Arizona DUI law will possibly be going through another change soon, with the adoption of a bill currently being considered. The bill will restore the right to jury trial for all first-time DUI defendants.

Since the early part of the year, certain specific drivers that were charged with DUI lost their legal right to a trial by jury in Arizona. The bill, which was signed into law on April 29 by Governor Jan Brewer, rewrote DUI law, stating that only hardcore DUI offenders with previous convictions or extreme DUI defendants had the right to trial by jury of their peers. She signed that in regardless of the fact that even without a trial by jury, first-time DUI offenders still can face up to 6 months in jail.

The law signed in by Governor Brewer took effect on December 31, 2011, but on Thursday the state House Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to nullify that provision. Many lawmakers were surprised to find out that they had voted for this language, which local prosecutors had pushed for years.

The current Arizona Code Section 28-1381 states “At the arraignment, the court shall inform the defendant that if the state alleges a prior conviction the defendant may request a trial by jury and that the request, if made, shall be granted.”

The addition of the phrase “if the state alleges a prior conviction” effectively meant that all first-time minor offenders had their rights to a jury trial erased. At the hearing, state Representative David Burnell Smith stated “It has caused a lot of problems because if you have an extreme DUI and a first-time DUI, the judge hears the DUI case, the jury hears the extreme case. If you file a motion, you get the extreme dismissed, you’d still not get a jury trial. It’s confusing out there. There’s constitutional issues, back and forth motions.”

This new bill, House Bill 2284, will be retroactively applied to all cases from December 31 on, must be passed by the full House and Senate, and then must be sent to the governor for her approval.

A Prescott man has a warning message for all Arizona drivers. He says he was almost struck by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 40, and is encouraging drivers pay close attention to their surroundings on the road.

Eric Wildung, who is a pilot, said that he saw the car during his commute home from Bullhead City to Prescott. He says “I’d just passed an 18-wheeler when I saw two police cars traveling with their lights on. Then in front of me, I saw a car coming right at me in the left-hand lane.”

Wildung immediately applied his brakes and moved over to the right, but the driver followed him, continuing to come at him head-on. Wildung goes on to say “I went off the road to the shoulder to go around him. I figured something was up, and I hoped he didn’t wind up running into someone.”

Yavapai County Sgt. Gary Phelps said that the driver of that car was booked on charges of misdemeanor DUI into a Yavapai County Jail in Camp Verde. In his report, he states that “the sedan had a tire blow out, went through the median at milepost 143 near Ash Fork, and ended up in the opposite lane of traffic. When the officer arrived, he found the vehicle off the road and said the driver was arrested for DUI.”

The message that Wildung is stressing from this encounter is that all drivers need to pay close attention. In a night-time head-on collision, if someone is not paying attention, it can very quickly get to the too-late-to-react point. Phelps agrees, saying that he has seen a number of head-on collisions where drivers crossed over the median into oncoming traffic. He also says that DUI is not the only thing that can cause this behavior. Experiencing a medical issue, falling asleep, being distracted, and other issues have been known to cause it as well.

Phelps challenges the preconception that driving on the freeway is safer, and encourages drivers to be vigilant at all times while driving. “There could be debris in the road, a ladder or other item could come off a vehicle in front of you, or a vehicle in the opposing lane of traffic could come at you. It’s not uncommon,” he says.

Many motorcycle training programs are instituting modules in their training that go over drivers keeping escape routes in their heads. They encourage people to always be thinking “if this happened, how would I react?”

Wildung was very grateful that he was able to get out of the way in time. He closed his statement by saying “Be ready, because you never know what’s going to happen. I only thank God that I was not taken out by that.”

Early Sunday morning, A Graham County Jail detention officer drove under the influence of alcohol, fleeing from Thatcher Police officers when they came upon him having intercourse in his vehicle.

The detention officer, Kyle Kalani Beck, was arrested and booked on charges of unlawful flight, DUI, and endangerment in Graham County Jail.

