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An Orange County substitute teacher is under investigation after allegedly showing up to class drunk.
According to the OC Register, a substitute teacher was called into a Mission Viejo K-8 school to supervise a music class. The substitute teacher had started a dance contest and had kids dancing on chairs and tables Friday afternoon when a school employee noticed; the substitute teacher reportedly stumbled out of the room and a strong odor of alcohol was detected. When questioned, several students told officers that the teacher was acting weird and three sixth-grade boys said the teacher "engaged in misconduct" with them. No arrests have been made; however, the substitute teacher could be facing numerous consequences.
Have you been arrested for an Orange County DUI? Contact our OC DUI Defense Attorneys today to find out how we can help you.
This is another example of what can happen to innocent people when individuals are quick to accuse people of being under the influence. Unfortunately, as a California DUI defense attorney, I see too often how the innocent are wrongly accused of being under the influence. It seems in today’s society, with the pressure from groups like MADD, police and the public are in a hurry to blame alcohol for anything and everything. Hopefully Mr. Sims is found soon and we need to make sure we hold companies (Amtrak in this case) accountable for such despicable conduct. The story is below A 65-year-old St. Louis man is missing after Amtrak personnel, mistaking his diabetic shock for drunk and disorderly behavior, kicked him off a train in the middle of a national forest, according to police in Williams, Ariz. READ MORE…
Any law enforcement officer or politician will tell you that field sobriety tests give drivers an opportunity to show that they are not impaired due to the consumption of alcohol. Many people view field sobriety testing as a means for drivers to prove their innocence if they have been accused of drunk driving. However, field sobriety testing is really used as a means of gathering evidence on the part of law enforcement officers. Think about what happens at a DUI traffic stop – if a law enforcement officer believes you are impaired, he has already made up his mind about your innocence and will use field sobriety testing to try to gather evidence to support their assessment of your condition. If a law enforcement officer asks you to submit to sobriety testing, he or she is going to see what is suspected. If you stumble or trip, the officer is going to use it as evidence to back up the fact that he thinks you’re guilty of driving under the influence. Another point to consider is that even people who have not been drinking may not do well on sobriety tests. They often take place in the dark on roadways that may not be even or cared for well. This combined with the fact that the headlights of cars driving by can cause people to stumble, means that not everyone can do well on sobriety tests even if they are not impaired. It doesn’t seem fair that these tests can be used against drivers accused of driving under the influence, but that’s the way it works in the “land of the free.” If you are arrested for driving under the influence, contact a Los Angeles DUI attorney as soon as possible so you have the best possible chance of having a positive outcome for your case.
Continue reading "Are Field Sobriety Tests Really Designed to Exonerate Drivers?" »
Most people know that a Breathalyzer is a device that is used in cases where a driver is suspected of driving under the influence. This device is used to administer breath testing to determine if a driver is impaired or above the legal limit for blood alcohol content. A driver breathes into this device and it calculates a possible blood alcohol content level. This device can make or break a driver’s day – if the device shows no alcohol or an acceptable amount of alcohol, no driving under the influence charges will be filed. If the device shows an alcohol level above the accepted limit, the driver can be charged with driving under the influence and face criminal penalties as well as the loss of driving privileges. Most people also believe that the Breathalyzer measures alcohol in the breath. This is wrong information; this device actually tests for the presence of methyl groups. Methyl groups are part of the chemical structure of many substances, so instead of positively identifying alcohol in the breath, a positive result may be identifying one of many substances including mouthwash, chewing gum, breath freshening spray, and other non-alcoholic substances that would not cause impairment. Instead of measuring only alcohol content, these devices can pick up any ordinary substance that happens to have a methyl group. If you have the misfortune of ingesting one of these substances or using oral products containing methyl groups, and then you are stopped and asked to submit to breath testing, you may find yourself facing DUI charges all because you wanted to freshen your breath. That’s the type of “justice” system citizens of this country are faced with every day. If you’ve been charged with a DUI offense, contact a San Diego DUI lawyer immediately to begin building your defense.
