By Erin K
Since 2007, DUI arrests for women has risen almost 30%. We see this increasing trend with many female celebrities who have been arrested for suspicion of drunken driving.
Heather Locklear was arrested back 2007 for suspicion of drinking and driving in Santa Barbara, Cali. A concerned driver on the road called the police stating Locklear was driving erratically on the road.
She plead no contest to DUI but pled guilty to a lesser charge of a misdemeanor of reckless driving. She paid a $700 fine and was sentenced to attend a 12 hour drug education program and placed on three years’ probation.
Lindsay Lohan received her DUI offense in 2007 as well. She pled no contest to driving under the influence and received three years probation. The judge also ordered her to serve 10 days community service, spend 30 days in drug rehab and complete an 18 month alcohol education program.
Her probation was recently extended as a Beverly Hills judge stated Lohan did not complete the required treatment programs because she filmed out of state. Her DUI attorney claims she can finish the required programs and feels they can overturn the extension.
Actress Joyce Dewitt was arrested in July of 2009 under a suspicion of a driving under the influence. She allegedly drove through a barricade attracting the local police department.
When they walked up to her car they could smell alcohol. They gave her the regulated field tests and afterward she was arrested. Dewitt was released after posting $5000 bail.
Is there a connection with female celebs and the increasing percentage of females being arrested for driving under the influence? Many might look up to these famous women and follow the trend. Or could it be the increasing pressure of the economic times as many women are strong in the workforce.
At this point there are many possibilities as to why this is on the rise with woman in the U.S., but it’s only speculation at this point.
By Erin K
Maryland Delegate Herman Taylor II was recently acquitted for his past DUI conviction. This reversed the prior conviction in which he was found guilty of drinking and driving. He was fined Taylor was found guilty and fined $250.
Taylor was found in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven convenient store passed out in his Cadillac SUV in the around 3:30 am.
The arresting police officer, Peter Johnson said he smelled alcohol on Taylor’s breath when he found him passed out in his vehicle. He seemed disoriented and confused.
He also failed several sobriety checks and after he failed to walk on the white line without stumbling, Taylor refused to take any additional tests. Johnson then arrested him.
He did not cooperate at the station either according to police testimony and when he blew into the breathalyzer he pretended to blow but did not release any air, making the test invalid
The officers’ recorded the episode as a refusal to give a sample.
With the new trial, Taylor claimed he pulled over at the 7-Eleven to catch some rest as he was very tired. He saw police in the parking lot of the establishment and thought he would be safe.
He stuck by his decision to pull off the road stating it was the right choice
In this appeal trial, four jurors who were interviewed stated the prosecution did not prove the Delegate was passed out in his vehicle due to being under the influence. They did not have any hard evidence to support their case more than he was just exhausted.
Taylor’s attorney stated that his client was merely sleeping in his Cadillac. He was exhausted and pulled over into the 7-Eleven.
The prosecution in their rebuttal claimed that Taylor was unwilling to cooperate when police asked him to take the breathalyzer and that he smelled like alcohol when he was arrested.
According to the jury this was not enough to convince them that Taylor was drunk when he was in his vehicle and did not feel this was enough for a DUI conviction.
Taylor is known for his campaign to have special license plates for people who were convicted of drinking and driving under the influence to identify them as DUI offenders.
By Erin K
Living above the crowd, when privilege supersedes hindrance, and abundance is as common as the rising sun, it’s no wonder that Hollywood’s enrolled often find themselves against the common grain of law and regulation. It could be the grandeur of stardom or the void of economic distress which breeds impaired judgment.
In either event, even the veil of stardom can’t hide the indiscretion of stars such as the star of the USA Network’s Burn Notice Jeffrey Donavan.
Donavan was arrested in Miami for a DUI offense while presumably there shooting his widely popular spy series. Maybe his new notice should be less about being burnt and more about responsible alcohol consumption.
Then there is the similar negligence by Joyce DeWitt who proved three’s a company, but it can be taken too far when drinks are poured at the Regal Beagle.
According to police documents, DeWitt drove right passed a police barricade, and when cops pulled her over, they say she smelled like alcohol. Unfortunately for Joyce she then failed a sobriety test.
Donavan, DeWitt and many other stars and starlets who are arrested for a DUI offense almost on a weekly basis, certainly it could be thought that many believe their personal “star status” will keep them from having to serve jail time or pay hefty fines for their offenses.
The reality is though, police stations in Hollywood, New York and Miami have strong records of treating big screen heroes like average Joes when it comes to drinking and driving.
Even for those premier athletes who take to their city streets in celebration. They too are not above the law. Just ask Brian Bosworth, Michael Phelps and Charles Barkley.
While the nation as a whole might place our entertainment and sports stars on pedestals, which often times blind us to their moral uncertainty, or shade our view from their societal indiscretions, it seems as though they are not released from the laws of responsibility when it comes to DUI.
By Erin K
“I really think I’m only borderline and not too drunk,” Jeffrey Donovan told officers during his DUI arrest, according to a report.
The “Burn Notice” star allegedly told police the only mistake he made was drinking Benadryl and three glasses of wine on the night of July 11.
