Pierce County
law enforcement officers and commanders will be visiting bars
throughout Tacoma this weekend as part of a new effort to raise
awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving.
They'll go to bars where impaired drivers report they'd been drinking right before their arrests.
"There's no enforcement action," said Fircrest Police Chief John Cheesman. "We are just hoping to change some behaviors."
The first weekend for the Home Safe Bar program marks the beginning a
month-long public awareness program near the most frequent sites of the
county's fatal drunken driving car crashes, the Tacoma Pierce County
DUI and Traffic Safety Task Force.
Here's how the Home Safe Bar program will work. Extra law enforcement
officers will be out Saturday night, patrolling for drunken drivers.
When they make arrests, the officers will ask the drivers where they'd
been drinking. If the driver had been at a bar in Pierce County, other
law enforcement officers and commanders will then visit the bar,
Cheesman said.
The commanders will talk with the management at the bar about the
enforcement effort, ask them to abide by the state's alcohol laws and
provide them information from the Liquor Control Board. They'll also
help the customers find designated drivers or call taxis.
"It's pretty low key," Cheesman said.
Frank Blair, a Tacoma father whose 24-year-old daughter was killed in a
drunken driving crash in Everett, will be with law enforcement
officers and visiting the bars.
BLOG.HORWATHLAW.COM
Going out this weekend in Tacoma? So are the cops
Cops will be going out in Tacoma this weekend as a part of a DUI emphasis.
posted By Stacey Mulick on June 1, 2011 at 3:18 pm
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posted By Stacey Mulick on June 1, 2011 at 3:18 pm
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Washington Lawmakers propose harsher DUI penalties
By MOLLY ROSBACH | Associated Press • Published February 14, 2011
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Law enforcement officials and families of drunken driving victims rallied on Monday in support of several bills proposing stricter penalties for DUI convictions, asking lawmakers to hold offenders responsible for their actions.
Friends and family members of people killed by drunken drivers say the potential costs to the justice system could not be more important than the safety of other drivers, and that lawmakers need to hold offenders accountable.
"You have not done enough to protect victims in this state," said Erica Benge, whose friends were killed by a drunken driver last year. "We need to get these people off the road."
But opponents to the bills argue that laws targeting DUI offenders need to focus on prevention and treatment, instead of more cost-incurring jail time, which many smaller jurisdictions cannot afford.
Lawmakers in the House Judiciary committee heard testimony on a slew of bills that address a range of DUI-related issues, including longer sentences for first-time offenders and the required installation of
ignition interlock devices for convicted negligent or reckless drivers.
A bill presented by Rep. Orcutt, R-Kalama, would raise the seriousness level of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault and enact longer sentences accordingly. Vehicular homicide would be equated to
first-degree manslaughter. In most cases of vehicular assault and homicide affected by the change, the bill would more than double the sentence length imposed under current law.
The bill also proposes that sentences be served consecutively, not concurrently.
Orcutt reminded listeners of a case last summer when a couple was killed by a drunken driver while on their motorcycles. The offender received less than four years for causing the deaths of two people, he said.
"The sentences did not fit the crime," he said.
Rep. Steve Kirby, D-Tacoma, proposed a bill to impose harsher sentences on first-time DUI offenders. For offenders with a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 or lower, the minimum would increase from one day to three days, and for those over a 0.15 level, the minimum would increase from two days to one week. Offenders would pay the cost of incarceration.
Patricia Fulton of the Washington Defenders Association argued that most offenders will not be able to pay for their incarceration, and those costs will fall upon the city or county to pay.
"We think the cost is too burdensome," Fulton said. "Current law as it stands is appropriate."
If someone is going to be impacted by a short period of jail time, she said, they will be impacted by the current one- or two-day minimum; if they're not, then an increase to three days or a week still isn't going to solve the problem.
Other bills presented at Monday's hearing proposed including prior offenses when determining if an offender's DUI should count as a felony, and requiring that persons convicted of reckless or negligent driving be required to install ignition interlock devices to ensure they cannot drive while impaired.
Lawmakers also touched on the establishment of DUI specialty courts, where nonviolent offenders would go through substance abuse therapy.
The DUI bills are HB 1113, HB 1167, HB 1556, HB 1789 and HB 1646.
http://www.theolympian.com/2011/02/14/1543851/wa-lawmakers-propose-harsher-penalties.html#storylink=mirelated
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Law enforcement officials and families of drunken driving victims rallied on Monday in support of several bills proposing stricter penalties for DUI convictions, asking lawmakers to hold offenders responsible for their actions.
