Home  Resources Blog - DUI In The News
Blog - DUI In The News
|
Wednesday, 05 March 2008 |
|
Despite the State of Minnesota's contract with CMI, Inc. manufacturer
of the Intox 5000 which requires disclosure of the computer source code
in the Intoxilyzer 5000 and assurances of protection of its proprietary
computer code, CMI refuses to give it up. So Minnesota is going
to Federal court in Kentucky to get the code. One has to wonder
what is the manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer got to hide?
Meanwhile DUIs are being thrown out by the dozens.
|
|
|
Tuesday, 04 March 2008 |
|
A Washington man settled a lawsuit against law enforcement authorities
for $15,000.00 after he was forcefully catheterized during a DUI arrest
to obtain urine after authorities forcefully obtained a blood
sample. Apparently law enforcment authorities forcefully inserted
a tube up the man's urethera into his bladder to obtain a urine sample
after the man refused a voluntary urine and blood test. Vampire
police and catheter cops is this how you really want to protect your
community. Just another example of DUI laws gone too far.
|
|
|
Thursday, 28 February 2008 |
|
I can't do anything but quote this story from the pensitoreview.
"Total Drag: Bush Judge Appointee Resigns After DUI Arrest While Cross Dressing
Trish | Feb. 18, 2008
That I find this story so hilarious probably says more about me than the cross-dressing federal judge in question, but as they say these days, it is what it is. The punch line is probably the best part.
[Federal Judge Robert] Somma worked in private practice for years in Boston before he was appointed to the bench by President Bush in December 2004.
Yes, the fact that Bush appointed him as a federal bankruptcy judge does crack me up, but let’s start at the beginning.
Somma’s Mercedes-Benz E320 sedan hit a pick-up truck from behind about 11:29 p.m. on Feb. 6, the police report said. No one was hurt.
Somma, who lives in Newbury, Mass., fumbled in his purse for his driver’s license before handing it to the officer who later arrested him, the police report shows.
“He had a difficult time locating his license in his purse. He passed over it multiple times before removing it,” officer Paul J. Thompson wrote in his report.
The officer offered no other details with regard to the judge’s attire or accessories. Nor would representatives of the Manchester Police Department or the city solicitor’s office, which worked out the negotiated plea agreement with Somma’s lawyer…
But lots of other people did offer those details, of which Audrey Hepburn would have been proud.
When authorities removed him from the vehicle, they said he wore a black women’s cocktail dress, fishnet stockings and high heels.
But in his mug shot, the judge appears to be wearing blue eye shadow. Way to wreck a really chic look, Robert.
And where, you might ask, was the judge going that night dressed that way?
Somma told police he had been at the Breezeway Pub where he had one gin and tonic about two hours earlier, the police report reveals. He later said he drank two gin and tonics.
The Breezeway Pub, at 14 Pearl St., bills itself as “New Hampshire’s favorite gay and alternative bar,” according to its web site.
The arresting officer reported Somma smelled of alcohol, slurred his speech and fell backwards against the door frame while getting out of his car.
The Boston-based judge chose the bar in question, according to local rumor, because his wife, Wendy, was out of town and no one knew him in New Hampshire. Sounds like Wendy is pretty cool, though.
“I suspect that he will not be interested in talking to anyone from the newspaper, and I’m his wife,” said a woman who answered the telephone at the judge’s home yesterday. She referred media calls to Gary H. Wente, chief administrative officer for the First Circuit Courts.