A Thatcher officer, initially dispatched to assist Safford officers at a fight, returned to an area where he saw an undressed male lying on a woman in the front seat of a gray Chrysler 300. Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer saw that the people were both naked. Immediately after that, the man started his car, the woman jumped out of the driver’s seat, and the driver took off and blew through a stop sign. The officer, unsure of whether he had interrupted a sexual assault, or if it was a consensual encounter, returned to his vehicle and pursued Beck.

Beck failed to respond to the officer’s lights and siren, and ran through 2 more stop signs, continuing to flee until he ultimately reached his former guardians’ residence.

Upon stopping, the officer drew his gun and ordered Back to get out of the car. Beck would not comply, and he continued to reach down near the floorboards of his vehicle. Finally, after a Safford officer arrived on the scene, they were able to pull Beck from the vehicle. They reported that he seemed to be under the influence of alcohol, and was only dressed in the woman’s “very small shorts.”

The woman also appeared to be under the influence, and said that she was in Beck’s car voluntarily until he ran from the police. At that point, she said that she requested to be let out of the car, but Beck wouldn’t stop.

When officers had Beck take a breathalyzer test, his blood alcohol content came up as .160, which is twice the legal threshold for DUI. Beck said that he was sorry, and that he only ran to get home. Upon learning that he was a detention officer at Graham County Jail, the officers informed Jail Commander Tim Graver, who gave assurance to the officers that Beck would get his own cell, and would be booked just like any other person.

Beck was booked on charges of endangerment, DUI, and unlawful flight from officers.

In a recent ruling on a 2-year-old case, a jury found a hit-and-run driver guilty of driving under the influence, endangerment, and the manslaughter of a Queen Creek bicyclist.

Jerry Cobb, spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, says that 55 year old Gary Lynn Foshee is to be sentenced March 23, before Maricopa County Superior Judge Cari Harrison.

The victim Russel Jenkins had been killed after being struck head-on on Ocotillo Road at roughly 2AM in Queen Creek. Deputies found that he had been heading eastbound on Ocotillo, along with 2 friends, when he was hit by a driver going the wrong way in the eastbound lanes.

The president of the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists, Bob Beane, said that he is “pleased with the verdict. It’s what we expected. Our goal is to prevent these incidents from happpening in the first place. In this case, I feel really bad for the victim, the family and his friends.”

Beane’s organization focuses on safety education not only for bicyclists, but also for drivers and police investigators working on bicycle-related incidents.

Beane went on to say that even though prosecutors and police are very good at investigations for alcohol-related incidents, there is less attention paid to many other bicycle laws, including one where drivers need to provide a 3-foot safe zone when passing bicyclists, at all times possible.

He said that one particular Tucson attorney is currently working on developing an investigation course focusing on bicycles, along with funcing from the Maricopa Association of Governments, and that it will soon be available to all Valley law enforcement agencies.

One member of the coalition, Ed Beighe, has spent time tracking bicycle fatalities in Arizona, and said that in the year 2009 alone, there were 806 traffic-related deaths, 25 of which involved bicyclists. He also said that criminals charges were brought against 7 of those drivers, 5 of which had been under the influence of alcohol. He finished by saying that the evidence showed bicyclists were equally at fault as drivers for all of the fatal incidents.

While many people hear DUI and instantly think that someone was driving drunk, the true definition of DUI is much broader than that. Driving under the influence can range from drinking alcohol, to taking illicit drugs, and even to being drowsy while driving. All of those situations can lead to being pulled over on suspicion of DUI.

In the latest move of Arizona law enforcement officials to make the roads safer, they have begun cracking down on texting while driving as well. One particular valley attorney, Tommy Richardson, who has handled many cases of injury due to texting while driving, says that Arizona has some of the harshest DUI laws in the country, and it’s time to get similarly tough on texting.

He says that “Your attention’s actually impaired — with texting it’s divided, but it’s the same type of impairment.” He admits that he is baffled as to why even though the outcome can be the exact same, being distracted by texting doesn’t carry the same stigma that drinking and driving does.

