Poppy seed defense works on DUI charge

CHICAGO, Oct. 18 (UPI) — A suburban Chicago man managed to get out of
a driving under the influence charge stemming from a fatal accident by
saying the poppy seeds did it.

Charles Hausberg, 20, of Lake Forest, was convicted of making an
illegal U-turn but was acquitted of the more serious DUI charge by
successfully arguing the opiate detected in his blood and urine came from
eating poppy seed muffins, not taking morphine.

“The court cannot say that the only cause for this could be the
ingestion of an illegal drug,” said Lake County Associate Judge Patrick
Lawler in rendering his verdict Monday, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“The court has no alternative but to find this young man not guilty.”

Hausberg was sentenced to 50 hours of community service and fined
$500. He also must attend a victim impact panel and substance abuse
program.

Joshua Rothstein, 15, of Wilmette, was killed in an accident that
resulted from Hausberg’s U-turn.

Source: United Press International

OSLO, NORWAY – The 19-year old Oysten Haakanes has been convicted of drunk driving despite the fact that he was not even in front of the
steering wheel. Haakanes was sitting in the passenger seat of the parked
car when his designated driver hopped out of the car at a gas station.
His driver, who was sober, had stopped at the gas station near the town
of Tinn to buy something to eat.

Haakenes was eating a sausage when his movement to change a CD
accidentally resulted in a bump to the manual gear lever. The car, which
was off and did not even have keys in the ignition, started to roll as it
was now in neutral. It moved approximately 10 feet before he adjusted the
hand brake.

The police officer who witnessed the rolling car detained Haakenes,
accusing him of drunken driving. Magistrates sided with police testimony:
Haakenes seemed to have intentionally made the car roll, making him the
legal operator of the vehicle.

“I think it’s unreasonable,” stated Haakanes.

November 24, 2003

Also See:

• The definition of “Driving a Vehicle“

Man Fakes Death to Get Out of DWI

Carmel, NY-Eight years ago, in an attempt to evade a traffic ticket, William Arksey 53, faked his death. Now he is experiencing the full
consequences of his crime.

After having already been charged with a misdemeanor for drunk driving in 1997, Arksey, formerly of Danbury, Conn., filed a false death certificate and changed his name. He pleaded guilty to charges on Wednesday at the trial in Putnam County, New York.

His case had previously been closed since he did not appear to his trial for the DUI charge in the southeast side of the state. The case was closed because Arksey was reported as dead.

His case was reopened after Arksey was arrested in Pennsylvania and authorities administered a fingerprint check. To their surprise, the fingerprints matched with those of a deceased man named William Peterson-the name of the man before his name change.

Arksey stated to the judge, “I was a different person then…that was, like, eight years ago.” Arksey will serve one year in the county jail.

July 1, 2005

Related Links:

• New York DWI Attorneys
• New York Auto Insurance

Article published Tuesday, May 3, 2005

DESHLER, Ohio – A Deshler man who admitted he had too much to drink
before he decided to drive home on a riding lawn mower was charged with
drunk driving, authorities said.

Adam Reinbolt, 25, was arrested about 2 a.m. Sunday after the mower went into a ditch on State Rt. 18, just west of Hockenberry Road in Jackson Township, according to Wood County sheriff’s reports.

Mr. Reinbolt said he was driving the mower from a friend’s house to Deshler to mow lawns. When he saw a vehicle approaching from the east, he said he drove to the south side of the road to avoid the vehicle and went into the ditch.

He told the deputy he’d had “too much” beer to drink and subsequently failed field sobriety tests.

Man Riding Lawnmower At 3 A.M. Gets DUI Charge

‘Most Bizarre Call I’ve Ever Had,’ Tow Truck Driver Says

POSTED: 9:09 am EDT June 9, 2005

DELHI TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A man riding a lawnmower down the street at 3a.m. has been charged with DUI, News 5 reported.

Joseph Mundy told police he got the munchies, so he started out toward the Delhi Kroger store. He was riding down Covedale Avenue in the dark when an officer stopped him.

“He didn’t have headlights, of course, and the officer almost hit him, and he thought it was stolen,” said Delhi Township Cpl. Joe Macaluso. “But he ruled that out real quickly and he realized the munchies got the best of him.”

The officer called a tow truck for the mower.

“This is the most bizarre call I’ve ever had,” said Joe Elliott of Schaffer’s Towing. “It was something you’d see on ‘COPS,’ but not something you go out and do.”

This was Mundy’s first DUI.

Copyright Channel 5 Cincinnati – story and video online

Culpeper Charges Man with DUI–on Mower

Culpeper charges Rixeyville man with driving under the influence of alcohol on Main Street–on a lawn mower.

Date published: 6/10/2005

By DONNIE JOHNSTON

A Rixeyville man has been charged with driving under the influence of
alcohol on Culpeper’s Main Street–on a lawn mower.

