VISTA – A man accused of being drunk when he lost control of his pickup truck on Highway 76 in Bonsall and crashed into a bicyclist, leaving the victim without the use of his legs, was ordered Thursday to stand trial.

Gene Jennett, 46, of Vista, is charged with driving under the influence causing injury and having a blood-alcohol level of .18.


Hermes Castro, 26, testified from a wheelchair that he was riding from his Oceanside home to work in Fallbrook on Sept. 1 when he was struck by Jennett's pickup truck.
“I saw a chrome grill and a green hood coming at me,” Hermes said. “I tried to avoid it, but it was too fast. I lowered my shoulder and closed my eyes. That was the last thing I remember before waking up on the ground.

“I was just amazed that I was still breathing. I couldn't feel from the waist down from that moment on.”

Dennis Delgado, one of two Marines in a nearby car, testified that the pickup driven by Jennett was on the right shoulder of the opposite lanes when he spotted it.

“I noticed a dust cloud,” Delgado said. “It quickly got my attention. I saw a green truck come out of the cloud. It fish-tailed.”

The Marine said he could hear the screeching of tires, so he “stood” on his own brakes.

“(The defendant) hit the person on the bike dead-on,” Delgado said.

The truck continued off the road through a stack of hay bales and into a parking lot, where it started a chain reaction collision that damaged three other vehicles, he said.

Castro had two broken legs and blood all over him, he said.

Delgado's passenger, David James, said the victim “was a horrific sight” because of the blood and his injuries.

James said he followed his Marine training and talked to Castro to keep him alert until paramedics arrived.

Both men identified the defendant as the driver of the pickup.

Castro said he spent a month in the hospital.

“I'm not able to walk,” said the victim, who is married but has no children. “I was a real active person so all that has stopped.”

He said he was hoping to return to work by mid-December. Following the one-hour preliminary hearing, Vista Superior Court Judge Aaron Katz scheduled a Jan. 18 trial date for Jennett.

Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso said Jennett faces a maximum of six years in prison if convicted.


http://www.sandiegodui.com

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Police arrest 43 during Chargers-Raiders football game


SAN DIEGO ---- Officers arrested 43 people during Sunday's football game between the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders at Qualcomm Stadium, according to San Diego police.

The Chargers, leading the AFC West, won over their long-time rivals, 21-14.

Police said one person was taken into custody for felony assault with great bodily injury during the game.


Out of 27 arrests for being drunk in public, 19 people went to San Diego Central Jail and the rest to detoxification. police said.

In addition to one warrant arrest, they said, there were 14 misdemeanor tickets ---- one for illegal vending in the parking lot; two each for vehicle violations, possession of beer kegs, selling illegal merchandise. and urinating in public, and five for having glass bottles.

Eighty people were removed from the stadium, primarily for fighting and alcohol-related violations.

Nineteen people were ticketed for misusing disabled parking placards.

The statistics were compiled from two police prisoner processing centers at the stadium, one a mobile police command van in the parking lot, and a driving under the influence saturation patrol in Mission Valley.

As part of the DUI patrol, police said, five people were arrested for suspected drunken driving and three vehicles were impounded.


http://www.sandiegodui.com

SAN DIEGO – California Highway Patrol officers made 47 drunken-driving arrests in San Diego County over the first 36 hours of the Thanksgiving weekend, three less than the same period a year ago, an agency official said Friday.
Statewide, there were 578 DUI arrests made by CHP officers from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 Friday morning, compared to 595 in the same period last year, the agency reported.


Seventeen people were killed in crashes reported by all law enforcement agencies in California during the period, compared to 19 last year, according to the CHP's updated report.
No fatal collisions occurred in San Diego County this year, compared to two reported in 2005, according to the CHP.

It's hard to say what's behind the slightly lower numbers, said Jim Bettencourt, the CHP's media information officer.

“By midnight Sunday, we'll see if the numbers are really down,” he said. “In a perfect world, (DUI arrest and auto fatalities) would be zero.”


www.sandiegodui.com

San Diego Drunk Driving Attorney Rick Mueller and his San Diego County DUI Law Center welcome you to see complete San Diego drunk driving attorney & San Diego DUI lawyer information for those accused of DUI in San Diego.

San Diego DUI attorney information could help you deal with the San Diego DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) and save your driver's license:



Why use the San Diego DUI Attorney Specialist in DUI and DMV Law
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/why.html



List of San Diego DUI Attorney Victories and Driver's Licenses Saved in Past Few Years http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/victory.html



What you must do within 10 days of being arrested for a San Diego DUI http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/10days.html



San Diego County DMV and Courts
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/courts.html



San Diego DUI Breath Test Defenses http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/defenses.html



San Diego DUI Blood Test Defenses
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/blood.html



You could take the Free San Diego DUI Survey at http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/survey.html




San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is the Top-Rated San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 20 years of experience. Known as the "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.



San Diego DUI Attorney Rick Mueller Background and Contact Information http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/about.html



San Diego DUI and DMV Penalties http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/penalty.html



Out of State License/Resident & Driving Record http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/out_of_state.html



Military Base DUI - San Diego County Federal Court - http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/base.html

SAN DIEGO -- Funeral services were held Tuesday for the Mesa College student who died after being hit by a car whose driver fled the scene.

A makeshift memorial of flowers, candles and letters of kind words has been set up at the intersection of Montezuma Road and College Avenue, where Eric Joseph Leeman allegedly hit Whitney Young with his BMW and kept driving.


"A very bright, warm, funny, loving, shining light has gone out in the world," Young's parents said in a letter left at the memorial.

"I've walked by this street every day, and each day more and more flowers come. It's nice to know the community is really coming together for her," said one San Diego State University student.

Police arrested Leeman after they said they found the damage on his BMW that matched damage left at the scene. He was arraigned Monday, charged with felony hit-and-run causing death. Because he has a previous DUI, prosecutor Allison Worden said more serious charges may be filed.

Witnesses said Leeman had been drinking at a party before the incident, according to police.

A series of letters given to the judge at Leeman's arraignment described him as a "considerate young man, respectful of whomever he is with, a good person." According to the letters, Leeman would never want such a tragedy to take place because he intended to become a firefighter and therefore save lives, not take them.

http://www.sandiegodui.com

The San Diego County DUI Law Center provides complete San Diego drunk driving information for those accused of a San Diego DUI.

This worry-free DUI information shows what you really need to know about San Diego court, San Diego DMV, and how to save your license.

Rick Mueller is a Top-Rated San Diego Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense Attorney with over 22 years of experience and dedicates his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and/or Drugs. As the San Diego DMV Guru, he has successfully saved the driving privileges of many happy clients.

Complete the important Free San Diego Drunk Driving Defense Evaluation to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privilege in California.

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Biography
Attorney Rick Mueller specializes in California DUI and DMV law. He has been in practice since 1983 and received his Juris Doctor degree from Chicago Kent College of Law.

DUI Specialist Rick Mueller is the only DMV - DUI attorney who was the featured Speaker at 5 DUI seminars in San Diego County in the last few years. Rick Mueller is known as the "DMV Guru". On January 26, 2007, Rick lectures on Strategies in Handling DUI Cases in California. Rick spoke on "Current DMV Suspension Hearing Issues, Techniques & Writs" at the San Diego County Courthouse. Rick Mueller was the featured Speaker at the DUI - DMV Seminar in downtown San Diego. He also was the DUI - DMV Lecturer at the Public Defender's Office criminal defense seminar.

Having been specially recognized as a Contributor to the California Drunk Driving Law book, he is now the Editorial Consultant for the most comprehensive reference book for California DUI law. Known as California's Bible of DUI Defense, authored by Ed Kuwatch, Paul Burglin and Barry Simons, the book features some of San Diego County attorney Rick Mueller's hard work.



California Drunk Driving Law is recognized by thousands of California attorneys and judges as "The Bible of Drunk Driving Defense".

Rick is a Specialist Member of the California DUI Lawyers Association (formerly the Association of California Deuce Defenders). He is also a member of the National College for DUI Defense and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.




Mr. Mueller speaks at Strategies in Handling DUI Cases seminars, at the DUI & Drug Defense seminar at the San Diego Bar Building, at the North San Diego County Bar Association's Drunk Driving - DMV seminars, and at the Public Defender's Office DMV - DUI Training seminars. His DMV - DUI work is featured in the California DUI Lawyers Association's Advanced DUI Skills seminar materials and Association of California Deuce Defenders' materials. He argues in the appellate court. He actively defends these cases, and files DMV writs and appeals. He is in Good Standing with the State Bar (#114305).


Contact Information:

If you need quality DMV - DUI legal representation, call 1-800-THE-LAW-DUI (1-800-843-5293) for a free consultation at one of my offices:

4660 La Jolla Village Drive, Suite 500
San Diego, CA 92122
(858) 587 - 6055
(858) 451 - 9097 fax
(619) 218 - 2997 portable/voice mail

San Diego DMV / DUI Hearing



The San Diego DUI / DMV hearing for a possible license suspension is like a mini-DUI trial without a jury, but with much different San Diego DMV rules, San Diego DMV laws and San Diego DMV procedures. The San Diego DUI / DMV hearing is presided over by a Driver Safety Officer (DMV hearing officer) rather than a real judge, an employee of the DMV not trained in law who acts as both prosecutor and judge. As unfair as it is, she or he can legally object to your evidence, rule on her or his own objection, dually engage your San Diego DUI / DMV lawyer, and admit or not admit either party's evidence.




The San Diego Driver Safety Officer offers evidence in the form of documents and/or witnesses. The Driver Safety Officer offers the San Diego drunk driving / DUI police report, DMV records, San Diego DUI alcohol reports and the important San Diego DUI officer's sworn statement entitled a "DS 367." With no Fifth Amendment right at the hearing, your San Diego DUI / DMV attorney usually will not want you to be present at the hearing since the Driver Safety Officer can call you as a witness and force you to testify against yourself if you ill-advisedly appear.




The San Diego DMV Driver Safety Officer's decision will usually be mailed a few days or even weeks after the hearing. A San Diego DMV / DMV suspension can be set aside or sustained. If the San Diego DMV suspension is sustained, the decision can be appealed to the DMV in Sacramento and/or to the San Diego Superior court by filing a San Diego DMV petition for writ of mandamus.




A San Diego DUI lawyer's defenses at an APS hearing are specialized and technical, more so than in criminal court. Frequent San Diego DUI / DMV proof problems - as well as legal, procedural and bureaucratic obstacles - are possible grounds for setting aside the suspension.




Because of the peculiar nature of San Diego DUI / DMV hearings and the absence of an independent San Diego DUI judge to offer some protection, you are strongly advised not to try to represent yourself. Because these are not San Diego DUI criminal proceedings, San Diego County public defenders are unavailable.




Your San Diego DUI / DMV attorney has just 10 CALENDAR DAYS after the DUI arrest to call the San Diego DMV Driver Safety Office to timely demand a hearing. You waive your right to a hearing after the 10 day deadline is up.




If your San Diego DUI / DMV attorney has not been retained within 10 days of the arrest, you should contact the local Driver's Safety Office yourself, request a 5 day extension so you can get a San Diego DUI / DMV Attorney Specialist.




Alternatively, if your request for an extension is denied by the San Diego DMV supervisor, request an In-person hearing, the Discovery (evidence), a Stay (stop) of the Suspension, and the Name of the Driver Safety Officer.




Please ask for the name of the person you speak with. Please do not discuss the reasons why you are contesting the suspension. The San Diego Driver Safety Office is located at 9174 Sky Park Avenue, Suite 200, San Diego (858/627-3901 or fax 858/627-3925).




The San Diego DMV may not be able to schedule a hearing before your 30-day temporary license expires. Your San Diego DUI / DMV lawyer will request a Notice of Stay of the 30-day temporary license until a San Diego DMV hearing is provided and a San Diego DMV decision is actually rendered.




http://www.SanDiegoDUIlawyer.com

Strategies In Handling DUI Cases

San Diego, CA January 26, 2007






Agenda

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

I. Developing a Theme, Pretrial Strategies and Motions in Limine

- Jon Bryant Artz

A. Exclude Evidence of Tolerance

B. Exclude PAS Test Results: Foundational Motion and Fourth Amendment Motion (1538.5)

C. Motion to Exclude FSTs and Other Creative Stuff


II. Jury Instructions

- Jon Bryant Artz

A. Memorandum of Law to Convince the Court to Give Specials

B. Instruction on Why the Court Must Tell the Jury to Disregard the Chemical Test If Foundational Facts Not Proved Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

C. The Presumptions Disappear When Contrary Evidence is Introduced Under New Cal.Crim.

D. Other Nifty Instructions

E. Instructions on Refusal


10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

Break


10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.

III. Cross-Examination of the Arresting Officer

- Felipe Plascencia

A. The Expert

B. Tactics vs. Strategy

C. Field Sobriety Tests (Including Nystagmus)

D. How to Discredit the Officer in 10 Easy Steps


11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

IV. 15 Tricks in 60 Minutes

- Donald Bartell

A. an Insider's Guide to the Tips That Actually Work in the Real World


12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.

Lunch (On Your Own)


1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.

V. How to Attack the Blood Test and the High Blood Alcohol Reading (0.15 to 0.40)

- Charles J. Unger

A. The High Blood Alcohol Case

1. Why They Are Often Easier

2. How to Use the Reading

B. Blood Test

1. It Is More Attackable Than Breath

2. How to Attack


2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.

VI. Discovery

- Mary Frances Prevost

A. Discovery From the Prosecution

1. The Informal Request

2. What Must Be Provided

3. What Need Not Be Provided

4. Discovery Beyond Penal Code Section 1054

5. The Discovery Motion (Substance and Timing)

B. Public Records Discovery Under Government Code Section 6250 et seq.

C. Tort Claim Discovery

D. Police Officer Discovery

E. Subpoenas

1. Fighting Motions to Quash

2. Protecting Your Work Product


3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Break


3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

VII. Administrative Per Se (APS) Hearings

- Rick Mueller

A. Strategies and Tactics at the DMV Hearing

1. Objections, Arguments and Contentions

2. Attacking Blood Test Evidence

3. Attacking Breath Test Evidence

4. Under 21/Zero Tolerance Cases

5. Refusals

B. Handing Writs From A to Z

1. Making a Winnable Administrative Record

2. Filing the Writ

3. Exparte Stay/Alternative Writ

4. Points and Authorities

5. Dealing With DMV Legal and Attorney General's Office


San Diego DUI attorney information could help you deal with the San Diego DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) and save your driver's license:



Why use the San Diego DUI Attorney Specialist in DUI and DMV Law
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/why.html



List of San Diego DUI Attorney Victories and Driver's Licenses Saved in Past Few Years http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/victory.html



What you must do within 10 days of being arrested for a San Diego DUI http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/10days.html



San Diego County DMV and Courts
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San Diego DUI Breath Test Defenses http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/defenses.html



San Diego DUI Blood Test Defenses
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You could take the Free San Diego DUI Survey at http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/survey.html




San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is the Top-Rated San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 20 years of experience. Known as the "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.