“You can’t say that people who text while driving are bad people. You can say people who are drunk are bad people so let’s make a law against it and put parameters on the law,” Richardson said.

Unfortunately, while most lawmakers and law enforcement officers agree that texting while driving needs to be banned, it would be a nightmare to legislate.

Richardson expands on this by saying “unless you have an admission by the person who caused the accident that they were texting, you’re going to have to have police officers downloading cell phone information. You’re going to have to have cops prove the case.”

Many other metropolitan areas have put bans on texting while driving, but there are bound to be more laws coming down the pipeline to ensure that our nation’s streets are as safe as possible.

According to Dwight D’Evelyn, the spokesman for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, the recent Tri-City DUI Task Force was responsible for stopping 139 people on Super Bowl Sunday, citing 74 people total, 8 of which were on suspicion of DUI.

He goes on to say that the 19 officers that took part in the task force were from YCSO, DPS, Prescott, Prescott Valley, and Chino Valley police departments. They were deployed from the Yavapai College Police Department in Prescott, and monitored the roads between the hours of 4PM and midnight.

Out of the 8 total drivers arrested on DUI charges, one was for extreme DUI with blood alcohol content above 0.15 percent, two were for felony aggravated DUI, and four others were for DUI drugs.

D’Evelyn also made sure to note that four of the drivers stopped were designated drivers who were driving intoxicated passengers home. In response to this, D’Evelyn said “We want to remind everyone to be responsible consuming alcohol and use a designated driver or other means of transportation when possible.”

Due to its successes, the Tri-City DUI Task Force is going to continue operating high-profile DUI enforcement for the rest of the year, and as such, they are stressing to drivers the importance of designated drivers, and the costs of driving impaired. They also are trying to remind people that driving impaired doesn’t just mean alcohol. It’s possible to be pulled over on suspicion of DUI for other substances, such as drugs or prescription medication, or even for driving tired. A basic rule to follow is if you have any feeling, no matter how tiny, that you shouldn’t be driving, then don’t.

Arizona DUI law is among the strictest in the United States, with a first-time misdemeanor charge costing at least $1,250 in fines, a minimum of 10 days in jail, a required ignition interlock device, and the potential for receiving community service. If a person receives an extreme or super extreme DUI, the fines are at least doubled, and jail time can be as much as 30 or even 45 days.

These laws show that Arizona officials and lawmakers take DUIs very seriously. It is no surprise, then, that Arizona police officers are extremely vigilant about making DUI arrests.

Since 2003, the number of DUI arrests made in Arizona has increased every year, according to a report by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The jump from 2010 to 2011 was especially troubling, increasing from 19,350 arrests in 2010 to 27,120 arrests in 2011, a rise of over 40%.

It wasn’t just the total number of DUI arrests that increased, either. Every single category of DUI saw an increase in arrests. Extreme DUI arrests (those with a BAC higher than .15) were 7,631 in 2011, increased from 5,926 in 2010. The number of DUI misdemeanor arrests increased by 40%, going from 17366 in 2010 to 24438 in 2011, and aggravated DUI increased by 35%, going from 1987 in 2010 to 2687 in 2011.

The only exception to this increase is the average blood-alcohol content recorded. Among those tested, the average decreased from .153 in 2010 to .151 in 2011, which is still higher than any years other than 2009 and 2010.

The drastic increase in DUI arrests doesn’t necessarily mean that there are more drunk drivers on the road, though. The number of officers performing DUI arrests increased by almost 20%, indicating that many police forces are taking a more active stance against DUI.

DUI charges are very serious, and even small mistakes on your part can end up costing you greatly. Getting an experienced attorney right away is a great way to maintain your defense, and here are some tips to prevent from doing any damage to your DUI defense.