Somma showed his sense of style to the end. He phoned in his resignation from a vacation spot in the Caribbean. If I were him, I think I’d just stay there.'" I googled it and the incident was cited in several reputable news outlets. Here's the link
|
|
|
Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
|
On February 17, 2008, the
AJC published a letter to the Editor of the Gwinnett County Section of
the paper from Rodger Chapman, which stated "I thought if someone
refused a breath test or field sobriety test, it's an admission of
guilt, even if he told troopers he was a Gwinnett County police
officer. " This is a huge but common misperception of Georgia DUI
law. Georgia DUI law only permits an inference in the refusal of a state administered chemical tests that a chemical
test of either blood, breath or urine would indicate the presence of
the prohibited substance if refused. In other words, if you
refuse an alcohol breath test, the only legal inference is that you
have alcohol in your system. Practically speaking, many jurors
will consider a test refusal as an admission of guilt or that the
Defendant is hiding something but this is an illegal inference under
Georgia law. Remember, all Defendants are innocent until proven
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law and in a refusal DUI the State must
still provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt that alcohol affected the driver's ability to drive to
the extent that he was less safe than if he did not drink or incapable
of driving safely. Ultimately, common sense is the final
arbiter. If you look and act drunk, you are guilty. If you
don't, you are innocent.
|
|
|
Tuesday, 05 February 2008 |
|
A Kentucky man has filed a civil suit for damages alleging that the
Intoxylzer 5000 used in his DUI arrest was inaccurate. The man's
attorney alleges that the machine is inaccurate and its software is
flawed and contains 'bugs" or programming glitches. Click here to
see the story.
|
|
|
Thursday, 31 January 2008 |
|
The Seattle Times reported on January 31, 2008 that a three judge panel rule that the state's toxicology lab engaged in
"fraudulent and scientifically unacceptable" practices that have
compromised breath-test readings used to prosecute suspected DUI drivers.
In a 29-page order, the three
judge panel stated that the Washington State Toxicology Lab created a "culture of
compromise" with so many "ethical lapses, systemic inaccuracy,
negligence and violations of scientific principles" that the DUI breath
tests can not be used as reliable evidence in a court of law. A
"multiplicity of errors" were found such as how breath-test results are
analyzed and DUI breath tests are verified at the lab
Lab personnel had been accused of signing sworn statements saying they had
personally checked that breath-test machines were working properly,
when other toxicologists had in fact conducted the checks. This
is a common practice in the Georgia Crime Lab where toxologist sign
conclusory reports regarding testing which was actually performed by
lab assistants not present in court. Machine-calibration errors were found to have affected other cases.
The three judge panel also criticized the software used to analyze data. Georgia
courts have not even allowed Georgia DUI attorney's access to such
software despite a explicit "full information" provision in the Georgia
DUI Statute. At least 150 errors were identified in
the lab. Declarations were signed indicating that a solution had
been tested
before the testing took place; listing incorrect dates for testing; and
entering incorrect data.
One can only hope that the legislative or executive branch will
review the Division of Forensic Services of the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation but right now the foxes have the key to the hen house
since there is currently no legal mechanism to perform an audit in the
judicial system.
|
|
|
Thursday, 31 January 2008 |
Law Students beware the Constitution has left the
Building! DUI charges even if reduced to reckless driving (i.e., not
guilty of DUI) will result in delayed admission to the Georgia Bar and
the legal ability to practice law in the State of Georgia. In the
words of Willie Nelson, Mama's don't let your babies grow up to be
lawyers, let'em be doctors, commercial real estate developers,
financial planners and such.
Policy Statement of the Board to Determine Fitness of
Bar Applicants
Regarding DUI and Other Alcohol-Related Offenses
(Adopted March 12, 2007)
Any applicant who receives a Driving
Under the Influence (DUI ) conviction or its equivalent in any jurisdiction is
ineligible for fitness certification during the mandatory twelve-month sentence
mandated by the Georgia DUI statute (Ga. Code Ann. §40-6-391), whether or
not the sentence was probated.
