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Q: I was convicted of a DUI but the police never saw me in my truck. They found me 3 blocks away,walking toward the nearest phone to call 911. I asked some one at a party to drive because it appeared that they were sober. Once he wrecked my truck he must have bailed and I was left with the wreckage until I came to and crawled out of the truck on the driver’s side. I was drunk from the drinks and dazed from the accident. I don’t remember the police doing anything. the only thing I remember is being booked into jail.

A: Do you mean convicted or arrested? There is a very big difference. If you were convicted then you really don’t have any options other than possibly appeal. Now if you’ve only been arrested then you should definitely fight this. You have a valid defense and it may be difficult for the state to PROVE you were driving. You need to hire an attorney that handles a lot of DUIs because they can argue this complex area of law to the judge. Good luck.

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Outside the home of 32-year-old Michael Leininger, people have left cards and flowers in his memory. While he was disabled, his friends say he lived life to the fullest.

Bob Godwin says even though his friend Michael Leininger had cerebal palsy and used a wheel chair, it never let him down. “He had a social life, friends, and cooked out a lot.”

However it all came to an end Saturday night. “He was killed last night by a drunk driver.” 48-year-old Thomas PItt was charged with DUI manslaughter and property damage.

Police say as Leininger crossed SR 50 and Key Largo Drive, Pitt hit him with his car. Investigators tell us, that Pitt had the green light, but Leininger was using the crosswalk.

Godwin’s fiancee Debbie Champagne also uses a wheel chair and was distraught over the death of her friend Michael. She says it’s scary trying to cross SR 50 and has a reminder for drivers especially as they get ready to celebrate the New Year; “Please don’t drink and drive and when you do, look out for the other people. The people in wheel chairs, the people on motorcycles.”

Godwin says it’s too late for their friend Michael. “Unfortunately Mike won’t be having a new year and he was looking forward to it.”

If Pitt is convicted of DUI manslaughter, he could face up to 15 years in prison. FHP troopers say, even if a driver has the green light, they must yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

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Officers from San Mateo County’s 23 law enforcement agencies made 131 arrests on drunken driving charges over the 10-day period from Dec. 18 to Dec. 27, according to statistics from the California Avoid campaign, the multi-agency effort to catch drunken drivers.

The arrests, all the result of routine traffic stops, represent a 7 percent increase over the 122 arrests from routine stops in the county during the same period a year ago. However, last year there were 37 additional arrests at checkpoints and by DUI strike teams.

San Mateo County’s total represents 10 percent of the 1,291 DUI arrests by 125 agencies in the nine-county Bay Area. The campaign continues until Sunday, Jan. 3.

There were no DUI-related fatalities on San Mateo County roads, according to the Web site, CaliforniaAvoid.org.

The California Highway Patrol is reporting 14 fatalities statewide so far this year, including one in the Bay Area. In six of the deaths, the victims were not wearing seat belts, the CHP said.

On state highways, the CHP is reporting 970 arrests, up 18 percent from last year’s total at this time of 824.

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Local police are teaming up with law enforcement agencies across the nation to take part in the “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest” crackdown through Jan. 3.

“Avoid the 9 — Napa County” law enforcement agencies will staff a checkpoint in the city of Napa, host a multi-agency task force operation in Napa County and 12 local DUI patrols in every community in Napa County. CHP will deploy 80 percent of all available officers during the four-day Christmas and New Years holiday weekends.

In 2008, 1,007 people were arrested for DUI in Napa County and there were 11 DUI-related deaths with 139 DUI-related injuries.

The campaign is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For more information visit www.californiaavoid.org or www.Stopimpaireddriving.org.

A similar program, Avoid the 13, is underway in Sonoma County, with officers from 13 agencies participating.

“We continue to see far too many people suffer debilitating injuries and loss of their loved ones as a result of impaired driving. This careless disregard for human life must stop,” said Rich Melton, Chief of the Napa Police Department. “To help ensure that this happens, the Avoid the 9 partners are dedicated to arresting impaired driving. To help, we ask everyone; ‘Report Drunk Drivers, Call 9-1-1!”

Nine law enforcement agencies are members of “Avoid the 9 — Napa County:” St. Helena Police Department, Calistoga Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Napa Police Department, Napa County Sheriff’s Department, American Canyon Police Department, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Napa County Probation and the Napa Valley College Police.

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A Fremont woman convicted of her fourth drunken-driving offense will be sentenced Jan. 25 in Dodge County District Court.

Thirty-3-year-old Spring Howley faces up to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. She also could have her driver’s license revoked for 15 years.

Howley this month pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated. She also had been accused of having her 5-month-old infant in the back seat of her vehicle at the time of the offense.

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors agreed to drop one count of child abuse.

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As we approach the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Big Island police are informing motorists that police will be conducting DUI checkpoints throughout the island during the holiday season. The effort is part of a national and statewide campaign called “Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest.”

Sergeant Kelly Ka’aumoana-Matsumoto, head of the Traffic Services Section, said police are reminding motorist of the consequences of impaired driving.

On Wednesday (December 23), officers from the Traffic Enforcement Unit and Traffic Services Section—supported by the Traffic Safety Coordinator, representing the Impaired Driving Task Force—conducted a DUI checkpoint in Hilo. They reminded motorists about the hazards of drinking and driving and gave them literature on the subject and information about the Shared Ride Taxi Program.

The County of Hawai’i Mass Transit Agency maintains this program all year long. Every individual is entitled to buy highly-subsidized taxi coupons for as low as $2 each and use them with participating taxi companies. For details, call 961-8744 or check it out on the internet at www.heleonbus.org/shared-ride-taxi-program

Thanks to generous contributions by various county agencies, from now until the New Year, participating liquor-serving establishments in Hilo and Kailua-Kona are able to hand out up to two free taxi coupons per patron.

