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The law which prompted the dismissal of drunken-driving charges against an I-M-P-D officer was amended this year — but not enough to salvage the case.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi dropped four alcohol-related counts against an Indiana man on Thursday, explaining that the test which showed him with a blood-alcohol level of .19% would be inadmissible because it was taken by a lab technician, and at an occupational health center, not a hospital.

The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled a year ago the law doesn’t let a lab technician do your blood-alcohol test — the law says “certified phlebotomist,” and Indiana has no such certification.

In March, legislators eliminated that language, and said anyone with the proper training, including a lab tech, can take blood — but they still have to follow established protocols, or be under the supervision of a doctor.

Former Indiana University law professor Henry Karlson says that’s where the test conducted on the man appears to have gone off the rails: the lab technician who drew his blood didn’t meet either of those criteria.

“I’ve been told that if a physician had walked by the door while the man was doing the blood sample, they would have fought it,” Karlson says. “But there wasn’t a physician supervising this man in any way, and evidently, there were no established protocols.”

There’s more disagreement over why hospitals have been added to the law.

House Courts and Criminal Code Chairman Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) says the goal was to ensure that tests performed by a lab tech at a hospital were considered admissible. But other legal experts say a properly trained lab tech should be able to perform a test at any location under proper supervision.

And Karlson says the section of the law which excludes lab techs — allowing only doctors, nurses, paramedics or E-M-T’s to administer the test — appears to apply only to a standing contract to perform those tests, such as the prosecutor in Pierce’s Monroe County has.

The man still faces a reckless homicide charge and two counts of recklessness in the crash which killed motorcyclist Eric Wells.

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The Governor’s Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving and the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute on Wednesday announced a statewide crackdown on drunk driving, called “Operation Pull Over Blitz 62.”

From March 5-21, more than 250 Indiana law enforcement agencies will conduct high-visibility enforcement patrols to target impaired and aggressive drivers. This crackdown will take place during Indiana’s March basketball tournaments and the St. Patrick’s Day holiday.

Operation Pull Over Blitz 62 is a statewide enforcement effort supported by federal funding allocated to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Indiana’s crackdown on impaired and dangerous driving will be reinforced by a paid statewide advertising campaign and targeted public outreach efforts aimed at comprehensively promoting the life-saving benefits of driving safe and sober.

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A northwest Indiana man was arrested early Thursday morning near Portage and accused of driving with a blood-alcohol level almost four times the state’s legal limit of .08 percent.

“Dude, I do this every night; I’m straight up and not drunk!” Zachary Duis told an Indiana state trooper after he was pulled over, police said.

The unfortunately named Duis, 24, of Portage, was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He was also wanted on two Porter County warrants for resisting law enforcement and furnishing alcohol to a minor, both misdemeanors.

A Porter County sheriff’s deputy pulled over the 1995 Chevrolet S-10 pickup about 2:20 a.m., and the state trooper arrived shortly after.

Duis failed field sobriety tests and was taken to the Portage Police Department for a certified breath test, state police said.

He was later taken to the Porter County Jail.

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The Fort Wayne District of the Indiana State Police will be conducting a DUI checkpoint in Allen County on Friday night, August 21, 2009 Journal Gazette reports. In an effort to reduce the number of alcohol-related automobile crashes, the sobriety checkpoint will target the impaired driver and will be utilized in an area identified as having a high number of alcohol related crashes.

Sergeant Mike Yordy is reminding motorists to have their driver’s license and vehicle registrations readily available when entering the checkpoint, so as to minimize the amount of time that they are delayed.

Last year over 40 percent of Allen County automobile related deaths were alcohol related. These DUI checkpoints hope to help in reducing that number.

If you have been accused of an Allen County DUI you will need the services of a top Allen County DUI lawyer. Most of them offer free initial consultations and it is there you can decide, with the helpful advice of an IN DUI lawyer, which approach you want to take against your Indiana DUI charge. Without the help of an experienced Indiana DUI lawyer you should expect the stiffest penalties IN DUI laws have to offer.

Drunk Driving in Indiana.
A Blairsville, Indiana County, man has been charged with drunken driving after crashing into a school bus full of students Tuesday morning.

Police said Gregory George Hancock, 19, was driving on Campbell’s Mill Road in Blacklick Township when his Ford Taurus crossed the double yellow line and hit a Blairsville School District bus.

The bus driver and 33 senior high school and middle school students aboard were not injured, police said.

Hancock was arrested for Indiana DUI.

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Indiana State Police will be conducting a DUI checkpoint in Hendricks County Friday. Officers will be observing for intoxicated, impaired and underage drinking drivers. The checkpoint will be operating late Friday evening and early Saturday morning.

