By Editor
A mother from Fallbrook, California pled guilty to felony child endangerment for allowing her 6-year-old son to ride with her drunk husband.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Rosa Carachure’s husband rolled their SUV, killing her son. She was seriously injured in the crash.
Shortly after burying her son, Carachure was shocked when police charged her with a felony. Authorities accused her of knowing her husband was too drunk to drive. She could now get a year in jail.
Jose Mendoza, the father, was charged with DUI manslaughter. He could get six years in prison.
Mendoza and his wife were arguing over his drunk driving when he purposefully swerved the vehicle to show her he could drive. The SUV rolled and the child, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected. Two other children were uninjured.
Some prosecutors can certainly be vindictive. Carachure’s attorney said she’s been punished enough.
By admin
A Texas man who has been caught DUI eight times in the last 20 years has apparently not understood the lesson about the dangers of drunk driving, but he will have plenty of time to think it over.
Wendel Klotz was recently sentenced to a 70-year prison sentence (with the first 30 years carrying no chance for his parole) after he was arrested for the use of a deadly weapon while driving drunk.
Klotz has refused alcoholism treatment several times in the past; thus prompting the Texas county in which he was convicted to abandon its philosophy of treatment over imprisonment at least in this case.
By admin
On March 13th of this year, an SUV crashed into a car, killing 17-year-old Samara Stricklen of Lakewood, Colorado. When police arrived at the scene, they found 16-year-old Alison Bowen behind the wheel of the SUV.
However, police learned during their investigation that 16-year-old Nanette Lafluer was actually operating the Ford Explorer during the fatal drunk driving accident.
With that said, Lafluer was recently charged with vehicular homicide while DUI. As for Bowen, she has been accused of drinking and driving sometime during the night of the fatal accident and thus is still facing a DUI charge.
And for her deception, Bowen has been charged with trying to influence a public servant.
A liquor store clerk is also facing charges in this unfortunate Colorado DUI case. The grand jury investigation has accused 44-year-old Pham Van Thein of repeatedly selling alcohol to minors, including one of Lafluer’s friends on that night.
Authorities have also determined that Lafluer drank some vodka purchased from Van Thein’s liquor store prior to getting behind the wheel of the SUV on that fatal night.
By Editor
The New York Supreme Court threw out a driver’s conviction for DUI caused by “huffing.” According to the New York Daily News, the Court said gaps in New York’s DUI laws prevent the defendant from being charged with DUI for an accident that caused the death of a teenager.
Huffing is inhaling chemicals given off by glue, aerosols, and other substances. The chemicals replace oxygen in a user’s lungs and act as a stimulant.
The Court said New York’s 1910 DUI law, called Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) in New York, does not define “intoxication.”
Courts, today, rely on a 1919 appellate court ruling that said “one is intoxicated when he has imbibed enough liquor to render him incapable of giving that attention and care to the operation of his automobile that a man of prudence and reasonable intelligence would give.” The Court indicated it would be up to the Legislature to address huffing and other new ways of getting high.
In this case, Vincent Litto was also charged with manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, assault and other charges. The Daily News did not indicate whether the criminal charges against Litto will go ahead.
By Editor
A Jefferson County, Colorado liquor store clerk was sentenced to home detention and probation for selling liquor to a minor who later died in a DUI accident. Loc Quang Truong was given 120 days home detention and 18 months of probation.
Loc had pled guilty to providing alcohol to a 20-year-old minor using his older brother’s expired Michigan driver’s license. Paul Ondrish later rolled his vehicle, killing himself and a passenger.
They were not wearing seatbelts. Three teenagers, riding in the back seat and wearing their seatbelts, suffered minor injuries.
The boys’ families said they were satisfied with the sentence which includes 120 hours of community service in a trauma facility, restitution, a $1,000 fine, orders to obtain a GED, to not work in a liquor store, and to attend a victim-empathy panel.
By admin
After being arrested for “DUI Impaired to the Slightest Degree” early last Friday morning in Arizona, defensive lineman Terry “Tank” Johnson was released by the Chicago Bears today.
