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This Week

Naked in New York – A nude woman was arrested for DWI after speeding up to 100 miles per hour down a Staten Island street, striking and killing a pedestrian, sideswiping another car and flipping her vehicle which went airborne and cleared a 10-foot high fence. Taliyah Taylor, 24, emerged from her overturned car singing lyrics from a Lil’ Kim rap tune and then tried to steal a NYPD cruiser. Police could not say why she was naked.

Make that a double in Pennsylvania – Maryland motorist Ann Galvin Moore Gentry, 52, drove to the Southern Regional Police Headquarters in Pennsylvania to be processed for a previous DUI. While being fingerprinted police smelled alcohol and tests revealed that Gentry’s blood alcohol content was 0.23, nearly three times the legal limit. She was promptly charged with a second DWI.

Self delivery in Tennessee – Troopers from the Knoxville headquarters of the Tennessee Highway Patrol didn’t have to work hard catching a recent DWI offender. Semi-truck driver Terry Munday, 48, arrived at the headquarters to deliver a large file cabinet. After passing a parking lot filled with clearly identified police cruisers, Munday approached the receptionist who noticed a strong smell of alcohol. After failing several field sobriety tests and a breath test, he was arrested for DWI.

Horsing around in Georgia– A Rabun County woman faces one count of DWI for riding a horse while drunk. Heather Darnell, 22, attempted to cross a heavily trafficked road around 10:30 pm and was struck by a motorist. The horse apparently survived though Darnell, according to police records, was ‘ejected’ and ended up in a nearby intensive care unit.

Two arrests in two hours in New York– A Canton, New York man was arrested for DWI twice in just two hours. James Scott Alexander, 45, was first stopped around 11 pm. Police called a cab for him after processing him. Just two hours later however police recognized Alexander driving again. He was arrested and charged with another DWI. The second offense landed him in a county correctional facility.

May 26, 2012

Mel Gibson Considers His DUI a Blessing

In his first media interview since his infamous California DUI arrest in Malibu, California, Mel Gibson told Diane Sawyer that he needed "public humiliation on a global scale" to get sober. The late July incident forced Gibson to face many personal issues, leading the 50-year old actor to call his California DUI arrest "a blessing".

“Sometimes you need a cold bucket of water in the face to sort of snap to, because you’re dealing with a sort of malady of the soul, an obsession of the mind and a physical allergy.”

Now claiming over two months of sobriety, Gibson has admitted to a long battle with alcoholism and he said it is a continued struggle to stay sober. He also said that he had started drinking again about two months before his DUI arrest.

"Years go by, you’re fine," he says. "And then all of a sudden in a heartbeat, in an instant, on an impulse, somebody shoves a glass of Mescal in front of your nose and says, ‘It’s from Oaxaca.’ And it’s burning its way through your esophagus and you go, ‘Oh man, what did I do that for? I can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.”

Gibson earned himself international headlines with the verbal tirade made during his DUI arrest on July 28. He said to a Los Angeles police officer that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” and then asked the officer if he was a Jew.

Gibson called his anti-Semitic diatribe “the stupid ramblings of a drunkard.” He said he has since apologized “more than anyone I know.”

Several groups however, including Jewish leaders and addiction experts, say Mel Gibson must do more if he wants to make amends, including being more accountable for his behavior.

Entertainment publicist Michael Levine said Gibson “did not reach out as he could have. Even in their most drunken moments, they don’t utter something that has never crossed their minds.”

Others feel that the Gibson interview was a strategic public relations move rather than a rehabilitative or apologetic effort.

During the interview he admitted being very concerned about how he looked in his police mugshot. “The first thing that went through my mind was Nick Nolte’s photograph. Vanity won out.”

In a plea bargain arranged by his California DUI defense attorney last August, Gibson pleaded no contest to drunk driving and agreed to serve three years of probation, pay a fine and seek alcohol rehabilitation. He also must make public-service announcements about the dangers drinking and driving.

Gibson says he wants to continue making movies, though he accepts he has alienated influential people in the movie industry. His latest movie ‘Apocalypto’, which he co-wrote, directed and financed, will be released in December.

September 5, 2012

Repeat DUI Offenders May Have Mental Disorders

A study has found that drivers with repeat convictions for driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated may have additional concerns. The Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) discovered that nearly 60 percent of people with two or more DUI arrests were also prone to having bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder.

The three-year study involved people who had incurred at least two DUI offenses within a ten- year period. Forty percent of the study participants had three of more drunk driving or drug impaired arrests. In addition to alcoholism and drug dependency, the majority of both men and women were found to have at least one psychiatric disorder. Women were more likely than men to suffer from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

All participants volunteered to be in the study, and they received reduced jail time in exchange for agreeing to strict probation, close monitoring and a series of rewards and punishments.

The results indicate that court evaluations of DUI cases should consider psychiatric screening, and that addressing mental health during alcohol treatment may reduce the likelihood of another offense.

