New York Governor George Pataki signed into law a bill that increases the penalties for repeat DWI offenders who cause injury or death.

Under the new DWI law, drivers involved in an alcohol related accident resulting in death who have been convicted of a DWI within the previous ten-years, will be automatically charged with vehicular manslaughter. New York law previously did not take into account prior DWI convictions which often resulted in lesser charges being filed. Vehicular manslaughter is a felony.

The "Bill Leaf-Brandi Woods Law" is named for two people killed by drivers under the influence of alcohol. Brandi Woods, 15, was killed by a drunk driver while delivering Girl Scout cookies. The driver had three prior DWI arrests. Bill Leaf, a reporter for a Syracuse, New York radio station, was also killed by a driver with a history of DWI offenses.

Texarkana, Texas – Police Officer Matthew Smith found himself in handcuffs and charged with DWI after wrecking a city-owned vehicle. The early morning accident also left three local Justice Center dispatchers injured.

Bronx, New York – Jason Soto, who works in a Bronx precinct station, was arrested for DWI shortly after midnight after driving erratically on the Upper West Side.

Tifton, Georgia –Police Officer Chuck Synder has resigned after being arrested for DWI while driving his patrol car. He was on a traffic accident training trip when witnesses said he struck several signs on the side of the road and then kept driving.

Mountain Home, Arkansas – Sargent John William Vickers, a 24-year veteran with the Arkansas Highway Police, was charged with DWI after being stopped for speeding and swerving on a highway. Vickers, forgetting to set the brake, stepped out of his truck allowing it to roll backwards towards the patrol car before being stopped. A breath test administered several hours later, after he had posted bail, showed Vickers was still drunk.

Kanawha County, West Virginia – Chadwick Jones, 34, a Kanawha County deputy was arrested for drunk driving after crashing his car into a neighbor’s house. He is on paid administrative leave pending completion of an internal investigation.

Lorain, Ohio – Lt. Robert Stack III, 58, was pulled over by an Erie County Sheriff’s deputy after swerving directly into the path of the
oncoming sheriff’s cruiser. A municipal court will decide if Stack’s driving privileges will be reinstated following the DUI arrest.

Over the past five years, nearly forty percent of South Carolina drivers arrested for repeat DUI offenses received reduced charges in exchange for pleading guilty. That number is 71 percent in one Circuit Court. Almost sixty percent of cases involving a third or fourth offense are plead to a less serious charge. Offenders are often not sentenced to jail, and if they are it is typically for a minimal amount of time.

Victim advocate groups say more could be done to keep dangerous, repeat DUI offenders off the roads. They cite the fact that South Carolina ranks ninth in the nation for the percentage of fatal accidents involving alcohol (36%). Many of those drivers have been convicted of a previous DUI offense.

Laura Hudson, spokesperson for the South Carolina Victim Assistance Network says, "The system is getting lackadaisical."

There are several issues affecting the statistics and the decisions of judges and prosecutors. "Negotiated pleas are a fact of life," says prosecutor David Pascoe. "Can you imagine if you tried every DUI case? You wouldn’t move any other cases." Limited staff and court time competing with crimes such as murder and robbery means prosecutors often seek a plea bargain in DUI cases.

It is the judge’s discretion to accept or reject a plea bargain, but they often agree to lighter sentencing while citing issues like prison overcrowding and a full court docket. Repeat DUI offenders are more prone to receive probation when there were no traffic injuries and they cooperated with officers during their DUI arrest. Other factors include time between DUI arrests and whether the blood-alcohol level was close to the legal limit. A reduced plea typically comes with the requirement for alcohol abuse treatment.

South Carolina DUI defense attorneys argue that counseling rather than jail time has a greater impact drunk driving.

South Carolina has two laws on the books that were designed to reduce repeat DUI offenders, but they have not been used.

One law allows the South Carolina Motor Vehicles Department to seize license plates and vehicle registration. The department however has not processed numerous requests to address the over 3,000 repeat DUI offenders who have been sentenced to give up their plates and registration.

The second requires the State Law Enforcement Division to install alcohol detecting ignition interlocks on the vehicles of repeat DUI offenders. Due to a lack of funds to develop regulations for the installation of the devices, a six-year old intiative has not been
utilized.

The national anti-drunk driving organization MADD, says that the loopholes and the lack of enforcement of DUI laws have lead to the high drunk driving fatality statistics in South Carolina. It cites that there are eighteen states that prohibit or restrict plea bargains in DUI cases. MADD spokesperson Misty Moyse said South Carolina could save lives if it approached repeat DUI offenses like its neighboring states.

The Glendale Police Department has a new tool in its fight against drunk driving. The Arizona city recently put into service a special DUI processing van that is equipped with computers, communications equipment, breath-testing devices, cameras and blood drawing stations.

The mobile unit will be positioned around the city near police activities targeting DUI, speeding, aggressive driving and seat belt
violations. The state-of-the-art ‘one stop’ van will place valuable resources the site of law enforcement, which, according to Glendale
Police Chief Steve Conrad, will “help our officers process a DUI from start to finish in much less time. It will allow for collection of
evidence much quicker, resulting in getting officers back on to the streets to catch more people who should not be driving.” The van could reduce the processing of a DUI case from several hours to just 45 minutes.

The vehicle is also considered a visual deterrent due to its large size and easily identifiable graphic markings.

The van was purchased with a grant from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and it will be shared with Arizona DUI Task Forces in neighboring communities. In addition to aiding police officers with public safety, the van will be used as an educational tool, particularly during Holiday anti-DUI campaigns and community events.