Town police Sgt. Chris Settle was patrolling the 880 block of North
Main Street about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday when he noticed a man on a red
riding lawn mower heading north in the left lane, according to Detective
Richard Brooking.

At one point, the man stopped in the middle of the lane for almost a
minute and carried on a conversation with the driver of a passing
vehicle, Brooking said.

“After Settle watched the man almost get hit by several passing cars,
he put on his emergency lights and pulled the lawn mower over,” the
detective said.

The driver, whom police identified as Jerry Wayne Hawkins, 43, of
Rixeyville Road, told Settle he had been mowing a lawn and was on his way
to a nearby convenience store to get gas, Brooking said.

“At that point, Sgt. Settle suspected the driver was impaired and
administered sobriety tests, which Mr. Hawkins failed,” Brooking
said.

Hawkins was charged with driving under the influence, his second such
charge within a 10-year period, Brooking said.

Hawkins was held on $1,500 bond.

Date published: 6/10/2005

Judge’s Booze Party Will Cost Him His Job

Tacoma News Tribune

TACOMA, Wash. — A judge bought beer for attorneys and jurors during a
drunken driving trial and invited them to drink with him, state
investigators have charged. Judge Ralph Baldwin said he will resign
because the charges are largely true.

Baldwin, who has served just three months as the $65,000-a-year
appointed Lakewood municipal judge, said he’s embarrassed about the
incident and apologetic.

“When I saw it put down on paper, it looked awful,” Baldwin, 54,
sheepishly admitted. “It was stupid,” he said. “When I thought about it,
I thought, ‘Oh my God, you fool.’ “

The Feb. 20 incident also led Lakewood City Attorney Dan Heid to take
action against Assistant City Attorney Mike McKenzie for consuming
alcohol on city property. Heid declined to specify what form of
discipline he took against McKenzie.

According to state Judicial Conduct Commission charges Monday, the
incident began when Baldwin left the court briefly during jury
deliberations in a drunken-driving trial. He returned to the courtroom
minutes later with a 12-pack of beer.

That alcohol consumption violated both state law and Lakewood
personnel policies, the commission noted.

After the jury returned a guilty verdict against the defendant,
Baldwin invited jurors and attorneys to join him in the jury room to have
a few beers and to discuss the case, the commission charges.

“This invitation was made from the bench while still in his judicial
robes and in the presence of the defendant,” the commission charges.

“Respondent made remarks such as, ‘Stay for a cold one,’ ‘I know this
is uncommon and kind of funny following a DUI case,’ ‘I’ll deny it if any
of you repeat it,’ and ‘I’m not responsible for any drinking and
driving,’ ” charging documents say.

According to the documents, two jurors and McKenzie joined Baldwin in
the jury room and drank some beer.

Baldwin acknowledged the commission’s account was essentially true.
The trial had been long and arduous, and he was trying to cajole the
jurors to stay and talk about the case with the attorneys by offering
them some refreshment.

After the jurors left, charging papers say, the judge instructed the
court administrator and McKenzie to help him gather up the empty beer
cans. While he was doing so, he remarked that he was an unconventional
judge who didn’t “play by the rules.”

The commission charges that Baldwin carried the empty beer cans from
the building along with a partially full can. “Respondent made remarks
such as ‘I might as well drink and drive. I do it all the time anyway.’
“

©1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.

Man Faces Five Years in Jail if
Drunk

Jul 7 2004

Daily Post

A MAN has been warned he could face five years in prison if he is ever
found drunk in a public place.

Philip Lester was issued with one of the first Criminal Anti-Social
Behaviour Orders (CRASBO) by magistrates in St Helens.

This order states that Lester, 51, cannot consume, or be under the
influence of alcohol. Neither can he use threatening, abusive or
insulting language, or behaviour, in any public place in Merseyside. This
will be intact for a period of two years.

Lester, of Princes Road, Toxteth, has committed 35 drunk and
disorderly offences in St Helens town centre and surrounding area in the
last four years.

Iain Criddle, a specialist anti-social behaviour prosecutor, is the
man responsible for securing this order.

Mr Criddle said: “I am certain we will be able to help communities
affected by anti-social behaviour in future.”

Mike Doyle, executive member for community safety said: “We will do
everything we can to ensure people are safe when they visit St Helens
town centre.”

Peter Costello, the town centre inspector added: “Alcohol-related
incidents and anti-social behaviour have been identified as priorities,
by members of the residential and business community in the town
centre.

“This is an excellent result, and we will continue to secure further
orders against those people who continually engage in anti-social and
disruptive behaviour affecting the lives of people in St Helens.”

———————————————————————-

Drunk Banned From City in Landmark Case

July 6, 2004 12:38

A DRUNK who regularly shouts and swears at people in Norwich city
centre has been banned from his regular haunts in a landmark legal
case.

