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Preparing an Expert In Your San Diego DUI Case

Every professional in San Diego should have the training in his or her field. It is important to look for certain skills in hiring a San Diego DUI expert. The following are list of criteria I would make sure an expert has experienced during their careers.

Most experts have participated in correlation studies. These are studies where people are given different amounts of alcohol and ask to perform different field sobriety tests. Experts can gain experience in a controlled environment concerning the effects of alcohol on people and their ability to drive at different levels.

Most experts have participated in ride-a-longs that allows an expert to experience in the uncontrolled environment of the field. This allows an expert to obtain real work experience from the perspective of law enforcement.

Most experts should have bench work in a laboratory actually performing alcohol analysis. Be careful in hiring an expert that does not have this area of expertise. A person that manages a laboratory may sound impressive but there is no substitute for someone that does the grunt work of running the tests.

Most experts should be familiar with past and current literature in the area of DUI stops and arrests in San Diego. Try to determine the currency of the potential literature. Be careful of hiring an expert who is not current and up to date with issues arising out of DUI stops and arrests throughout San Diego. All the experts that I hire spend time reading technical journals in the field and are well researched on the science behind the various tests and their accuracy in the field.

As DUI attorneys are responsible of being associated with professional associations, it is important that your expert is held to the same standard. All experts should belong to a professional toxicology association. Within the association you can determine whether the expert has any licenses issued in the area of alcohol analysis.

After you have picked your expert to testify on your behalf at trial, it is important to make sure that person gets the discovery in your case early enough to prepare for the San Diego trial. I provide experts with police reports, alcohol test results, and the maintenance and calibration records of any device used to perform the BAC test here in San Diego. It is important to be sure to ask the prosecution for specific discovery early on so that you can turn it over to your expert.

If you have any questions about obtaining an expert opinion regarding your San Diego DUI case, contact San Diego DUI attorney Vik Monder at 619.405.0063 or visit San Diego Criminal Attorney

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Understanding the Walk and Turn Field Sobriety Test in a San Diego DUI Case

The most common field sobriety test to determine an impaired driver in San Diego is for an officer to conduct a walk and turn examination. The officer gives the suspect stands in a heel-to-toe fashion with arms at the sides while a series of instructions. The officer must find a designated straight line where the weather conditions should not be adverse to the suspect. Furthermore, there are conditions that may exist such as medical conditions that would prevent a suspect from performing the exam. An officer should not have a 65-year-old man on crushes perform this exam.

However, the officer will have to give the following instructions if he or she chooses to conduct the test:

1. Suspect must place left foot on line
2. Suspect must place right foot on line in front of left foot with hell of right foot against toe of left foot
3. Suspect must keep arms down against sides during entire test
4. Suspect must understand all instructions
5. Suspect must take nine heal-to-toe steps and when the ninth step has been taken, must leave the front foot on the line, and turn around using a series of small steps with other foot.
6. Suspect must take another nine heel-to-toe steps back on line.
7. Suspect must count the steps aloud and once they start walking then should not stop until test is completed.
8. Total all clues.

The officer will add up all the clues after the test is completed. Two or more clues classify the suspect’s BAC as above a .08%. Clues include suspect cannot keep balance, sways or uses arms for balance, starts too soon, stop walking, misses heel-to-toe, steps off line, takes wrong number of steps or turns improperly. This test has one of the highest probabilities of false positives for impaired driving in comparison to all other standardized tests.

If you have any questions about your DUI in San Diego, contact San Diego DUI specialist Attorney Vik Monder at 619.405.0063 or visit San Diego Criminal Attorney

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Understanding the One Leg Stand Field Sobriety Test in a San Diego DUI Case

This test is administered along with other standardized field sobriety tests. This test requires the suspect to stand on one leg while the other leg is extended in front of the suspect six-inches above the ground. The officer would need to make sure the weather conditions are sufficient to perform this test without causing undue harm or danger to the suspect. Furthermore, the suspect may have medical conditions that would prevent the performance of this test. Individuals who are overweight may have a difficult time performing this exam.

