Fight A DUI

A California Highway Patrol operated checkpoint in Sonoma county resulted in 2 DUI arrests and 25 vehicles impounded for driving without a valid license.

“Each year, members of our community are needlessly injured or killed on our roads,'’ CHP Capt. Kelly Young said. “Our objective is to send a clear message to those considering mixing alcohol and/or drugs with driving this year (that) the California Highway Patrol will be keeping a watchful eye on you.'’

In all, some 330 vehicles were checked over four and a half hours between 7:30PM and midnight.

The New York Daily News is one of many reporting that a limousine driver’s lawsuit against Nassau County will be allowed to proceed following a U.S. Distrit Judge ruling.

The case began in August, 2004, when two officers saw Aguilera driving erratically. He claimed that he did not feel well and was unable to control his movements, but was able to pass a field sobriety test, and was arrested on a DWI charge. After sitting on the bench for about two hours, more alcohol and drug tests were administered, and Aguilera passed them without issue.

Aguilera was eventually released, charges were dropped, and a hospital exam later revealed that he had suffered a stroke.

A Tahlequah, Oklahoma, mother - 24 year old Crystal Brown - hit an electric pole and a parked car before driving her vehicle into a ditch. Upon arriving at the scene, police discovered that Brown’s 3 year old daugher was in the back seat, unrestrained by either seatbelt or child safety seat. Neither Brown nor her dauther suffered any injuries.

In addition to DUI charges, Brown is also accused of resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer.

Danielle Baymack, 22, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated after the 2000 Mitsubishi sedan slammed into a signpost at 4:30 AM, killing fellow officer Marlene Rivera, 24, of Brooklyn. Baymack pleaded not guilty from her hospital bed last Saturday afternoon.

Baymack and Rivera, both rookie officers at the 103rd Precinct, were driving home after a night partying at a nightclub. The Nassau County police on the scene smelled alcohol on Baymack’s breath, and a breathalyzer allegedly confirms a BAC at .11 - above the legal limit of .08.

Additional details are available at zwire.com and Newsday.com

The Hollister Police Department will be operating a DUI checkpoint within the City of Hollister timed to coincide with the San Benito County Fair this weekend. The county fair is expected to draw several thousand people to Bolada Park in Tres Pinos.

“It’s a good way to remind people to be safe and catch those who aren’t,” Hollister Police Captain Bob Brooks said.

DUI arrests in San Benito County were up to 361 in 2005, a significant rise from 305 in 2001. Officials hope check points will encourage drivers to stay safe and avoid DUIs.

Forbes is one of the many news outlets writing to let us know that Paris Hilton’s DUI Arraignment has been postponed. From the article:

 Hilton was originally scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on charges that she was driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level of at least 0.08 percent, said city attorney’s spokesman Nick Velasquez.

…

The 25-year-old Hilton was arrested Sept. 7 after being stopped in her Mercedes-Benz SLR while, she has said, on a late-night hamburger run.

Hilton has no prior DUI arrests. If convicted, she could be sentenced to six months in jail and fined $1,000. The minimum penalty for a first-time offender is a fine, probation and alcohol-rehabilitation program.

The $1,000 minimum fine in California probably matters little to her - but it should be interesting to see the heiress in a rehab program.

UPI is one of the many to announce that rapper Royce Montgomery was sentenced to 1 year in jail a summer DUI. From the story:

AllHipHop.com reported that a source close to the M.I.C. Records chief executive officer said that despite recommendations for parole for the rapper’s summer DUI, a Michigan judge instead chose to sentence the “Rock City” star to jail time.

“The actual situation was the DUI, but because he lives in the suburbs, you know how that goes,” the source told AllHipHop.com. “The probation people recommended that he do 30 days, but the judge was like ‘no.’ Normally the judge takes the probation people’s recommendations but they sentenced him to a year because they wanted him to think about it.”

Have a DUI? A good lawyer may keep you out of jail…