Articles Posted in DUI Defense

Last week, 39-year-old Rebecca Ocain, a San Diego County prosecutor, pleaded not guilty to charges of hit-and-run and driving under the influence after she allegedly crashed into a cemetery retaining wall and fled the scene. Ocain pleaded guilty to a drunk driving charge in 2014, according to a news article at The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Ocain’s trial is scheduled for early November as she faces three misdemeanor charges in connection with the incident which occurred on August 8. California Highway Patrol alleges that Ocain was driving east at just after 10 p.m. on Victoria Park Terrace in Alpine when she failed to stop at a stop sign and crashed into the retaining wall at the Alpine Cemetery. A deputy saw her when she got out of her vehicle and started walking away from the scene.

On Sunday morning October 4, a New Bedford man was arrested after it was suspected he was under the influence of alcohol. 24-year-old Marvin Hernandez was reportedly driving in the wrong direction on the highway, according to Rhode Island State Police.

Hernandez was allegedly traveling in an Eastbound direction on Route I-195 west when he was seen going in the wrong way by East Providence and Seekonk police. State troopers also observed Hernandez driving in the wrong direction.

According to an article at ABC 6 News, Hernandez only stopped when a Medtech ambulance flashed its emergency lights at the vehicle; other motorists had also observed the suspect traveling in the wrong direction, and reported it to 911. Hernandez’ vehicle was stopped in the breakdown lane facing Eastward on I-195 West. Rhode Island State Police Col. Steven O’Donnell confirmed the suspect was driving in the wrong direction just after 2:30 in the morning. Hernandez was arrested on the scene, and transported to the Lincoln Woods Barracks.

Last week, a 53-year-old school bus driver who had been with the Hamilton Heights School Corporation since 2001 was suspended after she allegedly operated the bus while intoxicated. According to a news article at Fox59, Janet Kay Shaw was under the influence of drugs when the school bus ran off the side of the road with 23 students on board.

The drugs found in Shaw’s handbag included Hydrocodone, Valium, and Soma. Parents of some of the students on the bus were alerted by their children via cell phones that the bus went off the roadway; the parents then contacted school officials. When the bus veered off the road, it was going approximately 40 mph according to investigators. Several power outages were reported, with one student who was waiting for the bus claiming he saw it go off the road when a “big green spark” flew in front of him. Noah Chapman, the 7th grade student who witnessed the crash, decided not to get on the bus. News reports indicate the bus struck a utility pole wire before returning to the road.

Several middle and high school students who were on the bus complained of headaches and minor aches and pains; they were treated by a school nurse. Upon arrival at the school, Shaw was removed from the bus immediately. She was suspended pending the next HHSC Board of School Trustees meeting where recommendation for termination will be presented.

On Saturday evening September 19, 55-year-old Jose “Pepe” Diaz was stopped as he was riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Key West for doing 74 mph in a 30 mph speed zone, according to NBC Miami. Diaz, who is the Miami-Dade County commissioner, was arrested on Roosevelt Blvd. after his motorcycle fell over when he failed to put the kick stand down.

Although news reports do not reveal his blood alcohol content at the time, Diaz, an avid motorcycle rider, had attended the Key West Poker Run, a motorcycle event that draws thousands of bikers according to news reports. Diaz was elected District 12 commissioner in 2002 after serving as mayor of Sweetwater.

The commissioner was jailed in Monroe County Saturday night, and released just before noon on Sunday after posting a $1,000 bond according to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Becky Herrin. Diaz would not discuss the details of his arrest at the time, but did say he looked forward to resolving the issue. He went on to say that he would continue to serve his community in the meantime, and that he requested the community’s patience during this time.

A recent article at the Detroit News states that over the weekend, three drunk driving arrests were made in Macomb County; in addition, all three individuals had prior DUI convictions, and each had higher than usual BAC levels.

An unnamed woman was first to be arrested for OWI after her vehicle was reportedly crossing into oncoming traffic and weaving. This arrest took place on Saturday evening in Macomb Township. The 36-year-old woman was reportedly operating on a temporary driver’s permit due to a previous OWI arrest on August 7 in St. Clair County. Her BAC registered 0.39 percent when given a breathalyzer at the jail, nearly five times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Just before 10 p.m. on Saturday, Jonathon Alhakim, 47, was arrested after the pickup he was driving became stuck in a ditch in Ray Township. Alhakim had six prior OWI convictions and numerous license suspensions and revocations. His BAC registered 0.25 percent, more than three times the legal limit. He was charged with OWI third offense, having open intoxicants in a motor vehicle, and driving with a suspended license (second offense).

