Fight A DUI

DallasNews.com notes that MADD is a little upset with the plea deal reached by Donte Stallworth following his killing of a pedestrian while driving with a .126 BAC.

According to Miami-Dade County prosecutors, they agreed to the 30-day plea bargained sentence because he was remorseful and cooperative and it was what the family wanted. Stallworth also reach a financial settlement with the family, but the terms are not being disclosed.

Meanwhile, Stallworth has been ordered to pay MADD $2500, yet the group is refusing the funds:

“If we took the settlement, we’d be part of the settlement and we don’t agree with the sentence and therefore the settlement,” MADD president Laura Dean-Mooney told Good Morning America this week.

The full story can be found here

The CBC has an article that in Canada, not only are DUI arrests on the rise, but the average BAC of arrested drivers is up:

 

Police are finding that the impaired drivers they are catching are registering a higher blood-alcohol level — to an average of more than twice the legal limit.

Blackmore said the average blood-alcohol level for those charged up until last week was .165 — that is 165 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

Last week, that figure jumped to an average of .178 and the highest reading was .245 — more than triple the legal limit.

Obviously, driving impaired is a bad idea. Driving when you’re three times the legal limit is an awful idea.

It comes as little surprise that both DUI arrests and DUI accidents rise during the holidays, but just in case you wanted proof, here’s an article from WMTW.

Government officials on Wednesday said drunken driving accidents increase each year during the holiday season.

 

Those recently over the legal drinking age are particularly at risk. Drivers aged 21 to 24 are involved in more fatal drunken-driving crashes than any other age group, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data indicates

Those of you who read this in January because you received a DUI in December take note: judges and prosecutors don’t tend to have much ‘holiday spirit’.

In a stunning display of stupidity, Stanley Kobierowski was arrested with a .491 BAC fter driving into a highway message board on Interstate 95 in Rhode Island. Perhaps the smartest thing he’s done to date, he plead no contest and received 1 year probation, a $500 fine, community service, and loss of his drivers license.

More details can be found here
 

The Philly Daily News has a follow-up to the sad story of Joseph Genovese Jr., an 18 year old Philadelphia man accused of hitting 2 pedestrians while driving under the influence, killing one.

Even in the wake of being charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence for allegedly killing one pedestrian tourist and injuring another last week, 18-year-old Genovese had kept his MySpace profile public - a profile in which he brags of his exploits with pot, alcohol, graffiti and fast cars.

When faced with a pending DUI trial, it’s a good idea not to post stories of illegal activities on public websites.

DUI news from the Smoking Gun:

APRIL 14–NBA star Carmelo Anthony was arrested this morning by Colorado police and charged with drunk driving. According to cops, the Denver Nuggets forward was pulled over after police saw his silver Mercedes weaving and failing to dim its lights

As always, the full story is here:

On February 13, 2008, a federal judge rear ended a pickup truck at a traffic light. He was arrested and pleaded no contest to a first offense misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated, ordered to pay $600 in fines, and agreed to a 1 year suspension of his driver’s license. The fact that Robert Somma was a federal judge pushed the story into the mainstream media; the fact that he was wearing women’s clothes pushed it a little bit further.

Following his arrest, Somma resigned from his post:

Gary H. Wente, circuit executive of the US Courts for the First Circuit, declined to discuss Somma’s letter or Carpenter’s comments. Wente had announced Somma’s resignation on Feb. 15, saying the judge had called him from the Caribbean, where he had gone for a previously arranged vacation, and had resigned. At the time, Wente said, the judge had concluded that “it was best to put this behind him.”

On Monday, Wente’s office issued a one-sentence statement saying that Somma’s resignation, scheduled for yesterday, would not become effective until May 15. The statement gave no explanation.

Now, he seems to be slipping back into daily life, withdrawing his resignation and apparently preparing to return to work:

Somma said in a letter to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly posted online yesterday that an outpouring of support from judges, lawyers, and others had led him to conclude, “contrary to my initial belief, that the media frenzy occasioned by this episode would not be an impediment to my continued service as a judge.”

He said he had accepted full responsibility for his arrest and wished to apologize publicly for “that terrible lapse of judgment and the resultant controversy.”

For more details, check out the story on boston.com here

Courtesy of AZ Central.com: 

This week Arizona will enact one of the toughest DUI laws in the nation.

Hardest hit are first-time violators and a new class of “super extreme” DUI offenders whose blood-alcohol concentration registers 0.20 percent or above, which is more than double the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Beginning Wednesday, new penalties include mandatory ignition-interlock devices for first-time offenders, increased fines and a minimum of 45 days in jail for super extreme DUI convictions.

On July 1, 2007, a new set of DUI laws will take effect in Hawaii targeting repeat and serious offenders (those with a BAC of 0.150% or higher). Under the new law, suspects falling into the new category (either repeat offenders of very drunk at time of testing) will be forced to surrender their vehicle registration, plates, and drivers license at the time of arrest, and will be issued temporary plates until the case is reviewed. The driver will not be issued a new drivers license.

Additionally, there is a mandatory 6 month license suspension (maximum 12 months), minimum 48 hours of jail-time, 72 hours of community service, and a fine between $150 and $1000.

The new laws will likely be exercised heavily with increased DUI checkpoints and increased patrols for the 4th of July holiday period.

Boston.com tells the story of the sister of a Swansea, MA police officer killed by Wayne Smith (51), a volunteer firefighter, who was disappointed in the 5 year sentence issued by the judge this week. Last November, Smith had been drinking at a Fire Department fundraiser and crossed into oncoming traffic while driving home, killing Lieutenant Robert Cabral, a father of two boys.

“Drunken driving needs to be taken seriously, and it has not been,” Cabral’s sister, Josephine Lapre of Warren, R.I., said in a telephone interview yesterday after Smith was sentenced in New Bedford Superior Court. “Bobby never drank, ever. And Bobby’s death is only worth five years? I don’t understand that.”

Smith pled guilty, and could have faced up to 20 years due to his high BAC (over twice the legal limit), which qualified his offense as ‘extremely reckless’. Speaking in his defense, Smith apologized to the surviving family:

“I’d like to say that I’m just sorry for everything I’ve done, not only to the Cabral family, everyone that’s involved, but to the courts,” Smith said, his voice breaking. “I made a big mistake. Whatever you do to me, I think about it every day.”