DUI
AZ DUI News
Arizona DUI News
McCain Staffer Pleads Guilty to Arizona DUI
Staff assistant charged with extreme DUI during second drunk driving arrest this year.
A staff assistant to Sen. John McCain entered a guilty plea to charges of extreme DUI in Phoenix Arizona. Carlos Sierra was arrested May 2 after reportedly speeding, driving on a sidewalk and making illegal turns. He was unable to provide proof of insurance and his blood alcohol content was reportedly .20%, well above the legal limit for intoxication.
It is the second time this year that Sierra has been arrested for driving under the influence in Arizona. He was charged with AZ DUI on March 28 after speeding, running a red light and registering a BAC above .08%. He is still waiting to go to court on those charges.
Sierra, 27, works in McCain’s Tempe office. According to a McCain spokesperson, Sierra is still employed at the office but is on suspension pending the outcome of charges against him.
Do you know someone who needs to hire a Phoenix, AZ DUI attorney?
Filed in Arizona DUI | DUI Related | Permalink | Comments (0)
309 Arrests for Arizona DUI Over Holiday Weekend
Statewide task force targeted drunk drivers in AZ.
The Governor's Office of Highway Traffic Safety has reported that 309 motorists were charged with driving under the influence in Arizona over the Fourth of July weekend. 106 of those arrests were made on the Fourth itself. The statistics reflect 50 fewer DUI arrests than last year.
More than 300 officers and deputies joined a statewide task force targeting drunk driving. Of the total AZ DUI arrests, 99 were for extreme DUI, which is usually charged when the driver has a blood-alcohol content in excess of .15%. Law enforcement agencies made a total of 3,471 traffic stops during the extended holiday weekend.
Were arrested for DUI in AZ?
Filed in Arizona DUI | DUI News | Permalink | Comments (0)
WNBA Star Receives Arizona DUI in Phoenix
Diana Taurasi arrested for drunk driving early Thursday morning.
Diana Taurasi, basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, was charged with driving under the influence in Phoenix, Arizona last Thursday. Taurasi was stopped by Phoenix Police for speeding around 2:30 in the morning. Alcohol was suspected and a blood sample was tested at a mobile DUI unit. She was cited for AZ DUI and released. Her blood alcohol content has not been revealed.
Taurasi is one of the more well known players in the Women's National Basketball Association, and the top vote getter for the July 25 WNBA All-Star game. Taurasi said that she is embarrassed by the event and felt it was "unfortunate for my family and the organization."
Do you need to hire a Phoenix DUI attorney?
Filed in Arizona DUI | Celebrity DUI | Permalink | Comments (0)
Former University of Arizona QB Charged with Extreme DUI
Willie Tuitama arrested for drunk driving in Tucson AZ.
Former University of Arizona starting quarterback Will Tuitama was arrested for extreme AZ DUI last weekend. A Phoenix Police Department officer was flagged down by a McDonald’s employee around 2:30 am regarding a suspected drunk driver in the drive thru. The officer spotted the Dodge Magnum in question pull out of the restaurant and then stop at a red light. The vehicle was then observed initiating a right turn, straightening the wheel and running through the red light.
As the result of a DUI investigation during the traffic stop, Tuitama was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Arizona and extreme DUI. The latter is usually charged when blood alcohol content is very high. Tuitama’s vehicle was impounded and he was booked and released. His passenger was not charged.
Tuitama, 21, is planning on competing before NFL scouts at the university on Saturday in an effort to improve his chances of being drafted into the pros. The 6’3”, 220-pounder trained for but failed to be invited to the NFL Combine. Tuitama threw for a record 9,216 yards and 67 touchdowns during his four years as starting quarterback for the Arizona Wildcats. During his sophomore year he was charged with underage possession of alcohol. Though he admitted to campus police that he had been drinking and driving, he completed a diversion program and no charges were filed and the football program took no disciplinary action.