Johnson had vowed in May that he was a changed man after spending two months in jail for violating probation on a gun charge. Johnson was already facing an eight-game suspension for the start of the next season and may now have very well put his career –at least in the NFL–in severe jeopardy.
Johnson was pulled over for going 40 mph in a 25 mph zone in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert on June 22nd. Officers suspected that Johnson was impaired, and a cooperative Johnson submitted a blood test for his BAC.
While those results aren’t expected for two weeks, the Bears’ organization didn’t need to wait for the results to get rid of Johnson after supporting him under much criticism during the last seven months.
The end of Johnson’s run as a Chicago Bear comes after a long line of embarrassing incidents. Police raided Johnson’s home last December and found six unregistered firearms, some of which were in the vicinity of Johnson’s young children.
After expressing contrition for this arrest (which violated an earlier gun charge), Johnson found himself in more trouble some two days later. His bodyguard, Willie B. Posey, was gunned down and killed during a fight at a Chicago nightclub that he and Johnson were frequenting. Johnson was suspended for one game by the Bears for the incident but returned to the team during its Super Bowl run.
Chicago general manager Jerry Angelo said today that Johnson’s recent DUI arrest “compromised the credibility of our organization.” Head Coach Lovie Smith was described in a prepared statement as saying that Johnson did not live up to his side of the deal with the organization. Johnson was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2003 draft out of the University of Washington.
By admin
A Pierce County, Washington woman registered a breathalyzer reading of 0.50 percent last month. Two hours after her arrest, Rebecca G. Lingbloom submitted to a blood alcohol test which showed she had a BAC more than six times the legal limit for DUI in Washington.
A state medical technician said such a BAC “would certain kill most people.”
Technicians are required to reanalyze a blood sample showing such a rare blood alcohol level.
Not surprisingly, Lingbloom was found passed out behind the wheel of her car after she had allegedly nearly hit a pedestrian. She was released on bail after enrolling in a six-month treatment program for alcohol abuse.
By Editor
Prosecutors in Hillsborough, Fla. have been forced to drop more than 60 of former sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Brock’s DUI arrests between October 2005 and October 2006.
Brock was fired after an internal review found he had arrested 58 people with a blood alcohol level (BAC) below the legal limit for DUI in Florida, often without evidence of suspicious driving actions, positive urine samples, or videos to back his arrests.
Brock had forced a particular DUI suspect to give a blood sample after a crash without serious injury. A blood draw is only allowed if authorities have evidence that someone sustained “serious bodily injury” in the crash.
The driver’s case was dropped without even filing charges.
By admin
Well, it’s safe to say that North Dakota’s Craig Irwin hasn’t taken his prior run-ins with “Johnny Law” too seriously.
Already owning the state’s worst driving record with 15 DUI arrests and more than 30 cases of driving without a license, Irwin added a couple of more notches to his unimpressive belt on June 14th when a Burleigh County deputy noticed him driving south of Bismarck.
Irwin was pulled over and proceeded to fail a breathalyzer test.
Irwin’s license had already been suspended until 2065, making it 99.99 percent unlikely that this guy will ever legally drive again (unless he has some magic potion from the Fountain of Youth). The maximum penalty for driving without a license is one year in the state; thus showing how excessive Irwin’s rule breaking truly has been.
By admin
Somehow, this interesting story got lost under the pile of papers on my desk, but as Wednesday is hump day and good time to reorganize, here it is.
Last week, a Montana man was arrested twice in the same day for DUI. As if things couldn’t get any weirder in this bizarre episode worthy of “The Twilight Zone,” the perpetrator was arrested both times by the same officer.
An Associated Press story detailed that 42-year-old Adam T. Lundgren was cited for misdemeanor drunken driving by Officer Cody Lanier around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 11th. After being released to a sober friend, Lundgren jumped from the friend’s car and returned to downtown Missoula, where he proceeded to drink the night away.
Lundgren crashed into a bridge railing around 10 p.m. of that night and even tried to flee before being captured and subdued by concerned witnesses. Lanier then cited Lundgren with drunken driving, reckless driving, and failing to heed a stop sign. Lundgren posted $700 bond later that night and was finally arrested the following day when he showed up drunk to his Municipal Court Agreement.