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If you live in Washington State and drink and drive, watch out!  As Washington DUI attorneys, we stay on top of the state’s law enforcement efforts to crack down on driving under the influence of intoxicants.  And, this latest enforcement effort appears to be one of the strongest ever.

New DUI saturation patrols are now clearly being put into enforcement mode.  As is often the case, renewed attention to enforcement often follows tragedy.  The horrific deaths of two Federal Way high school students on June 10^th just might have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.  It appears to have triggered an even more vigorous attempt at increasing Washington DUI arrests.

Beginning earlier this month, Washington State Patrol, in conjunction with 30 agencies in the Puget Sound area, began strategically deploying “Target Zero” anti-drunk driving teams in Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties.  These teams are deployed with only one primary directive.  They want to stop as many people as possible for drinking and driving.

The goal of these Washington State DUI task force teams is to eliminate drunken driving fatalities by 2030.  The state goal is to make drunk driving so prohibitively difficult to get away with that individuals will seek alternative transportation.  There is no way to fault the teams’ overall goals.  Drunk driving is killer.  There is one huge problem, however, that almost always accompanies these efforts.  A lot of innocent people will be arrested and wrongfully convicted of a crime that they did not commit.

The simple truth is that if you have had anything to drink that night and are pulled over by one of these teams, you are much more likely than not to be arrested and charged with a Washington DUI, even if you were not under the influence that night.  And, with staggering unreliability and other scientific problems of Washington State’s breath testing machines, there may be little that you can do about it except to hire an experienced Washington DUI lawyer. 

The difference between this task force, and previous attempts to dent the roughly 200+ drunk driving relating deaths every year, is their focus on statistically driven deployment strategies. Using updated aggregate highway data on arrests, injuries, deaths, accidents and other safety data, the task forces will focus on specific “hot” zones in every county.  Unlike older and more “static” deployment strategies, these zones will be updated using the addition of “lots of data”; creating a dynamic task force that is likely to appear at new locations each and every week.

The personnel selected for this task force are composed of 21 Washington State Troopers with the “best arrest” records for driving under the influence of intoxicants. In addition, over 30 local law enforcement agencies in the Puget Sound area will provide additional personnel to beef up the task force’s presence during statistically important times. Given that law enforcement estimates that the average DUI offender drives drunk 80+ times before getting caught, it is quite possible that this task force will result in a spike in DUI arrests in the Puget Sound area of Western Washington.

If you haven’t seen the video yet, go back to your cave.  Apparently, the Prince George County police force is notorious for their use of excessive force, and they certainty took the cake this month.  Footage was released of their assault on an unarmed University of Maryland student, John McKenna, committing the unforgiveable offence of celebrating a basketball victory over Duke during March Madness.  No, we’re not kidding.

What adds plenty of spice to this story is the official arrest report, written by a veteran officer, which states that McKenna committed assault on police officers and their horses causing injury, something the video clearly refutes.  Three separate agencies, including the FBI, are now investigating this obvious attempt to subvert justice by its very protectors.

Compare the actions of those above with the example set by Washington State Trooper Adam Gruener.  Gruener, a rookie with WSP only 14 months, was called down to Pierce County by Sgt. Chris Clark, a 21-year veteran and direct superior to young Gruener. Upon arriving Gruener discovered his superior exhibiting all the tell tale signs of a Washington DUI arrestee, most notably that he ran his car off the road and got it stuck. Gruener, in a very awkward situation, did the right thing and notified his superiors.

Clark now faces a Washington DUI charge and disciplinary action for the attempted abuse of authority. 

Police officers, just like the rest of us, make mistakes. They are unique, however, in that their position of authority allows them to mask actions that might have legal repercussions.  I can’t remember how many times one of my clients has shot themselves in the foot by admitting to speeding, or some other crime, because they felt guilty.  The most important thing to remember when you speak with any Washington State law enforcement personnel is that they are not your friend, and you have a right to silence.  Our advice:  use it.

In almost every situation involving the police, the less said the better.  And, you find yourself in the difficult situation of being investigated for a Washington DUI, please invoke your right to counsel immediately.  It’s always your best move.

Almost every DUI report that we have ever read includes a notation that our client had bloodshot-watery eyes, slurred speech of some kind, and that they failed one or more field sobriety tests.  There are many other variations and “indications of impairment” that frequently occur, but these are by far the most common.  

These or similar words seem to appear in about 90% of every Washington DUI report that we read.  Frankly, it seems statistically impossible that so many WA State DUI arrestees could all exhibit these very same characteristics, and we doubt that they actually do.  In their training, however, these clues must be repeatedly emphasized as signs of intoxication.

Of course, who doesn’t have at least somewhat bloodshot and watery at 2:30 a.m. in the morning?  I mean, few people are looking fresh as a daisy in the middle of the night.  I know I don’t. 