Polk County, Florida commissioners will vote this week on an issue that would lead to the establishment of the first DUI Court in the state. To begin the special court the commissioners must approve the creation of three new employment positions: a probation officer, counselor and DUI case manager.

The court will focus on motorists charged with repeat DUI arrests. The county has received a grant from the state to fund the DUI Court for three years. Local DUI fines will be increased by $50 to make the DUI Court financially viable in the long term.

Repeat Florida DUI offenders will have the option of voluntarily participating in the DUI Court program. In exchange for the possibility of reduced jail time, participants would enter an intense alcohol rehabilitation program and be subject to strict probation monitoring. Statistics from the fifty existing DUI Courts across the United States show that the programs are effective in reducing alcohol related automobile accidents and related injuries and deaths.

If the Polk County commissioners approve the plan, the DUI Court program would be ‘fast tracked’ and become operational in late November.

The Washington State Patrol has created a special law enforcement team whose goal is to reduce alcohol related accidents. By not being responsible for other service calls or accident investigations, the five permanently assigned state patrol troopers will be able focus their efforts exclusively on identifying and arresting drunk drivers.

The team will deploy in Snohomish County, where there were 768 accidents last year involving alcohol. They will patrol all roadways, from back-roads to major highways, paying special attention to habitual problem highways, like areas with a concentration of bars. The patrols will be in force four nights a week.

The group can supplement its manpower with up to 18 additional troopers each night.

The special DUI patrol is modeled after a similar team created in Spokane County, which now averages 200 DUI arrests a year.

First year head coach of the NBA Sacramento Kings was stopped by the California Highway Patrol and arrested for DUI. Eric
Musselman, issued an apology to family, fans, the city of Sacramento and the King’s organization, telling reporters “I’m sorry, I’m
embarrassed and ashamed. It’s not representative of how I live my life.”

Musselman, 41, was stopped at 2:15 in the morning in his 2006 Mercedes after he was seen making a right-hand turn from the left-hand lane and cutting off another vehicle. He reportedly failed sobriety tests and registered a .11 blood-alcohol content.

Musselman was cited for misdemeanor driving under the influence and released without bail. His court date is November 20.

Kings General Manager Geoff Petrie indicated continued support of Musselman, believing the coach will “face this adversity honestly and appropriately.” He added that NBA league attorneys have been notified of the DUI arrest.

Team owners Gavin and Joe Maloof called the arrest disappointing and a “bad mistake” but said Musselman would not be “reprimanded or fined or suspended.”

Musselman was with the Golden State Warriors organization during the 2003-2004 season and he spent two years as an assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies before being hired by the Kings last June.

Just this past spring the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced use of federal funds to purchase the latest breath test
equipment, the Intoxilyzer 8000. The new equipment was to provide higher reliability than its often maligned predecessor. Now it appears that the new machine software has an anomaly that, according to Florida DUI defense attorneys, may result in false alcohol readings.

State officials learned in September that the Intoxilyzer 8000 failed in certain situations and it is now requesting a software upgrade. Florida DUI defense attorneys fear that this may be only the first of many problems with the equipment and they are planning to call into question its reliability. According to Florida law, law enforcement can only use breath-test equipment that yields reliable results.

The FDLE did not know about the problem with the Intoxilyzer 8000 until after a meeting with a DUI defense attorney. A subsequent review of thousands of breath tests found 190 cases of an anomaly that was attributed to software.

Though the conditions under which the software glitch occurs is rare, a breath-test result is one of the more compelling pieces of evidence used by the prosecution in a DUI case. A false DUI conviction could lead to job loss, fines, suspension of driver’s license and even imprisonment which is why DUI defense attorneys are quick to point out the need for accuracy and certification.

Four hundred Intoxilyzer 8000 machines are being used in the state of Florida. Given the concern for accuracy, the latest software issue may result in a nationwide legal challenge to the equipment.

A Democratic candidate for the Illinois State House of Representatives advocates broader use of ignition interlock devices for those convicted of DUI. Sam Cahnman would like to see judges order increased use of the devices for certain first time offenders, especially when blood alcohol levels are above 0.16 or when drunk driving results in an accident.

Typically judges order the installation of interlock devices when the offender has multiple DUI convictions. The systems keep a driver from starting a vehicle if alcohol is detected. Breath detection interlock devices are more effective in keeping habitual drunk drivers off the road than a license suspension. New technologies include surfaces that can detect alcohol through a person’s skin, like hands on a special steering wheel.

Cahnman was a lobbyist for a company that manufactures ignition interlock systems and he cites his help in getting legislation passed that allows judges to order use of the systems on a first DUI offense. He is concerned however that judges rarely impose the measure. Of the nearly 50,000 DUI tickets issued in the state of Illinois, about 3,000 cases result in the use of an ignition interlock device.

Organizations like MADD and Victim Impact Speakers, as well as the office of the Illinois Secretary of State, support the proposed
legislation.

Haley Joel Osment pleaded no contest to driving under the influence of alcohol and to possession of marijuana in a Los Angeles, California court. Under an agreement with prosecutors, the two misdemeanors will be dismissed. In exchange for the plea, the 18-year old actor was given 3-month probation, fined $1,500 and ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Osment must also complete 60 hours of alcohol rehab and education.

Osment was not in court when his California DUI defense attorney entered the no contest pleas. Under California law a no contest plea is equal to pleading guilty.

The child star of the movie ‘Sixth Sense’ was arrested for DUI last July after he lost control of his Saturn automobile and flipped over. His blood alcohol level was purportedly 0.16 percent, or twice the legal limit in California.