Have you or someone you know been charged with Tucson DUI?
Filed in Arizona DUI | DUI Related | Permalink | Comments (0)
Police Form Special Arizona DUI Patrol for NBA All Star Game
Several agencies form task force to combat drunk driving in Tempe around NBA game.
Five local police agencies and the Department of Public Safety have formed an Arizona DUI Task Force aimed at reducing the number of alcohol related accidents during the NBA All-Star weekend. Tempe police are in charge of the operation, with support from police departments from Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa.
The NBA All-Star game will be held Sunday, February 15 at the US Airways Center, home of the NBA Phoenix Suns. The drunk driving task force will be conducting traffic stops Friday through Sunday.
The penalties for driving under the influence in Arizona can include loss of driver’s license, jail, thousands of dollars in fines and court fees, vehicle impoundment and mandatory installation of an ignition interlock device.
Are you looking for a Tempe AZ DUI lawyer?
Filed in Arizona DUI | DUI Prevention | Permalink | Comments (0)
Close to 2300 Arizona DUI Arrests Made During the Holidays
Statewide total for drunk driving in Arizona covers Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve window.
Law enforcement agencies across the state arrested nearly 2,300 motorists for driving under the influence in Arizona. The annual sweep began Thanksgiving Day and ended New Year’s Eve.
Officers made 26,917 traffic stops resulting in 2,262 DUI arrests. A spokesperson for the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said the total number of arrests were down from the previous year, though that was partly influenced by the fact that the enforcement window was a week less due to a late Thanksgiving. Of the arrests, 175 drivers were charged with extreme DUI which is applied when the blood alcohol content is .15% of greater. The legal limit for intoxication in Arizona is .08%. The average BAC of all the arrested drivers was .148%.
The arrest total includes 143 charges of underage Arizona DUI.
Have you been charged with AZ DUI?
Filed in Arizona DUI | DUI Related | Permalink | Comments (0)
Thousands of Arizona DUI Cases May Be Dismissed Because of the Intoxilyzer 8000
Breath testing equipment used (Intoxilyzer 8000) in cases of DUI in Tucson may be ruled unreliable.
CMI, the manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer 8000, is facing a challenge over the reliability of its equipment that could impact thousands of cases of drunk driving in the Tucson area. The breath test equipment is one of the alcohol detectors used by law enforcement agencies in the state. Arizona DUI defense attorneys have asked for the equipment's source code on behalf over a number of defendants with cases pending before the Pima County Superior Court.
Twelve years ago a similar challenge to another breath testing machine lead to the dismissal of approximately 5,000 cases of drunk driving in Tucson over several months. The Intoxilyzer 8000 offers a portable piece of equipment to test blood alcohol content of motorists suspected of drunk driving. The Intoxilyzer 8000 is used by most law enforcement agencies in Arizona, as well as seven other states and three government agencies.
The source code used in the Intoxilyzer 8000 has come under challenge from several states. The code is changed for each state to reflect local liquor laws and equipment specifications. Since being implemented in Arizona, the approved version of the equipment's code has been changed multiple times. It is feared that errors and code-based assumptions made by the computer could lead to inaccurate BAC readings and thus false charges of DUI. Even CMI has testified that that there are problems with the latest software version. CMI has been ordered buy several courts across the United States to provide the source code of its equipment, but has refused. The company has accumulated more than $1 million in fines in Florida alone for refusing to cooperate with a court order.
Prosecutors defend the equipment, with one Pima County official stating that the software has been tested by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the federal government “a bazillion times.” Still, many cases of drunk driving have been dismissed because of judges and justices have refused to enter the results of a breath test into evidence. If the Intoxilyzer 8000 is found unreliable in Tucson it could lead to the dismissal of many thousands of DUI cases. The Intoxilyzer 8000 was placed in service in Tucson on December 1, 2006. In all of 2007 and so far this year, Tucson police have charged 5,963 motorists with suspicion of driving under the influence in Arizona.
