By Michael
Experts believe that the man charged in a fatal DUI from 2006 may have had a BAC four times the legal limit, NJ.com is reporting.
On April 20, 2006, a car hit two teenage girls as they walked down the side of a New Jersey road coming back from a movie theater. They were killed, and now the driver of that car faces trial in Morristown, New Jersey.
Medical experts recently testified about the state of the driver in the case, which moved into its fourth day at the time of the testimony. Their determination was that Eugene Baum, who was driving the vehicle that struck the girls, registered a blood-alcohol level of .305, which is four times the legal limit, when measurement was taken several hours after the accident.
Using a technique called “back extrapolation,” another forensic scientist estimated that Baum’s blood-alcohol level could have been as high as .376 at the time of the accident.
The girls, Athear Jafar, 16, and her cousin, Mayada Jafar, 15, were walking down the shoulder of a two-lane road after going to the movies together.
Baum allegedly struck them at dusk while driving his Kia Optima down the road’s shoulder at forty miles per hour. He did not brake, even as he struck the girls. They were terribly wounded past the point of recovery.
Baum faces charges of vehicular homicide and DUI. He could face up to 60 years in prison if he is found guilty.
Baum’s DUI defense centers around complications from treatment for his alcoholism. While he admitted that he was driving the car, he claims that a reaction between prescription medication and alcohol caused him to lose his senses.
A few weeks before the crash, Baum went to the hospital with severe symptoms caused by an attempt to stop drinking alcohol, including withdrawal. He spent three days in the hospital, and when he was discharged he was told to undergo outpatient alcohol detoxification.
Baum was prescribed a drug called Librium when he left the hospital. He claims that he didn’t know he shouldn’t have combined that drug with alcohol consumption, and that he therefore didn’t know the ill effects it would have on his body and his mind, and that he couldn’t know the harm that he might cause.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Michael
A Florida woman’s decision to drink and drive is once again highlighting the unexpected consequences a DUI can have.
Tampa Bay Online reports a that a 39-year-old woman is accused of driving an 11-year-old child to school while under the influence of illegal drugs. According to police, she crashed her car into another car, and into a fence.
The child was in the passenger seat of the car when the incident occurred. She was not injured, though she was too upset to go to school and went home with her father.
The incident surrounds the mother, Lena K. Maki, who was driving her child to Chasco Elementary at around 9:30 in the morning when she collided with the other car. Maki, seeing what she had done, attempted to leave the scene of the accident. She drove over a curb and into one of the school’s fences in her attempt to flee.
A nearby individual ultimately pulled their car in front of Maki’s, to prevent her from leaving the scene of the accident. According to the police report, Maki also attempted to flee on foot but troopers prevented her from doing so. One sheriff saw her throw her keys into the grass, but he was able to retrieve them as they returned to the school.
When police were finally able to interact with Maki, she nodded off several times as they spoke to her. Her words were slurred, and she attempted to lean against her Jeep for support. Instead, she fell over in the grass, where she proceeded to urinate on herself.
Maki failed field sobriety tests, and it was the observation of the police that she was under the influence of a controlled substance.
The Florida Highway Patrol is reporting that Maki is charged with DUI, child neglect, leaving the scene of an accident and DUI with damage to property or person.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Michael
From actors to athletes, local police departments show no favoritism to those that drink and drive.
Rey Maualuga, a linebacker for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals,- was recently arrested in Covington, Kentucky, for allegedly driving under the influence.
The New York Times reported that Maualuga was arrested last Friday morning and held in the Kenton County Jail for seven hours before he was released.
Responding police officers said that Maualuga admitted to drinking “six captain and cokes,” a popular alcoholic beverage containing Captain Morgan spiced rum and Coca-Cola.
When he was arrested his blood alcohol content was .157, which is twice the legal limit of .08.
Police confirmed that Maualuga’s 2003 Pontiac hit a parking meter and two parked cars. There was minor damage to his car and no injuries were reported.
According to a USA today article, Maualuga made a public apology on his twitter account: “Sorry for bringing humiliation n embarrassment to this Organization n to dis great city of Cincinnati.” He later pleaded not guilty to the charges of drunken driving and careless driving.