Donovan, 41, was arrested after his car “quick swerved in order to avoid striking the rear of the patrol car,” his arrest affidavit states.
The actor had bloodshot and watery eyes and his breath reeked of alcohol. He failed a field sobriety test, according to police. After Donovan refused to take a breathalyzer, he was booked at Miami Beach police headquarters. He was released hours later.
Source: People.com
By Erin K
Transcripts were released on Friday, June 26, detailing what happened before, during and after a DUI accident that took the life of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart.
The 200 page report is the first to give the details about what happened on April 9th, when Andrew Gallo crashed into a car, killing three people.
The transcript reveals that Gallo remembers having two drinks at a restaurant and three at a bikini bar, intermixed with sake shots.
While his stepbrother, Raymond Rivera, tells the court about half pitcher “Boombah” beers, 1880-brand Tequila shots and drinks of Arrogant Bastard, a “very strong” ale.
The details about what the two men drank was fuzzy. Neither could recall exactly what they drank and how much. Both men describe “bleaking out” before crashing their minivan into an Eclipse carrying Adenhart and three friends.
Courtney Steward, 20, and Henry Pearson, 25 died on the scene. Adenhart, 22, died during surgery a few hours later.
The men remember coming to 90 minutes later, with not much recollection of the night.
Last month Gallo was indicted on three counts of second-degree murder, fleeing the scene with a death or injury, driving under the influence causing injury and driving with a .08% blood alcohol level causing injury. He has plead not guilty and remains in jail with a $2 million bail set.
Source: The Press-Enterprise, ESPN
By Erin K
Donte Stallworth, wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, plead guilty to DUI manslaughter today for a drinking and driving incident that resulted in him striking and killing a pedestrian.
The plea deal, which was just accepted by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy, orders Stallworth to spend 30 days in jail for the death of Mario Reyes.
In the plea agreement, Stallworth was sentenced to eights years of reporting probation, two years of community control and a lifetime driver’s license suspension. During probation, he will have many drug and alcohol tests.
The Reyes family agreed to the plea bargain, pushing for a quick agreement so the case could be resolved.
“We’ve been in intense discussions with the victims who, as far as we’re concerned, are the primary force in what is a just resolution of this case,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle told the press Monday night.
Stallworth, who had a clean driving record before the DUI offense, showed remorse over Reyes’ death and cooperated with authorities, helping to make a quick plea deal.
On March 14, Stallworth hit and killed Reyes, a 59-year-old crane operator, who had just finished a night shift on Terminal Island. At the time, Stallworth had a blood alcohol level of .126%.
”I just want to extend my condolences to the Reyes family. My prayers are with them,” Stallworth told the press on April 2. “I have full confidence and faith in the legal process.”
Sources: The Miami Herald, WPLG Local 10: Just News
By Editor
The North County Times reports on a dangerous and growing trend in California. It seems Hollywood’s starlets aren’t the only ones drinking, driving and crashing their cars.
The Times cites a report by the Automobile Club of Southern California that states DUI-related car crashes resulting in injury or death rose 124 percent in the last 10 years.
Among women 18-20-years-old, drunk driving crashes doubled.
DUI arrests also seem to be up among women in San Diego County, the Times reports. At Occupational Health Services, a group that administers court-ordered alcohol education following a drunk driving arrest, the percent of women enrolled has risen 10% in four years.
By Editor
Early Monday morning, Luis Vizcaino was arrested for DUI in Tampa, FL, reported Sports Illustrated. The 34-year-old is a reliever for the Colorado Rockies.
According to police reports, Vizcaino was driving 71 mph in a 45 mph zone. When police pulled him over, they noticed his eyes were bloodshot and glassy. He smelled of alcohol as well.
When he took a blood alcohol content test, his blood alcohol level was over the legal limit.
By Editor
According to The Associated Press, Joba Chamberlain has been arrested for DUI, speeding and having an open container of alcohol in his vehicle. He was stopped for speeding on U.S. 77 near his hometown of Lincoln, Neb. on Saturday morning around one.
Reports are surfacing that the pitcher was in an altercation with a Red Sox fan at a strip club before the incident.
Originally, the press was reporting that the fan was taunting Chamberlain about his team; however, people at the bar are now saying that those comments were good-natured and the real fight began over a woman taking pictures of Chamberlain on her cell phone.
By Editor
Widely criticized Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson faced a DUI arrest over the weekend, despite the fact that he wasn’t driving. Of course, you don’t have to be driving a car to be arrested for DUI—usually operating any kind of motorized vehicle under the influence will do the trick.
While out boating with friends in his home state of Texas, Benson’s watercraft was stopped for a safety check by the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Benson’s DUI arrest had an unusual level of drama for a DUI stop, due to the fact that he was reportedly attacked with pepper spray and roughed up a bit after allegedly resisting arrest. Benson claims that others on his boat were drinking, but that he was not, and was not drunk at the time of his arrest.
Benson was charged with resisting arrest and drunken boating. He’ll get his chance to defend his DUI offense; there is no word on how the arrest will affect Benson’s status with his employers, the Chicago Bears.