• Don’t resist arrest at all. There are many things that can be construed as resisting arrest, such as turning or walking away, running away, driving away, or offering resistance to being handcuffed and taken into custody. Doing any of these things, and being accused of resisting arrest does nothing but buy you criminal charges, and raise the probability of you suffering physical harm or retaliatory actions by police officers.
• Once the arrest has been made, don’t protest the arrest and plead your innocence with the arresting officer any more. The officer’s mind is entirely made up, and anything you say can further incriminate you. Even if you feel your constitutional rights have been violated, maintain your silence until you can hire a DUI defense attorney. They will take your side of the story, and then focus on building you a strong defense. If your constitutional rights were in face violated, it could lead to your DUI charges being dismissed. This is only possible through the proper legal channels though.
• Remain silent. The right to remain silent is one of your legal Miranda rights. Exercise this right as soon as possible. Let the police see that you are willing to cooperate with them, so they don’t see you as resisting, but make sure they know you won’t be answering any questions about your charges without an attorney present. Then, of course, hire the assistance of an experienced DUI attorney as soon as possible.

Using these tips, and the tips to come in future entries, your DUI proceedings should go as smoothly as possible.

This Super Bowl weekend, law enforcement focus on Route 66 will be changing to DUI enforcement.

The campaign, called “Get Your Clicks on Route 66,” started in Oklahoma in 2010, and has since spread through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. It started with the idea of cutting down on fatal crashes, by emphasizing wearing seat belts and utilizing correct child restraints.

George Brown, an Oklahoma Lt, said that when it comes to fatal accidents, half of the victims are not wearing seat belts. He goes on to say “We know that people get lax. We also know that since we started this, there are still injury collisions where people don’t buckle up. So there’s still work to be done.”

Recently, many states have been cracking down on seat belt laws, with the catchy slogan “Click it or ticket.” Like that campaign, Brown says that he hopes the “Get Your Clicks on Route 66” program will save lives. “We know that it’s the very best way to ensure public safety. Not just throughout Oklahoma, but the other states that are involved,” he said.

This weekend, however, all of the officers will shift their focus to DUI enforcement. Super Bowl Sunday is a well-known night of increased drunk driving, since so many people are out partying with friends. Troopers anticipate seeing a larger-than-normal number of DUI arrests.

Brown expands on this, saying “We have seen alcohol related crashes as half time – people going on beer runs at half-time or between quarters. So people need to be aware that we know what’s going on and we’re going to be out there. We are going to be looking for things that people do to make it unsafe for everyone else.”

If you plan to drink on Sunday, troopers are saying to make sure you get a cab or have a designated driver. If you suspect someone is driving drunk, do not hesitate to contact local law enforcement authorities.

Alcoholism, a term coined in 1850, is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a chronic disorder marked by excessive and usually compulsive drinking of alcohol leading to psychological and physical dependence or addiction.” Considered a neurological disorder, some of the symptoms of alcoholism are psychological, such as anxiety, panic, hallucinations, and sleep disorders.

Large amounts of alcohol consumption also reduce sensitivity to alcohol, which means it will take more in the future to become “drunk.” Unsurprisingly, this means that alcoholics will have higher than normal blood-alcohol readings before they get as affected as non-drinkers.

What may be surprising, though, is that one of the reasons alcoholics will have higher blood-alcohol readings is specifically because they’re alcoholics.

This is because alcoholics have a different physiology in several important regards, one of which is that they produce far more acetaldehyde than non-alcoholics. Acetaldehyde is a compound produced in small amounts by the liver as a by-product of the metabolism of alcohol. Recently, alcohol has been found to metabolize in the lungs as well, and acetaldehyde is also produced there.

Recent evidence states that due to unique differences in each person’s physiology, the amount of acetaldehyde produced, and breathed into the breathalyzer, is different for each person. A study that focused on alcoholics showed that in alcoholics, the amount of acetaldehyde produced in the lungs and detected in the breath was between 5 and 55 times the level detected in non-alcoholics.

What this all boils down to is that while usually a good indicator of intoxication, breathalyzer tests are unfair towards alcoholics. They are unable to detect the difference between acetaldehyde and alcohol, and therefore alcoholics will almost always have falsely higher blood-alcohol readings.

If you have any questions about a recent breathalyzer reading during a DUI stop, contact a good lawyer as soon as possible, and see if you were unfairly tested.