Friends and family members of people killed by drunken drivers say the potential costs to the justice system could not be more important than the safety of other drivers, and that lawmakers need to hold offenders accountable.
"You have not done enough to protect victims in this state," said Erica Benge, whose friends were killed by a drunken driver last year. "We need to get these people off the road."
But opponents to the bills argue that laws targeting DUI offenders need to focus on prevention and treatment, instead of more cost-incurring jail time, which many smaller jurisdictions cannot afford.
Lawmakers in the House Judiciary committee heard testimony on a slew of bills that address a range of DUI-related issues, including longer sentences for first-time offenders and the required installation of
ignition interlock devices for convicted negligent or reckless drivers.
A bill presented by Rep. Orcutt, R-Kalama, would raise the seriousness level of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault and enact longer sentences accordingly. Vehicular homicide would be equated to
first-degree manslaughter. In most cases of vehicular assault and homicide affected by the change, the bill would more than double the sentence length imposed under current law.
The bill also proposes that sentences be served consecutively, not concurrently.
Orcutt reminded listeners of a case last summer when a couple was killed by a drunken driver while on their motorcycles. The offender received less than four years for causing the deaths of two people, he said.
"The sentences did not fit the crime," he said.
Rep. Steve Kirby, D-Tacoma, proposed a bill to impose harsher sentences on first-time DUI offenders. For offenders with a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 or lower, the minimum would increase from one day to three days, and for those over a 0.15 level, the minimum would increase from two days to one week. Offenders would pay the cost of incarceration.
Patricia Fulton of the Washington Defenders Association argued that most offenders will not be able to pay for their incarceration, and those costs will fall upon the city or county to pay.
"We think the cost is too burdensome," Fulton said. "Current law as it stands is appropriate."
If someone is going to be impacted by a short period of jail time, she said, they will be impacted by the current one- or two-day minimum; if they're not, then an increase to three days or a week still isn't going to solve the problem.
Other bills presented at Monday's hearing proposed including prior offenses when determining if an offender's DUI should count as a felony, and requiring that persons convicted of reckless or negligent driving be required to install ignition interlock devices to ensure they cannot drive while impaired.
Lawmakers also touched on the establishment of DUI specialty courts, where nonviolent offenders would go through substance abuse therapy.
The DUI bills are HB 1113, HB 1167, HB 1556, HB 1789 and HB 1646.
http://www.theolympian.com/2011/02/14/1543851/wa-lawmakers-propose-harsher-penalties.html#storylink=mirelated
DUI drivers in Washington may have special plates
DUI drivers in Washington may have special plates
The Associated Press • Published February 14, 2011 OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington drivers with a record of drunken driving could be required to have special license plates designated with the letter Z.
Legislation introduced by Rep. Norma Smith of Clinton would require that drivers pay an additional $100 for the Z-plate, which would be good for three years. The drivers would be allowed to drive only a vehicle with a Z-designated plate.
The Z would appear as the last symbol at the end of any sequence of license plate letters and numbers.
Motorcycle riders with a drunken-driving offense also would be required to have a Z-license, but the special charge would be only $25.
http://www.theolympian.com/2011/02/14/1543454/dui-drivers-in-washington-may.html
The Associated Press • Published February 14, 2011 OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington drivers with a record of drunken driving could be required to have special license plates designated with the letter Z.
Legislation introduced by Rep. Norma Smith of Clinton would require that drivers pay an additional $100 for the Z-plate, which would be good for three years. The drivers would be allowed to drive only a vehicle with a Z-designated plate.
The Z would appear as the last symbol at the end of any sequence of license plate letters and numbers.
Motorcycle riders with a drunken-driving offense also would be required to have a Z-license, but the special charge would be only $25.
http://www.theolympian.com/
High-profile attorney charged with DUI
Prominent Seattle lawyer and TV legal analyst Anne Bremner has been
charged with drunken driving, according to court records, despite her
claims that she suffered a head injury in a hit-and-run accident and was
mistakenly arrested.
On June 4, Bremner, 52, was stopped in Kenmore after driving on three flat tires. She was returning from a dinner party at a judge's home in Seattle. The charge was filed Wednesday in King County District Court in Shoreline. Her arraignment is set for Sept. 1.
Bremner, a partner at Stafford Frey Cooper who often represents police officers accused of misconduct, has been fighting the release of the police report stemming from her arrest after it was requested under open records laws by several local media outlets, including seattlepi.com.