Nevertheless, if the officer chooses to have the suspect perform the exam, then the following instructions are required:

1. Suspect must stand with feet together with arms down at the sides
2. Suspect must maintain that position while officer gives the instructions and tells suspect to begin
3. Suspect must understand the instructions.
4. Suspect must raise leg six inches off ground with toe pointed forward parallel to ground when told to begin
5. Suspect arms must be by side the entire time until test is completed
6. Suspect must count in head and not out loud when foot is off the ground.
7. It is important that test last for thirty seconds and get count from Suspect
8. Total the clues.

The officer will add up all the clues once the test is completed. Two or more clues classify the suspect as having a BAC at or above .08%. The one leg stand has four clues for impairment. The clues include swaying while balancing, using arms to balance, hopping, putting foot down. Keeping the number of clues down is the objective from the prospective of the suspect.

If you have any questions about your DUI in San Diego, contact San Diego DUI specialist Attorney Vik Monder at 619.405.0063 or visit San Diego Criminal Lawyer

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Getting your criminal discovery in a San Diego Criminal Case

The government in any prosecution of a San Diego defendant must turn over any and all discovery that would lead to the conviction of a defendant. However, there are instances where the prosecutor chooses to disclose certain information when it becomes exculpatory for the defendant. If the prosecution does not turn over exculpatory evidence to the defendant, then it becomes a Brady violation. Brady is a case that involved a request by the defense for specific evidence that was not turned over by the prosecution that would have lead to the exoneration of the defendant.

Following Brady, in another murder case, the United States Supreme Court discussed the requirements for the prosecution to disclose evidence in the absence of a request by the defense. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97 (1976). Now there is a constitutional duty for the prosecution to disclose evidence even if the defense does not ask for the specific piece of evidence that is exculpatory.

Knowing that the prosecution has a constitutional duty to turn over exculpatory evidence, it is wise for any defendant to not resolve any case until all information is turned over. As an experienced criminal defense attorney in San Diego, I do not recommend my clients to take the first deal in any case when I have not seen what the prosecution has to prove. I must weigh the evidence in light of what becomes incriminating, mitigating, and exculpatory. I have had several cases dismissed because the mitigation or exculpatory evidence outweighs what becomes incriminating in the prosecution’s case in chief. San Diego prosecutors understand the importance of preserving evidence that is exculpatory. Prosecutors have been fired and charged in the past for destroying evidence in a case that would lead to the innocence of the defendant. Essentially, the prosecution must be forthcoming with any and all information in a San Diego criminal case.

Criminal defendants often believe there is a government conspiracy against them and they are hiding information. However, through different vehicles allowed by defense attorneys in the court system we can get information that we have reason to believe exists. Either by filing a formal discovery request or a pitchess motion, the defense has tools necessary to adequately prepare every single case for trial. Sometimes a trial judge will limit the exposure of evidence presented to the jury if it deemed prejudicial or privileged. However, defense attorneys will argue these points to exhaustion so that the jury will hear the truth of the prosecutions case in chief.

The penal code section to request discovery in your San Diego criminal case is section 1054.1. The defense will request the prosecution to disclose all of the information required under section 1054.1. Any time you hire an experienced criminal defense attorney in San Diego make sure there is a plan for obtaining discovery in your criminal case and investigating those claims to pursue further discovery requests. If you have any questions about a San Diego criminal case, contact experienced San Diego criminal defense attorney Vik Monder at 619.405.0063 or visit San Diego Criminal Defense Attorney  

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What type of discovery matters in your San Diego DUI Case

There are important pieces of information in your criminal case that must be asked for in order to adequately prepare for your case. I will break down the information based on the type of examination that was conducted by the officers during your DUI arrest in San Diego. The following is the evidence you should be requesting:

 Breath Test Cases:

• Officer training history on the particular machine used in the case
• Current laboratory license
• Method laboratory has adopted or submitted to the state for BAC testing
• Copy of the manufacturer’s manual for the breath machine used.
• Titration records for the simulator solution.
• Accuracy check records for two months before and after the date of the test
• Logs showing how many persons were tested during the period two months

Blood and Urine Test Cases:

• Spilt portion of blood or urine sample obtained from the defendant
• Methodology used in the analysis (lab procedure)
• Bench notes analyst created during the time of his or her analysis
• Results of the controls used in the run. These are known solutions or blanks
• Result of the defendant’s sample
• Actual chromatograms of the test of the defendant’s sample
• Interference testing that was done to insure that other compounds or volatiles were not mistakenly being analyzed as ethanol
• Copy of the “run list.”
• Maintenance records pertaining to the particular device used to measure the blood or urine sample for three months before and after the defendant’s sample was analyzed.

Chain of Custody for DUI Cases:

• Review of the vial the sample was deposited in, or a copy of the information set forth on the vial.
• Records reflecting any proficiency tests given by an independent organization within the last year to the laboratory and the analyst
• Records reflecting any internal proficiency tests given within the last year to the analyst
• Records reflecting any accuracy checks conducted on any on vials purchased from a manufacturer
• Instructions or checklist used by the phlebotomist for the blood draw, or by the person who obtained the urine sample

In any DUI case it is important to question the experts in a way that allows the jurors to understand the process behind how the results were reached. A lot of times the samples that were derived from the machines are due to part of a large automated process. Asking for certain discovery about the process will allow you to prepare for the questions at hand. It is a misconception that jurors tend to believe that the DUI arresting agency gave the defendant’s test sample individualized attention by having a scientist look at the sample. If you have any questions about the information in your San Diego criminal case, contact experienced San Diego DUI attorney Vik Monder at 619.405.0063 or visit San Diego Criminal Defense Lawyer

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Reversing the DUI Driving Suspension After a Not Guilty Finding of the DUI Charge

In cases where the BAC at the time of driving was below a 0.08% and there is no finding of guilt as to the DUI at the time of driving, then there is legislation under Vehicle Code Section 13335.2 that prevents the deprivation of driving privileges. An experienced DUI defense attorney knows what to ask the court in recognizing the accepted scientific evidence of rising blood alcohol levels as applied to your case. When the court agrees with the defense theory of the case, then the DMV must also follow the ruling. Your experienced DUI defense attorney would be able to get your suspension overturned by the DMV even though you might have lost the administrative per se hearing months earlier.

This will occur at the end of the criminal proceedings where a competent Judge and Jury hear the evidence. Typically a hearing officer at the DMV does not know that much info about the case in making their decision besides what the officer wrote on the police report under the DS-367. However, when the evidence of the crime lab’s failure to comply with Title 17’s regulations pertaining to determinations of accuracy of the DataMaster used to get your BAC, then there will be a not guilty finding of the DUI charges in your case.

Only those individuals, who have actually driven with a BAC of 0.08% or more, have their licenses suspended. A not guilty finding on this specific issue is a well-settled principle of law that the DMV must follow. You will be at a disadvantage by using a public defender in your DUI case because they will not have the ability to fight to have your license reinstated. It is important to hire an experienced DUI defense attorney to remedy any situation that may have occurred as a result of your license suspension by the DMV.

The courts in Helmandollar v. DMV has specifically stated that when an individual receives an early administrative suspension of driving privileges, and is thereafter acquitted of a charge of driving, or being in physical control of a vehicle, with a blood alcohol level of.08 percent or more, DMV must restore that individual’s driving privileges upon an appropriately founded and adequately documented request. Plaintiffs were thus acquitted, and are, therefore, entitled to reinstatement of their license. Helmandollar v. Department of Motor Vehicles (1992) 7 Cal. App. 4th 52, 9 CR2d 155.