Continue reading "Breathalyzers Measure Alcohol, Right?" »
If you’ve ever had to take a drug test for employment, you know that some foods and beverages can cause a false positive result even if you’ve never taken any illegal drugs. Just like poppy seeds can cause a false opiate result in a drug test, some substances can cause false breathalyzer results and land you in hot water with the law. You can also get in trouble if you have used rubbing alcohol or consumed an alcohol-containing substance and the smell remains on you while you are driving. Officers at a checkpoint or traffic stop may smell this alcohol and request that you perform field sobriety tests or answer questions about what you have been doing. If the officer is persistent, he or she may request that you take a breathalyzer test to determine an approximate blood alcohol level. Unfortunately, these testing devices are fairly sensitive to any substances containing alcohol and may show a false positive even if you haven’t had a drop to drink. Since you don’t ingest mouthwash, you’ll be able to prove your case once further chemical testing is performed. However, the false positive will result in a lot of hassles for you as you try to prove your innocence and go through the embarrassment and frustration of being arrested for a crime you know that you did not commit. Further embarrassment may be caused if someone you know recognizes your vehicle pulled over at the traffic stop or if someone sees you being arrested. Even if you did nothing wrong, your reputation could be ruined or at least tarnished until you are able to explain the situation and, even then, people may believe you are trying to cover up a driving under the influence crime. Until we stop relying on a test that produces false results and isn’t very reliable, many people will have to suffer the consequences of being falsely accused of DUI. A qualified Riverside DUI attorney can give you more information about this issue. Being arrested for DUI in Riverside can be one of the scariest things to happen to an individual. Often a DUI arrest in Riverside will be the first time someone has ever been exposed to the criminal justice system. It is important that you contact a Riverside DUI defense lawyer immediately to discuss your case and protect your rights. We handle DUI cases throughout the county of Riverside, including downtown Riverside, Murrieta (Southwest Justice Center), Temecula, Corona, Banning, Moreno Valley, Indio and Palm Springs.
The United States of America is supposed to be a country where everyone (in theory) is treated equally and given the same opportunities regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, and other factors that cause us all to be unique. When it comes to BAC testing, this equality doesn’t seem to be of concern to the courts and law enforcement officials because testing is performed and interpreted in the same way regardless of the race or national origin of the driver. If an African American is pulled over and asked to submit to testing, he or she will be given the same test as a Caucasian, Asian, or Indian man or woman. While giving the same test seems fair because it eliminates a variable, it actually has the potential to adversely affect people of other races and cultures. Our genetic makeup differs from race to race, meaning no two individuals can process alcohol in the same way. The metabolism of a person of one race may be slower or faster than a person of another race, meaning that they cannot process alcohol as effectively as others. This creates disparity even before other factors such as weight, body mass, and medical histories are even considered. If we truly want to have equality in terms of the law, we need to make lawmakers and law enforcement officials understand that one test cannot be used as the criteria for arresting and charging people with a crime that could haunt them for the rest of their lives. Until we accomplish this, blood alcohol testing will continue to negatively impact minorities for reasons beyond their control. Having had personal experience handling DUI cases in Los Angeles as a DUI attorney, please feel free contact our Los Angeles DUI lawyers for information and comments.
DUI vs. Speeding: A Comparison of Prevalence & Penalties
Earlier this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA released its updated Traffic Safety Fact Sheets for 2005. In this report, it is evident that Nationally, and in California, fatalities associated with speeding drivers are equal to or out-number fatalities associated with drunk drivers, or drivers who had a BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) of .08 or greater.
As Drunk Driving and DUI Defense Attorneys, The Law Offices of Thomas Wallin fight vigorously to minimize penalties facing individuals arrested for DUI. In California, a first-offense conviction for DUI/DWI, with a BAC of .08 or greater, is considered a misdemeanor, and may be punishable by fines up to $3,520, jail time of up to 6 months, driver's license suspension for up to 6 months by the DMV (See DMV FAQ's on DUI), completion of a driving-under-the-influence program, and a designation of 2 points on one's driving record.
On the other hand, a first-time speeding infraction is punishable by small fines and a designation of 1 point on an individual's driving record. Despite the actual numbers associated with speeding and DUI-related fatalities, the penalties for a first-time speeding infraction are minuscule in comparison.
In their recent report of alcohol-related traffic fatalities, the NHTSA includes "non occupants" (pedestrians and pedacyclists) with a BAC of .08+ in their total figure. For the purposes of this article, the 1,756 non-occupants with a BAC of .08+ who were involved with alcohol-related traffic fatalities, nearly 14% of the total alcohol-related crashes have been deducted to reflect a truer picture of drunk driving vs. speeding-related traffic fatalities.
Continue reading "DUI vs Speeding: a comparison of prevalence and penalties" »
Some of the symptoms of intoxication can include slurred speech, confusion, loss of balance while performing field sobriety tests, and stumbling. The problem lies with law enforcement officers believing that these symptoms are exclusive to DUI.
Continue reading "DUI or Diabetes? Medical Conditions Can Mimic DUI Signs" »
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