Sunday, May 11, 2008
Extreme DUI laws challenged
San Diego Criminal Defense Attorney - San Diego DUI Lawyer news
Barbara McCloone was arrested by Phoenix DUI police on suspicion of DUI - driving under the influence of alcohol. Based on two DUI breath tests, it was determined McCloone had a blood-alcohol content roughly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
The 57-year-old Phoenix woman was charged with extreme DUI, leaving the scene of her single-car accident and speeding.
Under harsher DUI laws passed last year, McCloone, a first-time offender, would be required to equip her car with a breath-testing device known as an ignition interlock. She would also have to serve a minimum of 45 days in jail because her BAC exceeded 0.20 percent, putting her in the new "super extreme DUI" category.
But McCloone and three other DUI offenders are challenging Arizona's new laws, arguing that they are unconstitutionally "vague and ambiguous." And some state lawmakers are worried a DUI judge may soon strike down the laws, eliminating mandatory interlock devices for first-time DUI offenders.
McCloone's attorney makes the case that the statute does not specify at what time the individual's alcohol content must exceed 0.20 percent. Another provision of the laws makes it illegal for a person to have a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 percent or more within two hours of getting behind the wheel.
"Because the statute is not specific and, therefore, unclear, it fails to provide persons of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited and fails to contain explicit standards of application to prevent arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement," McCloone's attorney, Lawrence I. Kazan, wrote in a lawsuit filed in Phoenix Municipal Court.
An omnibus DUI bill sponsored by House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, would have cleared up any ambiguity in the laws, including a discrepancy over sentencing. But Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed House Bill 2395 late last month, objecting to a provision that would reduce the amount of time first-time DUI offenders would be required to use the interlock device.
There's a possibility a DUI judge would toss out the DUI laws over technicalities. But Sen. Jim Waring, another Phoenix Republican, said there's a good reason why the liquor lobbyist and other DUI interlock opponents are fighting for the DUI bill's defeat.
San Diego Criminal Defense Attorneys & San Diego DUI Lawyers at www.sandiegodrunkdrivingattorney.net
Barbara McCloone was arrested by Phoenix DUI police on suspicion of DUI - driving under the influence of alcohol. Based on two DUI breath tests, it was determined McCloone had a blood-alcohol content roughly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
The 57-year-old Phoenix woman was charged with extreme DUI, leaving the scene of her single-car accident and speeding.
Under harsher DUI laws passed last year, McCloone, a first-time offender, would be required to equip her car with a breath-testing device known as an ignition interlock. She would also have to serve a minimum of 45 days in jail because her BAC exceeded 0.20 percent, putting her in the new "super extreme DUI" category.
But McCloone and three other DUI offenders are challenging Arizona's new laws, arguing that they are unconstitutionally "vague and ambiguous." And some state lawmakers are worried a DUI judge may soon strike down the laws, eliminating mandatory interlock devices for first-time DUI offenders.
McCloone's attorney makes the case that the statute does not specify at what time the individual's alcohol content must exceed 0.20 percent. Another provision of the laws makes it illegal for a person to have a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 percent or more within two hours of getting behind the wheel.
"Because the statute is not specific and, therefore, unclear, it fails to provide persons of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited and fails to contain explicit standards of application to prevent arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement," McCloone's attorney, Lawrence I. Kazan, wrote in a lawsuit filed in Phoenix Municipal Court.
An omnibus DUI bill sponsored by House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, would have cleared up any ambiguity in the laws, including a discrepancy over sentencing. But Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed House Bill 2395 late last month, objecting to a provision that would reduce the amount of time first-time DUI offenders would be required to use the interlock device.
There's a possibility a DUI judge would toss out the DUI laws over technicalities. But Sen. Jim Waring, another Phoenix Republican, said there's a good reason why the liquor lobbyist and other DUI interlock opponents are fighting for the DUI bill's defeat.
San Diego Criminal Defense Attorneys & San Diego DUI Lawyers at www.sandiegodrunkdrivingattorney.net
# posted by SanDiegoDUI @ 1:20 PM 
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