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Howard Lee, a 20-year-old from Newport Beach, was in an accident this weekend, while under the influence. Allegedly, he was speeding while under the influence of alcohol, when he got into a car accident and his SUV flipped over and trapped him in it. Paramedics were called to East Coast Highway and Bayside Drive in Newport Beach, where they worked to get him out of the car. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and taken to the hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries.


Driving under the influence is a serious charge. Driving under the influence when you are not yet 21 is an even more serious charge. Under California law, a person under 21 can get a DUI even if their blood alcohol level is at a .01%. Also, people under 21 are not allowed to refuse a blood alcohol test and have to give consent. Consequences of getting a DUI before you are 21 include fines, jail time, license suspension and probation.

Whether you live in Fullerton, Newport Beach or Mission Viejo, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced defense attorney to assist you.

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Danny Boissiere was arrested this week for a hit-and-run, a DUI and possession of a stolen vehicle. He was driving in a Ford Explorer that was stolen from Pacifica. A man called officers because Boissiere appeared to be intoxicated. Officers tried to stop the car but Boissiere accelerated to 90 miles per hour. The driver then made an abrupt turn and crashed into a near-by Jeep Wrangler. Inside the Wrangler was Mr. and Mrs. McCurdy and their 2-year-old son. The Jeep flipped over and all the passengers were injured. Boissiere kept driving until he collided into a fence. He jumped out of the car and tried to run from officers but he was immediately apprehended.

Driving a stolen vehicle, driving under the influence and a hit-and-run are all serious crimes that will come with a long prison term. Boissiere will need an experienced criminal defense attorney to assist him in fighting these charges. A good attorney would read the lab results to see if Boissiere was actually intoxicated. He would also look at road conditions to see if there was another possible cause for the accident.

Whether you live in Foothill Ranch, Stanton or Corona Del Mar, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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Ashley Johnigan, 24, was convicted on Tuesday of second-degree murder and drunken-driving charges. In 2008, Johnigan had just left a bar in Santa Ynez when she got into a 2-car collision with Laura Cleaves and Lisa Raines. Johnigan and Raines suffered minor injuries. Cleaves died instantly at the scene of the accident. She was a District Attorney in Santa Barbara.

Prosecutors argued that Johnigan’s blood alcohol was a .20%, which was the equivalent of drinking 16 drinks. The defense argued that although she admits she drove drunk, she was driving to get away from some men that were harassing at the bar and she was just trying to find a safe place to sober up.

Johnigan was sentenced to 15 years to life for the accident she caused. She can apply for parole once she has served 85% of her sentence. Whether you live in Orange, Santa Ana or Lake Forest, if you are charged with a DUI or DUI manslaughter, call an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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Daniel Howell was arrested on Wednesday in Joshua Tree for vehicular manslaughter caused by driving under the influence and felony hit and run. While under the influence of inhalants and prescription drugs, Howell drove his Mazda pick-up truck off the road and into a fashion photographer, who was conducting a photo shoot in Joshua Tree. Howell did not stop the car after the accident, however, and kept driving. The photographer, Alberto Jose Serejo, died at the hospital from his injuries. An hour later, Howell got into another traffic accident nearby and was immediately arrested.

Howell should obviously not have driven if he knew he was under the influence of mind altering drugs. Once he veered off the road and hit Serejo, he should have stopped the car and gotten out. Since he kept driving, he will be charged with felony hit and run in addition to vehicular manslaughter which can add more prison time to his sentence. If convicted for both charges, he may face up to 15 years in state prison.

Whether you live in Aliso Viejo, Stanton or La Palma, if you are charged with a DUI or DUI manslaughter, call an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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A Bakersfield program called “Life Interrupted Mobile Exhibit” won the Program of the Year award from The California Crime Prevention Officer’s Association this past week. The program is aimed at showing children the dangers of drinking and driving. The presentation consists of a DUI crash trailer exhibit which shows an actual car that was involved in a DUI accident and a video that tries to relay the emotions behind a DUI crash. The Life Interrupted program is taken to junior high and high schools in Bakersfield to lower the high rate of DUI fatalities. Since the programs start in 2002 to 2007, teenage fatalities went from 12 in 2002 to 1 in 2007.

Programs like this are a great way to teach kids the dangers of drinking and driving. Lecturing students is one thing, but actually showing them a car that was involved in a drunk driving accident and showing a video on the family’s reaction and the emotional toll it takes on them, is something else. Once students feel the pain of the families and see the damage, they will definitely think twice before drinking and driving. I think the next step that this program should take is to take the exhibit to college campuses. In college, the students are actually old enough to drink and the program may be even more effective at that point. Nevertheless, the program is a great way to deter driving under the influence and reduce DUI fatalities.