San Diego DUI Attorney Rick Mueller Background and Contact Information http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/about.html



San Diego DUI and DMV Penalties http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/penalty.html



Out of State License/Resident & Driving Record http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/out_of_state.html



Military Base DUI - San Diego County Federal Court - http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/base.html



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It is a reverse ruling from the Ohio Highway Patrol on Trooper Josh Risner. While experts found alcohol in his remains, it wasn't from consumption, it was produced after Risner died.

It's taken a couple of weeks for experts to determine why coroners found alcohol in Trooper Josh Risner's Body.

Patrol Trooper Josh Risner did not consume any alcohol for at least 16 hours prior to his death, effectively eliminating the possibility that he could have ingested alcohol.

The crash in Gallia County last month claimed the life of Trooper Risner, Sgt. Dale Holcomb and Lori Smith.

Following procedure, OHP took a sample of Risner's blood five hours later and it tested at .000. The Montgomery County Coronor's office performed the same test 60 hours later. At that time Risner's blood-alcohol level was .08.

During an investigation, the OHP couldn't find anyone who said Risner had been drinking in the hours before the crash. Their interviews included a store clerk, who Risner bought water from that same night.

As a result, OHP investigators called on a special unit in the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct further tests. FAA concluded the body's natural decomposition process caused the .08 blood-alcohol level. This test says that alcohol got into his system postmortem; that piece of it is still under investigation.

Gallia County Coronor Dr. Daniel Whiteley had Montgomery County conduct the autopsy and agrees with these new findings, "I was mis-informed since the initial report. I have done my own research and talked with others and I now know decomposition can increase the blood-alcohol level to as high as .1 and in some cases even higher."

The FAA performs this test on Pilots after a crash. No facility in Ohio does such testing.

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San Diego DUI Lawyer - San Diego Attorney Drunk Driving / San Diego DWI Lawyer can help you beat the charge: http://www.SanDiegoDUIhelp.com .



San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller, a San Diego Drunk Driving / DWI Defense Attorney handling San Diego California DUI & DMV cases, shows how a San Diego DUI Lawyer will help you. http://www.SanDiegoDUILawyer.com


San Diego DUI Lawyer - San Diego Attorney Drunk Driving / San Diego DWI Lawyer can help you beat the San Diego drunk driving charge: http://www.SanDiegoDUIhelp.com .


San Diego DUI Lawyer - San Diego Attorney Drunk Driving / San Diego DWI Lawyer can help you beat the charge: http://www.SanDiegoDUIlawyer.com .


San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller, a San Diego Drunk Driving / DWI Defense Attorney handling San Diego California DUI & DMV cases, shows how a San Diego DUI Lawyer will help you. http://www.SanDiegoDUI.com San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is the Top-Rated San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 20 years of experience. Known as the "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.



San Diego DUI Attorney Rick Mueller Background and Contact Information http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/about.html




San Diego DUI and DMV Penalties http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/penalty.html




Out of State License/Resident & Driving Record http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/out_of_state.html




Military Base DUI - San Diego County Federal Court - http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/base.html




http://www.SanDiegoDUI.com - Excellent San Diego DUI information source for San Diego county drunk driving arrest. Rights, Laws, Defenses, Penalties, DMV, Court, Military, DUI Boating, Helpful Tips and other comprehensive information. Vigorous DUI lawyer who can save your license and keep you out of jail.



Call 1-800-THE-LAW-DUI (1-800-843-5293) for a free San Diego DUI consultation http://www.1800thelawdui.com.



For help with your San Diego DUI, visit http://www.SanDiegoDUIHelp.com.

The latest tactical video systems offer sophisticated imaging capabilities in lightweight, portable packages.

Tactical video systems have been a tool in the police utility belt for some time now, but they haven't always been practical. Some of the older portable video units were "portable" in name only. They required an expensive robot or a really stout operator just to carry them. And as if that didn't make them difficult enough to use, most were hard wired and required long cabling and reels.

In contrast, the newest tactical video units are much smaller and offer an agency more uses than older systems. They're lightweight, versatile, wireless (although many can be hard wired when necessary), and extremely adaptable to almost any police video application.

But are they really for patrol use? The nature of a tactical team's mission usually allows its members to have that extra time to deploy specialized equipment for looking around corners and into other places. A patrol officer doesn't have that kind of time.

The answer is, maybe. As you will see in the following look at tactical video systems, the ability to see around corners without mirrors is no longer just available to special units.

CamLite
CamLite Corp. offers a small, handheld camera system that has applications for both patrol and tactical operations. The company's namesake product, "the CamLite," looks like a regular police flashlight, but it's also a video camera and a 2.4-gigahertz wireless transmitter.

One of the most useful features of the CamLite is the range of its transmitter. A patrol officer holding a CamLight can view images on the built-in monitor and send them to a monitor in his or her supervisor's car from a range of up to 1,000 feet. The CamLite System is also compatible with some existing in-car video systems. This makes the product even more attractive to your department's bean counters by enhancing officer safety on traffic stops, domestic violence investigations, and DUI stops, and by providing defensive evidence to combat "he said, she said" citizen complaints.

Weighing in at slightly more than a pound, the CamLight is as easy to carry as a full-size flashlight. It features a rechargeable battery pack that packs two hours of juice for flashlight-only use and four hours of camera-only use.


DTC Communications
DTC Communications has mated its FLIR ThermoVision Scout camera system with a wireless transmitter to create the Wireless FLIR ThermoVision Scout. The ThermoVision Scout is a handheld passive infrared receiver that gives individual officers or tactical teams thermal imaging capabilities that only the military could afford a few years ago.

Some thermal imaging systems are intimidatingly difficult to use, but the ThermoVision Scout is as easy to handle as a flashlight. With very little muss or fuss, this new infrared camera allows you to see suspects or victims clearly in complete darkness, smoke, through foliage, and under low-visibility conditions at distances of up to 1,200 feet. The Scout's exclusive InstAlert feature highlights warm objects, such as people or vehicles, in red for immediate operator attention.

DTC Communications has taken the capabilities of the ThermoVision Scout and elevated them to the next level by linking the 1.5-pound device with a wireless transmitter and receiver to create the Wireless FLIR ThermoVision Scout.

One of the problems inherent with radio frequency (RF) transmission is multipath interference. The signals coming from the outgoing antenna will bounce off hard objects such as walls, cars, buildings, or even people. This means that the same signal is coming back to the receiver at different times. The result is a signal as garbled as a conversation in which your sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and spouse are all talking to you at once. DTC has eliminated this problem in the Wireless FLIR ThermoVision Scout through an application of proprietary technology that cleans up the signal.

Instrument Technology Inc.
Instrument Technology Inc. (ITI) specializes in the design, development, and manufacture of high-quality Borescopes, Fiberscopes, and Videoscopes for inspection or observation into hostile environments or inaccessible areas. The company's equipment is a mainstay for industrial applications, but ITI also offers a comprehensive selection of instruments for law enforcement.

ITI's video systems are in use in a variety of police operations, including surveillance, contraband search, bomb inspection, and SWAT. The modular design of the system makes it an extremely effective and versatile tool. For example, a tactical team can use the under-door camera head attached to ITI's telescoping kit to slide a viewer under a closed door to see if a suspect is standing on the other side. The telescoping pole provides the added safety of letting the officers stand back 10 to 12 feet in case the bad guy sees the probe and shoots in its general direction. Once the camera is in position, it can be used to provide the team with real-time intelligence about the location of the bad guys, their weapons, and the presence of hostages or other innocents.

All of this information can be sent by the camera head back to a handheld monitor or to a heads-up display (HUD). The HUD consists of a small 320x240 pixel, 16-bit color display that attaches to the included Wiley X goggles and a power supply. This gives the operator hands-free viewing, so that he can carry a weapon or operate another tool. Additionally, the signal can be broadcast back to the command post, so that the incident commander has a clear picture of the situation.

A number of optional attachments are available for the ITI system, including infrared cameras that feature their own built-in light sources, fiberoptic video lenses that are small enough to insert through a crack in a wall, and through-the-wall and through-the-ceiling scopes. The company even makes a tripod mounted camera that can be set up as a remote stationary sentinel.

Search Systems
Search Systems makes a variety of portable video systems that are used in law enforcement applications, but its two primary police products are the Searchcam 2000 IR and the Searchcam Patrol System.

The Searchcam 2000 IR is an extremely sophisticated pole-mounted audio and video system designed for use by police and military tactical teams. Its features include a high-resolution video camera head with non-visible infrared illumination, a telescoping probe that can be inserted into a 1.75-inch opening, a pole that extends to 92 inches and collapses to 41 inches, a 5-inch LCD monitor, and a sensitive microphone that can detect whispers in the same room and breathing sounds from a few feet. A heads-up display is available as an option.

Lighter and smaller than the Searchcam 2000 IR, the Searchcam Patrol System is designed for use by patrol officers. Like the more sophisticated Searchcam 2000 IR, the Patrol System features a black-and-white video camera with infrared illumination, an articulating probe head, and a detachable LCD video display. However, the Patrol System is video only and its probe only extends to 66 inches. Because it is smaller, collapsing to 31 inches, the Patrol System fits easily in the trunk of a standard patrol car.

Smith & Wesson
Smith and Wesson is one of the best known names in Law Enforcement. Of course, you know that. But what you might not know is that the maker of police pistols, knives, handcuffs, and bicycles produces a tactical video system called Tactical Vision.

The Tactical Vision system consists of a telescoping, 12-foot, nonconducting probe with foam grips, a pivoting camera head, and a shaded 3.5-inch LCD monitor. If you have a need to videotape the image or attach a second monitor, an RCA jack provides that access.

One of the more interesting features of Tactical Vision is its battery compartment design. The system employs a unique slide-through battery system that allows battery exchange without losing power for those critical times that you need to keep capturing an image but are running low on power.

Another great feature of Tactical Vision is that it comes with its own light source. If you are dealing with a poorly lit location (as we usually are), Tactical Vision's built in LED light array on the camera head will illuminate the subject. If a low-key presence is required, an infrared version is available that will allow you to see more than 30 feet in total darkness.

S&W's Tactical Vision is designed to be compact and easy to handle. When disassembled and stowed, it easily fits into the trunk of a vehicle.

Tactical Electronics
Tactical Electronics produces equipment for tactical operators and only tactical operators. The company does not sell its products to the general public or to industrial clients. Its sole focus is producing equipment for military and law enforcement applications, and it makes some really great tools.

Take, for example, the Tactical Electronics PCSS1 Wireless Pole Camera Search System. This system operates in both encrypted and non-encrypted modes, it's modular, and it features a pole that can be extended from 23 inches to 8 feet. The pole is manageable at such lengths because there are no battery belt packs or external cables to entangle the operator.

Applications for Tactical Electronics' video systems are numerous. The camera heads are waterproof to 30 feet and very well suited to marine work. Fiber scopes are available for bomb tech applications. And the company makes a wireless camera system with a .265-inch thick insertion panel that can be placed under a door in such a way that the occupants of the room can't see it. The system includes a very wide field-of-view camera that yields a high-quality image in little- or no- light environments.

Four display options are available for Tactical Electronics' systems. The company can custom mount monitors in a vehicle to outfit it as a mobile command post. The portable systems come equipped with a built-in 5.5-inch LCD monitor. In addition, a headset is available that gives the wearer an almost big screen look at what the camera is seeing. Finally, Tactical Electronics can provide the tactical operator with the very latest in SWAT jewelry, a wrist-wearable monitor. The wrist monitor has a 2.5-inch, high-resolution screen and a built-in receiver that requires no external wires, cables, or antennae.

Zistos
Zistos Corp. offers a full line of portable video systems. The Zistos WPD-15 display, Flex 'n' Stay Camera Systems are one-man portable CCTV systems consisting of a 15-inch LCD display, a unique Flex 'n' Stay body for remote viewing, and a small self-illuminating video camera that can be mounted on either a telescoping pole, wand, baton, or flexible coil. Each portable system can be configured with interchangeable pole and coil bodies, camera heads, or other options. Zistos also offers a walk-about system with a 4-inch screen.

The Zistos portable video systems are also modular, and they give the operators a wide range of choices. Zistos sells self-illuminating surveillance cameras and a choice of five different submersible cameras that also provide their own lighting by using LEDs arrayed in a ring around the lens. Whatever a department's needs are for portable tactical video, there are systems available that can be customized to meet them. They range from small handheld units to modular wireless systems that can handle a whole range of duties.



SAN DIEGO SHERIFF'S DEPT. DUI NEWS – An off-duty sheriff's deputy whose heavy-duty pickup rear-ended a tow truck in a freeway median, seriously injuring the tow truck driver and a motorist he was assisting, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a pair of DUI charges.

James P. Costello, 41, was put on paid administrative leave following the Nov. 6 crash on southbound state Route 15 near El Cajon Boulevard about 3 a.m. He remains free on $50,000 bail.



Advertisement



Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler, in an unsuccessful attempt to get bail raised to $200,000, told Judge David Szumowski that Costello posed a threat to the public.

She said the 12-year sheriff's veteran had a blood-alcohol level of nearly three times the legal limit of .08 percent when he plowed his 1996 Ford F-350 pickup into the back of a flat-bed tow truck, which had stopped in the median to help a disabled motorist.

The victims, both 37, were pinned between the tow truck and the disabled vehicle, Spieler told the judge.

Tow truck driver John Coston is scheduled to undergo lengthy surgery in an attempt to save both his legs, the prosecutor said. But even if the surgery is successful, Coston may never be able to walk again, according to Spieler.

The other victim, Alfredo Garcia, who suffered internal injuries, is on a ventilator and in very guarded condition, the prosecutor said.

Costello was hospitalized with minor injuries after the crash.

Spieler told the judge that another sheriff's deputy noticed Costello at a club about two hours before the accident and offered him a ride home, but Costello declined.

About an hour before the crash, another deputy repeatedly asked Costello if he needed a ride home and he said no, according to the prosecutor.