A county judge has given CMI until November 10 to provide the source code in electronic format.
Filed in Arizona DUI | DUI News | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yuma Police Get A High Tech Police Car to Combat Drunk Driver's in Arizona
New High Tech Police Car to be focus of effort to stop drunk driving in Yuma County, Arizona. The cruiser even comes with Doppler radar installed!
The Yuma Police Department has a new vehicle for its fight against motorists suspected of driving drunk in Arizona. What appears to be just another police cruiser is actually a specialized vehicle containing state-of-the-art equipment. While its primary function will be to DUI enforcement in Yuma County, the vehicle will also be used in traffic enforcement, looking for speeders, red light runners and aggressive drivers.
The cruiser has emergency lights mounted along the inside, top edge of the front windshield rather than the roof, a computer with two monitors, special lights for side visibility, a digital mobile video system linked to two cameras for recording traffic stops arrests and a Doppler radar. The radar allows officers to scan traffic in both directions simultaneously and it automatically identifies the fastest cars in its range.
The drivers of the vehicle are also unique. The designated DUI team has been trained to draw blood samples to check blood alcohol content of suspected drunk drivers, and are trained in drug recognition.
The cruiser was paid for through a $40,000 grant from the Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety.
Filed in Arizona DUI | DUI News | Permalink | Comments (0)
Flagstaff Man Fires Gun Outside Alcohol Treatment Center
Assailant fires at another program attendee; is arrested for extreme DUI in Arizona.
The Flagstaff Police Department was called to a local alcohol treatment center to investigate reports of a drunk man with a hand gun. While officers were enroute to the Alano Club, reports of a shot being fired reached the police dispatcher.
The officers located a red Jeep described at the scene, and they disarmed and removed Charles Lherault from the vehicle. Lherault, 45, told officers that he did not want another man attending the alcohol program and pointed a gun at him. After asking the other man if he was ‘scared to die, Lherault fired his gun once, missing the intended victim. The bullet lodged in the wall of a nearby barbecue stand.
Lherault reportedly had a holstered pistol on each hip and a gun in his lap at the time of his arrest. He was charged with second degree attempted homicide and driving under the influence in Arizona.
A 33-year old Michigan woman with Lherault at the time also had a gun confiscated, though she was not charged with a crime.
Have you been charged with DUI in Flagstaff, AZ?
Filed in Arizona DUI | DUI Related | Permalink | Comments (0)
Loss of Records Leads to Dismissal of Arizona DUI Cases
Records verifying accuracy of breath test equipment lost.
A Justice Court in Pinal County has dismissed at least four cases of drunk driving in Arizona because the county sheriff’s office did not keep necessary records verifying the validity of breath tests. At least two more arrests are being reviewed and an internal audit is currently being undertaken.
The Pinal County Sheriff’s department is responsible for keeping documents that show that Intoxilyzer 8000 equipment used to determine a motorist’s blood alcohol content had been properly tested and maintained. It has been revealed that the department could not produce the results of quality assurance tests for a 14 month period; from April 2007 to June 2008. According to the sheriff’s department, the equipment is supposed to be calibrated every 30 days and undergo more rigorous tests every 90 days. Documentation of the maintenance is to be kept by the department until all pertinent criminal cases are finalized. Improperly maintained equipment could result in an inaccurate BAC reading and a false conviction for drinking and driving in Arizona.
Concerns were expressed by the Pinal County prosecutor after not receiving records despite repeated requests, and a complaint was documented in a May 2008 email. An internal investigation into the records keeping was launched in June, though news of the records loss was not revealed until an announcement this week.
The loss of maintenance records involves cases in front of the Apache Corner Justice Court, and covers Arizona DUI arrests in the Santan and Gold Canyon areas of Pinal County.
Are you searching for DUI Lawyer in Pinal County, AZ?
Filed in Arizona DUI | DUI News | Permalink | Comments (0)