If you have any questions about getting your license reinstated after a DUI please feel free to contact an experienced San Diego DUI defense attorney at 619.405.0063 or visit San Diego Criminal Attorney

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How to win a DUI Case in San Diego

First things first. Focus on the Officer’s Testimony. 90% of all DUI cases are won at the motion hearing stage. If you plan on winning a DUI case you must file a winning suppression motion. Do not think that your testimony will be more believable than the officer’s testimony. That is a fundamental flaw to say the officer was lying. The only way is to point out how the officer is lying. You need to hire an experienced DUI Defense attorney to illustrate how this is accomplished.

I am going to provide you an example where a client comes into the office and says I was driving completely fine and the officer was following me for a mile before he pulled me over. The officer’s testimony is that he pulled the client over because he was swerving between lanes. Client says that is a lie. Don’t be fooled! An officer will never say sorry for lying on the stand. This is how an experienced criminal and DUI defense attorney separates himself from the rest of the lawyers out there in San Diego.

The credibility of the officer can be attacked in various ways but I will provide you this example. The officer says that the client was swerving three times for about the two minutes he was following the client. The officer says client was going 50 miles per hour and the three times client swerves occurs 10 to 15 feet each time before returning to the center of the lane. The weaving was very noticeable and was equally spaced apart between the two minutes of observation. The suppression motion appears unwinnable on its face based on the officer’s testimony. However, the way I win these suppression motions on lack of probable cause of weaving is simple.

I discredit the officer without having to get into the dreaded credibility contest. The technique I use is to determine the speed in feet per second. This technique pins the officer against scientific fact. The formula is to determine speed in feet per second per mile per hour is as follows:

• There are 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes in an hour.
• Therefore: 60 H 60 = 3,600 seconds in an hour.
• There are 5,280 feet per mile.

5280 feet / 3,600 seconds = 1.4666 feet per second (or, about 1.5 feet per second).

At 50 miles per hour the defendant would have to be traveling 75 feet her second (1.5 feet per second X 50 miles per hour). Given this information the client must be weaving .2 seconds before straightening out. If equally spaced out over two minutes that would mean every 60 seconds or every 4,500 feet for .2 seconds. Any judge would understand that it does not sound reasonable based on the officer’s testimony. This is the way you attack an officer. You never call them a liar. You show them how their testimony does not work based on science.

If you have any questions about how to win your DUI case in San Diego, please feel free to contact an experienced DUI specialist at 619.405.0063 or visit the website San Diego Criminal Lawyer

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What to do if you fall asleep behind the wheel and arrested for a DUI in San Diego

There has been a warrantless arrest and wake up in jail. Now What? The community caretaker doctrine allows officers to act in certain instances to help distressed citizens. Basically you are being arrested to protect you from yourself! Hopefully this makes little sense to you as it does to an experienced defense attorney. We believe you have a fourth amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizures from officers especially if you are sleeping in your own car and minding your own business. 

I am going to provide information in the context of drunk driving with the engine running and headlights off with the driver sleeping in the vehicle. The officer most likely knocks on the window and then opens the car door where the defendant is in an intoxicated state. As an experienced criminal and DUI defense attorney it is our position that the officer should not have entered your vehicle given the nature and level of distress exhibited by the individual, the location of the individual, and lack of danger to himself or herself. If you plan to hire an experienced DUI criminal attorney, then the first thing that will happen is that we will prevent any evidence from coming into court from the moment that officer opened the door.  Filing a suppression motion with the court does this. We will cross-examine the officer in such a way that will suggest that the officer was overreaching in making an arrest when you were never a danger to yourself. 

Typically the officer must have probable cause based on his own observations of the incident. The fact that the officer did not see the defendant driving and there is no corroborating evidence to suggest driving is enough for an experienced criminal defense attorney to get the DUI dismissed in your case. 

If you have any questions about your arrest feel free to contact Attorney Vik Monder who is an experienced criminal and DUI Defense Attorney in San Diego. You can reach him at anytime at 619.405.0063 or visit San Diego Criminal Defense Attorney

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Defending a DUI Checkpoint Case in San Diego

In attacking a DUI checkpoint an experienced DUI Defense Attorney will first need to see whether the roadblock in questions was created and operated properly under the constitution. For each traffic stop there must be a traffic violation or an equipment violation observed prior to the stop. The prosecution has the burden of justifying the detention during the stop at the checkpoint.