Robert Innes, 49, who has 53 convictions for 85 offences, becomes one
of the first people in Norwich to be made the subject of a new style of
anti-social behaviour order (ASBO).

Police have been given greater powers by the Government to flex their
legal muscles by attaching ASBOs to criminal convictions. Up to now they
have tended to be used in civil cases to crackdown on unruly behaviour by
young troublemakers.

Officers today said they would have no hesitation in applying for
other orders in a bid to rid Norwich’s streets of drunks and
troublemakers.

Innes, of Wellington Green, Norwich, admitted three charges of
disorderly conduct and breaching a conditional discharge imposed for a
similar offence.

Yesterday, city magistrates banned Innes from a number of areas
between noon and 6am every day.

The court heard that he helped market traders set up their stalls and
ran errands for them. He was not a nuisance until the afternoons, after
he had been drinking.

Chairman Mike Welham told Innes: “In reaching our decision we decided
that you have behaved in an anti-social manner and that has been
ongoing.

“The cases before us and your antecedents involve behaviour
representing a trend which is unacceptable.”

As well as the ban from certain areas, Innes is also prohibited from
behaving in a threatening or abusive fashion. Breaching the order would
mean him facing a jail sentence of up to five years.

PC Richard Hammond dealt with Innes on a number of occasions and had
looked into his offending record.

“He has frequently been drunk and swearing in particular areas. He has
what the officer described as a prolific pattern of offending in the city
centre, the majority of those offences being public order
orientated.”

Patricia Newton, prosecuting, said that on June 4, Innes was given a
six-month conditional discharge.

Four days later he committed the first of the offences for which he
was before the court.

That afternoon a member of the public pointed him out to police in
Gentleman’s Walk. He was swearing repeatedly.

Innes clenched his fists and was shouting and swearing, despite being
told to calm down.

On the afternoon of June 14, he was again shouting and swearing in
front of shoppers in Gentleman’s Walk.

The next evening police were called to a disturbance in Haymarket.
They found Innes, who had clearly been drinking, being abusive. He was
told to stop, but continued swearing and clenched his fists. He had to be
prevented from moving towards a group of youths.

During the proceedings, Innes had broken bail conditions banning him
from the area and he was remanded in custody on June 16.

Gavin Cowe, for Innes, said: “He cannot recall the circumstances in
any detail of any of the offences.

“He has a problem with drink and at times when he has been drinking
behaves in this way.”

In the mornings he went to the market, helping traders set up their
stalls and running errands for them. His offending did not start until
later, after he had been drinking.

Norwich City Centre Inspector Brian Pincher said: “We’ve had a central
problem with individuals who either persistently get drunk or who are
under the influence of drugs who congregate on the city centre locations
and act in an inappropriate manner.

“Police, for a number of years, have arrested these individuals for
disorderly behaviour and drunkenness and they have been placed before the
courts, and on the majority of occasions the individuals are fined.

“Recently the Government has passed laws which allow, in certain
circumstances, for the court to impose anti-social behaviour orders on
offenders – in effect banning them from the areas
where their behaviour is affecting others.

“Over the past few weeks my staff have been targeting areas where
anti-social gatherings take place and dealing with the offences as they
present themselves. Where possible, statements have been obtained from
residents and businesses affected by this type of loutish behaviour.

“Some of the offenders have been given strict bail conditions to
prevent them from offending in the area prior to their court appearance.
However, some people have failed to keep to their conditions, so it’s
with these type of persons we will be seeking anti-social behaviour
orders.

“People who continue with this type of behaviour will be targeted. The
effect of an anti-social behaviour order can be far reaching, effectively
banning people from areas for a maximum of five years.”

In 2001 Norfolk Police were given new powers allowing them to seize
alcohol from people drinking outside in the city centre area.

Market traders said Robert Innes was known to them as Scots Robbie and
had been hanging around the market for the past five or six years.

Justin Silvester, manager of Joe’s Pets, said: “He’s a real character.
He was up here every morning and was quite harmless until he had a drink.
Then he became abusive towards everyone. If I were a mother I wouldn’t
want my child to hear some of the thing he would say.”

Down the aisle at Events card stall, Ronnie McLeish said Mr Innes used
to sit right outside his premises.

“All the stallholders know Robbie. He is an alcoholic. As soon as he
got a drink in him he was away,” he said.

“I have seen his record of previous convictions — it’s as long as
my arm. When he is sober I have all the time in the world for him. He
never turned violent though — he was just verbally abusive to
people.

“I don’t think we have seen the end of Robbie. The police have tagged
him in the past but he just took that off and threw it in the river. He
is the kind of man who will go where he wants to.”

