Phoenix, Arizona DUI/DWI Blog

Oakland A's outfielder Coco Crisp was arrested for drunk driving last week after Scottsdale Police alleged that his vehicle kept straying from its lane. Crisp was given a field sobriety test, which law enforcement claims he failed, and taken to Scottsdale city jail. Crisp isn't the only baseball player to have recently been arrested and charged with DUI.

Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera was arrested DUI last month. Officers found Cabrera inside his vehicle alongside the road. Police claimed he had a whiskey bottle in his possession and drank in front of the officers. Law enforcement accused him of being uncooperative and took him to jail after he refused a breath test. He was charged with DUI and resisting an officer without violence.

Arizona law enforcement arrested an enormous amount of people for DUI between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day: 3,534.

The number was so high because police departments in Phoenix and across all of Arizona participated in a state-wide crackdown. In fact, the police stopped over 41,000 drivers during this stretch.

Does a DUI Arrest Mean the Accused Person was Driving Drunk?

No. There were 3,534 DUI arrests during the extended holiday season, but the resulting number of DUI convictions will be significantly lower. The DUI conviction rate varies greatly from county to county. Some areas have DUI conviction rates above 90 percent, while other places convict 75 percent or less of the accused offenders.

Few would be surprised to learn that the risk of dying in an alcohol-related car crash increases on New Year's Day. After all, many people celebrate the coming of the new year at gatherings with friends and family and far too many get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol.

What is surprising is just how high the rate of fatal accidents over the New Year's holiday truly is: according to a recent study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, almost two and a half times as many alcohol-related traffic deaths occur on New Year's Day compared to a typical day this time of year. On average, 80 people are killed in alcohol-related crashes on New Year's Day each year.

Keep the Holidays Happy

Even with multiple social obligations on New Year's Eve, it is easy to stay sober and safe. When planning your evening, consider the following:

The DUI task force kicked off its holiday campaign today. The campaign is focused on heightened drunk-driving enforcement efforts across Arizona in coordination with the holiday season - when many Arizonans enjoy "spirits" while spending time with friends and family.

The campaign falls under Governor Jan Brewer's "Drive Hammered, Get Nailed" initiative to detain suspected drunk drivers and severely punish those convicted of DUI offenses. The Governor's Office of Highway Safety is organizing the collaboration of the Department of Public Safety, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, as well as Mesa and Phoenix Police Departments.

What to Expect from the Campaign

Alberto Gutier, Director of The Governor's Office of Highway Safety, stated, "We want to remind people to enjoy the holiday season, but do so responsibly by 'Getting a DD...Not a DUI.'"

Expect more police officers on the road for the rest of 2010. The police will be pulling more people over and administering more field sobriety, breath and blood tests. The police will also be targeting open container offenses and drug-related DUI.

Gilbert has instated a new program that allows some of the people convicted of DUI offenses to serve part of their sentence at home. Gilbert joined Phoenix, Mesa and Chandler who have similar programs.

The home detention program allows qualifying DUI offenders to serve a portion of their sentence at home, but only after serving the first 15 days in jail. Once home, the violators are monitored by tracking bracelet, and must have interlock devices installed on their vehicles.

A new study analyzed the 20 most-populated cities to determine who has the highest ratio of drunken driving offenders on the road. The study's rankings were created by determining each city's percentage of drivers who hold a previous DUI/DWI violation.

Phoenix did poorly, placing fourth, only behind San Diego, San Jose and Charlotte. The study, created by insurance.com, utilized data supplied by people seeking car insurance quotes to draw its conclusions. While it's not the most scientific study, it likely provides a good indicator as to where big cities stand in their drunk driving problems.

The Arizona Supreme Court recently rendered a decision on the appeal of Carillo v. Houser, a case interpreting Arizona's implied consent law for DUI suspects. The case was brought to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeals ruled in September 2009 that a failure to object to a blood test does not constitute consent to having blood drawn under Arizona's implied consent law.

The Arizona Appeals Court overturned a lower court decision finding that a DUI suspect's failure to object constituted consent to having his blood drawn. The Appeals Court had remanded the case for a finding by the trial court on whether the DUI suspect's action in holding out his arm when informed police would draw his blood constituted an affirmative and unequivocal manifestation of consent. 

Getting pulled over for a DUI is never an ideal situation. That is especially so in Arizona, which has some of the toughest DUI laws in the country. Still, it is always good to know what to do if you get pulled over, regardless of whether you are legally driving while impaired.

From the minute you are pulled over, the police officer is looking for evidence. From this point on, you should aim to be courteous. While you might not be able to talk yourself out of a DUI charge (and you should not try), there is no reason to antagonize the police officer. Doing so may add to the list of charges you eventually face. There is nothing to be gained by being combative, petulant or belligerent.

The Gillespie Law Firm's DUI defense blog will discuss the latest developments in Arizona drunk driving laws, enforcement practices and defense techniques. Founding attorney Craig Gillespie has more than 20 years of experience in DUI defense, and he's known as a leader in the local defense bar. He's a frequent speaker and seminar leader on drunk driving defense issues for professional audiences.

More so than other areas of the criminal law, DUI enforcement, prosecution and sentencing practices are highly sensitive to political pressures and public perceptions. Over the years, the trend has gone toward tougher penalties, longer license suspensions and harsher punishment, especially for repeat offenders.

This blog can serve as a forum for discussing the public policy issues that lie behind developments in Arizona DUI law, as well as for considering the most effective ways to protect the constitutional and legal rights of people accused of violating the state drunk driving statutes. We also invite comment on high-profile judicial decisions that attract attention in the media.

There are never easy answers to the age-old dilemma between protecting the general public and upholding individual freedoms. Every criminal prosecution brings that conflict into sharp focus for particular people under the facts of a particular case. Visit this page often to see what others have to say about these issues. To find out more about our DUI defense practice, call or visit online the Gillespie Law Firm in Phoenix.