 The best way to attack a DUI checkpoint in any DUI case in San Diego is to file a suppression motion. This is accomplished via a hearing with the arresting officer present in court testifying as to the probable cause of the arrest. It is my job as a criminal and DUI defense attorney to cross-examine the officer in a direction that he or she does not comply with state and federal law regarding the operating of a checkpoint.

The most important piece of evidence in winning a suppression motion is to get an officer to agree that the sole purpose of the checkpoint is to make DUI arrests. As simple and straight forward this sounds the law basically prevents law enforcement from operating a checkpoint for the only purpose of arresting drivers for a DUI. The prosecution will steer the officer in justifying that operating the checkpoint is not for the purpose of only DUI arrests. An experienced defense attorney must be clever in eliciting testimony from the officer that will be helpful in winning your case.

We must establish certain criteria in regards to the checkpoint to lead the officer into providing affirmative testimony that will lead him down a path where he will agree that the checkpoint is for the sole purpose of arresting people for a DUI. The following criteria in the cross-examination of the officer is:

• Decision Making at the Supervisory Level.
• Limits on Discretion of Field Officers.
• Maintenance of Safety Conditions.
• Reasonable Location.
• Time and Duration.
• Indicia of Official Nature of checkpoint.
• Length and Nature of Detention.

An experienced criminal and DUI defense attorney in San Diego will look for the difference between enhancing safety and detecting a crime. Many checkpoints have everything to do about prosecuting the crime of drunk driving in San Diego. During the suppression motion in San Diego an experienced DUI defense attorney must ask the officer if the primary purpose of the drunk driving checkpoint was to catch and prosecute drunk drivers. If you hire the best DUI Attorney in San Diego, then you will get an affirmative response. Your DUI Defense Attorney will explain to the court that the United States Supreme Court expressly prohibited such conduct in City of Indianapolis v. Edmond.

If you have any questions about filing a suppression motion in your San Diego DUI case contact the Best DUI Attorney Vik Monder at 619.405.0063 or visit San Diego Criminal Defense Lawyer

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Police Procedures for Search and Seizure in a DUI case in San Diego

The first place any experienced DUI defense attorney begins once the discovery in received in your DUI case in San Diego is to assess and evaluate the legitimacy of the initial detention. In every drunk driving case in San Diego it is worth developing an approach that makes the police conduct unlawful. The Federal Constitution provides us with the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment allows us to be secure from any unreasonable searches and seizures. All cases involving the stop of a vehicle involves the Fourth Amendment and it is on the prosecution to show the reasonableness of the police conduct in developing probable cause for a DUI arrest under the totality of facts in the specific DUI stop in San Diego.

There are many cues that the police are required to identify in order to have enough probable cause in making an arrest. You are not required to answer any of the questions that an officer asks besides handing over identifying information. There are an unlimited number of reasons an officer may have stopped you; however, for the purposes of a DUI stop the officer cannot base an assumption of drunk driving on a simple hunch of bad driving alone. The basis of the officer’s arrest must simply come down to his personal observations of any violations of the law. There are many instances an individual may have committed multiple vehicle code violations without being under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance. Be sure to let the officer know right away if there are any medical conditions you may be suffering from as a result of any medical history. Most importantly, an officer cannot perform certain examinations or else they would be flawed if the subject had a medical condition (i.e. suffered from a past concussion).

Prosecutors in San Diego will try to justify the officer’s conduct based on the limited time to make a decision from the point of the DUI stop. However, a misapplication of those facts does not make the police conduct lawful or the arrest after the stop.

If you have questions about whether your arrest was lawful contact an experienced San Diego DUI defense attorney. At Monder Law Group we offer free consultations regarding your DUI arrest and will provide you with all the confidence you need in defending your case. Contact us today at 619.405.0063 or visit San Diego Criminal Attorney