As a huge sports fan I am fascinated and surprised when I read about prominent athletes being arrested for Driving Under the Influence. Most people including myself feel that athletes are supposed to be role models for the youth and give them someone to look up to. After all…
Pennsylvania DUI Lawyers Blog
Challenging a DUI Arrest in Pennsylvania
Everyday I see individuals who are charged with a DUI in Pennsylvania walk into court and simply plead guilty. Most of the time I know nothing about their case or what their attorney has done or hasn’t done. People need to understand that just because you are arrested for a…
Pennsylvania Appeals Court Finds No Error in Admitting Defendant’s Prior DUI Conviction into Evidence
Matthew Scott Diehl appealed from his 9 1/2 to 19 years’ sentence after a jury convicted him of various DUI-related charges, including homicide by vehicle while DUI and third-degree murder. Diehl contended the trial court erred when it allowed the state to introduce evidence of his 2005 DUI conviction and…
DUI CHECKPOINTS
As we move into the month of May and the days begin to get longer, more and more people will begin to enjoy the weather outside and spend much more time on the road. Law Enforcement agencies all over Pennsylvania will also begin to set up sobriety checkpoints to do…
PA Medical Marijuana & DUI
Pennsylvania is now one of twenty four (24) states to legalize medical marijuana. Just yesterday Governor Tom Wolf signed this bill into law. The bill goes into detail on just how patients can take the marijuana if prescribed by a doctor. Specifically an individual can take the marijuana in a pill,…
Pennsylvania Appeals Court Reverses DUI Defendant’s Grant of Early Parole
The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently reversed a lower court order granting defendant James Finley early parole. In the early morning of August 2013, Sergeant Timothy Clark responded to a report of a person unconscious inside a gray vehicle in a McDonald’s parking lot. Arriving at the scene, the sergeant noticed…
Penalties for first DUI Arrest. Am I going to Jail?
One of the most common questions I receive from potential clients is “what will happen to me for my first DUI”. While that is certainly a very fair question, the answer will be different for everyone depending on thefacts and circumstances of each individual case.Pennsylvania is one of the states that…
Pennsylvania Appellate Court Holds DUI’s Can Occur on Private Roadways
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently reversed the lower court’s dismissal of charges against a defendant charged with a DUI on an allegedly private roadway. In August 2014, Alison Lees was charged with DUI, reckless driving, and careless driving after driving intoxicated from her parking spot and onto a grassy…
A DUI in Pennsylvania Could Cost $10k
The York County organization Center for Traffic Safety recently determined that the cost of the average DUI arrest totals a whopping $10,000. The organization cited this figure while admonishing St. Patrick’s Day celebrants not to drive inebriated, as well as to put drivers on notice of the existence of numerous DUI…
Pennsylvania Appeals Court Holds Driver’s Arrest Was Supported by Probable Cause
The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently upheld appellant Renaire Lewis’s conviction for DUI despite his argument that the stop violated his Fourth Amendment rights. In the early morning of July 2014, Lower Pottsgrove Police Sgt. Greenwood was investigating a vehicle (“Vehicle 1”) stopped on Buchert Road, which was blocking the lane.…