Category: Uncategorized

DUI laws across the country are becoming more punitive each and every legislative session. The stated intent behind the government’s crackdown is to protect the general public from preventable harm. Such as in the case of a New Hampshire school bus driver who is now facing drunken driving charges after police say she struck a… Continue Reading »

Pierce County prosecutors have ruled that a Tacoma officer was justified in fatally shooting a Gig Harbor man who pulled out a gun after being stopped for DUI. On June 15, Officer Hannah Heilman was on her way home from work just after 2 a.m. when she noticed Lawrence Papineau driving his pickup truck erratically… Continue Reading »

On Friday a car crashed into an apartment in Lakewood, Washington injuring a man inside the apartment. The car allegedly drove through the wall of a ground floor unit at the Emerald Village Apartments and hit the man while he was playing X-Box. He was allegedly trapped underneath the vehicle for a period of time.… Continue Reading »

The Washington State Patrol has been named by its peers as the top agency in North America when it comes to getting drunk drivers off the road, WSP announced on Friday. The award from the International Association of Chiefs of Police recognizes an agency’s “year-round efforts to detect and apprehend impaired drivers and to address… Continue Reading »

Assault and battery charges do not just arise in Washington State. Unlawfully using force is a crime in all fifty states. To that end, Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski has been criminally charged in California with misdemeanor battery and false imprisonment for allegedly using force against a woman in September of 2010, according to news… Continue Reading »

Seattle Police Sergeant David Abe has apparently chosen to retire in lieu of being fired by the Seattle Police Department. Sergeant Abe was a police officer for nearly 33 years. The decision was made after an internal investigation found misconduct in Sergeant Abe’s supervision of DUI arrests; an audit found dozens of SPD DUI cases… Continue Reading »

A judge Thursday declined to dismiss a drunken-driving case or suppress the arresting officer’s testimony despite the officer’s admission that he violated Seattle police policy when he falsely stated his sergeant had screened the arrest. Seattle Municipal Judge Steve Rosen ruled, the legal wrangling is “much ado about nothing.” Lawyers for Luis Negrete-Ramos asked Rosen… Continue Reading »

According to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, one in six veterans returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has a substance-abuse problem and one in five has symptoms of a mental disorder or cognitive impairment. In response to this, the Seattle Municipal Court is set to open a special court September 20,… Continue Reading »

Seattle police have found that drunken-driving arrests were routinely rubber-stamped or falsely certified without approval by a supervisor, prompting one defendant to ask a judge to dismiss his case or suppress the arresting officer’s testimony. The department launched an internal investigation in March after an audit revealed the mishandling of dozens of driving-under-the-influence (DUI) cases.… Continue Reading »

Washington State DUI numbers are on the rise, and Washington’s laws against drunk driving are continuing to get tougher. In an effort to reduce DUI numbers and to educate drivers, the Washington Traffic Safety Commission has created a website that permits people in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties to see exactly when and where DUI… Continue Reading »