By Michael
A San Ramon, California, man is suspected of drunk driving and hit-and-run after police arrested him in the wake of what CBS 5 is calling a “drunken driving rampage.” The man, Cainan Schierholtz, is the brother of a pro baseball player for the San Francisco Giants, Nate Schierholtz.
Cainan Schierholtz was arrested on a recent Sunday morning, after, according to police, he hit a bicyclist, a pedestrian, a light pole and two cars.
The call came it at about 10 in the morning, with reports that a car was driving recklessly on Danville Boulevard, in Danville, California.
Then came the report that the driver allegedly hit a cyclist riding in a bike lane on the same road. Schierholtz allegedly did not stop, though, continuing down the road. Soon after that he allegedly hit a pedestrian who was standing in the bike lane.
Again, he didn’t stop to offer assistance or acknowledge either of the accidents. Instead, he allegedly continued driving, then swerved into traffic and hit a pickup truck. Not done yet, police said that he kept on driving still, until he veered up onto the sidewalk and rammed into a light pole, which fell to the ground.
Even after all of that, Schierholtz still kept driving, according to police. He rear-ended a sport utility vehicle, and then drove down a dead-end street.
The driver of the pick-up truck who had been previously hit followed Schierholtz, and then used his truck to pin him into the dead-end street so that he couldn’t get away.
According to a witness, the suspect’s airbags had deployed, so that he was awkwardly pinned in the car. And yet, despite even that, he was still driving.
Eventually Schierholtz realized he couldn’t get past the makeshift blockade, and he stopped in front of the pickup truck. The truck’s driver and several other bystanders pulled the suspect out of his car and restrained him until the police got there.
Schierholtz was booked on suspicion of four counts of DUI causing bodily harm, three counts of hit-and-run causing injury, two counts of hit-and-run causing property damage, and driving without a license, according to CBS. He was held on $350,000 bail.
By Topher
A recent DUI case in San Diego was declared a mistrial after a single juror held off from deciding whether the defendant was behind the wheel when a car struck another vehicle and killed four people, according to 10 News.
Deanna Fridley was on trial in the case in which the four were killed in Pala Casino, California. Fridley claimed that she was not the driver of the car that got into the deadly December 14, 2007, accident, and one of the jurors in the case would not conclude that it was her, leading to the mistrial.
The jurors in the case informed the judge that they had reached an 11-1 deadlock. They had been apart for a holiday break, and on their return they announced that they could not come to a unanimous agreement on the charges.
Fridley was also accused of DUI causing injury and misdemeanor driving on a suspended license.
Judge Runston Maino, serving in the case, declined to enact a motion by the prosecution to replace the juror with an alternate juror. “You haven’t failed as jurors; you haven’t failed as individuals,” he told the jurors in light of their lack of unanimity.
Fridley, 26, faced four 15-years-to-life sentences if she had been convicted in the case. Her defense attorney, James Boyd, addressed the media after the mistrial was declared, saying that he was “really happy” with the result. “My question,” he said, “is how is it that 11 of them actually thought she was driving? It’s a real who-done-it. Was she driving or not?”
A retrial of the case could come in six to eight months, and there will be a status update in July.
According to prosecutors, Fridley was driving over 85 miles per hour and swerved over the lane divider before crashing into and killing Luis De Santiago, his wife Lina, and Luis Baez and his wife Rubi. They also claimed that Fridely had spent the day smoking meth and drinking with a friend. Fridley was allegedly driving a GMC Yukon, while the victims were in a Toyota Camry.
Fridley testified that she had switched seats with her friend before the crash. The friend, Anthony Boles, denies this claim.
Fridley will remain in custody, and her bail is set at $1 million.
By Michael
It seems like there is a smartphone app for everything these days, from silly video games to powerful GPS navigation systems. Now, several state governments are working to build apps that can help people stay safe on the roads and avoid being arrested for DUI title.
According to a story from GovTech.com, government agencies, with the help of average citizens who know how to create smartphone apps, are figuring out ways that they can use smartphone apps to cut down on drunk driving.
The Colorado Department of Transportation, for example, recently released an iPhone application called R-U-Buzzed. This app can estimate blood alcohol content by allowing the user to enter their weight and the number of drinks and alcohol type they’ve consumed. If users register as having had too much to drink and the app displays the message: “Don’t even think about it!”
Another app, created during the Apps for Democracy contest hosted by iStrategy Labs, is called Stumble Safely. This app is designed to help pedestrians walk home safely after a night out at the bars.
The app factors in crime rates, neighborhood information, bar locations, public transit options, and time of day to provide a safe path home for users.
The Office of Traffic Safety in California also announced a no-cost partnership with an app called Taxi Magic, which helps users to find a taxi cab. This app promotes finding a cab driver to drive you home instead of making a bad decision and getting a DUI or causing damage from behind the wheel.
“It gives those who need to get someplace when they’ve had too much to drink an easy way to do it,” said California OTS Spokesman Chris Cochran. “It’s one more tool in the anti-DUI tactics we have.”
He said that all a user had to do was get in the cab when it arrived, helping out anyone who can’t otherwise find a safe ride home.
Taxi Magic is a free application that was released in January of 2009. It became one of the top applications in the iTunes store. Customers with iPhones can summon a cab to their location with the press of a single button.
By Morgan Brickley
After a single-vehicle drunk driving crash that sent one man to a trauma center with severe injuries, an 18-year-old was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI.
Danielle Everman of Fountain Valley, Calif. was arrested in December after she crashed her Ford Explorer into a guard rail, severely injuring her passenger, 20-year-old Jacob Dearman.
According to a police report, Dearman was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the accident. He was rushed to a trauma center nearby and treated for his injuries.
