Monthly Archives for December 2011

Flagstaff, AZ - The [business_name] has obtained new police data showing that Arizona traffic stops and DUI arrests are surging this holiday season.

In just one month - November 24th to December 24th - Arizona's holiday DUI task force has conducted 46,194 traffic stops. This has resulted in over 2,840 arrests for DUI charges, ranging from simple DUI (DUI Slightest), to DUI - 0.08%
or more, to Extreme DUI - 0.15% or more, to Extreme DUI - 0.20% or more, to Aggravated DUI which is a class 4… Read More →

In Arizona, a defendant has the right to seek a private blood draw if the State does not administer a blood test. State v. Olcan, 204 Ariz. 181, 61 P.3d 475 (Ariz. App., 2003).

What does this mean? When a DUI suspect is arrested, and the police don't administer a test (pursuant to Arizona's implied consent laws), the police are required to advise the suspect that the suspect has a right to obtain a sample to preserve, test, and prove his DUI innocence.

Generally, the right to independent… Read More →

Flagstaff, AZ - Too many people learn the hard way in Arizona. You go out to dinner. You enjoy a beer with dinner. You drive home. You get pulled over by Flagstaff Police or another Arizona law enforcement agency. You are told you didn't fully stop at a stop sign.

"Have you had anything to drink tonight?"

"Yes, two beers at dinner a while ago."

"Step out of the vehicle."

You proceed to get peppered with questions about whether you drank, how much you drank, where you drank, etc. Then… Read More →

It is widely known that the U.S. Constitution's 5th Amendment guarantees every person accused of a crime the right to be free of repeated attempts to convict. This guarantee against being twice placed in jeopardy is applicable to the states through the fourteenth amendment. Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 89 S.Ct. 2056 (1969); State v. Ortiz, 120 Ariz. 384, 586 P.2d 633 (1978).

But it's not that simple in Arizona. Just because a person isn't convicted in the prosecution's first shot does… Read More →

If you've driven on Arizona's interstates - I-17, I-40, and I-10 - you've probably seen Arizona DPS officers pulling over cars and trucks. But have you ever seen them tearing apart a car as though they were looking for gold? It happens more often than you think. So let's raise the question: how is it that a police officer found, say, ten pounds of marijuana hidden in vacuum-packaged containers in secret compartments of luggage in the trunk of a person's car?

It used to be that police officers… Read More →