Spieler said Costello pleaded guilty to reckless driving in 2001 after being charged with driving under the influence.

In that case, Costello's vehicle went off a freeway access road and onto Interstate 5, injuring himself, the prosecutor said.

Costello went on light duty after that crash and recently returned to patrol, Spieler said.

Defense attorney Jim Bishop told the judge that Costello is enrolled in an inpatient treatment program, with a minimum commitment of four months and a maximum stay of one year.

Szumowski told the defendant that if the situation with the victims gets worse he would change his mind and raise Costello's bail.

The judge ordered Costello not to drink and not to drive and to stay in the inpatient program.

A readiness conference was scheduled for Jan. 16 and a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 23.

Costello is charged with two counts of driving under the influence, with allegations that he caused great bodily injury to the victims and drove with a blood-alcohol level of more than .15 percent.

The defendant's blood-alcohol level after the crash was .20 percent, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Costello, a deputy in Lemon Grove, faces the loss of his career and up to seven years in prison if convicted, Spieler said.


San Diego Drunk Driving Attorney Rick Mueller and his San Diego County DUI Law Center welcome you to see complete San Diego drunk driving attorney & San Diego DUI lawyer information for those accused of DUI in San Diego.

San Diego DUI attorney information could help you deal with the San Diego DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) and save your driver's license:



Why use the San Diego DUI Attorney Specialist in DUI and DMV Law
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/why.html



List of San Diego DUI Attorney Victories and Driver's Licenses Saved in Past Few Years http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/victory.html



What you must do within 10 days of being arrested for a San Diego DUI http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/10days.html



San Diego County DMV and Courts
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/courts.html



San Diego DUI Breath Test Defenses http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/defenses.html



San Diego DUI Blood Test Defenses
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/blood.html



You could take the Free San Diego DUI Survey at http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/survey.html




San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is the Top-Rated San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 20 years of experience. Known as the "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.



San Diego DUI Attorney Rick Mueller Background and Contact Information http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/about.html



San Diego DUI and DMV Penalties http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/penalty.html



Out of State License/Resident & Driving Record http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/out_of_state.html



Military Base DUI - San Diego County Federal Court - http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/base.html



http://www.SanDiegoDUI.com - Excellent San Diego DUI information source for San Diego county drunk driving arrest. Rights, Laws, Defenses, Penalties, DMV, Court, Military, DUI Boating, Helpful Tips and other comprehensive information. Vigorous DUI lawyer who can save your license and keep you out of jail.



Call 1-800-THE-LAW-DUI (1-800-843-5293) for a free San Diego DUI consultation http://www.1800thelawdui.com .

The latest tactical video systems offer sophisticated imaging capabilities in lightweight, portable packages.

Tactical video systems have been a tool in the police utility belt for some time now, but they haven't always been practical. Some of the older portable video units were "portable" in name only. They required an expensive robot or a really stout operator just to carry them. And as if that didn't make them difficult enough to use, most were hard wired and required long cabling and reels.

In contrast, the newest tactical video units are much smaller and offer an agency more uses than older systems. They're lightweight, versatile, wireless (although many can be hard wired when necessary), and extremely adaptable to almost any police video application.

But are they really for patrol use? The nature of a tactical team's mission usually allows its members to have that extra time to deploy specialized equipment for looking around corners and into other places. A patrol officer doesn't have that kind of time.

The answer is, maybe. As you will see in the following look at tactical video systems, the ability to see around corners without mirrors is no longer just available to special units.

CamLite
CamLite Corp. offers a small, handheld camera system that has applications for both patrol and tactical operations. The company's namesake product, "the CamLite," looks like a regular police flashlight, but it's also a video camera and a 2.4-gigahertz wireless transmitter.

One of the most useful features of the CamLite is the range of its transmitter. A patrol officer holding a CamLight can view images on the built-in monitor and send them to a monitor in his or her supervisor's car from a range of up to 1,000 feet. The CamLite System is also compatible with some existing in-car video systems. This makes the product even more attractive to your department's bean counters by enhancing officer safety on traffic stops, domestic violence investigations, and DUI stops, and by providing defensive evidence to combat "he said, she said" citizen complaints.

Weighing in at slightly more than a pound, the CamLight is as easy to carry as a full-size flashlight. It features a rechargeable battery pack that packs two hours of juice for flashlight-only use and four hours of camera-only use.


DTC Communications
DTC Communications has mated its FLIR ThermoVision Scout camera system with a wireless transmitter to create the Wireless FLIR ThermoVision Scout. The ThermoVision Scout is a handheld passive infrared receiver that gives individual officers or tactical teams thermal imaging capabilities that only the military could afford a few years ago.

Some thermal imaging systems are intimidatingly difficult to use, but the ThermoVision Scout is as easy to handle as a flashlight. With very little muss or fuss, this new infrared camera allows you to see suspects or victims clearly in complete darkness, smoke, through foliage, and under low-visibility conditions at distances of up to 1,200 feet. The Scout's exclusive InstAlert feature highlights warm objects, such as people or vehicles, in red for immediate operator attention.

DTC Communications has taken the capabilities of the ThermoVision Scout and elevated them to the next level by linking the 1.5-pound device with a wireless transmitter and receiver to create the Wireless FLIR ThermoVision Scout.

One of the problems inherent with radio frequency (RF) transmission is multipath interference. The signals coming from the outgoing antenna will bounce off hard objects such as walls, cars, buildings, or even people. This means that the same signal is coming back to the receiver at different times. The result is a signal as garbled as a conversation in which your sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and spouse are all talking to you at once. DTC has eliminated this problem in the Wireless FLIR ThermoVision Scout through an application of proprietary technology that cleans up the signal.

Instrument Technology Inc.
Instrument Technology Inc. (ITI) specializes in the design, development, and manufacture of high-quality Borescopes, Fiberscopes, and Videoscopes for inspection or observation into hostile environments or inaccessible areas. The company's equipment is a mainstay for industrial applications, but ITI also offers a comprehensive selection of instruments for law enforcement.

ITI's video systems are in use in a variety of police operations, including surveillance, contraband search, bomb inspection, and SWAT. The modular design of the system makes it an extremely effective and versatile tool. For example, a tactical team can use the under-door camera head attached to ITI's telescoping kit to slide a viewer under a closed door to see if a suspect is standing on the other side. The telescoping pole provides the added safety of letting the officers stand back 10 to 12 feet in case the bad guy sees the probe and shoots in its general direction. Once the camera is in position, it can be used to provide the team with real-time intelligence about the location of the bad guys, their weapons, and the presence of hostages or other innocents.

All of this information can be sent by the camera head back to a handheld monitor or to a heads-up display (HUD). The HUD consists of a small 320x240 pixel, 16-bit color display that attaches to the included Wiley X goggles and a power supply. This gives the operator hands-free viewing, so that he can carry a weapon or operate another tool. Additionally, the signal can be broadcast back to the command post, so that the incident commander has a clear picture of the situation.

A number of optional attachments are available for the ITI system, including infrared cameras that feature their own built-in light sources, fiberoptic video lenses that are small enough to insert through a crack in a wall, and through-the-wall and through-the-ceiling scopes. The company even makes a tripod mounted camera that can be set up as a remote stationary sentinel.

Search Systems
Search Systems makes a variety of portable video systems that are used in law enforcement applications, but its two primary police products are the Searchcam 2000 IR and the Searchcam Patrol System.

The Searchcam 2000 IR is an extremely sophisticated pole-mounted audio and video system designed for use by police and military tactical teams. Its features include a high-resolution video camera head with non-visible infrared illumination, a telescoping probe that can be inserted into a 1.75-inch opening, a pole that extends to 92 inches and collapses to 41 inches, a 5-inch LCD monitor, and a sensitive microphone that can detect whispers in the same room and breathing sounds from a few feet. A heads-up display is available as an option.

Lighter and smaller than the Searchcam 2000 IR, the Searchcam Patrol System is designed for use by patrol officers. Like the more sophisticated Searchcam 2000 IR, the Patrol System features a black-and-white video camera with infrared illumination, an articulating probe head, and a detachable LCD video display. However, the Patrol System is video only and its probe only extends to 66 inches. Because it is smaller, collapsing to 31 inches, the Patrol System fits easily in the trunk of a standard patrol car.

Smith & Wesson
Smith and Wesson is one of the best known names in Law Enforcement. Of course, you know that. But what you might not know is that the maker of police pistols, knives, handcuffs, and bicycles produces a tactical video system called Tactical Vision.

The Tactical Vision system consists of a telescoping, 12-foot, nonconducting probe with foam grips, a pivoting camera head, and a shaded 3.5-inch LCD monitor. If you have a need to videotape the image or attach a second monitor, an RCA jack provides that access.

One of the more interesting features of Tactical Vision is its battery compartment design. The system employs a unique slide-through battery system that allows battery exchange without losing power for those critical times that you need to keep capturing an image but are running low on power.

Another great feature of Tactical Vision is that it comes with its own light source. If you are dealing with a poorly lit location (as we usually are), Tactical Vision's built in LED light array on the camera head will illuminate the subject. If a low-key presence is required, an infrared version is available that will allow you to see more than 30 feet in total darkness.

S&W's Tactical Vision is designed to be compact and easy to handle. When disassembled and stowed, it easily fits into the trunk of a vehicle.

Tactical Electronics
Tactical Electronics produces equipment for tactical operators and only tactical operators. The company does not sell its products to the general public or to industrial clients. Its sole focus is producing equipment for military and law enforcement applications, and it makes some really great tools.

Take, for example, the Tactical Electronics PCSS1 Wireless Pole Camera Search System. This system operates in both encrypted and non-encrypted modes, it's modular, and it features a pole that can be extended from 23 inches to 8 feet. The pole is manageable at such lengths because there are no battery belt packs or external cables to entangle the operator.

Applications for Tactical Electronics' video systems are numerous. The camera heads are waterproof to 30 feet and very well suited to marine work. Fiber scopes are available for bomb tech applications. And the company makes a wireless camera system with a .265-inch thick insertion panel that can be placed under a door in such a way that the occupants of the room can't see it. The system includes a very wide field-of-view camera that yields a high-quality image in little- or no- light environments.

Four display options are available for Tactical Electronics' systems. The company can custom mount monitors in a vehicle to outfit it as a mobile command post. The portable systems come equipped with a built-in 5.5-inch LCD monitor. In addition, a headset is available that gives the wearer an almost big screen look at what the camera is seeing. Finally, Tactical Electronics can provide the tactical operator with the very latest in SWAT jewelry, a wrist-wearable monitor. The wrist monitor has a 2.5-inch, high-resolution screen and a built-in receiver that requires no external wires, cables, or antennae.

Zistos
Zistos Corp. offers a full line of portable video systems. The Zistos WPD-15 display, Flex 'n' Stay Camera Systems are one-man portable CCTV systems consisting of a 15-inch LCD display, a unique Flex 'n' Stay body for remote viewing, and a small self-illuminating video camera that can be mounted on either a telescoping pole, wand, baton, or flexible coil. Each portable system can be configured with interchangeable pole and coil bodies, camera heads, or other options. Zistos also offers a walk-about system with a 4-inch screen.

The Zistos portable video systems are also modular, and they give the operators a wide range of choices. Zistos sells self-illuminating surveillance cameras and a choice of five different submersible cameras that also provide their own lighting by using LEDs arrayed in a ring around the lens. Whatever a department's needs are for portable tactical video, there are systems available that can be customized to meet them. They range from small handheld units to modular wireless systems that can handle a whole range of duties.



SAN DIEGO SHERIFF'S DEPT. DUI NEWS – An off-duty sheriff's deputy whose heavy-duty pickup rear-ended a tow truck in a freeway median, seriously injuring the tow truck driver and a motorist he was assisting, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a pair of DUI charges.

James P. Costello, 41, was put on paid administrative leave following the Nov. 6 crash on southbound state Route 15 near El Cajon Boulevard about 3 a.m. He remains free on $50,000 bail.



Advertisement



Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler, in an unsuccessful attempt to get bail raised to $200,000, told Judge David Szumowski that Costello posed a threat to the public.

She said the 12-year sheriff's veteran had a blood-alcohol level of nearly three times the legal limit of .08 percent when he plowed his 1996 Ford F-350 pickup into the back of a flat-bed tow truck, which had stopped in the median to help a disabled motorist.

The victims, both 37, were pinned between the tow truck and the disabled vehicle, Spieler told the judge.

Tow truck driver John Coston is scheduled to undergo lengthy surgery in an attempt to save both his legs, the prosecutor said. But even if the surgery is successful, Coston may never be able to walk again, according to Spieler.

The other victim, Alfredo Garcia, who suffered internal injuries, is on a ventilator and in very guarded condition, the prosecutor said.

Costello was hospitalized with minor injuries after the crash.

Spieler told the judge that another sheriff's deputy noticed Costello at a club about two hours before the accident and offered him a ride home, but Costello declined.

About an hour before the crash, another deputy repeatedly asked Costello if he needed a ride home and he said no, according to the prosecutor.

Spieler said Costello pleaded guilty to reckless driving in 2001 after being charged with driving under the influence.

In that case, Costello's vehicle went off a freeway access road and onto Interstate 5, injuring himself, the prosecutor said.

Costello went on light duty after that crash and recently returned to patrol, Spieler said.

Defense attorney Jim Bishop told the judge that Costello is enrolled in an inpatient treatment program, with a minimum commitment of four months and a maximum stay of one year.

Szumowski told the defendant that if the situation with the victims gets worse he would change his mind and raise Costello's bail.

The judge ordered Costello not to drink and not to drive and to stay in the inpatient program.

A readiness conference was scheduled for Jan. 16 and a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 23.

Costello is charged with two counts of driving under the influence, with allegations that he caused great bodily injury to the victims and drove with a blood-alcohol level of more than .15 percent.

The defendant's blood-alcohol level after the crash was .20 percent, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Costello, a deputy in Lemon Grove, faces the loss of his career and up to seven years in prison if convicted, Spieler said.


San Diego Drunk Driving Attorney Rick Mueller and his San Diego County DUI Law Center welcome you to see complete San Diego drunk driving attorney & San Diego DUI lawyer information for those accused of DUI in San Diego.

San Diego DUI attorney information could help you deal with the San Diego DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) and save your driver's license:



Why use the San Diego DUI Attorney Specialist in DUI and DMV Law
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/why.html



List of San Diego DUI Attorney Victories and Driver's Licenses Saved in Past Few Years http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/victory.html



What you must do within 10 days of being arrested for a San Diego DUI http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/10days.html



San Diego County DMV and Courts
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/courts.html



San Diego DUI Breath Test Defenses http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/defenses.html



San Diego DUI Blood Test Defenses
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/blood.html



You could take the Free San Diego DUI Survey at http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/survey.html




San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is the Top-Rated San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 20 years of experience. Known as the "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.