Everman was arrested after the crash, and released on $100,000 bail. The Orange County Register reported that Everman was under the influence of alcohol when she was drove the Ford Explorer off the road and into the guard rail.
No further information is currently available about the incident.
By Morgan Brickley
The newest reality celebrity to join the DUI arrest list was ‘The Hills’ cast member, Stephanie Pratt.
According to a CNN article, Pratt was arrested last month for a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence while on the way home from a Hollywood nightclub.
Earlier in the evening, Pratt attended fellow cast member Holly Montag’s birthday party. She was pulled over by California police around 3:45 a.m., on her way home from the party.
Pratt was taken to the Van Nuys jail for booking and she was released later that morning.
Pratt’s BAC content was 0.09 percent which was over the legal limit of 0.08 in the state of California. She pleaded not guilty to the DUI charges at her LA court hearing this month.
Pratt decided to enter a 30-day rehab facility. She told PEOPLE magazine that it, “was the worst thing to happen to me and, at the same time, it was the biggest blessing.”
Pratt’s DUI attorney, Jon Bryant Artz, claimed she was pulled over by the police because she has tinted windows on her vehicle. He continued to claim Pratt failed her sobriety tests due to her four-inch heels.
Pratt was not the first of the ‘Laguna Beach’ or ‘The Hills’ cast to run into trouble with the law.
Jason Whaler – Lauren Conrad’s infamous boyfriend on both reality shows – was arrested on a few assault charges and possession of alcohol as a minor.
Jessica Smith – former girlfriend of Jason Whaler and ‘Laguna Beach’ cast member – was arrested in 2007 for driving under the influence, according to an article in PEOPLE magazine.
Smith was driving with one passenger in her vehicle on a freeway near Laguna when she allegedly rear-ended the vehicle in front of her.
Both her passenger and the driver in the other vehicle suffered from minor injuries. Smith did not suffer any injuries.
The California highway patrol said in a statement that incident was caused due to, “the level of intoxication, unsafe speed, and wet roadway conditions.”
Reality celebrities are not immune to DUIs. This latest celebrity DUI arrest serves as another reminder that drinking under the influence imposes consequences for all.
By Morgan Brickley
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, California DUI deaths have dropped 9.1% for the third year in a row. In 2007 nearly 1,132 people died in DUI accidents, while in 2008, the number decreased to 1,029.
“With this third year of declines in DUI deaths, we can truly call it a trend, a trend of life saving importance,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).
“Law enforcement, state and local agencies, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and other safety advocates, and the people of California have come together to address this deadly problem and are now seeing the results. As positive as these figures are, though, we can never let up until we achieve our goal of zero deaths.”
The count for 2008 marks a total decrease of nearly 21% from the most recent high statistic in 2005.
California has used many different tactics to address the DUI problem, including increasing youth public awareness programs, as well as hospital and jail based intervention programs.
The state has also expanded prosecution and probation. Police have increased DUI checkpoints, the Avoid DUI Taskforces program and Report Drunk Drivers – Call 911 campaign.
Source: PRNewsWire.com
By Guest Attorney
Lea Anna Cooper suggests, on the American Chronicle Web site, that Kiefer Sutherland may face double jeopardy when tried for his recent DUI charges. Her claim of double jeopardy is simply a misunderstanding of DUI law.
Sutherland, star of the controversial hit show “24,” was arrested in September and charged with driving with a blood alcohol level (BAC) above 0.08 percent and driving under the influence.
Cooper asserts that the two charges against Sutherland would amount to “double jeopardy.” Strangely, Cooper also reprints portions of a California criminal case that explains how she misunderstands DUI law, People v. Cosko, 152 Cal. App. 3d 54, 199 Cal. Rptr. 289 (1984).
As Cosko explains, Sutherland has been charged with two crimes; one is a “lesser included offense” of the other. In other words, the charge of driving with a BAC above 0.08 percent includes the elements of the misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence plus the element of having a blood alcohol level above 0.08 percent.
Cosko points out that a prosecutor has the right to charge a defendant with a crime and lesser included offenses to assure that she gets a conviction. A court cannot, however, actually convict a defendant of both the charged offense and the lesser included offenses.
Sutherland does actually face revocation of his probation stemming from his plea to driving under the influence in 2004. He was sentenced to 60 months probation and could now face up to 18 months in jail for violating his probation. However, it is very unlikely he will see any more than the 96 hours in jail required under California DUI law.
By Guest Attorney
Kiefer Sutherland, star of the controversial hit show ‘24’, faces up to 18 months in prison after being charged with DUI and violating his probation from a 2004 DUI.
The L.A. Times reports that Sutherland was arrested for driving with a blood alcohol level (BAC) over the 0.08 percent legal limit for DUI in California. A Los Angeles City Attorney’s spokesman said prosecutors would seek to revoke Sutherland’s probation stemming from his 2004 plea to DUI.
The actor faces a year in jail if convicted on this new DUI charge plus six months for violating his probation. At the least, if convicted under California DUI law, Sutherland would have to serve a minimum of 96 hours in jail.
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 Tiffany Sanders, ESQ.
A pending civil case in California may determine whether third parties can be held liable for the consequences of a DUI accident.
The case, filed on behalf of the family of a bicyclist killed by a drunk driver, names the driver’s wife and brother.
The plaintiff’s attorney argues that by protecting the drunk driver’s property, providing him with automobile insurance, purchasing a vehicle for him and serving him alcohol after prior DUI arrests, the driver’s wife and brother took “joint action in support of a wrongful act.”
If the plaintiff prevails, the case will undoubtedly be appealed, but the ultimate outcome could open–or close–the door to a host of claims against those providing aid to drunk drivers.