On Sunday September 13, the driver of a NYC transit bus was arrested for DWI. Alexander Copeland, 52, was also charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle without owner’s consent, and reckless endangerment according to a recent article at the New York Post.

It all began when several commuters along the Northern State Parkway in Westbury called authorities complaining about a NYC transit bus that was driving in an erratic manner, reportedly swerving along the roadway. State police responded to the reports and pulled Copeland over just before 2:30 in the afternoon. Police claim the bus driver “reeked” of booze.

Upon administering a sobriety test it was found that Copeland’s BAC or blood alcohol concentration was 0.20 percent. This is more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

On Saturday, September 5 an Allegan man led sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase in Van Buren County in Michigan after the man allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign and was observed driving in a reckless manner, according to a news article at Mlive.com. The man’s name was not revealed, although he is now facing numerous charges.

Police say the man was on probation for three DUI arrests over the past year. Deputies attempted to pull the man, who was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado, over at just after 9:30 p.m. The driver of the truck reportedly reached speeds of over 70 mph as the chase ensued in a southbound direction on M-40, with the driver crossing the center line at one point to such an extent it forced a vehicle driving in a northbound direction off the road.

Eventually, the truck ended up at a Village Market parking lot after jumping a curb into a grassy area. Once the vehicle came to a stop, deputies ordered the driver out of the truck, however he refused and was removed by deputies. A news release issued by the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office revealed that a nearly empty bottle of whiskey and two open cans of beer were found inside the truck by deputies. The driver’s blood alcohol content was found to be 0.22 percent, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent in Michigan.

Recently it was announced that 29-year-old Jon M. Brown of Saginaw will go to trial in December on charges that he caused the death of a taxi driver and serious injury to another person in a crash on I-75 near East North Union Road in Monitor Township in May of this year. Brown was allegedly intoxicated when the accident occurred, and reportedly had a blood alcohol content of 0.105.

The victim who died, 54-year-old Barry E. Campbell, was driving his taxi along with a passenger whom he had picked up in Frankenmuth at the World Expo of Beer and was taking to Midland County. Brown, who was driving a Chevrolet Impala at the time, was allegedly driving in the wrong direction on I-75 when the two vehicles crashed head-on. Campbell’s passenger, Benjamin Martinson, was riding in the front passenger seat of the taxi when the crash occurred. Police reports state that upon arriving at the scene, deputies had a hard time finding Campbell because of the compressed damage to the passenger side of the vehicle.

While Campbell died from the injuries he sustained, Martinson suffered fractures to his pelvis and both legs, a ruptured bladder, collapsed right lung, and lacerations to his spleen and liver. Brown has been charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing serious injury, and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death. He remains in jail on a $250,000 bond.

On Saturday August 29 at approximately 1:45 in the morning, a 43-year-old Beloit man, Mario Esquivel-Flores, died at an area hospital after becoming involved in a collision with a car on Milwaukee Road. At the time of news reports, an investigation into the man’s death was ongoing by the Rock County medical examiner and the City of Beloit Police Department. Esquivel-Flores died due to the serious injuries sustained in the accident.

A more recent news article at the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel claims that police have made an arrest in the case, and that a 29-year-old Clinton man whose vehicle collided with the bicycle was intoxicated at the time of the crash. Police arrested the man, whose name was not released, on suspicion of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle. According to police, the man’s blood alcohol level was over the legal limit of .08 percent.

It is not clear whether the driver of the vehicle will face additional charges; Esquivel-Flores was allegedly riding his bicycle in the road without any lights when he was struck by the car.

On Thursday, August 20, 79-year-old Cardinal William Joseph Levada of Menlo Park was charged with driving under the influence while vacationing on the Big Island of Hawaii with priest friends, according to a recent article at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.

A police spokeswoman said that Levada was alone and was driving a Nissan Altima at the time he was pulled over for swerving while headed in a northbound direction on Queen Kaahumanu Highway. While news reports did not reveal Levada’s blood alcohol content, the threshold for legal intoxication in Hawaii is 0.08 percent, the same threshold as in many states in the U.S.

Levada said in a statement emailed to The Huffington Post that he regretted his error in judgment, and intended to cooperate fully with authorities. He was formerly the highest ranking American official in the Vatican.