San Diego DUI Attorney Rick Mueller Background and Contact Information http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/about.html



San Diego DUI and DMV Penalties http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/penalty.html



Out of State License/Resident & Driving Record http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/out_of_state.html



Military Base DUI - San Diego County Federal Court - http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/base.html



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The latest tactical video systems offer sophisticated imaging capabilities in lightweight, portable packages.

Tactical video systems have been a tool in the police utility belt for some time now, but they haven't always been practical. Some of the older portable video units were "portable" in name only. They required an expensive robot or a really stout operator just to carry them. And as if that didn't make them difficult enough to use, most were hard wired and required long cabling and reels.

In contrast, the newest tactical video units are much smaller and offer an agency more uses than older systems. They're lightweight, versatile, wireless (although many can be hard wired when necessary), and extremely adaptable to almost any police video application.

But are they really for patrol use? The nature of a tactical team's mission usually allows its members to have that extra time to deploy specialized equipment for looking around corners and into other places. A patrol officer doesn't have that kind of time.

The answer is, maybe. As you will see in the following look at tactical video systems, the ability to see around corners without mirrors is no longer just available to special units.

CamLite
CamLite Corp. offers a small, handheld camera system that has applications for both patrol and tactical operations. The company's namesake product, "the CamLite," looks like a regular police flashlight, but it's also a video camera and a 2.4-gigahertz wireless transmitter.

One of the most useful features of the CamLite is the range of its transmitter. A patrol officer holding a CamLight can view images on the built-in monitor and send them to a monitor in his or her supervisor's car from a range of up to 1,000 feet. The CamLite System is also compatible with some existing in-car video systems. This makes the product even more attractive to your department's bean counters by enhancing officer safety on traffic stops, domestic violence investigations, and DUI stops, and by providing defensive evidence to combat "he said, she said" citizen complaints.

Weighing in at slightly more than a pound, the CamLight is as easy to carry as a full-size flashlight. It features a rechargeable battery pack that packs two hours of juice for flashlight-only use and four hours of camera-only use.


DTC Communications
DTC Communications has mated its FLIR ThermoVision Scout camera system with a wireless transmitter to create the Wireless FLIR ThermoVision Scout. The ThermoVision Scout is a handheld passive infrared receiver that gives individual officers or tactical teams thermal imaging capabilities that only the military could afford a few years ago.

Some thermal imaging systems are intimidatingly difficult to use, but the ThermoVision Scout is as easy to handle as a flashlight. With very little muss or fuss, this new infrared camera allows you to see suspects or victims clearly in complete darkness, smoke, through foliage, and under low-visibility conditions at distances of up to 1,200 feet. The Scout's exclusive InstAlert feature highlights warm objects, such as people or vehicles, in red for immediate operator attention.

DTC Communications has taken the capabilities of the ThermoVision Scout and elevated them to the next level by linking the 1.5-pound device with a wireless transmitter and receiver to create the Wireless FLIR ThermoVision Scout.

One of the problems inherent with radio frequency (RF) transmission is multipath interference. The signals coming from the outgoing antenna will bounce off hard objects such as walls, cars, buildings, or even people. This means that the same signal is coming back to the receiver at different times. The result is a signal as garbled as a conversation in which your sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and spouse are all talking to you at once. DTC has eliminated this problem in the Wireless FLIR ThermoVision Scout through an application of proprietary technology that cleans up the signal.

Instrument Technology Inc.
Instrument Technology Inc. (ITI) specializes in the design, development, and manufacture of high-quality Borescopes, Fiberscopes, and Videoscopes for inspection or observation into hostile environments or inaccessible areas. The company's equipment is a mainstay for industrial applications, but ITI also offers a comprehensive selection of instruments for law enforcement.

ITI's video systems are in use in a variety of police operations, including surveillance, contraband search, bomb inspection, and SWAT. The modular design of the system makes it an extremely effective and versatile tool. For example, a tactical team can use the under-door camera head attached to ITI's telescoping kit to slide a viewer under a closed door to see if a suspect is standing on the other side. The telescoping pole provides the added safety of letting the officers stand back 10 to 12 feet in case the bad guy sees the probe and shoots in its general direction. Once the camera is in position, it can be used to provide the team with real-time intelligence about the location of the bad guys, their weapons, and the presence of hostages or other innocents.

All of this information can be sent by the camera head back to a handheld monitor or to a heads-up display (HUD). The HUD consists of a small 320x240 pixel, 16-bit color display that attaches to the included Wiley X goggles and a power supply. This gives the operator hands-free viewing, so that he can carry a weapon or operate another tool. Additionally, the signal can be broadcast back to the command post, so that the incident commander has a clear picture of the situation.

A number of optional attachments are available for the ITI system, including infrared cameras that feature their own built-in light sources, fiberoptic video lenses that are small enough to insert through a crack in a wall, and through-the-wall and through-the-ceiling scopes. The company even makes a tripod mounted camera that can be set up as a remote stationary sentinel.

Search Systems
Search Systems makes a variety of portable video systems that are used in law enforcement applications, but its two primary police products are the Searchcam 2000 IR and the Searchcam Patrol System.

The Searchcam 2000 IR is an extremely sophisticated pole-mounted audio and video system designed for use by police and military tactical teams. Its features include a high-resolution video camera head with non-visible infrared illumination, a telescoping probe that can be inserted into a 1.75-inch opening, a pole that extends to 92 inches and collapses to 41 inches, a 5-inch LCD monitor, and a sensitive microphone that can detect whispers in the same room and breathing sounds from a few feet. A heads-up display is available as an option.

Lighter and smaller than the Searchcam 2000 IR, the Searchcam Patrol System is designed for use by patrol officers. Like the more sophisticated Searchcam 2000 IR, the Patrol System features a black-and-white video camera with infrared illumination, an articulating probe head, and a detachable LCD video display. However, the Patrol System is video only and its probe only extends to 66 inches. Because it is smaller, collapsing to 31 inches, the Patrol System fits easily in the trunk of a standard patrol car.

Smith & Wesson
Smith and Wesson is one of the best known names in Law Enforcement. Of course, you know that. But what you might not know is that the maker of police pistols, knives, handcuffs, and bicycles produces a tactical video system called Tactical Vision.

The Tactical Vision system consists of a telescoping, 12-foot, nonconducting probe with foam grips, a pivoting camera head, and a shaded 3.5-inch LCD monitor. If you have a need to videotape the image or attach a second monitor, an RCA jack provides that access.

One of the more interesting features of Tactical Vision is its battery compartment design. The system employs a unique slide-through battery system that allows battery exchange without losing power for those critical times that you need to keep capturing an image but are running low on power.

Another great feature of Tactical Vision is that it comes with its own light source. If you are dealing with a poorly lit location (as we usually are), Tactical Vision's built in LED light array on the camera head will illuminate the subject. If a low-key presence is required, an infrared version is available that will allow you to see more than 30 feet in total darkness.

S&W's Tactical Vision is designed to be compact and easy to handle. When disassembled and stowed, it easily fits into the trunk of a vehicle.

Tactical Electronics
Tactical Electronics produces equipment for tactical operators and only tactical operators. The company does not sell its products to the general public or to industrial clients. Its sole focus is producing equipment for military and law enforcement applications, and it makes some really great tools.

Take, for example, the Tactical Electronics PCSS1 Wireless Pole Camera Search System. This system operates in both encrypted and non-encrypted modes, it's modular, and it features a pole that can be extended from 23 inches to 8 feet. The pole is manageable at such lengths because there are no battery belt packs or external cables to entangle the operator.

Applications for Tactical Electronics' video systems are numerous. The camera heads are waterproof to 30 feet and very well suited to marine work. Fiber scopes are available for bomb tech applications. And the company makes a wireless camera system with a .265-inch thick insertion panel that can be placed under a door in such a way that the occupants of the room can't see it. The system includes a very wide field-of-view camera that yields a high-quality image in little- or no- light environments.

Four display options are available for Tactical Electronics' systems. The company can custom mount monitors in a vehicle to outfit it as a mobile command post. The portable systems come equipped with a built-in 5.5-inch LCD monitor. In addition, a headset is available that gives the wearer an almost big screen look at what the camera is seeing. Finally, Tactical Electronics can provide the tactical operator with the very latest in SWAT jewelry, a wrist-wearable monitor. The wrist monitor has a 2.5-inch, high-resolution screen and a built-in receiver that requires no external wires, cables, or antennae.

Zistos
Zistos Corp. offers a full line of portable video systems. The Zistos WPD-15 display, Flex 'n' Stay Camera Systems are one-man portable CCTV systems consisting of a 15-inch LCD display, a unique Flex 'n' Stay body for remote viewing, and a small self-illuminating video camera that can be mounted on either a telescoping pole, wand, baton, or flexible coil. Each portable system can be configured with interchangeable pole and coil bodies, camera heads, or other options. Zistos also offers a walk-about system with a 4-inch screen.

The Zistos portable video systems are also modular, and they give the operators a wide range of choices. Zistos sells self-illuminating surveillance cameras and a choice of five different submersible cameras that also provide their own lighting by using LEDs arrayed in a ring around the lens. Whatever a department's needs are for portable tactical video, there are systems available that can be customized to meet them. They range from small handheld units to modular wireless systems that can handle a whole range of duties.



SAN DIEGO SHERIFF'S DEPT. DUI NEWS – An off-duty sheriff's deputy whose heavy-duty pickup rear-ended a tow truck in a freeway median, seriously injuring the tow truck driver and a motorist he was assisting, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a pair of DUI charges.

James P. Costello, 41, was put on paid administrative leave following the Nov. 6 crash on southbound state Route 15 near El Cajon Boulevard about 3 a.m. He remains free on $50,000 bail.



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Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler, in an unsuccessful attempt to get bail raised to $200,000, told Judge David Szumowski that Costello posed a threat to the public.

She said the 12-year sheriff's veteran had a blood-alcohol level of nearly three times the legal limit of .08 percent when he plowed his 1996 Ford F-350 pickup into the back of a flat-bed tow truck, which had stopped in the median to help a disabled motorist.

The victims, both 37, were pinned between the tow truck and the disabled vehicle, Spieler told the judge.

Tow truck driver John Coston is scheduled to undergo lengthy surgery in an attempt to save both his legs, the prosecutor said. But even if the surgery is successful, Coston may never be able to walk again, according to Spieler.

The other victim, Alfredo Garcia, who suffered internal injuries, is on a ventilator and in very guarded condition, the prosecutor said.

Costello was hospitalized with minor injuries after the crash.

Spieler told the judge that another sheriff's deputy noticed Costello at a club about two hours before the accident and offered him a ride home, but Costello declined.

About an hour before the crash, another deputy repeatedly asked Costello if he needed a ride home and he said no, according to the prosecutor.

Spieler said Costello pleaded guilty to reckless driving in 2001 after being charged with driving under the influence.

In that case, Costello's vehicle went off a freeway access road and onto Interstate 5, injuring himself, the prosecutor said.

Costello went on light duty after that crash and recently returned to patrol, Spieler said.

Defense attorney Jim Bishop told the judge that Costello is enrolled in an inpatient treatment program, with a minimum commitment of four months and a maximum stay of one year.

Szumowski told the defendant that if the situation with the victims gets worse he would change his mind and raise Costello's bail.

The judge ordered Costello not to drink and not to drive and to stay in the inpatient program.

A readiness conference was scheduled for Jan. 16 and a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 23.

Costello is charged with two counts of driving under the influence, with allegations that he caused great bodily injury to the victims and drove with a blood-alcohol level of more than .15 percent.

The defendant's blood-alcohol level after the crash was .20 percent, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Costello, a deputy in Lemon Grove, faces the loss of his career and up to seven years in prison if convicted, Spieler said.




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San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is the Top-Rated San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 20 years of experience. Known as the "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.



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The sterile white room is filled with state of the art equipment and has a slight smell of cleaning products.

Inside, forensic scientists in white lab coats and latex gloves meticulously analyze DNA material taken from strands of hair and blood samples. Quietly, they go about their business conducting scientific tests, the results of which will be used to exonerate or identify a crime suspect.

Alex Karagianes, San Mateo County's assistant forensic laboratory director, is dressed in a simple collared shirt and tie. No gun in sight, Karagianes looks like a scientist rather than one of the criminal busting techies often portrayed on television.

"People ask 'is it like TV,' and I'll say 'is 'ER' like an emergency room?'" Karagianes said. "There's a lot of routine case work such as drugs that need to get analyzed and blood alcohol samples that need to get analyzed. It doesn't sound all that exciting."

In 2000, the first episode of the original "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" aired and today more than 15 million viewers tune in each week to watch it and other popular "CSI" spin-offs. While entertaining, the negative and positive effects of shows like "CSI" are becoming more obvious, particularly in the courtroom and classroom.

During an hour-long episode of "CSI," crime scene analysts conduct tasks that are often done by a variety of people. They interrogate suspects and always catch the bad guys.

"There are some stretches, but all of the science is
fundamentally accurate," said Rich Catalani, technical adviser and story editor for the Las Vegas-based "CSI." "Some of the tasks that we have our people do in reality would be done by different individuals."
Karagianes said shows like "CSI" give viewers a skewed sense of reality in terms of how forensic tests are conducted.

For instance, it takes up to two weeks to get DNA results and often times there is no suspect to match the DNA against. Karagianes said only 10 to 15 percent of the DNA samples found match those already entered into a statewide database.

On "CSI," DNA results are obtained almost immediately and always match a suspect with an alibi as holey as Swiss cheese.

"We admit that we cheat. Obviously you can't do all the things that need to be done in 45 minutes," Catalani said.

Investigators and crime lab interns like Caitlyn Manhart, a Notre Dame de Namur University student, spend hours looking over fingerprints, running multiple tests. On the show, a print is scanned into a computer and within 30 seconds a match is found.

"We do several tests, several processes and it takes days," Karagianes explained. "We don't have a screen that flashes red 'confirm, confirm, confirm.'"

The negative effects of "CSI" are most visible in the courtroom, where jurors now have set expectations for what kind of evidence will be presented by prosecutors.

"The jury is going to be influenced by what they see on television," said Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney. "The jury wants science (DNA). You have to get over the hurdle of them having that expectation."