In the case of an applicant who was
charged with DUI in Georgia (or its equivalent in any jurisdiction) but for
whom the charge was reduced, resulting in a sentence for reckless driving,
failure to maintain proper lane, and/or lesser offense(s), the Board is
concerned about disregard for the law as well as possible patterns of problems
related to abuse of alcohol and/or other substances and the impact of these
problems on the applicant’s fitness to practice law. Therefore, any
applicant who receives a conviction for an offense reduced from an original
charge of DUI, regardless of the terms of probation, is ineligible for fitness
certification for the period extending from the date of conviction to the
completion of the sentence, including any probation, or for a period of six
months from the conviction, whichever is longer. Following the expiration of
the period during which the applicant is ineligible for certification, the
applicant may be eligible to take the succeeding examination or for the release
of grades from a previous examination. Such eligibility will be decided by the
Board on a case-by-case basis following its standard policies.
It should be understood that this is a
procedural bar only. Following the expiration of the period during which the
applicant is ineligible for certification, the Board will review the
applicant’s file on the merits for a determination of whether to certify
the applicant for fitness. The Board may have substantive concerns about the
applicant’s conduct that may lead the Board to make further investigation,
to require that the applicant be evaluated for drug or alcohol dependency,
and/or to require that the applicant appear before the Board for an informal
conference, prior to the Board’s acting upon certification of the
applicant.
|
|
|
Tuesday, 15 January 2008 |
|
In the City Court of Atlanta, there was an changing of Judges regarding DUI cases. Before January 1st, 2008, all DUI cases were to be heard before Judge Sloan in Courtroom 5C. The torch has been passed to Judge Green as of January 1, 2008. Now all DUIs are heard in Room 6A. Judge Green as opposed to Judge Sloan begins promptly at 8:00 A.M. Additionally, Judge Green does not call the calendar but immediately sends cases to pretrial which should produce increased efficiencies The Municipal Court of Atlanta handles all DUI cases with Atlanta Police Officers and Georgia State Patrol Troopers who make arrest within the City limits of Atlanta.
|
|
|
Friday, 28 December 2007 |
Kansas Law enforcement officers ready for Intoxilyzer upgrades
 |
| The new Intoxilyzer 8000 machine. |
The Leavenworth Times reported that Kansas police agencies will be switching from the problem ridden Intox 5000 to the Intox 8000. Lt. Greg Ruff, Leavenworth Police Department, said the Intoxilyzer 5000 has been around about 20 years. He listed several improvements including the new model is much smaller; the Intoxilyzer 8000’s dry gas test standard, which is used to check calibration, will last for 250 tests before having to be replaced (Georgia uses ambient air?); the dry gas standard for the Intox 5000 model could be used only for 14 tests; while the old machine has to be sent in anytime it malfunctions, the Intox 8000 can be connected to the Internet and diagnostics can be performed remotely; If the Intox 8000 has a computer programming error, it can be corrected over the Internet; the Intox 8000 will have card readers to read bar codes of modern drivers licenses; the programming for the new machines have higher security levels to prevent people from manipulating data (How long have they known test results could be manipulated?); t he new machines use multiple tones so officers can identify specific problems by the tone; for the Intoxilyzer 5000, officers have been required to re-certify themselves on the machine every six monthsm but for the Intoxilyzer 8000, officers will have to re-certify every two years (Georgia only requires recertification every four years-no wonder Georgia is 48th in education of 50 states). Which begs the question, how many shortcuts can one state take before it comprimises testing and incarcerates the innocent.
|
|
|
Wednesday, 26 December 2007 |
|
Safe Ride America is raising a buzz in Atlanta. For $20.00 bucks, they will give you a ride home with passengers and bring your car. They will also wait for $60.00 an hour. They have both flexible and firm reservations. Safe Ride American is a non-profit organization dedicated to doing something about Drunk Driving. They have given over 40,000 safe rides so far and counting. You would think that the government would have figured out that it is cheaper to give rides home than lock up "drinking non-impaired drivers." So now in Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett, you have no excuse not to not drink and drive. Avoid the DUI tax and call 404-888-0887 or make a reservation online at www.saferideamerica.org
|
|
| << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next > End >>
| | Results 21 - 30 of 70 |
|
|