By Erin K
In a surprising move, Colorado’s Governor Bill Ritter plans to divert more than $1.3 million intended to fight drunken driving to help fill the state’s budget gap estimated at $318 million.
A recent Denver Post article stated that the $1.3 million, which is raised by a surcharge imposed on everyone convicted of a DUI offense in Colorado, has been used to “pay overtime for cops working the ‘Heat Is On’ crackdowns on long holiday weekends.”
This is particularly relevant as the recent Labor Day Weekend statistics are being tabulated and due to be released shortly.
For Colorado, their planned campaign for Labor Day weekend was to be the last funded by those grants if the legislature approves Ritter’s plan, and as of Tuesday, Sept. 8th, the decision has yet to be made.
As of now, in Colorado everyone convicted of an alcohol- related traffic offense pays a $90 fine, roughly 1/3 of which goes to the Transportation Department to fund grants for DUI enforcement.
The money is then dispersed throughout the local law enforcement agencies. For 2009 a total of $1.4 million was available to 56 police and sheriff’s departments. Nearly $375,000 is expected to be left after the Labor Day enforcement campaign.
This being the money that Ritter reportedly froze in an executive order.
Larimer County sheriff’s Sgt. Gerald Baker, who is the head of the department’s traffic unit was quoted as saying, “It’s going to have an impact on our numbers, and it’s a little too early to say whether it’s going to have an impact on injury accidents or fatalities.”
In 2008, within the state of Colorado, nearly 40% of all DUI related traffic fatalities occurred within a 24 hour window of a holiday; the same time period which is now under jeopardy of losing heightened patrolling.
By Guest Attorney
Last November, Lawrence Trujillo needed a drink, so he and friend stopped a downtown bar and had a few. Unfortunately, he did not get a cab.
About six blocks from his home, he ran over a family, killing two children and their mother. Trujillo then drove home. When police arrived four hours later, he had a blood alcohol level of 0.17. The father escaped serious injury.
Trujillo was charged with 13 counts, including vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and child abuse.
In a surprise, Trujillo pled guilty to all counts. According to the Denver Post, his DUI attorney, Rob Bernhardt, said Trujillo had wanted to plead guilty since the day after the accident, but Bernhardt wanted to review the prosecutor’s evidence first.
Prosecutors had offered him a deal to 40 to 60 years in prison, but Trujillo decided to skip the deal and plead straight up.
Trujillo faces 16 to 176 years in prison. KTVD reported that Denver District Court Judge Morris Hoffman told Trujillo his practice is to impose consecutive sentences.
The family father, Frank Bingham, said that while Trujillo’s plea brought some degree of closure, “if Mr. Trujillo ever comes out of prison, he should be quite an old man when it happens.”
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
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 Editor
Colorado law enforcement agencies made 625 arrests for drunken driving over the Memorial Day weekend. Across the country, states conducted well publicized DUI crackdowns over the holiday weekend.
Following the weekend, states announced crackdown arrest statistics.
Before the weekend, Colorado aired television commercials announcing its “Heat In On” campaign. Over the weekend, eight people died in traffic related accidents. According to state officials, half of the deaths were alcohol related.
Last year, there were 708 DUI arrests over the Memorial day weekend. Officials say the next Colorado Heat Is On campaign will be over the Independence Day weekend.
By Tiffany Sanders, ESQ.
Colorado DUI laws require that all drunk driving suspects be fingerprinted and photographed. However, the Rocky Mountain News reported this week that Denver DUI enforcement officers have been ignoring that aspect of Colorado DUI law for more than a decade.
Most Denver DUI officers reportedly allows Denver DUI suspects to be driven home by a sober friend or family member without formal booking.
Officials are concerned about the risks of this process. For instance, a Denver DUI defendant who used a fake ID could avoid detection.
And, in at least one recent Denver DUI offense, charges were dropped after the defendant claimed mistaken identity and there were no photographs or fingerprints to tie him to the arrest.