One way the district attorney's office is quashing these expectations is by requiring prosecutors in the county to question all prospective jurors about shows like "CSI" before they are assigned to a case.

"It's one of the most important things that has to be done," Wagstaffe said. "If a prosecutor doesn't do that, they're doing an inadequate job."

He added these shows will eventually run their course, though their scientific impact will be permanent.

Deborah Runkle, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said, on the whole, "CSI" has helped push science into the forefront of popular culture.

"It does arouse people's interest," Runkle said. "It sparks people's attention and gives them some ideas about how science applies to everyday problems."

According to Max Houck, director of the Forensic Science Initiative at West Virginia University, there are currently 11 accredited university programs nationwide specializing in the field of forensic science. He said another four programs have applied for accreditation.

"We're seeing an increased interest in science at a level not seen since, not to be grandiose, the Apollo Mission," Houck said. "Forensic science majors are popping up all over the place."

At Notre Dame de Namur University, a forensic science course was created in 2002, according to Isabelle Haithcox, associate professor in the university's natural sciences department. She said one or two students from the university intern at the county's crime lab each year.

"There are not enough job positions for the number of people graduating with degrees in the field," Karagianes said.

He said he worries TV shows are giving younger people the wrong idea about what being a forensic scientist entails.

"We're referees. We're scientists," Karagianes said. "You have to be a good scientist if you're interested in forensics."


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San Diego DUI Ankle Bracelets

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors met on Tuesday to take steps toward implementing an alcohol-detecting ankle bracelet program for individuals convicted of drunk driving.

Repeat DUI offendors who are on probation will be forced to wear new technology called a SCRAM Bracelet.

The device is helping at least 20 other states to better monitor repeat DUI offenders.

The bracelet weighs just 8 ounces, and when strapped to the subject's ankle the tamper-resistant device can detect sweat as it migrates through the skin in order to measure for alcohol consumption.

A tamper detection strap acts as an electronic link between the two parts and secures the bracelet to the client's ankle.

http://www.alcoholmonitoring.com/products/bracelet.html


MORE SAN DIEGO DUI NEWS -- San Diego County supervisors are looking to purchase a rather unusual piece of jewelry: a bracelet that can detect alcohol in a person's system.

The bracelet measures perspiration every 30 minutes to determine whether its wearer has been drinking, and if so, how much. County supervisors hope to distribute the devices to convicted drunken drivers.


DUI offenders are prohibited from drinking alcohol as a condition of their probation. According to the county, these bracelets would enforce that law.

San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob said an offender's location is irrelevant. If they choose to drink, Jacob said, the bracelet will alert police.

"Law enforcement will be aware of it and will come in and arrest them," she said.

Currently, 40,000 bracelets are in use in 20 states. Some defense attorneys said they embrace the idea, as long as the bracelets are accurate.

The county is awaiting recommendations as to the type and quantity of bracelet that it will purchase, which is expected to take 90 days.


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San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is the Top-Rated San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 20 years of experience. Known as the "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.



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SAN DIEGO – Jim Bishop, one of San Diego's top DUI Attorneys, impressively convinces judge to keep bail low and saves his client $150,000.

An off-duty sheriff's deputy accused of seriously injuring two men while driving drunk pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony charges of driving under the influence.

James Costello, a 41-year-old patrol deputy from the Lemon Grove substation, also faces allegations he caused great bodily injury to the victims when he crashed into them Nov. 6 on state Route 15 south of El Cajon Boulevard at 3 a.m.

If convicted, he could be sent to prison for up to seven years.
Superior Court Judge David M. Szumowski allowed Costello to remain free on $50,000 bond, but said that may change if the condition of either victim worsens. The judge denied a prosecutor's request to increase bail to $200,000.

Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler told the judge that Costello crashed his truck – a Ford 350 pickup – into the rear of a flat-bed tow truck that had stopped to assist a motorist in the center divide of the freeway.

The tow truck then slammed into the motorist's disabled vehicle, pinning two 37-year-old men between them. A California Highway Patrol report said Costello had a blood-alcohol level of .20 percent, over the legal limit of .08.

The prosecutor said the tow truck driver, John Coston, underwent a nine-hour surgery Tuesday in an attempt to save his legs. Even if the operation is successful, doctors have said they don't think Coston will walk again

The motorist, Alfredo Garcia, suffered extensive internal injuries and is still hospitalized and breathing through a ventilator, the prosecutor said.

Spieler told the judge two sheriff's deputies who were with Costello a few hours before the collision expressed concern about Costello's condition and offered to drive him home, but Costello declined the offers.

He has a previous conviction stemming from an April 2001 incident in which he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after the car he was driving plummeted from an on-ramp onto Interstate 5, the prosecutor said.

Costello later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor reckless driving and was placed on three years' probation.

Spieler said Costello suffered injuries in that crash that kept him on light duty at work until he recently returned to patrol duties.

Costello's lawyer, Jim Bishop, told the judge his client has been with the department for 12 years and has strong ties to the community. Bishop said Costello is currently enrolled in an 24-hour, in-patient program for alcohol abuse.

“Mr. Costello will not be driving; Mr. Costello will not be drinking,” Bishop said.



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San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is the Top-Rated San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 20 years of experience. Known as the "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.



San Diego DUI Attorney Rick Mueller Background and Contact Information http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/about.html



San Diego DUI and DMV Penalties http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/penalty.html



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SAN DIEGO DUI News -- The Jewel Box Bar was opened for business Sunday an alleged drunk driver plowed his SUV into the side of the bar Saturday night, leaving a gaping hole in the wall.

The bar on 16th and G Streets is hosting Chargers' football fans Sunday.

An enormous mural is hiding the 10-foot-wide by 5-foot-high hole left by the male driver, who crashed a Chevrolet Blazer into the place around 11:20 p.m. Saturday, said owner Holly Peterson.

"Nothing stops those Chargers fans," Peterson said today over the din of noisy fans.

The man was taken to county jail, but it was unknown if he was still in custody.

The only injury was a bloody nose, apparently caused by flying debris, Peterson said.

Peterson arrived to find the front end of the car wedged about six feet inside the bar, she said. It was too late to buy plywood, so she covered the hole with the mural instead.

Police Sunday confirmed the crash, but would not provide details.

According to 10News, police found drugs and paraphernalia in the man's vehicle.

Peterson said the driver exited the 94 freeway near the bar.

Peterson said she was not at the bar at the time but was notified as soon as it happened. Her first reaction, she said, was "Oh my God, I hope no one is hurt."

Other DUI news:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jaguars left tackle Khalif Barnes was benched and fined Sunday following his arrest on alleged drunk driving charges.

Barnes was allegedly driving his car faster than 100 mph and failed two breathalyzer tests early Saturday, according to a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office report. He spent several hours in the Duval County jail before being released on $500 bond.

"I thought he acted extremely selfishly from being out that late in the first place on a Friday night to putting himself and other people in our community at risk by the reckless driving. And on top of that he had the DUI citation," coach Jack Del Rio said following his team's 13-10 loss to Houston on Sunday.

According to the police report, Barnes was allegedly driving his 2007 silver Mercedes 101 mph in a 60 mph zone. His vehicle passed a police car and was pulled over. Barnes told the officer he had one drink at a club, but he then failed a field sobriety test and was arrested. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.12, according to the report, above the legal limit of 0.08.



Rick Mueller, DUI Specialist (cell: 619/218-2997)
4660 La Jolla Village Drive Suite 500, San Diego, CA, 92122


San Diego Drunk Driving Attorney Rick Mueller and his San Diego County DUI Law Center welcome you to see complete San Diego drunk driving attorney & San Diego DUI lawyer information for those accused of DUI in San Diego.

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List of San Diego DUI Attorney Victories and Driver's Licenses Saved in Past Few Years http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/victory.html



What you must do within 10 days of being arrested for a San Diego DUI http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/10days.html



San Diego County DMV and Courts
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/courts.html



San Diego DUI Breath Test Defenses http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/defenses.html



San Diego DUI Blood Test Defenses
http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/blood.html



You could take the Free San Diego DUI Survey at http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/survey.html




San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is the Top-Rated San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 20 years of experience. Known as the "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.



San Diego DUI Attorney Rick Mueller Background and Contact Information http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/about.html



San Diego DUI and DMV Penalties http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/penalty.html



Out of State License/Resident & Driving Record http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/out_of_state.html



Military Base DUI - San Diego County Federal Court - http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/base.html



http://www.SanDiegoDUI.com - Excellent San Diego DUI information source for San Diego county drunk driving arrest. Rights, Laws, Defenses, Penalties, DMV, Court, Military, DUI Boating, Helpful Tips and other comprehensive information. Vigorous DUI lawyer who can save your license and keep you out of jail.



Call 1-800-THE-LAW-DUI (1-800-843-5293) for a free San Diego DUI consultation http://www.1800thelawdui.com.



For help with your San Diego DUI, visit http://www.SanDiegoDUIHelp.com.

ESCONDIDO – A suspected drunken driver, first noticed by another motorist who called police, led officers on a 20-mile pursuit on Interstate 15 before surrendering Thursday night.

There were no collisions or injuries during the chase, which topped 100 mph at one point, Escondido police said.

A motorist called police about 6 p.m. to report the driver on East Valley Parkway. The driver pulled over for an officer and his passenger hopped out. Then, police said, the driver sped away.

He hit Centre City Parkway to I-15, raced north as far as Gopher Canyon Road, then pulled a U-turn and stopped. He got out of his car, put his hands up and was arrested, police said.

The 21-year-old Valley Center resident was jailed on suspicion of drunken driving, felony evading police and driving on a suspended license.



FRESNO, Calif. — It's a Saturday night in Fresno, which means another "bar sting" at another nightclub. This one is at Crossroads, a red-and-white themed bar on North Cedar Street popular with bikers. As closing time nears, undercover police stake out the parking lot and look for departing customers who appear to be drunk.
One officer observes a man walking unsteadily as he leaves the bar. When he gets in his SUV and starts to drive off, other officers swoop down on him. The officers find a loaded Glock handgun in the center console. The man's friend, who owns the SUV, walks over to show the police his concealed weapons permit. But he's been drinking, too, and the permit is void if he's intoxicated.

They arrest him, too.

Fresno may be the toughest city in the nation on drunken drivers. An intoxicated motorist is more likely to run into a police checkpoint in this city of 461,000 than anywhere else in the USA, according to Fresno police. Police sneak into the driveways of convicted drunken drivers to plant Global Positioning System tracking devices on their cars and search their homes for evidence they've been drinking.

Fresno's hard-as-nails approach to drunken driving comes at a time when some police, prosecutors, probation officials and traffic safety advocates are calling for stepped-up efforts to reduce the death toll from drunken driving. After declining steadily for nearly 20 years, the number of people killed each year in alcohol-related crashes leveled off — at 16,000 to 17,000 — in the mid-1990s and hasn't dropped significantly since.

Most people who drive drunk don't get caught. Only about 1 in 50 alcohol-impaired drivers is actually arrested, says Susan Ferguson, senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a non-profit research organization supported by auto insurance companies. "What it amounts to is an awful lot of people who are driving impaired in this country who have no fear of being arrested," Ferguson says.

Many of those who do get arrested don't stop driving drunk. About a third of all drivers arrested for drunken driving are repeat offenders, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The group says 50% to 75% of drivers whose licenses are suspended or revoked for DUI continue to drive without a license.

Those numbers are unacceptable to some fed-up police, probation officers and prosecutors, who are using increasingly aggressive tactics to reduce drunken driving:

•In Nassau County, N.Y., on Long Island, District Attorney Kathleen Rice won a rare murder conviction last month in a drunken-driving case. Insurance salesman Martin Heidgen, 25, was convicted of second-degree murder in the July 2005 deaths of Katie Flynn, 7, and Stanley Rabinowitz, 59, who was driving the limousine that Heidgen struck head-on. Heidgen had been driving the wrong way on Meadowbrook Parkway. Katie and her family were being driven home from a wedding. Heidgen, who faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years to life, will be sentenced later this month. His attorney says he will appeal.

"We would hope that this verdict sends a message that if you drink and drive and kill someone, you will be prosecuted for murder," Rice said after the conviction. She no longer allows plea deals in drunken-driving cases and plans to use a state grant to buy high-tech alcohol-detecting ankle bracelets for convicted drunken drivers who are required to stay sober as part of their probation.

•The Riverside County Probation Department in California this year began tracking up to 130 repeat offenders with a 2-½ ounce tracking device armed with GPS technology. The device, which can be worn as a bracelet or anklet, alerts authorities in less than one minute when a convicted DUI offender enters a bar, says Michael DeGasperin, director of the department. Many of the felony DUI offenders in the cities of Temecula, Murrieta and Perris already wear a similar device, a Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM) ankle bracelet that measures the alcohol in a person's system by collecting minute sweat samples.

"Both are good deterrents in trying to out-fox the fox," DeGasperin says. "We want it to be a little intrusive and Big Brother-ish to get them to raise the white flag and come to us to seek help before they're involved in another accident."

•More than 30 states have enacted additional penalties for so-called "high-risk" drunken drivers, those with a blood-alcohol content of .15% to .20%. The legal limit in all 50 states is .08%. Twenty-eight states assign prosecutors to focus on drunken driving. Five states — Maine, North Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin — have lowered the maximum blood-alcohol content for repeat offenders to varying limits below .08%.

Changing the culture

No place has gone as far as Fresno. Its crackdown on drunken driving and other traffic violations began when Jerry Dyer, who has been on the police force since 1979, became chief in 2001 and realized that more people in his city were being killed in automobile collisions than in homicides.

"Back in 2002, we had 43 murders in our city but we had 52 people die in fatal collisions," he says. "We know the individuals killed in homicides are generally associated with a certain lifestyle or they're in domestic situations. But the individuals being killed in traffic collisions are people like you and me, minding their own business, when somebody drunk runs a red light and kills them.

"I vowed at that time to change the driving culture in Fresno."

He hired 92 new officers, boosted revenue from traffic fines by $5 million a year and cut drunken-driving deaths. Fresno also began warning those convicted of DUIs that, while they were on probation, GPS devices might be attached to their cars.

In September, MADD gave Fresno police its "Outstanding Law Enforcement Agency" award. "I wish other departments throughout the nation would take the initiative to do what Fresno is doing," says Glynn Birch, MADD's national president. "For the past 10 years, the numbers (of drunken-driving fatalities) have plateaued. We need to re-energize the nation."

Last year the International Association of Chiefs of Police recognized the department for having the best impaired-driving program in the nation. Fresno police officers attend law enforcement seminars where they tell other cops what they're doing here.