But Maualuga was not the only one recently arrested for DUI.
Adrian Pasdar, the actor who played Nathan Petrelli on the popular NBC TV show “Heroes,” was also recently arrested for driving under the influence.
Pasdar was pulled over on Freeway 405 in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Highway Patrol clocked the star driving 90 miles per hour at 3 a.m. on a Wednesday. They also reported that Pasdar failed to maintain his lane.
The officers said they could smell alcohol as they approached his car. They requested Pasdar take a sobriety field test. Pasdar refused to take a breathalyzer to determine his BAC.
He was then arrested for suspicion of a DUI and was taken to the nearby county jail. Since he refused to take the breathalyzer test his bail was set at $15,000. No court date has been set for the actor at this point.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Michael
The penalties for a DUI conviction can dramatically increase with multiple convictions. But one woman in New Hampshire pushed these laws to their limits recently.
The Associated Press recently reported that a woman in Concord, N. H. was arrested three times in one week for allegedly driving under the influence.
Patricia Mondro now faces a $50,000 cash only bail on three separate charges of a driving under the influence issued within just days of one another.
On January 16, Mondro was arrested in a parking lot in Londonderry after she crashed her vehicle. Witnesses then contacted the local police department because they said that Mondro looked disoriented.
She was then arrested and charged with a misdemeanor DWI, but was release from jail the next day.
Five days later, she was arrested and charged with an aggravated DWI after crashing into a guardrail on Interstate 93 in Concord. Mondro suffered a few injuries from the crash, but was released from jail.
Shortly after Mondro was released she was arrested for a third time. She had allegedly hit a pick-up truck on the same highway where her she was charged with her second DUI offense.
She was driving with her headlights off when she hit the other car which then collided with a third vehicle. No injuries were reported in the incident.
After the first two arrests, Mondro still had her driver’s license because neither case had moved through the court system yet.
Lt. Tim Jones of the Londonderry Police Department said “that the problem is [that] all these license issues kick in after the conviction, [and] she’s in the interim state.”
Judge Gerald Boyle said at Mondro’s arraignment that he was concerned with the public’s safety as she had received multiple DWI’s in a very short period of time.
He further said that Mondro was “an extreme danger” not only to herself but to others as well. So he imposed separate cash only bails for each offense.
According to the Concord Monitor, Mondro made very few remarks during her arraignment. But she said that her husband had recently left her.
Her legal aid stated that Mondro’s family is going to get her the help she needs. Her court date for her third DWI charge is February 9.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Michael
DUI Offenders in Maryland may soon be easy to spot.
Delmarvanow.com, the online arm of the Salisbury Daily Times, is report that state legislators have introduced a bill that would require repeat DUI offenders to place a special license plate on their vehicle.
Maryland delegate Marvin E. Holmes Jr., of Prince George’s County, has introduced the bill each year for the last several years. He has thus far been unsuccessful in getting the bill passed.
The bill proposes that those who have been convicted of three or more DUIs would be required to use a brightly colored license plate on their cars. Currently, repeat DUI offenders are subject to higher insurance rates, jail time and fines. Delegate Holmes, however, would like to see something more publicly visible in place.
Holmes called the proposal “another tool in the toolbox.” He told DelmarvaNow.com that there were several reasons to implement the highly visible license plates. One was the social stigma that would result from it, which would deter potential offenders in a kind of “scarlet letter” effect.
The second effect would be to enable police and fellow drivers to take caution when approaching a vehicle with such a license plate.
According to Caroline Cash, who is executive director of Maryland’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, there are more than 25,000 people in the state of Maryland who would qualify for such a license plate.
Wicomico County Sherriff Mike Lewis told Delmarvanow.com that there were hundreds of people in the Lower Shore region of Maryland with three or more DUI offenses that would qualify.
Georgia, Minnesota and Ohio are states that already have such laws in place regarding special license plates as DUI penalties for repeat offenders, said Melissa Savage, program director with the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Such bills have been introduced in other states like Iowa, New York and Virginia, but they did not pass.