As for the odor of alcohol, many of our clients report to us that they have not had a drink in over two hours.  Many also report that they brushed their teeth and were chewing mint gum at the time of their stop.  As for the failed field sobriety tests, the issue of these “roadside gymnastics” is a topic for another complete post in and of itself.

The truth is, if a Washington State or Seattle DUI isn’t obvious (driving the wrong direction down a one way road, driving when literally falling down drunk, etc.), one should often have a very good chance of successfully fighting the charge so long as they retain an experienced WA drunk driving attorney.

There are many ways to collaterally attack a DUI charge.  For example, former hockey star Chris Chelios was pulled over last December for a suspected DUI.  He obviously retained an experienced and knowledgeable drunk driving lawyer.

After being charged, a judge later ruled that the police lacked probable cause based on video captured from a dashboard camera.  Following his arrest, Chelios refused to take a breath test, and then he got a good DUI attorney.  A good DUI lawyer can make all the difference in how your Washington drunk driving case is ultimately resolved.

A good friend of mine is a lifelong Later Day Saint (Mormon).  He’s part of a religion known for abstaining from alcohol.  When he took my sister out for a date back in high school he was pulled over by a county sheriff.  One of the first questions the sheriff asked was “how many drinks have you had tonight?” 

If you are pulled over on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night and it’s after 10:00 p.m., there’s a good chance that this will be the officer’s first question after requesting your license and registration.  And, you should be prepared for it.  If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having been pulled over after drinking, however, you should request to speak with a Washington DUI attorney as soon as it is evident that the officer is not merely going to give you a traffic ticket.

It’s a question we all ask at some point, how many drinks is one too many?  I know for a guy about my size with my metabolism, I can have about two or three pints in two hours and still be under .08 BAC, especially if I have a decent meal along with the hops.

On the other hand, Donald Wolfe should probably have had at least two or three fewer drinks before he tried to resuscitate a dead possum the other night.  Several witnesses reported seeing Donald kneeling on the side of the highway about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh.  No folks, I’m not kidding here.  Do a broader search on Google if you doubt the veracity of this one.

There was some confusion about the nature of his actions before police arrived; one witness reported that Donald was performing a séance, another said he was giving mouth to mouth.  What isn’t difficult to find out, is whether the 55 year old Wolfe had one too many.  He was arrested and charged with public drunkenness.

Being on the side of the highway had me wondering about how Donald got there though. One hopes he wasn’t driving, with a DUI obviously being a much more serious charge.  Under Washington DUI law, even first time offenders are looking at mandatory jail, a mandatory license suspension, having to obtain an alcohol evaluation and follow any treatment recommendations.  First time offenders are also required to have an ignition interlock device installed into their cars for at least a year.

Given that he wasn’t charged with a DUI, it makes me think that Donald has some really crappy friends.  According to some reports, he had been drinking with several of them at a nearby watering hole and was apparently getting a ride home from one of them.

Who lets a drunken friend get out of the car on a highway and perform mouth to mouth on a dead rodent?   If I was Donald that would be one of the first things I mention to my lawyer.  You do the responsible thing and turn over your keys, and your friends still manage to let you get arrested.  At a minimum, the friend could have made sure that the marsupial was move off the highway before allowing his buddy to perform CPR.

If there was an allegation of drunk driving, these kinds of cases present an interesting defense.  Who could actually testify that they say Donald driving drunk?  It presents what we call an interesting corpus issue.  By the way, you ever find yourself in need of a good Seattle DUI attorney, might we recommend the Law Offices of Jason S. Newcombe.  His WA State DUI attorneys have over 25 years of combined experience in successfully resolving drunk driving cases.

Barry Logan resigned his position as director of the Forensic Laboratory Services Bureau, two weeks after a King County panel of judges ruled that the state toxicology lab engaged in “fraudulent and scientifically unacceptable” practices in the preparation and analysis of breath tests that are used to help prosecute Washington drunk drivers.  Frankly, Dr. Logan’s actions, as well as those the state toxicology lab, particularly as they relate to Washington DUI cases involving breath or blood tests, are a complete embarrassment to crime labs around the country.

In his resignation announcement, Logan stated that he felt “a great deal of responsibility when there are errors made that undermine public confidence in our breath-test program.”  And, there is no doubt that the public’s confidence in the state toxicology lab’s ability to properly assist prosecutors in Washington drunk driving cases was shaken to the core.  He went on to state that he felt that he had “reached a point where I have done as much as I can, and that led to my decision to step down.”  In our opinion, the public was well served by his resignation.