The Fresno experiment might be difficult for some police departments to duplicate at a time when cops around the country are being stretched thin by federally-mandated homeland security duties, increases in violent crime and, in some rural and small-town areas, the first-time appearance of gangs.

But research has shown that police departments that strictly enforce traffic laws make an impact on other crime, says John Grant, manager of the division of state and provincial police at the IACP.

"In some agencies, it's not viewed as fighting real crime," he says. "It's not the glamorous thing. But one thing that virtually all criminals have in common is use of an automobile, whether it's in the planning, the perpetrating or the escape from their crime. And very often, they don't pay attention to traffic laws."

A few miles from the bar sting operation, Fresno police are working yet another DUI checkpoint. This one, at Ventura and R Streets, is marked by a large sign telling drivers: "Check Point Ahead. DUI and License." A line of orange cones funnels drivers into two single lanes, where police officers check every third motorist's driver's license and look for signs of intoxication: slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, the smell of alcohol. Many drivers already have their windows down and licenses held up for inspection as they approach the brightly lit checkpoint.

"The word's out in this town," says Detective Mark Van Wyhe, who coordinates the police department's Repeat DUI Offender Program. "They know we're out here."

Dozens of checkpoints

They should. The city ran 94 DUI checkpoints last year, more than any other city in the nation. The checkpoints, at different times and places, are set up on weekends.

Fresno's bar stings generated controversy when police started them last spring. "There were lots of threats, but no legal action," says Capt. Andrew Hall, commander of the police department's Traffic Bureau.

Initially, plainclothes police staked out the inside of bars, watched customers consume too much alcohol, then alerted fellow officers outside, who arrested the drunks as they drove off. To defuse the controversy, the officers were moved to the parking lots of the targeted clubs, Dyer says.

Police also run "courtroom stings," monitoring courtrooms where drivers cited for traffic violations are appearing. In many instances, judges suspend the motorists' licenses. The police officers follow them to their cars and arrest them if they drive off. They also conduct "probation and parole sweeps," searching the homes of convicted drunken drivers for evidence they've been drinking. In some instances, police arrest probationers because other family members have beer cans or liquor bottles in the home.

"We're seeing a real change of attitude," Hall says. "People who are planning on going out drinking are now planning alternative rides home. That's one of the exciting things about what we're doing, is the number of designated drivers we're seeing."

Enforcement or snooping?

When Fresno police launched the bar stings in March, it touched off a public outcry in the press and on talk radio. Fresno Bee columnist Bill McEwen questioned the wisdom of allowing a person who is obviously drunk to drive even a short distance. He said the bar sting "smacks of Big Brother."

Dyer says he modified the sting operations primarily because of concerns about potential police liability. While the stings were temporarily halted, a 35-year-old mother was killed by a driver who'd allegedly gotten drunk at one of the bars where police had conducted a sting. "We reinstated the program the following day," he says. "As a result of the death, the bar operation was widely accepted. The vast majority of restaurant owners and bar owners are supportive" of the modified approach.

McEwen lauded the changes.

But Carrie Fagan-Davis, owner of Fagan's Irish Pub downtown, says she opposes the bar stings whether officers are inside the clubs or in the parking lot.

"It's not the American way to spy on people," says Fagan-Davis, 54. "The police should watch the streets for drunken drivers but don't watch the bars. It's the responsibility of the bar owners to monitor what they serve patrons. Anybody who's in a business of this type needs to be responsible. The last thing I would want is to have it on my conscience that an extra $4 drink caused somebody harm. I look at that as a blood dollar. I don't want it."

Fagan-Davis says her business is about 70% food and 30% alcohol. She says that for St. Patrick's Day this year she made sure patrons had arranged for designated drivers, encouraged them to use hotels and educated her employees on spotting someone who's had too much to drink. She says officials from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control were impressed by her actions.

Bob Pierce, 49, has owned the Crossroads bar, where police set up a parking lot sting operation earlier this month, for six months. He says he is working to improve the bar's image. "We want to clean it up, bring in more older customers," he says.

Pierce says the stings "definitely hurt our business. I'd like to see a better way to do it. I'd like to see a business owners association figure out a better way."

Rogers Smith, a political science professor and civil liberties expert at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, says the bar stings and surreptitious placing of GPS devices "are aggressive police tactics. They go right up against the boundary of what the police can permissibly do, but they don't cross it. There is nothing that constitutes a violation of a constitutional right or civil liberty."

On sneaking into a driveway to place a GPS tracking device, Smith says the issue is "whether an action to monitor you — whether it's wiretaps, filming, or whatever — invades a reasonable expectation of privacy. For most of us, to have a GPS device put on our car would violate a reasonable expectation of privacy. But you're talking about people who were given warning as a condition of their probation that they were susceptible to this."

The police here are cautious about claiming outright success, but they clearly believe that their aggressive tactics are working. There hasn't been an alcohol-related traffic death since May, says Hall of the Traffic Bureau. There were eight such deaths this year before the bar stings began, he says.

"We were on track to exceed the 2005 fatalities," Hall says. "That's when we decided we had to do more."



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San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller, a San Diego Drunk Driving / DWI Defense Attorney handling San Diego California DUI & DMV cases, shows how a San Diego DUI Lawyer will help you. http://www.SanDiegoDUI.com San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is the Top-Rated San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 20 years of experience. Known as the "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.



San Diego DUI Attorney Rick Mueller Background and Contact Information http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/about.html




San Diego DUI and DMV Penalties http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/penalty.html




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Military Base DUI - San Diego County Federal Court - http://www.sandiegoduilawyer.com/base.html




http://www.SanDiegoDUI.com - Excellent San Diego DUI information source for San Diego county drunk driving arrest. Rights, Laws, Defenses, Penalties, DMV, Court, Military, DUI Boating, Helpful Tips and other comprehensive information. Vigorous DUI lawyer who can save your license and keep you out of jail.



Call 1-800-THE-LAW-DUI (1-800-843-5293) for a free San Diego DUI consultation http://www.1800thelawdui.com.



For help with your San Diego DUI, visit http://www.SanDiegoDUIHelp.com.

What is a DUI Expungement?

A DUI expungement is a legal process that petitions the Court to review a DUI-related conviction to determine:


If the term of probation was successfully completed & concluded;
That all fines, restitution and reimbursement ordered by the court have been paid and everything ordered by the court was completed in a timely manner;
That the petitioner is not now on probation for another offense;
That the petitioner has no new pending cases;
The Court then may allow the petitioner to withdraw his or plea or finding of guilt or no contest, and thereafter orders the case dismissed.

How does this help me?

Expungement law (Penal Code Section 1203.4) provides in part:

"[Petitioner shall]...be permitted by the court to withdraw his or her plea of guilty or plea of nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty; or, if he or she has been convicted after a plea of not guilty, the court shall set aside the verdict of guilty; and, in either case, the court shall thereupon dismiss the accusations or information against the defendant and except as noted below, he or she shall thereafter be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense of which he or she has been convicted, except as provided..." (Emphasis added)

What about applying for jobs?

If Private Employers ask if you have every been convicted of a crime, you generally can respond with "NO". (Each question is different so please first contact an attorney before answering any specific question, in every case and for every form.)

On questions by Government Employers or Government Licensing Applications if you are asked if you have ever been convicted of a crime, you must disclose the expunged case.

What doesn't a DUI Expungement do?

Your dismissed DUI conviction can still be used to increase your punishment in future DUI cases. The offense is "priorable".

It can still be used to enhance penalties & increase punishment should you get another DUI.

It can be used to try to put you in jail or increase the length of a DMV suspension.

Does this erase all records and destroy the Court file?

No. An expungement changes and updates the disposition of the case to reflect a dismissal under 1203.4 of the Penal Code. This means the Court file, the California Department of Justice, and the FBI update their files to show the case has been ordered dismissed by the Court.

Will I need to go to Court?

No. I handle all Court work for you.

How Long Does A DUI Expungement Take?

Misdemeanors: Most expungements for misdemeanors take between 4 to 6 weeks to complete from the time the application is filed. This does not include the time needed to research all records and process the application. The more prepared you are as to the information needed (Case number, date of birth, conviction date, probation length, Vehicle Code charge number, and San Diego county court location) the quicker the application can be processed. If it is necessary to search the court records for information, it may take additional time.

Why Expunge my record? Why spend the money?

There are a number of reasons to do so such as employment or licensing. However, at least half our clients want to expunge their record as final "closure" on an old mistake- just for peace of mind.

DISCLAIMER: Please be aware this page is NOT a comprehensive analysis of all expungement law, types of answers to types of questions asked, or of all types of remedies that may be available to you. This is NOT intended to be legal advice, and a consultation with an Attorney is always first recommended and before answering any question.

Other features:
What to do -

What you must do within 10 days of being arrested in San Diego County.

Free Evaluation
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How to avoid DUI
10 Tips to minimize your risk of being convicted of DUI in California.

Dear Mr. Mueller
What opposing Police say about Attorney Rick Mueller.





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- All Rights Reserved


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http://www.sandiegodui.com/expunge.html

What is a DUI Expungement?

A DUI expungement is a legal process that petitions the Court to review a DUI-related conviction to determine:


If the term of probation was successfully completed & concluded;
That all fines, restitution and reimbursement ordered by the court have been paid and everything ordered by the court was completed in a timely manner;
That the petitioner is not now on probation for another offense;
That the petitioner has no new pending cases;
The Court then may allow the petitioner to withdraw his or plea or finding of guilt or no contest, and thereafter orders the case dismissed.

How does this help me?

Expungement law (Penal Code Section 1203.4) provides in part:

"[Petitioner shall]...be permitted by the court to withdraw his or her plea of guilty or plea of nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty; or, if he or she has been convicted after a plea of not guilty, the court shall set aside the verdict of guilty; and, in either case, the court shall thereupon dismiss the accusations or information against the defendant and except as noted below, he or she shall thereafter be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense of which he or she has been convicted, except as provided..." (Emphasis added)

What about applying for jobs?

If Private Employers ask if you have every been convicted of a crime, you generally can respond with "NO". (Each question is different so please first contact an attorney before answering any specific question, in every case and for every form.)

On questions by Government Employers or Government Licensing Applications if you are asked if you have ever been convicted of a crime, you must disclose the expunged case.

What doesn't a DUI Expungement do?

Your dismissed DUI conviction can still be used to increase your punishment in future DUI cases. The offense is "priorable".

It can still be used to enhance penalties & increase punishment should you get another DUI.

It can be used to try to put you in jail or increase the length of a DMV suspension.

Does this erase all records and destroy the Court file?

No. An expungement changes and updates the disposition of the case to reflect a dismissal under 1203.4 of the Penal Code. This means the Court file, the California Department of Justice, and the FBI update their files to show the case has been ordered dismissed by the Court.

Will I need to go to Court?

No. I handle all Court work for you.

How Long Does A DUI Expungement Take?

Misdemeanors: Most expungements for misdemeanors take between 4 to 6 weeks to complete from the time the application is filed. This does not include the time needed to research all records and process the application. The more prepared you are as to the information needed (Case number, date of birth, conviction date, probation length, Vehicle Code charge number, and San Diego county court location) the quicker the application can be processed. If it is necessary to search the court records for information, it may take additional time.

Why Expunge my record? Why spend the money?

There are a number of reasons to do so such as employment or licensing. However, at least half our clients want to expunge their record as final "closure" on an old mistake- just for peace of mind.

DISCLAIMER: Please be aware this page is NOT a comprehensive analysis of all expungement law, types of answers to types of questions asked, or of all types of remedies that may be available to you. This is NOT intended to be legal advice, and a consultation with an Attorney is always first recommended and before answering any question.

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MADD Seeks to Revive $105M Dram Shop Verdict Against Stadium Vendors



Mothers Against Drunk Driving, in seeking reinstatement of a record $105 million verdict against Giants Stadium vendors, wants courts in dram shop cases to allow evidence that goes beyond whether a particular patron was served while drunk.

Juries should be able to know whether a liquor establishment permitted a "culture of intoxication," MADD says in an amicus application to the New Jersey Supreme Court made public on Monday.

An appeals court ruled last August that such evidence can be irrelevant and prejudicial and ordered a new trial, reversing $35 million in compensatory damages and $70 million in punitives in the notorious case of six-year-old Antonia Verni. She was paralyzed in a crash with a fan who said Harry M. Stevens Inc. vendors continued to serve him after he was roaring drunk at a Giants-Saints game on Oct. 24, 1999.

The trial judge allowed evidence that vendors regularly served inebriated patrons and violated rules against selling more than two beers at once, perpetuating a rowdy and drunken culture.

But "culture of intoxication" testimony is not authorized by statute, and in this case it inflamed the jury and diverted its attention from the central issue: Was Daniel Lanzaro, the driver who hit Verni, served while intoxicated?

The plaintiff did present specific evidence about Lanzaro, but because there was so much about the culture, the jury couldn't be dispassionate, the appeals court said in Verni v. Harry M. Stevens Inc. 387 N.J. Super. 160 (App. Div. 2006).

In its amicus brief in support of Verni's petition for certification, MADD argues that the appeals court restrictions create an unfair double standard.

"Essentially, the Appellate Division's opinion creates an uneven playing field for drunk driving victims," according to the brief, by John Keefe Jr. of Keefe Bartels in Shrewsbury, N.J. "Under those restrictions, servers may present evidence of its policy and training, but the victim can't counter with evidence of violations of that policy or inadequate training."

The brief faults the appeals court for failing to distinguish Verni from two leading cases in which appeals courts prohibited testimony about a bar's reputation or evidence that a bar had served minors in the past, Showalter v. Barilari Inc. 312 N.J. Super. 494 (App Div. 1998) and Truchan v. Sayreville Bar and Res. Inc. 323 N.J. Super 10 (App. Div. 1998).

Unlike those cases, evidence of the vendors' alleged violations of their own procedures to prevent drunkenness was presented in addition to specific evidence about Lanzaro, according to the brief.

"The history of rowdy and drunken behavior of patrons at Giant Stadium, or at any entertainment venue for that matter, is relevant on the issue of whether alcohol beverage vendors should be more vigilant when they serve patrons once they enter the arena," the brief says.

It says the defense was allowed to present circumstantial evidence about its training of vendors to prove it was unlikely that Lanzaro would have been served if he exhibited visible signs of intoxication.

Verni should have the right to offer similar circumstantial evidence to refute the defense, the brief says.

