December 2012

Breathalyzer Phone App

It seems nowadays we use our phones for everything; calendaring, reading, playing music, checking email, taking photos, and even charging credit cards. Why not have an app that tells us when we’re too drunk to drive. Guess what, there is.

DUI and Deportation

Many of my clients throughout my career have not been citizens of the United States, but rather green card or visa holders. Naturally, one of the most common questions of these clients is whether a driving under the influence charge will affect their immigration status.

In October, I wrote a post explaining the California law for involuntary intoxication and how it might apply in a DUI case. In California, a person cannot be convicted of a crime if they, through no fault of their own, ingested an intoxicating substance and were, therefore, not conscious of their commission of a crime. Although through a different state’s laws, a Montana woman has made a similar argument in her Montana DUI case.

One of several new laws taking effect on January 1, 2013 is AB 2020. The new bill, written by Assemblyman Richard Pan, would require motorist suspected of driving under the influence of drugs to submit to a blood test instead of having the option of submitting to either a blood test or a urine test.

The defendant, Ashley Bryan (26) of Highland, was driving northbound on the 57 freeway at Katella Ave. when her vehicle collided with a stopped Camaro on the freeway shoulder. The front end of the Camaro was partially in the slow lane. The collision pushed 18 year old Cameron Cook, who was standing outside of the Camaro, over the guardrail causing him to fall 50 to 60 feet to the concrete adjacent the freeway.