"People who deal with drug and alcohol abusers need to understand there are often other disorders that need to be dealt with as well," said Sandra Lapham, director of the PIRE Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest in Albuquerque, New Mexico and lead of the study. "That’s why we need to screen repeat offenders for multiple disorders.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

May 26, 2012

West Virginia Runs Daytime Sobriety Checkpoints

Typically DUI checkpoints are set up during the late evening and operate until the very early morning hours. The Charleston, West Virginia Police Department however has found a noticeable number of drunk drivers and traffic violators at DUI checkpoints run earlier in the day.

The ‘Happy Hour Checkpoints’ start between 4 and 5 in the afternoon. The latest effort resulted in 3 DUI arrests, citations for over 30 traffic violations and the apprehension of one fugitive from justice.

Local residents are pleased with the late afternoon crackdown, citing the increased presence of children, people running errands and those commuting home from work. Others think that chronic drunk drivers will not be deterred by the DUI checkpoints, as they are interested in consuming alcohol at any cost.

Sgt. Shawn Williams of the Charleston Police Department said, "From a law enforcement perspective, it’s actually disturbing, you know, that people are out driving impaired this early in the day."

May 26, 2012

This Week

Richmond Township, Pennsylvania

May 26, 2012

Austin Texas Police to Test Blood for Alcohol

The Austin Police Department is out for blood, especially if you drink and drive. The Austin, Texas police department

August 22, 2013

North Carolina City Adds New Equipment to DWI Checkpoints

The Roxboro, North Carolina Police Department recently unveiled a new tool in its effort to arrest drunk drivers. It is a trailer that provides all the necessary equipment for a safe and effective nighttime DWI sobriety checkpoint.

Roxboro police purchased the trailer, as well as the equipment it hauls around, with $11,350 grant from the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program. The trailer houses lighting, traffic cones, generators, reflective vests and signage. Some items, such the special signage, are required by law and previously the Roxboro police department had to borrow equipment and then return it.

Lt. Mike Price with the Roxboro Police said the trailer would be integral in the city’s strategy of setting up sporadic DWI sobriety checkpoints. He acknowledged that DWI checkpoints are simply a deterrent to drinking and driving. Saturated enforcement and roving patrols that are trained to spot drunk drivers result in more North Carolina DWI arrests than checkpoints.

August 26, 2013

Low-Carb Diet Could Earn You a DUI

Here’s a bit of disturbing, yet hopefully helpful, news. Should someone on a low-carb diet ever have to take a breathalyzer test the result could be a false positive or higher than actual blood alcohol level. Even if they have not been drinking.

Police breathalyzer equipment has been shown to register false BAC readings due to the presence of ketone. One side effect of a low-carb diet is an elevated ketone level. Eating between 20-40 grams of carbs a day will induce heavy ketosis, where the body burns stored fat.

The impact of elevated ketone levels varies. Consider that in a certain set of circumstances even a slight amount of alcohol while on a low-carb diet could lead to an arrest for DUI. In the extreme it is possible to register above the legal limit of .08 with absolutely no alcohol intake.

DUI defense attorneys often advocate not providing a breath or blood sample. But let’s say that one does not drink or has not been drinking and they confidently submit to a breath test only to yield positive for alcohol. If that person is indeed on a low-carb diet consider having a blood test done. Ketones do not impact blood tests and such a test could save time and money by avoiding an unnecessary DUI arrest.

May 26, 2012

Pop Singer Arrested for Drunk Driving and Drugs

Singer George Michael has been charged with drunk driving and being high on drugs. It was his third vehicular incident in eight months and the second time he has been found asleep at the wheel.

The 43-year old former Wham! singer was found

May 26, 2012

Washington State Supreme Court Upholds Breath Test Law

In 2004, Washington State legislators passed a bill making several changes to existing Washington DUI laws, one of which was intended to make it easier for prosecutors to introduce breath test evidence in court. A legal challenge to that legislation was denied by a 7-2 Washington Supreme Court decision.

Both Washington DUI defense attorneys and prosecutors are claiming victory.

The core issue is whether the state law altered or impeded the traditional role of the courts to determine admissibility of evidence.

Washington DUI Defense lawyers felt the new law forced the results of a breath test to be presented to a jury, which could prejudice them against a defendant. They cite that there may be external influences, such as diabetes, that may create a false high alcohol reading. Washington DUI Defense attorneys wanted judges to continue to have the authority to review and admit evidence before it was given to a jury, and they feel the high court ruling includes language that does just that. Prosecutors counter that the ruling still allows a jury to see breath test results once certain standards are met.

What is clear is that existing methods of securing DUI breath tests are permissible in court.

The case stems from the arrest of a teenager whose breath alcohol test registered above the state legal limit. In Washington the threshold is .02 for drivers under the age of 21. The teenager challenged the constitutionality of the law concerning breath tests, citing among other things a violation of due process and the fact that legislators included more than one subject in the bill’s title. All of his arguments were rejected by the Supreme Court.

The high court agreed to review the new breath test law after conflicting rulings had been issued by judges, and some lower courts had deemed the law unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court wrote in its majority opinion that "the Legislature has made clear its intention to make … test results fully admissible once the State has met its prima facie burden. No reason exists to not follow this intent."

May 27, 2012