. The breath test is presumed accurate. You have the right to remain silent but if you don’t hire a lawyer and a breath test expert - you lose. Figure that one out. Could it be a Constitutional exception for DUI cases.
New Police Flashlight Sniffs As Well As Shines Saturday, 19 August 2006 9:16AM
CHICAGO (WBBM) — As police gear up their publicity machine to battle drunk driving over the Labor Day weekend, they’re also gearing up with new flashlights that sniff as well as shine.
WBBM’s John Cody has the story. The sniffer light is billed as just another tool in the arsenal against drunk driving.
Illinois Department of Transportation official Clinton Harris says the state is buying 150 of the $750 sniffer flashlights for highway patrol use and distribution to local agencies. They have meters that range from green to red, depending on how much alcohol they sniff.
The man accused of driving drunk and killing a teenager in a car crash in November was sentenced to serve eight years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges this week. Carroll County Superior Court Judge Dennis Blackmon ordered Stanley Keith Benton, 29, of Newnan to serve eight years in prison followed by seven years on probation in the death of Charles Joshua Story, 19, in 2005.
It would be best for the City [revenue] not to spotlight the weaknesses and apparent absurdity of the Georgia DUI laws and the junk science underlying them
Peachtree City manager pleads guilty to golf cart DUI Thu, 08/10/2006 - 4:30pm By: John Munford
Gets 24 hours in jail, $800 fine, license suspension; can seek work permit to drive
Peachtree City Manager Bernie McMullen pled guilty Thursday morning to charges stemming from his DUI arrest June 2 while operating a golf cart in the parking lot of the city’s amphitheater.
McMullen pled guilty to DUI and possession of an open container of alcohol. He was sentenced to spend 24 hours in jail as required by Georgia law, an $800 fine, a year’s probation, 40 hours of community service and several other conditions such as a ban on alcohol consumption with random drug and alcohol screening.
By PHIL STRICKLAND - For The Californian courtesy of NCtimes.com
Justice may be blind, but it’s easy to see there is precious little of it in the courtroom of Judge James Warren for drunken driving victims and their families.
In rapid succession two weeks ago, the Riverside County jurist gave a slap on the wrist to two people who killed while driving drunk. Both had agreed to sentences in plea deals with the district attorney’s office —- sentences the judge decided to shorten.
It is very hard to prove a "less safe" dui because the per se limit is ridiculously low:
Officer charged with DUI refused breathalyzer Courtesy of news-journalonline.com: July 22, 2006
By JIM HAUG Staff Writer PORT ORANGE -- Several local police officers charged with drunken driving in recent years share something else in common, as well. They all refused to take a breathalyzer, thus depriving prosecutors of a blood-alcohol reading that could be used against them in court."If you have been drinking, refusing the breathalyzer is the only way to go," said Brian Toung, a Daytona Beach defense lawyer.
Endogenous or Auto Brewery Syndrome as a result of intestinal disorders
Candidiasis is a yeast infection which plagues the intestine when good bacteria are killed as a result of long term use of antibotics. Some candidiasis sufferers will feel, and appear to be, intoxicated. An unsual symptom of certain people with severe candidiasis is the presence of alcohol in the blood stream even when none has been consumed. First discovered in Japan, and called "drunk disease," this condition creates strains of candida albicans which turn acetaldehyde (which is the chemical created by sugar and yeast fermentation) into ethanol. This is a process well understood by distillers of homemade brew. These candidiasis patients whose yeast turns sugar into alcohol are chronically drunk. They have developed what is only half-jokingly called "auto-brewery syndrome".
...except that wizard in Kentucky and he won’t tell!
State appeals court decision in breathalyzer case 07/23/06 courtesy of sun-herald.com
(Florida) — The state is appealing a recent plaintiff’s victory in the controversial breathalyzer cases.
“The appeal goes to the district court (Second District Court of Appeal) instead of local circuit court,” plaintiff’s attorney Robert Harrison said. “The district court of appeal gets first bite, but they do not have to take it.”
Harrison said the usual procedure is for an appeal to a county court decision to be bumped up to the circuit courts.
“But if you have hot issue, an issue of great public importance,” Harrison said, “they can bypass the first level and go right to the district.”
McCready Beats DUI Rap by Natalie Finn Jul 19, 2006, 4:55 PM PT courtesy of http://www.Eonline.com
Mindy McCready won’t be staying the night in jail–and she’s got some new song fodder to boot.
The oft-troubled country singer was found not guilty Wednesday of a DUI charge stemming from a May 2005 arrest, although a Nashville jury did convict her of driving with a suspended license.
McCready, 30, was pulled over last spring for speeding and refused to take a breath test after police smelled alcohol. Kenneth Dixon, the arresting officer, testified Monday that the “If I Don’t Stay the Night” artist had been wobbly on her feet and that her eyes were watery and bloodshot that night.
To obtain legal advice, please call (770) 961-5511 or email George C. Creal, Jr., P.C. at firm@georgialawyer.com. George C. Creal, Jr., P.C. is a law firm representing those charged with DUI or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. We have been representing DUI Defendants for ten years in the City of Atlanta, Acworth, Alpharetta, Athens, Austell, Avondale Estates, Ball Ground, Barnesville, Big Canoe, Calhoun, Canton, Carnesville, Carrollton, Cedartown, Chatsworth, Chattahooche Hills, Clarkston, College Park, Commerce, Conyers, Covington, Dahlonega, Dallas, Decatur, Doraville, Douglasville, Duluth, Dunwoody, East Point, Fairburn, Forest Park, Forsyth, Fort McPherson, Fort Gillem, Gainesville, Grayson, Griffin, Hampton, Hapeville, Helen, Holly Springs, Johns Creek, Jonesboro, Kennesaw, LaGrange, Lake City, Lawrenceville, Locust Grove, Loganville, Lovejoy, Marietta, McDonough, Morrow, Newnan, Norcross, Palmetto, Peachtree City, Powder Springs, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Senoia, Smyrna, Stockbridge, Stone Mountain, Suwanee, Thomaston, Tucker, Union City, Villa Rica, Winder, Woodstock, and Zebulon and their surrounding counties including Fulton, Clayton, DeKalb, Henry, Fayette, Rockdale, Gwinnett, Cherokee, Forsyth, Coweta, Cobb, Douglas and Spalding. We also represent Defendants upon request outside of the Atlanta area throughout the State of Georgia.
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