Whether you live in Orange, Santa Ana or Newport Beach, if you are charged with a DUI, call an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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The Automobile Club of Southern California has teamed up with County of Orange Health Care Agency Alcohol and Drug Prevention Team (ADEPT) and announced the launch of the Orange County DUI Prevention Task Force. The goal of this task force will be to address DUI issues in Orange County and do what they can to prevent them. Sub committees plan on addressing issues in law enforcement, public policy, marketing and community education. Although this is the first year in 10 years that DUI’s have decreased, the task force feels that there needs to be more DUI prevention to prevent future DUI fatalities.

I think it is great that there are more DUI prevention programs emerging everyday. DUI arrests among women are on the rise, so the DUI prevention program will also target women to explain the effects of drinking and driving. I think an important factor that the program must stress is that, besides staying on your record and possibly requiring you to spend time in jail, DUI’s can cost around $10,000 each because of attorney’s fees, court fees and restitution. If the legal consequences won’t scare people, maybe the financial consequences will.

Whether you live in Santa Ana, Huntington Beach or Brea, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced Orange County DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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Lawrence DiLeva Jr. was driving teenagers Molly Huckabey and Nicole Tropea home in his Dodge Ram in 2005. DiLeva had a blood alcohol level of .1% and was speeding down a residential street in Norco, California. He drove through two stop signs, swerved to avoid hitting another car and lost control of the car. Huckabey and Tropea were killed instantly due to impact. DiLeva was thrown out of the car, suffered brain damage and was in a coma. After he came out of the coma, he was arrested for gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI with bodily injury. Last week, he was convicted of those crimes and was sentenced to 9 years and 8 months in prison for his actions. Before this accident, DiLeva had been in prison for statutory rape and receiving a stolen vehicle. In addition, he had been charged with drug possession.

Anytime someone offers to drive others, they become liable if anything that happens to them. DiLeva was driving drunk, negligently and not obeying traffic signs, which in turn caused the death of Huckabey and Tropea. Even though the accident was not intentional, DiLeva is still guilty of manslaughter and it will always be on his record. Whether you live in Irvine, Santa Ana or Fullerton, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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Matthew Craybas of Huntington Beach was driving drunk on Pacific Coast Highway on Sunday. While driving, Craybas crashed into a barrier that separates the road from the sidewalk and the whole car flipped over. His female passenger was thrown out of the car and received severe head injuries. When officers arrived, they took her to the hospital immediately since she was in critical condition. Craybas was then arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and taken to Laguna Beach jail.

Driving drunk is so dangerous because driving requires plenty of concentration and coordination. Pacific Coast Highway is known to be a long stretch of windy roads filled with pedestrians crossing and other distractions along the way. Craybas should have known better than to drive drunk and now he will face serious charges against him. Whether you live in Anaheim Hills, Mission Viejo or Fullerton, if you are charged with a DUI, you will need an experienced Orange County defense attorney right away.

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While under the influence of narcotics, a woman in Los Angeles drove on the wrong side of the road in her pick-up truck and crashed into a van full of people. The collision killed van passengers Maria Luisa Dominguez and 6-year-old Angela Giron immediately. When police arrived on scene, they immediately arrested the suspect on suspicion of driving while under the influence of drugs and DUI manslaughter.

The suspect will need an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist her. If charged with DUI manslaughter, the suspect faces years in prison, a revoked license, probation and alcohol/drug classes. Some possible defenses could be that the suspect was not actually under the influence of any substance or that the van caused the accident and not her. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Garden Grove or Aliso Viejo, if you are charged with DUI manslaughter, call a good DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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Ruperto Lopez Rojo was sentenced to 1 year in jail and 5 years of probation for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence with great bodily injury. In 2008, Rojo was driving his Mustang with passenger Pablo Macias. Rojo was so drunk that he was driving on the wrong side of the road. He saw oncoming traffic and suddenly veered off the road and crashed. Macias was killed instantly and Rojo sustained injuries. Rojo could have received 17 years for this crime, but instead the judge took his age, remorse and criminal history into account and sentenced him to just one year in jail. After serving his time in jail, Rojo will be deported since he is an illegal immigrant.

Many illegal immigrants are charged with crimes. If they commit a violent felony, they may be deported back to their country of origin. It has been found that once someone is deported, they are more likely to commit a crime when they come back to the U.S.

Rojo was lucky to get such a minor sentence for vehicular manslaughter. A good DUI defense attorney may be able to lower your sentence if you are charged with a DUI. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Orange or Laguna Beach, if you are charged with a DUI, call an experienced DUI defense attorney to assist you.

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