Rather than supporting the idea, Mothers Against Drunk Driving are supporting ignition interlock devices that require a breathalyzer before the operator can start a vehicle.
“While we appreciate the idea and efforts of Delegate Holmes, we feel that the ignition interlock is the best way to avoid allowing drunk drivers in Maryland,” Cash said.
Holmes stated that he also supported ignition interlock laws, and that he thought the special license plate would add to the arsenal of deterrents.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Michael
In 2007, a Minnesota man was arrested after police found him asleep at the wheel of his car, parked in his designated spot in front of his own apartment building. According to the Star Tribune, Daryl Fleck was drunk, and he was subsequently charged with driving under the influence.
Recently, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld a jury’s drunk driving conviction of Fleck. The court determined that there was enough evidence for the jury to conclude that Fleck was in control of his vehicle when he was arrested.
Fleck’s conviction was his fourth for DUI, and he was sentenced to four years in prison. The conviction had already passed through the state’s Court of Appeals, which affirmed the conviction and paved the way for the Supreme Court appeal.
G. Tony Atwal, Fleck’s appellate lawyer, did not agree with the court’s decision to uphold the conviction. He told the Star Tribune, “Presumably, if you’re in or about your car, the county attorney could now charge you with a physical control DWI.”
Atwal explained his decision to pursue the various appeals because there was not evidence to suggest that Fleck had actually driven the vehicle that he was found in. According to Atwal, the car’s engine was cold to the touch, and a police officer wasn’t able to start it at all.
Atwall also noted that the fact that the car was parked in a parking lot near Fleck’s home made a great deal of difference. Had it been parked by the side of the road, for example, the situation would change.
According to the Star Tribune, the Supreme Court did not agree. The decision handed down read, “Mere presence in or about a vehicle is insufficient to show physical control; it is the overall situation that is determinative.”
The decision, written by Justice Alan Page, did acknowledge that the circumstances of this situation were not typical of the more common “physical control” drunk driving cases.
The “physical control of a motor vehicle” law is intended to prevent drunk people from getting in a position to operate a motor vehicle, but rather to enter vehicles only as passengers.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Michael
National Football League Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith recently pleaded guilty to drunk driving in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The Associated Press reports that Smith cited a desire to be a responsible asset to the community in his decision to plead guilty.
As a part of the guilty plea, Smith agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and was given a 90-day suspended sentence. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped charges of speeding and refusing to take a breathalyzer test. Smith will also be required to take an alcohol safety program, and his driving privileges will be restricted.
Under the agreement, Smith can only drive when going to work, medical visits, visits with his mother, to the alcohol class and when he takes his children to school and to the doctor.
Smith was convicted of the DUI charge in General District court in July, and was allowed an appeal and a retrial. Smith made the plea agreement before going to retrial, which was scheduled to occur in the near future.
Smith said in a statement to reporters that the risk in the case would not be worth the reward, and that he thought he had only a 50 percent chance of getting out of the DUI charge. Even then, he would still have to negotiate the additional charges. As it is, he was able to come to a plea agreement that would allow him to, in his words, “take ownership of that evening.”
Smith also said that he would be hiring a former state trooper to accompany him to events at which he might be consuming alcohol. Of the night in question, Smith said that he spent the evening with friends, and that he had consumed some wine with dinner.
This is Smith’s third arrest for DUI. In 1997, a DUI conviction was later dismissed, and in 2003 he was acquitted of any charges.
As a member of the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins, Smith amassed 200 sacks, which puts him at the top of the all-time list. He retired from the sport in 2003 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2009.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Michael
School bus driver Brian Dunlap faces a litany of charges after he was arrested and charged with DUI while on the job driving teenagers to a field trip destination.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that chaperons on the field trip called 911 when they noticed that Dunlap, their bus driver, was acting strangely.
A Pittsburgh Police report describes the situation in which the chaperon called police during the trip. The chaperon had become nervous when the bus driver narrowly missed running into a pole, then laughed off the situation. The chaperon also noticed that the driver had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, the police said.