To expedite the time involved if you are stopped at the checkpoint, drivers are asked to have their driver’s license and registration ready to present to the officer. If no violations or impairment is detected by the officer, motorists should only be delayed a few minutes. Additionally, officers will be conducting saturation patrols in the area to observe for impaired motorists attempting to avoid the checkpoint.

To help to ensure your weekend is safe and enjoyable, observe the following tips:

Plan ahead and always use a designated driver.

Don’t get behind the wheel of a vehicle if you’ve been consuming alcoholic beverages; call a taxi, a family member, or friend who has not been drinking to give you a ride.

If you are hosting a party, always offer alcohol-free beverages and make sure all of your guests leave with a sober driver or allow them to spend the night.

Remember, Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk. Take the keys and never let a friend leave your sight if you think that they are about to drive while impaired.

To report an impaired driver, contact your local law enforcement agency, or dial 911. Reports can be made anonymously.

Indiana legislation aimed at cracking down on drunk drivers is finding national support. It includes installing a breath test device in cars.

Leading the charge is the national president of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers .

“Seventeen years ago I became a victim of drunk driving when my husband, Mike Dean age 32 pictured here with our daughter who was then 7-weeks-old was killed when our daughter was 8-months-old,” said Laura Dean-Mooney, MADD National President.

Dean-Mooney was in Indianapolis to show support for a piece of legislation that would require convicted drunk drivers to install alcohol ignition interlocks in their cars.

“Exploration and development of advanced technology that will detect if a driver has an illegal concentration above .08 and it will prevent a driver from actually operating the vehicle,” said Dean-Mooney.

Bill 1020 is making its way through the House. Representative Cleo Duncan of Batesville authored the original bill. It gave judges the option to mandate the use of the device, but this time Rep. Duncan is asking for mandatory installation for all DUI offenders.

“I had a request from one of my judges to see if we could possibly do legislation that would allow the use after the first offense,” said Rep. Cleo Duncan.

But not everyone agrees, the American Beverage Institute said the proposal ignores the root cause of today’s drunk driving problem, hard core alcohol abusers. It feels that first time offenders should not receive the same punishment as someone with prior convictions.

Right now, at least seven states require convicted drunk drivers to install alcohol ignition interlocks on their cars.

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Judges could force first-time drunken drivers to equip their cars with breath-test devices under a bill that passed the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Advocates for stronger drunken driving laws argued the proposal doesn’t go far enough, because the ignition interlock devices would not be mandated for Hoosiers convicted of their first drunken driving offense.

Laura Dean-Mooney, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, urged the committee to make the devices mandatory.

“In states where it’s discretionary, judges don’t use it,” Dean-Mooney testified.

And Bonnie Hough, whose son, Stephen, was among four people killed by a drunken driver in an April 2008 crash on Randolph Street near the border of Merrillville and Winfield, said she doesn’t want the ignition locks to be left to the discretion of judges.

“People who drink and drive are not afraid of the law,” Hough said in an e-mail. “So many people have been deeply affected by our lack of serious attention to drinking and driving. Some states are starting to charge drunk drivers with murder. I would be in favor of that.”

But John Livengood, president of the Indiana Restaurant Association, said Indiana drivers already face tough enough scrutiny the first time they are convicted.

“We believe the laws already on the books are enough to deter the low (blood-alcohol content) first-time offenders,” Livengood said.

Under current law, repeat drunken drivers must have the devices installed if they are to continue driving while on probation, but they can’t be imposed on first-timers.

The bill will next head to the full House.

There are other bills dealing with the ignition interlock devices moving through the General Assembly, and Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, expects a great deal of negotiation before the end of the legislative session.

Hough and others hoping for tougher laws will meet with legislators today at the Statehouse.

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An effort to weed out impaired drivers in Dearborn County, Ind., ended without a single drunken driving arrest over the weekend. However, there were other types of arrests made.

There were 12 traffic arrests and 30 warnings. There were five criminal arrests. Of those, three were for drug offenses, one was for possession of a switchblade, and the fifth was for an outstanding felony warrant.

According to information from the Indiana State Police, troopers focused on motorists traveling on US 50 between 9 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday.

DUI statistics definitely show that there were some lucky drunk drivers on this Saturday night.
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Indiana State Police troopers from the Redkey District conducted a checkpoint looking for drivers who were operating under the influence of alcohol in Randolph County late Friday.

DUI patrols also were conducted early Saturday within the Redkey District, which includes Blackford, Delaware, Grant, Jay and Randolph counties.

The checkpoint and enforcement patrols resulted in six arrests for misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, one arrest for felony driving while intoxicated and one arrest for driving while suspended.
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