Defense lawyer David Field of Lowenstein Sandler in Roseland, N.J., says he is preparing papers opposing MADD's intervention and will file them before the end of the week. He says MADD's brief not only replicates the arguments in the plaintiff's petition for review, it repeats mischaracterizations of the appellate division ruling.

Verni's lawyer, David Mazie of Nagel Rice & Mazie in Roseland, counters: "MADD has a fresh look at the issue and the fact that they are objecting to the same things doesn't affect their status as amicus. They have their own take and their own theory on why the appellate division was wrong and why cert should be granted."

"It is universally accepted that MADD speaks for innocent victims of drunk drivers like Antonia Verni and I think the court would be interested," Mazie says.

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SAN DIEGO -- A sheriff's deputy facing charges of felony DUI has been in trouble with the law before.

According to the San Diego City Attorney's Office, Deputy James Costello was charged with driving under the influence in 2001 and later pleaded guilty to reckless driving.


Early on Tuesday morning, Costello crashed into a tow truck on Interstate 15 near El Cajon Boulevard, seriously injuring tow truck operator Naraka Coston and Alfredo Garcia,

According to the California Highway Patrol, Costello's blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit.

Costello, who worked out of the Lemon Grove Sheriff's Stations, was off-duty at the time of the incident.

Investigators said that San Diego County sheriff's deputy Deputy James Costello's car smashed into a tow truck and injured two men on Monday. Costello now faces charges of felony DUI, according the California Highway Patrol

Costello, 41, is currently recovering from his injuries at the University of California, San Diego Hospital.

Meanwhile, the two victims, who were standing along the highway, when they were hit, suffered major injuries in the incident and are being treated at Mercy Hospital.

"Apparently, the tow truck driver suffered serious injuries to his legs, the other individual suffered major injuries as well," said CHP spokesman Mark Gregg. "The driver may have some serious problems involving his legs."

According to the CHP, Costello was driving his 1996 Ford 350 pickup truck on state Route 15 southbound around 3 a.m. on Monday. His car drifted to the right of the highway and struck a tow truck that had stopped to help a motorist, authorities said.

Tow truck operator Naraka Coston, and Alfredo Garcia, who is also 37, were hit. Coston's Toyota 4Runner had apparently broken down at the scene. The CHP said the two men were standing between their vehicles when the crash took place.

Costello's blood-alcohol level after the crash was .20, according to officials. The legal driving limit is .08 percent.

The sheriff's department said that Costello could be looking at charges from both the CHP, which is conducting the investigation, and from the sheriff's department. He also may face termination.


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England – To drive in Britain is to measure out your trip in speed cameras. As inevitable as road signs and as implacable as the meanest state trooper, they lurk everywhere, the government's main weapon against impatient drivers.

Speed cameras dot British roads, sparking attacks by some upset motorists. One vigilante group has posted the damage it has done to the cameras on a Web site.
It is a shame that so many people hate them.

Among the ways that motorists have made this clear: spraying the cameras with paint; knocking them over; covering them in garbage bags – and festive wrapping paper; digging them up; shooting, hammering and firebombing them; festooning them with burning tires; and filling their casings with self-expanding insulation foam that, when activated, blows them apart from the inside out.

Visual examples can be seen on the Web site of the vigilante group Motorists Against Detection, which displays color photographs of smashed, defaced and burned-out cameras – eye candy for the anti-camera movement.

In a nation estimated to have 4 million surveillance cameras – more per capita than any other in the world, civil liberties groups say – there are as many as 6,000 spots for speed cameras, annoying drivers in the country and in the city, on highways, urban arteries, service roads, suburban streets and rural lanes.

“Speed cameras can't detect tailgating, bad driving, drink driving or drug driving,” a spokesman for the group said, explaining his objections. An occasional contributor to British radio debates about traffic regulations, he uses the name Capt. Gatso – after the most common form of speed camera – because, he says, he wants to avoid arrest.

The government does not keep figures on camera vandalism, so it is impossible to confirm Capt. Gatso's claim that the group, known more commonly as MAD, has attacked more than 1,000 cameras.
But if there is a battle between motorists and speed cameras, the cameras – although battered – seem to be winning.

In this little hamlet in Brentwood, about an hour northeast of London, one particularly reviled camera – installed to catch people exceeding the 40 mph speed limit on a busy suburban road – has been set on fire three times in the past year, and three times it has been repaired.

Now, about $66,000 later, it is back on the job again, new and improved, swathed in protective fireproof housing. “Touch wood, we haven't had any incidents since,” said Rachel Whitelock, liaison for the Essex Safety Camera Partnership, which installs and maintains the county's camera sites: 96 stationary spots; 160 stretches of road policed by cameras whose locations change frequently; and 26 traffic light cameras that catch people running red lights.

The government says the cameras are a resounding success, reducing speed by an average of 2.2 miles per hour at speed-camera sites, reducing the numbers of people speeding at the sites by 31 percent and reducing by 42 percent the number of people killed or seriously injured at the sites.

In public opinion surveys, they point out, a majority of Britons say they support having speed cameras. But theory is one thing; practice is another. People like to drive fast, and bridle at being told what to do. About 2 million are caught by the speed cameras a year, generating more than $200 million in fines.

“It's incredibly difficult to get people to come to terms with slowing down here,” said Francis Ashton, the road safety manager for the city of Nottingham.

The cameras detect cars that are exceeding the speed limit, often with radar technology, and take flash photographs of the license plates. A ticket is then issued.

A speeding offense adds three points to a driver's license. Because drivers who amass 12 points in three years are punished with six-month driving bans, people go to enormous lengths to avoid detection.

In a recent case, 28-year-old Craig Moore, an engineer from South Yorkshire, ran into trouble when – in the words of a spokesman for the Greater Manchester Police – “instead of just accepting that he had been caught traveling above the speed limit, Moore decided to blow the camera apart.”

Using thermite, a pyrotechnic substance often used in underwater welding, Moore wrecked the camera. But unfortunately for him, its hard drive survived – along with videotape of his van driving toward it and then driving away . . . as the picture dissolved in a cloud of fiery sparks. He was sentenced to four months in jail.

In another instance, John Hopwood, a motorist from Stockport who was caught speeding twice in one trip by two cameras, saw the camera flashes, then tried to avert the second ticket by taking a 40-mph sign from a road in Manchester and reinstalling it on a lamppost on a 30-mph road in Rochdale, 10 miles away. He was caught and sentenced to 56 days in jail.

Paul Smith, head of an anti-camera group, the Safe Speed Road Safety Campaign, said drivers spend so much time scouring the roadside for cameras that they forget to pay attention to the road.

“We've got a nation of people who have one eye looking out for the next speed camera, another looking for a speed limit sign and another looking at the speedometer – which is a bit of a shame, when you only have two eyes,” he said.

Camera technology has moved on considerably since the 1990s, when the first speed cameras were installed in Britain. Now, in addition to the standard cameras that photograph the speeding cars' license plates, there are cameras that can accurately photograph drivers' faces – so they cannot claim someone else was driving – and cameras that work in teams, calculating average speeds along a stretch of road.

Of course, for every ingenious camera, there is an ingenious camera-thwarting device. These include constantly updating global positioning system equipment to alert drivers to speed camera locations. There also is a spray for license plates. The coating reflects a camera's flash in an effort to make a picture of the plate's number unreadable.

But in the end, the effort is not worth it, said Vincent Yearley, a spokesman for the Institute of Advanced Motorists, a road-safety organization.

“A lot of drivers feel alienated by speed cameras,” Yearley said. “But the best way to deal with a speed camera is simply to comply with the law, and not to set fire to it.”

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SAN DIEGO – A 18-year-old driver whose blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit when he ran over and killed a University of San Diego law student in Pacific Beach, then drove off, was sentenced Monday to seven years in state prison.
Daniel Scott Hall, now 19, pleaded guilty on Aug. 23 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run resulting in death.

His blood-alcohol level was .23 percent after the accident, prosecutors said. The legal limit is .08.
Hall swerved to miss a row of cars near the intersection of Garnet and Haines Street and struck 25-year-old Christopher McCallister just before midnight on June 24, prosecutor Makenzie Harvey said.

She said the victim was crossing the street with two roommates when he was hit almost head-on and thrown into the windshield of Hall's Toyota Celica.

McCallister, who had one year of law school left, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim's older sister, Kellie Matijasevic, said her brother's death has devastated her family.

“I learned so much from the way Christopher lived his life,” Matijasevic told San Diego Superior Court Judge George “Woody” Clarke.

She said her brother, an athlete, student-body president and “Mr. Everything” in high school, graduated from UC Santa Barbara and “had hopes and dreams of becoming a lawyer.”

“He enjoyed life greatly and did everything at 100 percent,” Matijasevic said.

She said her brother had strong feelings about drinking and driving.

“He never did it,” Matijasevic told the judge.

Gerri McCallister said her son, the president of his fraternity at UCSB, established a charity there for children infected with the AIDS virus.

She said 1,000 people attended a memorial service for her son in their hometown of Albuquerque, N.M.

“I cry for him every day,” the mother said. “I only miss him more as time passes.”

She told the judge that her son didn't have to die and did so only because Hall decided to drink and then drive.

“It is obscene to me that Daniel killed Christopher in this manner,” she said.

The defendant told police that he left a party where he drank beer and then rum “straight from the bottle,” according to Harvey.

Hall also had sedatives in his system and told police he was selling marijuana, some of which was found in his car, the prosecutor said.

The defendant's father said his son has felt excruciating remorse for causing McCallister's death and will continue to suffer for it.

“The world will always be a cold place for him,” Peter Hall said.

The defendant cried as he apologized to the victim's family.

“I hope that someday I can be forgiven, but that's probably too much to ask,” he said.

Defense attorney Scott Williams unsuccessfully urged the judge to sentence his client to probation and local jail time or order a 90-day evaluation to see if jail or prison was the appropriate sentence.

“His remorse is extreme and absolute,” the attorney said.

Williams said the victim was under the influence and had a .13 percent blood-alcohol level several hours after the accident. The attorney also said the victim dashed across the street before being struck.

But Clarke said it was hard to conceive that the defendant wasn't aware of the danger of drinking and driving.

“This is a situation in which everybody loses,” the judge said.

Speaking to the defendant, Clarke said, “You took away the life of a 25-year-old man who had everything in the world going for him.”

The fact that Hall fled the scene and left the victim for dead made it worse, Clarke said.

Officers stopped Hall's car 10 minutes after the crash at Interstate 5 and Sea World Drive and took him into custody.


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Sheriff's Deputies Track Down Wanted D.U.I. Offenders


They have been busted for DUI, and now those who failed to live up to their sentences are in trouble again.

San Diego Sheriff's Deputies delivered a wake up call to wanted offenders Saturday morning. Their message: zero tolerance.

It was an early morning wake up call they were not expecting. Sheriff's Deputies started serving arrest warrants at 6 a.m., many of them to misdemeanor DUI offenders who have not followed through on judges' orders.

"If do not do AA classes and show proof judge issues warrant for arrest," sad Phillip Fuhr of the San Diego Sheriff's Department. "Our main focus is to go out and target warrants in the system and get them cleared."

At one house, there was a welcome sign on the door, but no one was expecting these visitors. When Deputies arrived and stepped inside, everyone was caught by surprise.

Moments later, Kevin Schaffer was cuffed and taken away.

The deputies said the sweep should serve as a warning to others in the county.

"If you have warrants and know requirements must meet, need to get it taken care of," said Dep. Emory Wallace. "If not, we'll contact you at some point or another."

Deputies attempted to serve about 100 warrants Saturday. By midday, 15 people had been arrested.

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SAN DIEGO - Three people were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and 28 citations were issued for various other offenses at a safety checkpoint in San Marcos overnight, a sheriff's sergeant said.

County Traffic Division deputies staffed the checkpoint at 125 S. Rancho Santa Fe Road between 7 last night and 1 this morning, said Sgt. C. Hensley.

Inspections were done on 157 vehicles, 13 of which were seized because the owners had license or registration violations, he said.


A total of 1,245 vehicles passed through the checkpoint, he said.

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LOS ANGELES, Nov. 3, 2006 -- The trial of "Ferrari Guy" Stefan Eriksson has ended with a hung jury. A mistrial has been declared and the jury dismissed.

Eriksson, represented by high profile Alabama lawyer Jim Parkman, had been charged with embezzlement, grand theft, and DUI. Eriksson pleaded no contest earlier in the trial to the DUI charge. There are separate charges related to possession of a firearm. The gun possession counts will go to trial on Monday, according to California attorney Alec Rose.

Parkman told me moments ago,"I'd have like to have won it outright, but I'm satisfied." I talked to Alec Rose late Friday evening and he told me the new trial will take place in the next 60 days. Rose says the charges are still the same and therefore Eriksson's bond situation will not change and he will remain in custody.

Parkman's partner William White will be headed back to L.A. on Sunday to continue working with Rose while Parkman goes to federal court Birmingham among other things.

The Swedish businessman allegedly crashed a red Ferrari Enzo into a utility pole on the Pacific Coast Highway going between 162-200 mph. That car along with black Ferrari and a Mercedes McLaren SLR were shipped back to the financial institutions which owned them.

The prosecution said Eriksson brought the high priced vehicles into the U.S. without permission of the financial institutions, but defense attorneys say their client was not trying to defraud anyone.

Charges related to the red Ferrari Enzo ended up not being a player in the case after the witness from the bank involved refused to travel to Los Angeles.


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State May Start Using DUI Bracelets



It’s a risk we all face when getting behind the wheel – sharing the road with a drunk driver. But now, ankle bracelets that track repeat offenders in other states might be used here in California.

According to the latest research, nearly 25 percent of those busted for drunk driving in San Diego County are actually repeat offenders. That’s why there’s a new effort to outfit those in violation with gadgets that tell authorities when they’ve been drinking again.

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob says it’s a great idea to slap some unfashionable jewelry onto San Diego County’s repeat drunk drivers. She’s referring to a high-tech ankle bracelet that can tell if they’ve fallen off the wagon. She says it’s time to stop the slaughter on our highways caused by drunk drivers.

“These are senseless, unnecessary deaths and injuries by people who refuse to be responsible,” Jacob said.

Already, more than 20 states and 200 agencies are using Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitors, or SCRAMS. The half-pound device, made by a Colorado company, detects alcohol in a person’s perspiration. Results can be monitored daily via computer by court representatives.

“This would allow us to know if somebody drank at any time, because it’s a 24-hour system,” said County Probation Department spokesman Derryl Acosta, “We could then arrest them the next day if they drank the night before, because the system would alert us to the fact that they went over what they were supposed to do.”

