California drunk driving criminal defense attorney news


COTATI, Calif.—A Cotati man is facing up to four years in state prison after being convicted of California DUI for the ninth time, authorities said.
Malcom Osgood McCoy, 61, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.31 percent—nearly three times the legal limit for driving—during his latest arrest, said Barry McBride, a Sonoma County deputy district attorney.

McCoy was already inebriated when a witness spotted him buying more alcohol from a market, McBride said. The witness urged McCoy not to drive, but he drove off anyway, and the witness followed him home.

At the time, McCoy was on parole after serving a 16-month prison sentence for two prior drunken-driving convictions. He did not have a driver's license and was not allowed to drink alcohol.

California Highway Patrol officers found McCoy passed out inside the house, and had the witness place McCoy under citizen's arrest because he had seen McCoy behind the wheel.

A jury on Friday convicted McCoy of drunken driving for the incident, his ninth drunken driving conviction since 1986, prosecutors said.

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said the verdict "sends a message to all impaired motorists that their actions will not be tolerated by this community."

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