Recently in DUI Cases Category

Phoenix Police Officer Seth Castillo, who is facing DUI charges, failed to appear at a pretrial conference in Gilbert Municipal Court last week. The Arizona Republic reported that missing his court date prompted a judge to issue a bench warrant for his arrest.

Missing even a pretrial conference can be a big deal and could have landed Seth Castillo in jail. However, an Arizona DUI attorney was able to come to the Maryvale Precinct patrol officer's rescue and file a motion to quash the warrant. The DUI attorney explained that the legal staff had failed to correctly calendar the event and notify the defendant of the court date.

Phoenix police officers arrested an 18-year-old a couple weeks ago after he was suspected of hitting several cars in Phoenix on July 9 and then fleeing the scene of each accident. AZ Family News reports that teenager now faces a variety of criminal charges, including charges of leaving the scene of an accident  and driving under the influence of drugs.

The police identified the 18-year-old suspect as Tyler Abbott. The young man allegedly hit a neighbor's car when leaving an apartment complex at 43rd Avenue and Bell Road in Phoenix. The suspect then allegedly hit two more parked cars after leaving the complex and hit another pickup truck that was parked in a driveway after failing to make a proper turn.

Did you know that there are over 20,000 people with outstanding DUI warrants in Maricopa County? That's right. There have literally been thousands of people in the area who have failed to complete the terms of their own arrest.

ABC News reports that the Department of Public Safety and the Phoenix Police Department are now trying to bring some of these more than 20,000 people into custody. They say that they're using all of their possible resources to carry out this operation. The two agencies will be sending police officers to track down the people with outstanding warrants by looking for individuals at their homes or at their workplace.

A senior at Corona Del Sol High School was killed by a drunk driver last week, which led to a great deal of outrage and sadness in the Tempe and Chandler communities. The Arizona Republic reports that the victim, Cody Bishop, was honored when the school choir sang songs in his memory.  Students at Corona Del Sol turned the tile mosaic Aztec mascot into a shrine, where people left flowers and hand-written notes.

The drunk driving crash occurred last Thursday near Ray and Rural roads. The suspect, 23-year-old Steven Landrum, was allegedly driving 81 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone when he hit Cody Bishop's van. After the crash, a blood test revealed that the suspect had a blood-alcohol level of .227, which is nearly three times the legal blood-alcohol limit of .08. The suspect suffered from only minor head injuries and was treated at the Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI manslaughter upon release from the hospital.

A Phoenix DUI attorney might argue that the process of jury selection is the most important part of a trial. After all, it's the jury that ultimately decides if the defendant is guilty or not guilty in most DUI cases. FindLaw states that jury members are usually selected after DUI defense attorneys, prosecutors, and a judge question a pool of potential jurors on matters that pertain to a case.

The questions that the potential jury members are asked could include questions relating to personal ideological predispositions or even life experiences. At this stage, both the defense and prosecution may exclude a certain number of jurors, through the use of "peremptory challenges" and challenges "for cause." A peremptory challenge is used when excluding a juror for any non-discriminatory reason, but a challenge for cause is used when excluding a juror who has shown through questioning that he or she cannot be objective in deciding the case.

After Angel Martinez admitted to a Safford police officer on Sunday that he had smoked marijuana the previous night, he was placed under arrest for aggravated DUI, according to the Eastern Arizona Courier. Yet some Arizona DUI attorneys would argue that this is hardly fair, since the man was not necessarily under the influence of drugs while he was driving.

According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, drug tests can detect marijuana in the body for up to six weeks after use. In Arizona, a person can be charged with driving under the influence of drugs if there is any drug metabolite in their system. So a person can be charged with DUI, even if he or she hasn't ingested marijuana for several weeks and does not show any sign of impairment.

Ahwatukee Foothills News reports that Larry Lawrence, the man who unlawfully stormed through Kyrene de los Cerritos Elementary School two years ago, will have his trial postponed to May 24 in Maricopa County Superior Court. Judge George Foster granted the trial's postponement earlier this month so that Mr. Lawrence's Arizona DUI attorney will have enough time to prepare for the hearing.

In August 2008, Mr. Lawrence allegedly ran through the elementary school's hallways looking for his wife. But before the man even arrived at the school, the Arizona Republic reported that Mr. Lawrence allegedly lost control of his car and slammed into a wall in a private residence near Desert Foothills Park. Police later tried to arrest Mr. Lawrence at his own home, but was said to have been uncooperative with the arrest. The man allegedly shocked one of the policemen with the officer's own Taser. Police had to wrestle the man to the ground before taking him into custody.

The Arizona Republic reports that 33-year-old Manuel Contreras-Galdean was sentenced on Friday to 14 years in prison and 4 years of probation for his drunk driving collision that killed Kelly Tracy, a 16-year-old girl from Mesa. The girl's brother Matthew Tracy, who was driving the vehicle, was also injured after the incident. This was the maximum sentence allowed under the terms of this plea agreement.

The man signed an agreement last year in which he pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter and aggravated assault. The Examiner states that at one point Mr. Contreras-Galdean actually tried to back out of the plea deal after getting a new Arizona DUI attorney. He claims that his old attorney had pressured him into accepting the plea, but his request to back out of the plea was rejected.