The ankle device checks for traces of alcohol hourly and stores data. Once a day, the person wearing the device is required to be near a modem at home, so results can be transmitted to a secure computer system. The device is secured with a lock, and monitors can tell if the bracelet has been tampered with.

“Anything that helps keep drunk drivers off the roads, anything that keeps our deputies from going to these senseless, thoughtless crime scenes, is a good idea,” said San Diego County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Jan Caldwell

State Assembly Bill 1832 is now on the governor’s desk, urging all counties to consider the bracelet. Supervisor Jacob says she’s going to bring the idea up at a board meeting within the next few weeks.


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CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Chris Packley returned from Fallujah in 2004 a top marksman on a sniper team showcased in the Marine Corps Times for its 22 kills.
"I was exceptionally proud of that Marine," says Gunnery Sgt. Scott Guise, his former team leader.

He also came home with flashbacks — memories of his friend, Lance Cpl. Michael Blake Wafford, 20, dying on the battlefield. Packley says he smoked marijuana to try to escape the images. He also left the base without permission. "I wanted out," Packley says.


Last year he got his wish and was expelled from the Marine Corps. As a consequence, he lost access to the free counseling and medication he needed to treat the mental wounds left from combat, according to Packley, his former defense lawyer and documents from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Scores of combat veterans like Packley are being dismissed from the Marines without the medical benefits needed to treat combat stress, says Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, who supervises the legal defense of Marines in the western USA, including here at Camp Pendleton.

When classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) arise — including alcoholism and drug abuse — the veterans are punished for the behavior, Vokey says. Their less-than-honorable discharges can lead to a denial of VA benefits. Vokey calls it a Catch-22, referring to the no-win situation showcased in Joseph Heller's 1961 satirical war novel Catch-22.

"The Marine Corps has created these mental health issues" in combat veterans, Vokey says, "and then we just kind of kick them out into the streets."

Characters in Catch-22 were caught in a contradiction. They could be relieved of dangerous flying missions if crazy. But if they claimed to be crazy, they were deemed sane for trying to avoid danger and had to keep flying.

In Iraq, Marines who perform well in combat can be lauded for it. But if they develop PTSD, they can be punished for stress-related misconduct, kicked out of the military and denied treatment for their illness.

In recent months, the Marine Corps has begun investigating the matter, identifying 1,019 Marines who may fall into this group since the war in Iraq began. All served at least one year in the Marines and one tour overseas before being discharged for misconduct.

"We're digging down into the data sources we have to try and come up with answers," says Navy Capt. William Nash, who coordinates the Marine Corps' combat stress programs. "That it happens at all is obviously not ideal."

He says each case will be examined to learn whether the Marine suffered combat stress and whether that might have contributed to the misconduct.

The results could help the Marine Corps flag combat-stressed Marines and help them avoid getting into trouble, Nash says.

More aggressive about PTSD

The military has moved more aggressively in this war to educate and treat combat stress than in previous conflicts. Mental health teams have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers and Marines are asked about their mental and physical health before and after their tours.

A 2004 Army study showed that about 17% of combat troops suffer PTSD, a rate comparable with Vietnam-era stress among such troops, says Joseph Boscarino, a senior investigator with the Geisinger Center for Health Research in Danville, Pa., who has conducted extensive PTSD research on Vietnam veterans.

Vokey and his lawyers say they are convinced, based on reviews of medical records, that combat stress was a major factor in the misconduct cases. They argue that either the Pentagon or VA should revise its policies so that these combat veterans are not stripped of the medical care they need to get better.

"People would be appalled if the guy came back and he had lost a leg, lost a limb, and then we say, 'Oh, you had a DUI (driving under the influence), so you're going to have to give your prosthetic back,' " says Marine Capt. James Weirick, a former member of Vokey's staff. "But to a great extent, we're doing that with these people."

Packley, 24, received an other-than-honorable discharge. According to a VA document Packley's mother, Patricia, shared with USA TODAY, the department acknowledges he has PTSD but denied him benefits in July.

"You go to war and they can't even help you with the problems you get from it," says Packley, who now does state highway construction in Joliet, Ill.

He says he has been off anti-anxiety, anti-depression and sleep medications for months because he cannot afford it. "I'm just so stressed," he says. "It doesn't take much to get me almost panic-stricken anymore."

Heroes in trouble

Marine Capt. Mike Studenka, who supervises a law office located amid infantry battalions at Camp Pendleton, says he sees about 40 Marines each month who are in trouble. About a third fit the profile of combat veterans with impressive records who suddenly have drug or alcohol problems and face dismissal and loss of benefits.

"You have guys coming in this building who are, no question about it, heroes in everything that they have done in the past," Studenka says. "You have them saying, 'I just need to get out. I want out.' That breaks your heart."

The Marine Corps says post-traumatic stress disorder is no legal defense to misconduct and that discipline must be maintained.

"PTSD does not force anyone to do an illegal act," Nash says. "The consequences to the Marine Corps of not upholding those standards of behavior would be a much greater tragedy. It would dishonor all those Marines who have been injured by the stress of war but who have not broken the rules."

Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen who get in trouble can receive one of four discharges. The lightest is a general discharge, often described as "under honorable conditions," in which recipients remain eligible for most VA benefits.

More serious misconduct can lead to an other-than-honorable discharge or, worse, a bad conduct discharge. A serious felony results in a dishonorable discharge.

The law prohibits a veteran from receiving the full spectrum of VA benefits — such things as health care, insurance and home loans — in certain cases, such as those involving deserters, conscientious objectors or those who receive dishonorable discharges.

But the VA has discretion to grant full benefits in other-than-honorable or bad conduct discharge cases. It can still deny them if the agency decides the underlying misconduct was "willful and persistent," a largely subjective decision, VA official Jack McCoy says.

Statistics from 1990 through September show that about eight out of 10 veterans who received bad-conduct discharges were turned down when they sought benefits, McCoy says.

Few exceptions

Even if the full package of benefits is denied, the VA can still grant health care for specific war-related injuries such as PTSD. Gary Baker, director of the VA's health eligibility center, says that in his 20 years of experience he has seen this exception granted fewer than six times.

The VA offers temporary counseling, but no medication, for veterans who are appealing their discharges. Counseling ends if the appeal fails. Vokey argues that the VA could relax its practices and treat veterans who are discharged for PTSD-related misconduct.

Mental health experts say this problem almost certainly occurred in prior wars. But combat-induced mental disorders and how they may contribute to bad behavior were not as well understood.

The issue exists today in the Army but to a lesser degree, says Army Lt. Col. John Wells, a former supervising defense lawyer. Combat-stress cases involving misconduct are handled in informal ways that often do not lead to a loss of benefits, Wells says.

The Marine Corps, by comparison, prides itself on its strict standards.

"We take discipline infraction very seriously," says Lt. Col. Scott Fazekas, a Marine Corps spokesman. It prosecutes about the same number of troops as the Army each year for misconduct, though it is only one-third the Army's size.

The Marine Corps also does a disproportionate share of fighting and dying in Iraq, making up 20% of U.S. ground forces while suffering 30% of the casualties. More than 10% of American troops who died in Iraq were Marines from Camp Pendleton, which has lost almost 300, more than any other military base.

Marine Corps statistics, though incomplete, show PTSD cases doubled from about 250 in 2003 to 596 in 2004, and then doubled again to 1,229 in 2005.

Although Marine Corps officials say the service has come a long way in recognizing and treating PTSD, they acknowledge that it still struggles to provide treatment resources and to overcome the stigma against those who suffer mental health problems.

"There might be some commanders out there who aren't really willing to accept that there is such a thing as post-traumatic stress syndrome," says Marine Col. Hank Donegan, a military intelligence officer at Pendleton.

Vokey and his staff agree that many troubled Marines should leave the Marine Corps, for their sake and that of the Corps. To strip them of benefits is wrong, they say. "It seems to me our country has bought that problem and we ought to fix it as best we can," says Melissa Epstein, a Los Angeles lawyer and former Marine captain on Vokey's staff.

A medal winner's trauma

One of those PTSD cases involved Ryan Birrell, 24, who served as a sergeant with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. After his second tour, in 2004-05, he received the Bronze Star with a "V" for combat heroism.

The citation described five separate episodes of valor, including one morning in February 2005 when Birrell organized the defense of a fog-shrouded observation post in Husaybah that came under multiple attacks by insurgents and suicide car-bombers. A wounded Birrell rallied his troops, tended to casualties and directed fire, often while exposed to enemy gunfire.

"Sgt. Birrell reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest tradition of the Marine Corps," his citation reads.

After coming home, Birrell took an assignment earlier this year as a drill instructor at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, and his life began to fall apart.

Diagnosed with PTSD, he suddenly demanded a divorce from his wife, abused alcohol and methamphetamine and left his base without permission, say Birrell and Weirick, then his lawyer.

Kicked out of the Marine Corps with an other-than-honorable discharge, he lived in Tijuana, Mexico, for months, often homeless.

"What brought me down there was how the streets were kind of like being in Iraq — that kind of turmoil-type stuff," Birrell says now.

Birrell says that in Tijuana, he could fill his head with thoughts of where to find food or shelter.

Growing tired of that life, he finally called his parents and they brought him to their home in Las Vegas last month. "Life is great," says his mother, Kim Lukas, who says she's ecstatic to have him home again.

For Birrell, who now lives in Torrance, Calif., insomnia is back. "When I do sleep," he says, "I'm constantly waking up from dreams, constantly tired throughout the day." His nightmares are of war. He visited VA offices Tuesday asking for benefits despite his other-than-honorable discharge. Birrell says he needs treatment for his PTSD. Weirick fears they will turn him down regardless of his battlefield heroism.

Lukas says that makes her angry. "He's done two tours over there, and God knows how many lives he's saved," she says. "He's going to need the care."


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A dispute between two state agencies has resulted in the dismissal of hundreds of cases involving accused drunken drivers who had their licenses automatically suspended.

From Jan. 1 through Wednesday, S.C. Administrative Law Court hearing officers dismissed 421 cases statewide - nearly 70 percent of the 602 cases they heard - making it easier for those drivers to get back behind the wheel.

And while the dismissal rate for all of 2005 also was high - 60 percent - the difference this year is that in the vast majority of the dismissed cases, the investigating police officers didn't show up for the administrative hearings because they weren't notified.

Police officers haven't been notified because the court and the state Department of Motor Vehicles can't agree who has that responsibility. A state law that went into effect Jan. 1 transferred oversight of the hearing officers from the department to the court.

Marvin Kittrell, the court's chief judge, said Thursday that his staff would start notifying police officers immediately.

Meanwhile, Kittrell said he is pushing proposed legislation, scheduled for debate Tuesday in the S.C. House, that would more clearly give his office that responsibility.

"It's a mess," he said. "I really think it's (the motor vehicles department's) responsibility."

Under state law, licenses are suspended automatically for 90 days for suspected drunken drivers who refuse to take a blood-alcohol test, and 30 days for those whose blood-alcohol level is at least .15 percent. A blood-alcohol level of.08 percent or higher is illegal.

Drivers can appeal their suspensions to one of the state's six Administrative Law Court hearing officers. If their administrative cases are dismissed, drivers can get their licenses back pending the outcome of their criminal cases.

Kittrell, who oversees the hearing officers, said he understands the public safety ramifications of dismissing cases, but "we cannot be more than a court."

"We have to apply the law equally and fairly to all parties when they walk in the door."

PURSUING APPEALS

The Department of Motor Vehicles has not reinstated licenses in about 200 of the 421 dismissed cases while it files appeals with Kittrell's court, department officials said last week. Most of the affected drivers can apply for temporary licenses pending the department's appeals, they said.

"We have additional cases that are being reviewed, and we will probably file more (appeals)," said department spokeswoman Beth Parks.

The department contends that when its hearing officers and staff were transferred to the court under the new law, "all the functions and duties went with it," Parks said.

"We are working these things through with the ALC," said Lotte Devlin, the department's policy and planning administrator. "There's just a difference in interpretation going on."

Col. Russell Roark, head of the Highway Patrol, said last week his division had been working with the DMV to develop a "cleaner" notification process involving sending hearing notices to officers by e-mail instead of by fax. The e-mails would be forwarded via a central account at the Highway Patrol.

"We're relying on the Department of Motor Vehicles to notify us," he said. "If the DMV notifies us of a hearing, we will try, to the best of our ability, to make sure our trooper is at the hearing."

Roark didn't know if any of the 421 dismissed cases involved troopers.

LEGISLATIVE FIX

A sponsor of a House bill aimed at fixing the problem blames the motor vehicles department.

"They're deliberately picking a fight," Rep. Greg Delleney, R-Chester, said last week. "Had there not been a problem to begin with, the administrative hearing officers would still be with them."

Before the hearing officers were transferred out of DMV, Delleney said, some department managers treated the officers "like stepchildren." Some were even locked out of their offices, he said.

Parks said department director Marcia Adams - who was unavailable for comment last week -proposed in 2004 moving the hearing officers out of the department because "it really wasn't part of our mission."

Delleney said he supported the transfer to the Administrative Law Court so drivers could have a "fair and impartial hearing."

But Kittrell said he didn't want the hearing officers under his jurisdiction. "I felt I had enough on my plate at that time," he said.

Delleney said he will push to get the legislation this week to the Senate, which has a similar bill pending in a subcommittee.

Under both bills, the arresting police officers or officers operating breathalyzer machines would be designated as parties in Administrative Law Court hearings. Kittrell said current law requires his court to notify only parties. Police officers are now considered witnesses for the department, not parties.

NO-SHOWS

Jami Goldman, executive director of the state chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said last week she was unaware of the problem until contacted by The State.

"The officers I've met really want to get drunk drivers off the road," she said. "I would have to believe if they had to be (at the hearings), they would be there. It would be silly to pull somebody over and then go away."

Last year, however, administrative hearing officers, while part of the Department of Motor Vehicles, dismissed 1,818, or nearly 60 percent, of the 3,118 cases they heard because police officers didn't appear, Administrative Law Court records show.

Failure to notify police officers about the hearings wasn't the problem then, court and department officials said. But they could not provide reasons for those dismissals.

Robert Harley Jr., the state's chief hearing officer, estimated that in about a third of his dismissed cases, the arresting officer didn't show up as part of a deal in which the driver agreed to quickly plead guilty to the criminal charge.

Officers also might skip administrative hearings because it's their scheduled day off, he said, or they have conflicts with other cases, or they don't believe their case is strong.


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