DUI Blogger

Paris Hilton was placed on 36 months probation and ordered to pay fines after pleading no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving, a reduction of an original charge of driving under the influence, according to an Associated Press news report posted on CBS News’ Web site.

Hilton did not appear in court, but her attorneys entered the plea on her behalf. Judge Michael Sauer also ordered her to attend an alcohol education program and imposed other conditions. He gave her the option of reducing her probation to 24 months if she completed 40 hours of community service. No immediate decision was made on that option. The fines, plus penalty assessments totaled about $1,500.

The 25-year-old hotel heiress drew international attention with her Sept. 7 arrest after allegedly being seen weaving on a Hollywood street in her Mercedes-Benz. Police said she appeared intoxicated and failed a field sobriety test. She had a blood alcohol level of .08 percent, the level at which an adult driver is in violation of the law.

Hilton later said she may have been “speeding a little bit” and was on her way to get an In-N-Out burger. She had been filming a music video all day without eating and that the only alcoholic beverage she had consumed prior to her arrest was a margarita earlier that evening at a charity event, Hilton said. A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is equivalent to a guilty plea for determining sentencing.

Continue reading "Paris Hilton Wanted her DUI to Go Away" »

Posted by Neil Shouse | Permalink | Email This Post

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Actress and reality TV show star, Nicole Richie, joined the long line of celebrities charged with driving under the influence after her DUI arrest in December.

Richie’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea on her behalf on one misdemeanor DUI charge, according to an Associated Press news report. The complaint alleges the actress was under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and an unspecified drug when she was arrested during the wee hours of Dec. 11. According to the article, 911 callers reported that the actress, who was alone in her 2005 black Mercedes Benz sport utility vehicle, was headed the wrong way on the Ventura (134) Freeway in Burbank at about 12:30 a.m. When California Highway Patrol officers found Richie, she was stopped in a car-pool lane facing the right way. Officers arrested the 25-year-old actress after she reportedly failed a field sobriety test.

Officials also said that the actress voluntarily told officers at the time that she had smoked marijuana and taken the prescription painkiller Vicodin, but police reports show no drugs were found on her or in the car. In addition to the single DUI count, Nicole Richie’s case contains an additional allegation that she had a prior misdemeanor DUI conviction in June 2003. The California Vehicle Code states that if convicted of DUI twice within 10 years, a person could be sentenced up to a year in jail, faces fines of up to $1,000 and could have his or her driving privileges suspended.

It is interesting that Richie agreed to take a field sobriety test, which eventually led to her arrest. Drivers who are stopped on suspicion of DUI or DWI are routinely asked by police officers to perform one or more field sobriety exercises. These roadside exercises are one of the tools that help DUI officers determine whether the suspect may be driving under the influence and whether he or she should be arrested and taken for further blood or breath alcohol tests.

Continue reading "Nicole Richie’s DUI Arrest Teaches an Important Lesson" »

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The Mel Gibson DUI case is long over, perhaps not all forgotten. But the media will continue to feed hungrily on every celebrity who gets slapped with a DUI charge. The list is long – Paris Hilton, Ray Liotta, Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan. However, sensational as these stories are because of who is involved in them, when you look at it as a DUI case, it is quite routine.
If you or I had been arrested on the same DUI charge (and there are thousands arrested for drunk driving every day in this country), we wouldn’t hear about it in our newspapers’ police or court blotters let alone through the mainstream media outlets.

Consider the Mel Gibson DUI case. This was a pretty standard DUI case. California Drunk Driving attorneys deal with these types of driving under the influence cases on a daily basis. The actor’s blood alcohol level at .12, was clearly over the legal limit of .08. But in a DUI case that’s not uncommon. Gibson had no accident no prior DUI conviction other than a 20-year-old Toronto DUI that had been dismissed. The California Vehicle Code states that a person faces jail time only if convicted of DUI twice within 10 years. No problem there for the actor.
Any California DUI attorney knows that the worst possible scenario for Mel Gibson was a fine, three months of DUI education, license suspension, probation and possibly, community service. What attracted more attention than his DUI was the sexist, anti-Semitic words that came out of his mouth. Although those words were hateful and reprehensible, we must remember, they had nothing to do with the DUI charge.

Continue reading "Mel Gibson's DUI arrest – much ado about nothing?" »

Posted by Neil Shouse | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Celebrity DUI Arrests

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