Abuse of CA Goverment is Best Seen at the DMV

The most abusive waste of money and law is best seen at the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in the Administrative Per Se (APS) hearings. These hearings were taken over by the DMV as part of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) lobbying to get drunk drivers off the road quickly. A good idea in principle. But not a good idea in an "unchecked branch of the Executive Branch" of government. This use to be handled by the courts, (judges), in California. After MADDs lobbying, the DMV added on to their hearings of negligent operators and people with disability, that of law in their hearings, and a whole new division was born. At first, the DMV sent these new Hearing Officers to a special school to learn from lawyers and judges about the law, and Constitution and Due Process. The hearing were held with a potential of Due Process, but as time went on, justification for the Department and rotation of leaders imposed sanctions on the Hearing Officers who gave back too many driver's licenses in these hearings.
Today, the Hearing Officers come from all backgrounds. I know of none who are lawyers. Only two (2) who have gone to law school, and only one (1) passed the bar. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of the Hearing Officers don't even have college degrees. Yet, they know the law better than the lawyers, and play a dual role simultaneously of "Prosecutor and Judge" in their own case. Now, that is DUE PROCESS!!!!!
Over-ruling your objections of law, without understanding them, and of course, granting their own, to make sure they win. If you lose the hearing, which occurs about 90% of the time, you can appeal at a cost of Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000). They don't pay if they lose the appeal, but you do. And, because a DUI is a political issue, and judges are elected and want to be on the good side of MADD (so MADD doesn't pay for the opponent's election costs against the incumbent), the court finds all kinds of ridiculous ways to justify the Hearing Officers decision; which just encourages more bad rulings. Like little children they jump up and down and screaming I beat the lawyer, look I won, I beat the lawyer in some of the most terrible rationalizations by the court that would never be allowed in any other type of case.
I have spent my life in service of this Country. Drafted into the Veitnam war and leaving the Army as a Specialist Five (5) E-5, non-commissioned officer with an honorable discharge. A Reserve Police Officer, in a Solo unit and capacity, arresting people from drunk driving to murder; you never know who you will run across on that job. And, receiving commendations for the police service while I was there. Then becoming a lawyer, and a Judge Pro Tem, doing arraignments and trials. I obey the law, and I believe others should as well. Just because I defend criminal defendants, does not mean I think criminals should go free. But, I do believe strongly in the Constitution of the United States of America and the laws of this Country and the State of California. I find it sickening to see them eroded by people without training, encouraged by weak judges with poor decisions made for popularity, which is a breach of judicial ethics that no one will enforce (we call that discretion), and a denial of DUE PROCESS to the Citizens of California which is an affront to all people. The very fact that you have a biased interest in the out-come of a legal matter, and you are representing the DMV who you work for, the police officer who made the arrest and sit as the judge in the same proceeding making the rulings that assist you win your case, calling the Licensee's experts "Speculative", is a Federal Constitutional violation of the Separation of Powers Act and a violation of Due Process.
This DMV Department cost the tax payers about One Hundred Million Dollars a Year ($100,000.00), and all of this could be handled by the criminal court judge without any additional cost. It use to be. Some say well this gets the drunk driver off the road faster, but in reality, they are back in thirty (30) days, so nothing is accomplished but State jobs at a ridiculous price and injustice with a break-down and of law, and disrespect to the Federal Constitution, and that is putting it mildly. For more information in protecting our rights see www.duioffice.com

You can Win a DUI Case

DUI cases in the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area are won by good professional lawyers for their clients. There several ways to do this.
One way is going to trial and winning, but even the best DUI case has only a 50/50 chance because you never who will be sitting in the jury. Despite what they say when being picked for the jury, most people lie by saying they will be fair and listen to both sides, but in reality, they think they are suppose to convict the defendant just because he or she was drinking.
Another way to help your client is to negotiate the case with the District Attorney. But this should be done only after the lawyer has all the facts in the case and has been to the scene of the arrest. You would be surprised at how many attorneys don't have any argument for the District Attorney and without all of the evidence just take whatever offer is given to them. That is not a help to the client. If you have a bad case, and there is nothing in your case that help you in negotiation, you may be stuck, but usually there is something that can be advanced on behalf of your client and lower the jail time; fines are generally set.
Additionally, in many cases, the lawyer should do a Motion to Suppress (MTS) evidence. Most lawyers don't like having to do this because it is time consuming to write the motion, and next respond the District Attorney's reply and that is before you do the motion. Then many times the police officer may not be available and you lose a half a day and have to do it again. This isn't traffic court, so if the officer doesn't show up, the case is not won, it is continued to another date. And to add to that burden, many judges don't like these time consuming motions, which are rarely won because the burden on the District Attorney is so low, that they give the lawyer a lot of grief, and the lawyers feel uncomfortable, so they just don't do them. That is wrong; they should be done in almost every case. Even the blood cases that most lawyers are afraid of because blood is suppose to be the Gold Standard of alcohol testing can have errors. And, in a MTS hearing there are Constitutional Rights that you are entitled to. In fact, in Oakland, California, this week, I just had the Judge rule that my motion was only granted to suppress the PAS test and the Blood test. Well, that is the whole case and all chemical evidence that has been knocked out of the case. In other words, if the District Attorney wants to go to trial, they have no chemical evidence, so my client has just won his case without going to trial. Your lawyer can't be afraid of some bruises because this is a fight, and you can win.
For more information on protecting yourself from the time you get stopped until you can get a lawyer, go to my website at www.duioffice.com. And get a lawyer who can show you or tells you without asking during your interview that he or she does Motions to Suppress, and good luck. Donald Drewry Attorney-at-Law serving the entire Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area.