King County Superior Court Judge Laura Inveen ruled last week that most of the records should be made public.
The judge, however, immediately stayed that decision as Bremner's attorney announced an appeal of the decision.
Bremner claims police failed to respond to two 911 calls some time before her midnight arrest in Kenmore and, in a statement submitted to the court on her behalf by her doctor, alleged that she was manhandled by the sheriff's deputy. In a complaint filed under the name "Jane Doe," her lawyer argued she would suffer "substantial and irreparable harm to her personal and professional reputation if the unsubstantiated DUI allegations" were made public.
Her lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.
Bremner frequently appears as a legal analyst on several television networks.
She has been one of the most vocal advocates for Amanda Knox, the University of Washington student convicted of killing her roommate in Perugia, Italy. Knox's attorneys are appealing.
Bremner appeared as a TV legal commentator about several criminal cases with a national profile, including the Laci Peterson murder and Michael Jackson child molestation trial, and she maintains a virtual library of her TV appearances on her website.
She previously contributed to seattlepi.com's City Brights section of bloggers. seattlepi.com recently ended its relationship with her to avoid any conflict of interest.
To support their contention that Bremner suffered a head injury, her attorneys in the filed a statement by local psychiatrist Dr. Philip Lindsay.
Lindsay wrote in court documents that Bremner had been the "victim of a hit and run driver at 50 mph and had suffered a concussion," and argued that the deputy who stopped her in Kenmore "rushed to judgment."
"She was mistakenly arrested for DUI based solely upon the symptoms of traumatic brain injury," Lindsay wrote the court.
Attorneys for the county called the doctor's statements "grossly misleading" and contended Bremner never reported a hit-and-run crash or head injury until well after her arrest.
Bremner's defense investigator interviewed the dinner party host, Rosselle Pekelis, a former state Supreme Court justice and former King County Superior Court judge. Pekelis, her husband, and others reported no issues with Bremner regarding her balance, coordination or thought process and speech, before she left, according to summaries of their statements.
By Scott Gutierrez, seattlepi.com
On June 4, Bremner, 52, was stopped in Kenmore after driving on three flat tires. She was returning from a dinner party at a judge's home in Seattle. The charge was filed Wednesday in King County District Court in Shoreline. Her arraignment is set for Sept. 1.
Bremner, a partner at Stafford Frey Cooper who often represents police officers accused of misconduct, has been fighting the release of the police report stemming from her arrest after it was requested under open records laws by several local media outlets, including seattlepi.com.
King County Superior Court Judge Laura Inveen ruled last week that most of the records should be made public.
The judge, however, immediately stayed that decision as Bremner's attorney announced an appeal of the decision.
Bremner claims police failed to respond to two 911 calls some time before her midnight arrest in Kenmore and, in a statement submitted to the court on her behalf by her doctor, alleged that she was manhandled by the sheriff's deputy. In a complaint filed under the name "Jane Doe," her lawyer argued she would suffer "substantial and irreparable harm to her personal and professional reputation if the unsubstantiated DUI allegations" were made public.
Her lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.
Bremner frequently appears as a legal analyst on several television networks.
She has been one of the most vocal advocates for Amanda Knox, the University of Washington student convicted of killing her roommate in Perugia, Italy. Knox's attorneys are appealing.
Bremner appeared as a TV legal commentator about several criminal cases with a national profile, including the Laci Peterson murder and Michael Jackson child molestation trial, and she maintains a virtual library of her TV appearances on her website.
She previously contributed to seattlepi.com's City Brights section of bloggers. seattlepi.com recently ended its relationship with her to avoid any conflict of interest.
To support their contention that Bremner suffered a head injury, her attorneys in the filed a statement by local psychiatrist Dr. Philip Lindsay.
Lindsay wrote in court documents that Bremner had been the "victim of a hit and run driver at 50 mph and had suffered a concussion," and argued that the deputy who stopped her in Kenmore "rushed to judgment."
"She was mistakenly arrested for DUI based solely upon the symptoms of traumatic brain injury," Lindsay wrote the court.
Attorneys for the county called the doctor's statements "grossly misleading" and contended Bremner never reported a hit-and-run crash or head injury until well after her arrest.
Bremner's defense investigator interviewed the dinner party host, Rosselle Pekelis, a former state Supreme Court justice and former King County Superior Court judge. Pekelis, her husband, and others reported no issues with Bremner regarding her balance, coordination or thought process and speech, before she left, according to summaries of their statements.
By Scott Gutierrez, seattlepi.com