Logan began his career as a state toxicologist in 1990 and was named director of the Forensic Laboratory Services Bureau in 2009.  He was responsible for two labs: the Washington State Toxicology Laboratory and the State Patrol Crime Laboratory Division.  Logan believes that the troubles that plagued his tenure were partly attributed to him basically working two full-time jobs.  This situation is now being rectified and each lab will have its own manger.

The lab came under scrutiny when a toxicology lab manager was accused of falsely stating the verification of solutions for breath testing in drunken-driving cases.  It was later revealed that Ms. Ann Marie Gordon had indeed committed perjury on dozens, if not hundreds of affidavits regarding the certification of simulator solutions that were critical to the properly administration of Washington DUI arrests.  Ms. Gordon resigned her position in July.

Many Washington DUI attorneys went on to successfully challenge these breath test results and have them thrown out.  This was the proper result since the tests themselves could not be trusted due to the problems and false statements associated with Ms. Gordon, as well as several others at the State Toxicology lab.

The Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction was arrested on Sunday at 1:30 a.m. on suspicion of WA drunk driving.  Randy Dorn has made somewhat of a name for himself in the state of Washington by pushing for standardized teacher evaluations.

A brave thing to do, considering the Teachers Union is one of the most powerful unions in the state, and are passionately opposed to all standardization.  Research indicates that local needs dictate the best means of evaluations for both students and teachers.

Dorn is a strong supporter of No Child Left Behind, legislation enacted under George W. Bush, which dictates that all children receive a standardized test to evaluate their educational growth.  While GW considers it the greatest legislative achievement of his two terms, NCLB has been criticized by educational professionals.  It requires expensive standardized tests but provides no funding; and it tests only reading, writing, science and math, meaning that civics, music, art, and history all get reduced funding, if they are fortunate not to be completely cut out curriculums.

Regardless of his stance on NCLB it’s a good thing he left the kids at home on Sunday night.  Even though you are in your car, a Washington DUI is a criminal issue, and having minors involved in a DUI is a MAJOR problem.  In fact many prosecutors around Western Washington will fill additional charges based solely on minors being in the vehicle at the time of the Washington DUI incident. 

No doubt Dorn will retain an experienced Washington DUI attorney to contest his case.  Washington drunk driving laws are extremely tough.  Even if this is your first offense, a WA State DUI conviction means that you will be sentenced to at least one day in jail and face a minimum mandatory 90-day license suspension.

If you are charged with a WA State DUI and your alleged BAC was either above .15 or you refused to take a breath test, then the penalties increase.  You would then be looking at a minimum 48 hours in jail and a mandatory one-year license suspension.  A good Washington driving under the influence attorney can do many things to influence the outcome of your case. 

By the way, if you are in need of the services of an experienced and aggressive Washington DUI attorney, you should consider calling the Law Offices of Jason S. Newcombe.  Mr. Newcombe is an experienced WA State drunk driving lawyer, and he will vigorously defend your legal rights.

The Washington DUI emphasis patrols issued a news release reiterating the importance of not drinking and driving on Super Bowl Sunday.  Washington drunk driving incidents typically spike that day, as do alcohol-related accidents.

Washington State Troopers will be deploying extra patrols that will target speeding, aggressive driving and potential Washington DUI offenders.  They recommend that if you decide to go out, drink, and watch the game, that you arrange a designated driver for your party, or take a cab.

WSP Chief John Batiste was quoted as saying, “Getting into a collision is not the way to celebrate a major sporting event.”  Moreover, while a cab ride may cost you $50 to $100 if the distance is significant, less if you live near the location, it is still far, far less than you will have to pay a Seattle DUI lawyer or a Washington drunk driving attorney if you arrested and charged with DUI.

Tyrone Kinzer, a 43 year-old Kent, WA man, was arrested on suspicion of Washington DUI and second-degree assault, after rear-ending another vehicle near the Milton-Freewater area of Oregon.  According to the Oregon State Police, the accident occurred on Highway 11 near milepost 32, around 11:30 p.m.

Mr. Kinzer’s Toyota collided with a Ford Taurus, which had three occupants in the vehicle.  The driver of the Taurus fled the scene after the accident and is currently being sought by the Oregon State Police.  One of the passengers, a 23 year-old woman, suffered critical injuries, while another, a 43 year-old woman, was treated for minor injuries.

Kinzer was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Walla Walla and treated for his injuries.  He was then arrested and booked into the Walla Walla County Jail.  Had this accident occurred in Washington State, Mr. Kinzer would have been facing similar charges for his actions.

Under Washington DUI law, any accident involving serious injury that results from drunk driving is likely to result the driver being charged with one or more felonies.  Washington’s drunk driving laws are very tough, even for first time offenders.  By the way, if you or someone you know is currently facing a driving under the influence charge, I would recommend calling Washington DUI attorney Jason S. Newcombe.

Mr. Newcombe is an experienced WA State dui lawyer and aggressively defend your charges.