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.

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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.

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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."

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The Intoxilyzer 8000 has come under repeated attack from lawyers handling cases of suspected driving under the influence. Defense attorneys across the country say that access to the code would enable them to independently verify accuracy and reliability of the equipment. The legal argument is that defendants have a constitutional right to challenge their accusers. The manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer 8000 has countered that the code is a trade secret. The issue of access to the code, as well as incidents of unauthorized changes to state approved equipment and software, have led to court battles in Minnesota, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New Jersey. After the equipment failed to meet accuracy testing, it was prohibited from use in Tennessee.

In its ruling, the Arizona Court only clarified that prosecutors do not have an advantage over DUI criminal defense attorneys. The underlying issue of 'substantial need' for access to the equipment's software code remains, and state prosecutors believe it will ultimately end up before the Court of Appeals.

The recent ruling means that the Superior Court judge has three options; suppress the breath test evidence in the 23 cases of driving under the influence in Arizona currently before her; permit the prosecutors to enter the breath test results into evidence; or dismiss the AZ DUI charges. It is almost assured that whatever decision is made it will be appealed.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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There are reportedly 10,000 outstanding warrants in Arizona that stem from a DUI arrest. The Phoenix campaign is called ‘Operation MADD About It’ and it signals a new effort to execute the court ordered warrants. On the first day of implementation the operation netted 14 arrests. Phoenix police Cmdr. Frank Milstead said that the task force should be of concern to those with outstanding DUI warrants, stating, “If we find you, you’ll go to jail”. He went on to say that those who turn themselves in will be required to pay a fine but will avoid jail time beyond the normal penalty for DUI.

Additional task forces in the Valley are planning similar DUI enforcement task forces, and the Phoenix police has offered assistance.

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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.

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.

A police officer stopped the van after observing it weaving. Ruffin reportedly failed a field sobriety test and registered a blood alcohol content of .15%, nearly twice the legal limit for intoxication in Arizona. Under Arizona DUI laws, such an elevated BAC is considered an extreme DUI.

A spokesperson with Redflex said that Ruffin, who had been with the company for one year, has been let go.

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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.

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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.

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A law enacted late last year requires motorists convicted of driving under the influence in Arizona to have an interlock device on any vehicle they drive for 12 months after driving privileges have been restored. The legislation Napolitano vetoed would have allowed a motorist to remove the device after 6 months only if they had completed a state approved drug and alcohol treatment program. The bill’s author hoped the incentive would cause a motorist found guilty of Arizona DUI to get behavior changing assistance and help them avoid becoming a repeat offender. Napolitano said it was too soon to alter the law passed last year.

Beyond the ignition interlock issue, lawmakers questioned the governor’s decision to veto the bill because they felt it offered several necessary fixes to Arizona DUI laws. For example, a motorist convicted of first offense drinking and driving in Arizona can have limited driving privileges restored after thirty days and full privileges restored 60 days after that. That is not available to someone who caused ‘serious physical injury’. However, the wording in the current law does not specify ‘death’ which means someone who kills another person while driving under the influence of alcohol can have their license partially reinstated after 30 days. The legislation vetoed by Napolitano would have corrected that situation.

The vetoed bill covered boating while intoxicated, making the penalties in line with a conviction for drunken driving in Arizona. It also clarified the license suspension process.

Lawmakers are uncertain whether there is enough time left in session for them to amend the legislation and resubmit it to the governor.

If you have been arrested for drunk driving in Arizona you will need to consult with DUI lawyer in Arizona.]]> http://www.dui.com/dui-library/arizona/news/chandler-police-to-continue-arizona-dui-task-force Grant to fund fight against drunk driving in Phoenix suburb. Bill Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:15:32 -0600 The Chandler, Arizona police department will continue to receive state money that allows them to fund supplemental patrols by a special Arizona DUI task force. The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has decided to continue issuing a grant that pays for extra patrols during the holidays and special events in a crackdown on drinking and driving in the Phoenix suburb.

During 2007 the grant paid for 107 extra police shifts that netted 152 Arizona drunk driving arrests. Special DUI patrols are scheduled for St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, prom and graduation season, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day.

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