The aide finally decided to call the police when Dunlap ran a red light. At that point, an aide called the police, who arrived on the scene and observed the behavior noted, including bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and “swaying back and forth.”
Dunlap underwent a field sobriety test and was taken to a police station, where an expert in drug recognition determined that he was not under the influence of alcohol but likely another drug. Police decided that he was unfit to drive a vehicle, and he was taken to the hospital and then to the Allegheny County jail in Pennsylvania.
Parents were notified to pick up their kids.
In addition to the charges of driving under the influence, Dunlap faces fifteen counts of endangering the welfare of children and two counts of recklessly endangering another person.
Pittsburgh Cares, a non-profit organization that promotes volunteerism and community service, had hired the driver via SD Transit to take fifteen local high school students on a field trip to volunteer and then visit a nearby science center.
A spokesperson for the Pittsburgh Public Schools reported that the field trip was not associated with the public school district. Spokeswoman Ebony Pugh went on to say that the school district does have some dealings with SD Transit, the bus supplier in question, but that Brian Dunlap was not on a list of driver that were authorized to drive for the schools.
SD Transit had no comment on the situation, the Post-Gazette is reporting.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Chris Kramer
A South Dakota woman received a dubious honor in December when she doubled the state’s previous record for blood alcohol content.
On Dec. 1 of last year, state troopers found Marguerite Engle passed out in the driver’s seat of a stolen van on the side of a highway.
Engle, 45, was found to have a shocking .708 blood-alcohol content percentage, about 25 percent higher than the highest BAC recorded in South Dakota history, according to a reportin the New York Daily News.
“The BAC is almost incomprehensible,” said Meade County State’s Attorney Jesse Sondreal. She said the previous record high for BAC in the state was .56. Drivers found with a BAC over .08 percent can be charged with a DUI in every state.
Somehow, Engle managed to survive with a BAC level that would have been fatal in most instances.
If a person drinks to the point where his or her BAC is .20, just over half of the legal limit for driving, the person could hurt could themselves and not feel any pain. Walking would also be a difficult task.
But if the person continues to drink to the point of reaching a .25 percent BAC, he or she is at a high risk from choking on vomit. Beyond that level lays a legitimate possibility of death by alcohol poisoning.
At a .35 percent BAC, it is as if the same person was given anesthesia for surgery. And if a person can actually reach .40 percent BAC, they are likely to become comatose. That level involves a high risk of respiratory arrest, which can lead to death.
Despite being hospitalized after she was found behind the van’s steering wheel, Engel was found again, less than a week later, asleep behind the wheel of another stolen on a different highway, according to the Daily News.
She was found on a highway near the hospital in Sturgis, South Dakota where she was treated after her record-setting night the previous week. The vehicle was in a ditch beside the road this time, according to the Daily News, and authorities are waiting on another blood test taken.
While Engel was released on bail for her first DUI charge, she missed a court date between her two charges. Once back in court later in December, a judge ordered her to be held in jail without any bail.
She was later charged with two counts of driving under the influence and could also face charges for grand theft auto, according to the Daily News.
Engel’s extreme drunkenness still doesn’t surpass the reigning champion of intense alcohol consumption, and driving. And being found asleep at the wheel.
That distinction still remains in the hands of then 42-year-old Terri Comer who was found unconscious in early 2008 behind the wheel of a running car stuck in a snow bank in rural Oregon.
Comer’s BAC at the time was .72. She was still alive when deputies found her.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Morgan Brickley
A woman in St. Cloud, Minn. was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of hitting a pedestrian with her car while in a parking lot, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.
The woman was allegedly driving drunk, and had an infant in the car with her.
Police were dispatched for a verbal disturbance, which escalated to a physical altercation. En route to the scene, police stopped a silver car driven by Maria Elena Carrillo, 34, who had left the parking lot.
Carrillo was arrested for second-degree DWI, second-degree DWI test refusal and suspicion of a hit-and-run. She faces more severe charges than she might otherwise because Carrillo has a prior DWI charge and had an infant in the car with her at the time of the incident, according to Sgt. Orth of the St. Cloud police.
Carrillo is currently in police custody at Benton County Jail, and will have to appear in court.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