Carolyn Dunn, city centre manager said: “The police are targeting
anti-social behaviour in a major way. We cannot have people visiting the
city and being subjected to this nuisance. A lot of instances of
anti-social behaviour can be attributed to drink and drugs and these
orders are the key to reducing the problem.

“But it is crucial they are enforced by the courts. If they are broken
then a sentence needs to be sought. We need to get the message across
that we mean business.”

Georgia DUI on Horse

Woman Accused of Drunk Driving a Horse Clayton, Georgia applies DUI
statute to a woman riding a horse.

The Georgia State Patrol has charged Heather Darnell, 22, with the
crime of driving a horse under the influence. Last Friday at 10:30pm a
1993 Pontiac Bonneville struck Darnell’s horse on US 441 near Steoka
Falls and Bethel Roads in the city of Clayton as Darnell attempted to
cross the road.

Police claim she was drunk at the time.

Darnell was rushed by a Lifeflight helicopter to Gwinett Medical
Center for urgent treatment.

Passengers in the Bonneville suffered less serious injuries. The horse
is believed to have survived the incident.

Darnell now faces up to a year in prison, fines of $1000 plus court
costs, 40 hours of community service, and a one-year automobile license
suspension.

Georgia Drunk Driving Statute 40-6-391. (a) A person shall not drive
or be in actual physical control of any moving vehicle while: (1) Under
the influence of alcohol to the extent that it is less safe for the
person to drive.

Source: http://www.thenewspaper.com

Man Must Visit Grave of Victim

The Associated Press

STILLWATER (AP) – After he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter
and drunken-driving charges, David Eugene Littlesun was ordered to visit
the grave of his victim each year for eight years.

Payne County Associate District Judge Robert Murphy Jr. on Friday
ordered Littlesun to go with Mitsuye Conover to her son’s grave each year
on the son’s birthday. Conover had requested the visits as part of
Littlesun’s probation.

Her son, Sean Conover, was 19 and a freshman at Oklahoma State
University on September 14, 1996, when he was killed along Oklahoma
51.

Sean Conover was a passenger in a Volkswagen Rabbit driven by another
man on the night he was killed, according to police. The driver of the
car had pulled over on the shoulder of the eastbound lane of the highway,
north of Cushing, to check an oil pressure light. It was about 2:40
a.m.

Police said Littlesun’s car rear-ended the Volkswagen, pushing it into
the center of the highway. Both Conover and the Volkswagen’s driver got
out of the car and stood by the car.

Another vehicle then ran into the Volkswagen, which struck and killed
Conover.

Police said that Littlesun had a blood alcohol level of 0.29, nearly
three times the legal limit in Oklahoma, when he was arrested.

Littlesun, 31, of Bartlesville, admitted in court Friday that he was
drunk at the time of the accident.

Mitsuye Conover said in court that she did not believe Littlesun
understood the devastation her son’s death had caused to her family.

“Our lives will never be the same,” she said, adding that Sean was her
only son. “I don’t think I’ll ever have true happiness again.”

In addition to asking that the judge order the cemetery visits,
Mitsuye Conover asked that he order Littlesun to contribute money each
year to a scholarship fund established in her son’s memory.

Murphy, who told the court he had lost a daughter 10 years ago to
drowning, ordered Littlesun to make the cemetery visits, pay $50 per
month for seven years to the scholarship fund and go to intensive
outpatient treatment for alcoholism. He sentenced Littlesun to serve a
year in the county jail, followed by seven years probation.

Littlesun was also sentenced Friday for four other offenses, dating
back to 1995.

S.D. Woman on Golf Cart Arrested for DUI

RAPID CITY, S.D. – A Keystone woman was arrested early Thursday for
DUI – after she was stopped while driving a golf cart. A Rapid City
police officer was on patrol around midnight when he met a woman on a
golf cart driving on the road.

The police report said the officer put on his emergency lights and
tried to stop the golf cart because it had no lights and was a threat to
traffic. The driver would not stop at first but finally did after she
realized she couldn’t outrun the squad car, according to police.

The woman told the officer she had borrowed the golf cart from friends
at a party.

The officer smelled alcohol on her breath and tried to draw a blood
sample as part of the new mandatory blood test, but when the woman became
uncooperative, it took a couple of officers to hold her so they could get
the blood sample, the police report said.

After the results were in, Tawanna Martin, 23, was arrested for
driving under the influence.

The Few, The Proud and The Drunk

April 1, 1996

WASHINGTON, April 1 (UPI) — A Marine corporal who thought he had made
it home to Quantico after a night on the town in Washington found himself
locked out, so he decided to climb the fence — the White House
fence.

Secret Service agents say (Monday) Cpl. Jebediah Morris was “extremely
intoxicated” and shocked when he sobered up enough to learn he was in the
custody of agents, who turned him over to police who charged him with
unlawful entry in the incident at 4 a.m. Sunday.