Don't Play with Your Phone While Driving

More and more I see people being stopped for either talking on their phones or texting while driving. These bad habits cause more accidents than drunk drivers. However, it is worse because even if you don't have an accident, you asking to have the police officer stop you, and if you have had anything to drink, 99% of the time you are going to jail.
The latest thing to get people stopped by the police is GPS on your cell phone. Not the area you are from, and your smart phone has GPS, so you are holding it trying to find your way home or to a specific location. It looks like you are texting. Do one of two things, either buy a good GPS for your car that can be on the dashboard, and one that speaks to you, so you don't lose sight of where you are driving and cross into the lane next to you. Garmin http://www.garmin.com/us/#/auto/ puts out a great auto GPS, but choose anyone you like, or make sure your smart phone's GPS talks as well and put it on the dash. Really, you don't want to take your eyes off the road. Also, if you are not sure where you are, don't pull off on the shoulder of the road to check your GPS or map, go to a gas station or a parking lot. More people than you can imagine get arrested because the police stop to see if you need assistance being pulled off on the shoulder of the road, and it turns into a DUI arrest. A few hundred dollars for a good auto GPS can save you thousands of dollars for a DUI arrest and charge.
Drive safely, Don't Drink and Drive, but if you do, make sure you follow the rules for contact with the police listed on my website, and know them before you are stopped not after the contact and probable arrest.
Donald Gray Drewry duioffice.com

Protect Yourself From False Breath Tests Results

One of the most important things you can do right now to protect yourself from a false breath test result if arrested in a DUI case is get a specific physical examination. The test you need, and you should get before you ever get stopped and arrested, is called a "Bravo pH" test. Bravo is the newest and most effective acid reflux testing there is; it is considered the Gold Standard for people with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).

Did you know that many people, almost 33% have GERD and don't know it. In fact, most people that are over-weight and people who are over the age of 50, will have GERD and not know it. It is a simple procedure. They send a very small tube down your throat into the esophagus and take pictures for dis-colorization caused from acid which can cause cancer in the esophagus. However, once the Lower Esophageal Sphincter is damaged, even if you take medication that controls the acid, gas molecules are still coming back up from the stomach into the throat and into the mouth along with the molecules from the lungs and that is Regurgitation which is not allowed in California and many other States. The problems is that most doctors don't want to send you for the test because the insurance companies don't want to pay for the bill. They would rather put you on medication than spend the money to find the cause. This is especially true of Kaiser Medical Hospitals; they are the worst I have ever had clients encounter despite their great advertising. I had one client they would not give the test to because he did an endoscopy and did not find any dis-colorization, so he spent his own money with another hospital, and was 4 times the normal; so Kaiser was not medically treating him correctly, and they didn't even pay him for their negligent treatment that he had to pay for somewhere else. If you have not had this test before being arrested, get it as soon as you can after the arrest. Remember, this does not just happen over-night, it takes time to build up, and just because you are discovering it now does not mean you have not had the disease for a long time. The best medicine for this disease that I have found is "Nexium". While there are a lot of medications on the market, including generics, they really don't seem to do the same job as Nexium, but again, the insurance companies don't want to pay for the best for you. They just want to increase their profits. Nexium has the greatest results for people in my experience. You should review this information yourself so take a look at it as having this information available may save you from a wrongful conviction or from the DMV taking your driving privilege as they like to do in the Bay Area, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Pleasanton. Don’t let it happen to you if you have this disease. For more information take a look at my website duioffice.com.