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49ers’ Aldon Smith Charged with Possession of Marijuana and DUI, Now Suspended Indefinitely From Team

49ers’ Aldon Smith Charged with Possession of Marijuana and DUI, Now Suspended Indefinitely From Team

This past Friday, pro football player Aldon Smith, linebacker for the 49ers, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and DUI (driving under the influence).  Despite the arrest, the 49ers allowed Smith to play in Sundays game against the Indianapolis Colts.  When the game ended, Smith returned to the locker room to discover his locker was empty.  Decisions had been made by 49ers’ CEO, Jed York, to punish the 23-year-old by immediate suspension from the team “indefinitely.”

Smith was arrested Friday morning at 7am in the morning by San Jose police.  Allegedly a witness saw Smith crashed his Bentley into a tree and called 911 to report the accident.  No one was hurt during the collision and Aldon walked away uninjured.  However, police suspected Smith of drunk driving.  Smith failed the DUI field tests and the breathalyzer test revealed BAC level of .15, almost twice the legal limit of .08.  Aldon Smith was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and DUI.  Smith was booked into county jail and bailed out later that day.

This is Aldon’s second DUI arrest, his first DUI charge occurred in Miami in January of 2012.

Aldon released statements after Sunday’s game addressing his DUI and possession of marijuana arrest saying “First off, I wanted to apologize to the team, the organization, my family and everybody I let down. I also wanted to let it be known that this is a problem and it’s something that I will get fixed, and that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that this never happens again.”

Rumor has it Aldon Smith has already sought out an alcohol treatment program to get help.  Jed York stood by Aldon stating, “Again, I’ll support our players as long as they’re willing to work toward getting better and being better teammates, better members of the community. I believe that Aldon wants to do that, and I will support him and I will stand by him as long as that’s what he’s willing to do.”

Smith will need an experienced DUI and criminal defense lawyer to navigate through these new DUI and possession of marijuana charges.  If found guilty of the DUI, Aldon Smith may suffer an even longer football suspension enforced by commissioner Roger Goodell, who considers a DUI a high level concern.

 

Written by S.O

 

It Runs in the Family, Lindsay Lohan’s Mother Charged with DUI

It Runs in the Family, Lindsay Lohan’s Mother Charged with DUI

Mother Dina Lohan like daughter Lindsay Lohan or is it daughter Lohan like mother Lohan?  Who knows, but one thing is for sure; alcohol and a Lohan do not mix well … a bad recipe resulting in DUI (driving under the influence).

Thursday night, 50-year-old Dina Lohan was charged with DUI in Long Island, New York after being pulled over for speeding 77 mph in a 55 mph zone.  Allegedly during the stop, police observed visible signs of intoxication and asked Dina to take the DUI breath test to determine her BAC (blood alcohol content).  Dina should have refused this DUI test on the basis it is a voluntary test, however, she screwed up, took the test, and blew a .20 BAC result, twice the legal DUI limit of .08.

Li Lo’s mom was taken to jail where she was charged with speeding and DUI.  She was later bailed out of jail, but it wasn’t Lindsay to the rescue, an unknown source came to the aid of mama Lohan.

Rumor has it Dina has been drinking heavy and partying too much.  Still being a poor role model for daughter Lindsay, who also struggles with alcoholism and has a criminal history of DUI charges.

Dina has court next month and hopefully she will be able to find a good DUI lawyer, Lindsay won’t be able to refer her past criminal defense attorney since she fired her attorney while still owing $300,000.00 in legal fees, see my blog “Defense Attorney Saves Lindsay Lohan Despite Being Fired” for more details on Li Lo’s legal mishaps.

 

Written by S.O

heleyna holmes photography 003

New Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Laws

New Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Laws

Unfortunately every year there are fatal car accidents caused by drunk drivers.  However, this year has been different, Washington State lawmakers filed over a thousand pages of new driving under the influence (DUI) legislation within the months of March through June.

This mad rush of lawmaking was the aftermath of two tragic DUI related cases in the Seattle area.  Governor Inslee, lawmakers, and the “public” have been demanding tougher laws against drunk drivers ever since.

Many of the ideas proposed in early drafts had a lot of public and lawmaker support but were completely unrealistic as actual policies.  A popular proposal was to require special licenses or ID cards for people with DUI history to prohibit their purchase of alcohol.  This proposal appeared quite ineffective considering current Washington State law allows the use of various forms of identification for the purchase of alcohol, including passports and military ID’s.

Another popular proposal that went nowhere was the requirement for all drivers arrested for DUI to have an ignition interlock device installed in his/her vehicle while contained at the impound lot.  The vehicle would remain impounded until the ignition interlock devices was installed properly.  This proposal quickly didn’t pass because of testimony provided by representatives from ignition interlock companies that it was not feasible to install devices off site.

The two mentioned proposals did not pass into law this session.  However, new DUI law, Engrossed Second Substitute Bill 5912, passed and will become effective September 28, 2013.

As a result of 5912 there will be additional mandatory jail time for a DUI driver who had a child passenger.  A court sentencing under the new DUI law must consider whether or not a driver had a passenger under the age of 16 years in the vehicle at the time of the incident and impose additional jail time if they did.  For a DUI driver with no DUI history, this additional mandatory jail is 24 hours.  For a DUI driver with prior DUI history the additional mandatory jail is five days (one prior DUI) and ten days (two or more prior DUI offenses).

Also, 5912 impacts drivers with DUI history at the time of arrest and during pre-trial conditions of release.  During a DUI arrest, if the officer has knowledge of the individual having a prior DUI offense within 10 years, 5912 requires that driver to be booked into jail and held until released by a judge.  Any judge setting pretrial conditions of release for a person with a prior DUI is required by 5912 to impose an installation of an ignition interlock device.  The law does not allow for removal of the device until acquittal or dismissal of the DUI charge.

Driving under the influence laws are ever-changing.  If you or anyone you know is accused with DUI call David O Defense Criminal and DUI Litigation to schedule a free consultation.