Parents throughout Pennsylvania gathered last month to advocate for harsher DUI laws that could have potentially saved their children’s lives.
PA Parents Against Impaired Driving (PPAID) is pushing Pennsylvania lawmakers to make stricter penalties against drunk driving. Specifically, they’re advocating for Senate Bill 290, which would require ignition interlocks for first-time DUI offenders. SB 290 will likely be reviewed by the governor this month.
Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is no doubt very dangerous. Having spent a large part of my professional career defending individuals accused of DUI I have seen many lives destroyed by the decisions that some chose to make. I’m here to tell you that over the last few years texting and driving has become more dangerous then DUI. Yes you heard me correctly, texting and driving is more dangerous then DUI. Continue reading
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 what young boy doesn’t dream of one day playing in the NBA, NFL or MLB. To many kids these athletes can do no wrong and literally walk on water. They make millions of dollars, drive fancy cars and most have gorgeous supermodel girlfriends or wives. Unfortunately all you have to do is read the papers to see that athletes are making the news to often for the wrong reasons including being arrested for DUI.
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 DUI that doesn’t automatically mean that your are guilty of the crime. There are many defenses and ways to challenge a DUI in Pennsylvania and I want to take some time and go through some of them.ILLEGAL STOP
The most common way to challenge a DUI is to argue that the actual stop of the motor vehicle was illegal in some way. Many times it is argued that the police did not have “probable cause” to stop the vehicle. There are many ways to prove that there was something wrong with the stop or that the officer did not have reasonable suspicion to act accordingly. One such way which is to see if the officer had a dash cam video and if they did request it immediately. If for instance the officer claims that a motorist was pulled over because they were “weaving all over the road”, a video may be able to disprove this and have stop thrown out.
FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS
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 alcohol awareness classes as evidence of malice in support of the third-degree murder charge. The appeals court disagreed.
In the early morning hours of April 27, 2013, Fire Chief Rodney Miller of the Loganville Fire Department – the victim – was closing lanes of I-83 to allow for an emergency helicopter landing. To divert traffic, Chief Miller parked his truck diagonally across both lanes. The truck was equipped with oscillating emergency lights.
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 what they can take intoxicated drivers off the road. For those that don’t know, a DUI checkpoint or roadblock is a specifically designated location on a roadway where police are looking for potential impaired drivers.
If you or someone you know is arrested for a DUI as part of a checkpoint it is important to contact an attorney as soon as possible. This is because there are procedures that must be followed with these checkpoints and if they are not that can have a impact on your case. Many times I have a client come into my office for an initial consultation and they automatically assume they are guilty because they were caught in a checkpoint. A qualified,experienced, aggressive DUI attorney will look into this checkpoint to make sure that all procedures were followed. Even if they were followed, that doesn’t mean that a person is automatically guilty of a DUI. There are many ways to defend and attack a DUI which we will get into on other posts.
One of the most important procedures that must be followed is that police or law enforcement agency must make public the location of where the checkpoint will be set up. Unfortunately most people don’t go onto google prior to driving to see where these checkpoints will be. By the time that a person realizes there is a checkpoint ahead it is usually too late. Some of the other requirements an experienced DUI attorney should look for whenever they have a client who has been arrested as a result of a DUI checkpoint:
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, oil or liquid form. This is important because many people I have talked to thought that when this bill passed they would be able to just smoke marijuana or even grow their own plants and this is just not the case.
The specific legislation that was passed outline seventeen (17) qualified diagnosed conditions that an individual must exhibit in order to be prescribed marijuana. The medical conditions covered include:
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 an empty bottle of Smirnoff Ice on the floor of the suspect’s car. Clark knocked on the driver’s window and awoke the driver. The driver opened the window. He had glassy, bloodshot eyes, but he denied consuming alcohol. Rather than get out of the car, he closed the window and revved the engine. Sergeant Clark grabbed the door handle, but the driver began to flee. Another officer responded as back-up and pursued the fleeing vehicle.
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 has mandatory minimum sentences even for first time offenders. Depending on an individual’s blood alcohol level and/or if there are any drugs in the system will be very important factors to look at.
Blood Alcohol Level <.10%
An individual with a blood alcohol level below a .10% is not looking at any jail time or any license suspension. They are however looking a mandatory 6months probation as well as a $300 fine.
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 area. The trial court held a pretrial hearing in July 2015. What follows is a description of the evidence presented.
Pennsylvania DUI Lawyers Blog