San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Attorney news

May 6, 2008

A man faced with little time for reflection - accused of leading officers on a New Year's Eve chase while drunk, then killing a police dog by jumping off the San Diego Coronado Bridge with the animal - pleaded not guilty Tuesday to four felony counts, with his San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Attorney.

Cory Byron, 27, faces four years and four months in state prison if convicted of harming a police animal, evading officers with reckless driving, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and driving with a measurable blood-alcohol level causing injury, say San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Attorneys.

The defendant, who has previous DUI convictions from 2003 and 2005, is also charged with misdemeanor counts of DUI with a prior within 10 years, driving with a measurable blood-alcohol level with a prior within 10 years, and hit-and-run, San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Lawyers report.

At a hearing at the Vista Courthouse, Judge Dan Goldstein scheduled Byron's trial for the first week of September. He also set a San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Attorney readiness conference for May 27.

Oceanside police Officer Rodrick Sadler testified at a hearing earlier this month that he had just left his station with his dog, Stryker, when he spotted a possible drunken driver in a pickup truck swerving from lane to lane on nearby State Route 76, San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Attorneys are told.

He said he turned on his overhead lights, then activated his siren when the driver didn't stop. Byron made a U-turn against a red arrow at Melrose Drive and went westbound on SR 76, running red lights at numerous intersections before striking a vehicle at College Boulevard, San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Attorneys are told the officer said. The defendant then turned south on Interstate 5, exited at Pershing Drive in downtown San Diego and made a U-turn to return to the freeway.

According to San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Attorney sources, the pickup went onto the bridge but stopped at mid- span after striking a wall. He said he deployed Stryker when the defendant got out of his vehicle and acted like he was about to run, despite commands to stay put.

Stryker grabbed onto Byron's left arm and took him down to the roadway next to a concrete barrier, Sadler said. The dog continued gripping the defendant's arm as he got up and turned in a motion that seemed as if he was trying to fling the canine over the wall, San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Lawyer sources report.

He said he ran to try to reach the dog, but Byron put his leg onto the barrier and went over with the animal still attached. Byron was rescued by San Diego Harbor Police officers immediately after the fall and was hospitalized for more than a week with a collapsed lung and other injuries. The dog was buried at Camp Pendleton. A mother and two daughters in the car that was rammed in the College Boulevard intersection testified that they are plagued by aches and pains, per San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Attorneys.

Jesus Magdaleno, a California Highway Patrol officer who took part in the chase, said the defendant's blood-alcohol level when tested four hours after the pursuit was .17 percent, more than double the state's legal limit, according to San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Lawyers.

The San Diego DUI Criminal Defense case hinges on legal interpretations of the penal code for harming animals, and whether Byron was truly aware that he was sending Stryker to his death.

The entire incident on the bridge lasted five seconds, and from the length of time from when Byron stood with the dog to when he went over the side was a second and a half, San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Attorney Anthony Solare correctly pointed out.

"The fact of the matter is this happened very quickly and with little time for reflection," his San Diego DUI Criminal Defense Lawyer said.