The DUI checkpoint Wednesday kicked off the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s holiday enforcement efforts on the Big Island.

Alcohol was involved in at least 11 of the 22 traffic deaths so far this year, amounting to 50 percent of the total. By comparison 17 of the 27 fatalities recorded for all of last year—or 63 percent—involved alcohol use.

“Always remember to have a designated, sober and licensed driver before you start drinking,” said Sergeant Ka’aumoana-Matsumoto. “If you don’t find one, don’t take a chance—take a taxi!”

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You see it almost every day, in just about any newspaper, on just about any television news station. A man or woman charged with their seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th or more offense for driving under the influence of alcohol. There’s no doubt recurring DUIs and the many unfortunate deaths they cause are plaguing communities across Montana. You’ve read that message often on the Independent Record Opinion page.

So what to do about it? For sure, many of the repeat offenders are substance abusers who will get back behind the wheel drunk no matter what. They’re oblivious to the consequences.

Yet, progress is being made. Tougher laws for driving under the influence of alcohol offenses were the top priority for the interim Law and Justice Committee coming out of the 2009 Legislature. The interim committee, made up of a bipartisan swath of legislators, met late last week and put forth several good solutions to curb the runaway state problem.

Lawmakers on Friday discussed those merits. While some — like stigmatizing repeat DUI offenders with a special-colored license plate — are a bit out there, most would give traction to the police officers and judges who are ultimately trying to keep drunk drivers off our roadways.

One such first step would be making a third-offense DUI a felony. This would open up the many treatment opportunities under the Corrections Department one offense earlier than it is now.

And we all know it only takes one instance of DUI for tragedy to strike.

The 2001 Legislature created the fourth-offense DUI as a felony conviction. At that time, Montana didn’t have lockdown treatment centers and DUI convicts crowded state prisons and sapped Corrections’ budget. In an effort to find cheaper, more effective ways to treat drunken drivers, Montana started the Warm Springs Addictions Treatment and Change program, or WATCh, in 2002. The program has made an impact, with nearly 90 percent of graduates not receiving another DUI.

The main argument against making third DUI offenses a felony and expanding this program is cost. It is estimated that implementing this would cost the state up to $3.1 million.

Another great idea would be to establish DUI courts, much like drug-specific courts, where a judge works closely with an alcoholic and, as part of sentencing, mandates stricter treatment. All that, too, would cost money.

But what’s more costly? Effectively rehabilitating a person or spitting another drunk out on our roads to kill another father, mother, husband, wife or child?

The answer couldn’t be more simple, and the Interim Law and Justice Committee needs to make several formal recommendations to the 2011 Legislature that put Montana on the road to stricter laws and better enforcement of DUI offenders.

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A 30-year-old Chicago man was charged with murder and aggravated DUI on Wednesday in a hit-and-run that killed a Rogers Park woman and injured her 6-year-old son.

Ralph Eubanks, of the 1400 block of North Sedgwick, also was charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Maria Worthon, 48, of the 1400 block of West Touhy, was walking with her son in the 1400 block of West Greenleaf at 9 p.m. Monday when they were struck by Eubanks’ car, Cook County prosecutors said.

He drove south on Greenview after hitting them, police said, but they stopped him about a mile away.

The boy was in critical condition Wednesday at Children’s Memorial Hospital.

Eubanks, a convicted felon, has been stopped for speeding, driving without a valid license and DUI in the past seven years, according to court files.

Obviously a DUI fatality is not taken lightly, but neither is a straight DUI. If you have been charged with a DUI in Chicago or anywhere for that matter you would be well advised to contact a DUI attorney.

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Governor Doyle today signed into law tougher measures against drunk driving, including criminalizing first offense when a child is a passenger.

Doyle was flanked by mothers who had lost children to drunk drivers as he signed the legislation during a state capitol ceremony.

The law also makes fourth offense drunk driving a felony instead of a misdemeanor when it occurs within five years of a previous offense;   requires ignition interlock devices for the cars of first time offenders if their blood alcohol level is twice Wisconsin’s .08 legal limit;   and expands treatment options available to judges during the sentencing of offenders, patterned after a successful Winnebago County program.

Even Doyle conceded he would have liked to see tougher changes, such as creating a felony offense for third time offenders, but said  “it is a good bill and another major step forward to fight drunk driving.”

Judy Jenkins, whose daughter Jennifer Bukosky, granddaughter Courtney, and Jennifer’s unborn daughter Sophia were all killed by the intoxicated driving of Mark Benson in Waukesha County, said the law’s passage is gratifying, but criminalizing all first offenses is still needed.   Wisconsin is the only state which treats first offense operating while intoxicated like a traffic ticket.

Jodene Meinl, whose fourteen year old daughter Lacey was killed by a drunk driver in January in Winnebago County, said the new measures are a step forward.

“It does not take away my pain, but it is a help to deal with drunk driving.”

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A Lockport police officer had a blood alcohol level almost three times the legal limit when he caused a three-car accident on the Stevenson Expressway, killing a man who was returning home from his second job.

Edward Stapinski, 34, had a blood alcohol level of .223, Assistant State’s Attorney John Carroll said at a bond hearing in the Bridgeview courthouse today.

Stapinski declined to take a Breathalyzer test at the scene of the Sunday night crash but was given a blood test at the hospital, Carroll said. Police officers at the scene described Stapinski as having “bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and a strong smell of alcohol.”

Judge Maureen P. Feerick set Stapinski’s bail at $750,000, as prosecutors had sought. He is charged with reckless homicide and drunk driving.

Stapinski’s lawyer, Matt Walsh, had asked for a lower bond, saying that his client had been on the Lockport Police Department for 7½ years and owned a home in the community.

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