We remain open and steadfast in our commitment to helping our clients during these difficult days.

Proven Approach With Results Forged Through Experience

Image of attorney Mark L. Deniz

Planned San Diego checkpoint this weekend. Defending and winning an arrest by DUI Defense Lawyer Attorney

On Behalf of | Aug 20, 2016 | Firm News |

Summer is still here but we are quickly heading into fall.  It is a good time to be reminded to be safe and smart.   Do not tempt fate by having some drinks and head home.  You might be closer to the limit than you think.  San Diego is home is some hefty IPAs and their establishments are “heavy pours”. Below is some info on a planned checkpoint and some information on what you have to examine when you are arrested for a San Diego DUI.  The key in these cases is to be proactive and you can do so by calling 858-751-4384.

The San Diego Police Department announced it will conduct a DUI/driver’s license checkpoint at an undisclosed location on Saturday night.

The checkpoint will take place between 11 p.m. Saturday and to 3 a.m. Sunday at a location with a high number of past collisions and DUI arrests to ensure “the greatest opportunity for achieving drunk and drugged driving deterrence,” according to the police department.

Checkpoints are routinely announced in advance because research shows that crashes involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20 percent when well-publicized DUI checkpoints and patrols are conducted routinely.

Drivers caught driving impaired can expect a DUI conviction to include jail time, fines, fees, DUI classes and related expenses that can exceed $10,000.

The full article can be found here.

Common problems with DUI checkpoints include:

  1. Police officers stopping and detaining drivers who turn off the road before going through an announced DUI roadblock. Making a turn, even if for the expressed purpose of avoiding the roadblock, is not illegal and is not a legitimate reason to stop and detain a driver. It is a violation of your rights, and I can file a motion to have the evidence collected after an illegal stop and arrest thrown out of your case.
  2. Breath testing with mobile breath test devices. Breath testsadministered in the field may give faulty readings due to damage that can occur to the device in the field and the calibration of the device. I can challenge the reliability of the results on several grounds, including the requirements of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations, which mandates that individuals being administered breath tests be observed by a police officer for a minimum of 15 continuous minutes prior to the test, which rarely occurs in any DUI arrest situation.

DUI checkpoints impose significant intrusions upon the general public. Their allowance in practice should be extremely limited. If you or a loved one was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving at a DUI roadblock in San Diego or surrounding areas, please call The Law Offices of Mark Deniz APLC to speak with me right away

Here is some caselaw regarding San Diego DUI checkpoints:

Ingersoll v. Palmer

Ingersoll v. Palmer, 43 Cal. 3d 1321 (1987), was the first California case addressing sobriety checkpoints. The case considered the legality of one of the first sobriety checkpoints in California, one designed as a model program. Id. at 1326. The court began by noting that at sobriety checkpoints, police do not need reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to stop motorists:

Petitioners contend the validity of a sobriety checkpoint stop must be determined by the standard set forth in In re Tony C. (1978) 21 Cal. 3d 888, requiring an individualized suspicion of wrongdoing. If the primary purpose of the stop here were to detect crime or gather evidence of crime, we would agree with the contention that an individualized suspicion of wrongdoing is required. But, as we shall explain, the primary purpose of the stop here was not to discover evidence of crime or to make arrests of drunk drivers but to promote public safety by deterring intoxicated persons from driving on the public streets and highways.

The court further stated,

We therefore conclude the propriety of the sobriety checkpoint stops involved here is to be determined not by the standard pertinent to traditional criminal investigative stops, but rather by the standard applicable to investigative detentions and

inspections conducted as part of a regulatory scheme in furtherance of an administrative purpose.

Id. at 1327-28. The court analogized to airport screening searches, which do not require any individualized suspicion of criminal activity. Id. at 1328. The court considered and rejected the argument that the checkpoint was designed to arrest drunk drivers. Instead, it noted that the checkpoint was designed to raise public awareness and serve as a deterrent, and experience with checkpoints in other states indicated that they were effective deterrents. Id. at 1336-37.

The Ingersoll court also noted some factors in the checkpoint before it that minimized the checkpoint’s intrusiveness:

The decisions of courts of other states and the California Attorney General’s opinion which originally sanctioned the kind of checkpoints operated here have analyzed the issue of intrusiveness extensively and have identified a number of factors important in assessing intrusiveness. The standards articulated in these cases provide functional guidelines for minimizing the intrusiveness of the sobriety checkpoint stop.

Id. at 1341. The eight Ingersoll guidelines are: (1) decision-making at the supervisory level; (2) limits on discretion of field officers; (3) maintenance of safety conditions; (4) reasonable location; (5) reasonable time and duration; (6) indicia of the roadblock’s official nature; (7) minimal length and nature of detention; and (8) advanced publicity. Id. at 1341-46. The program at issue in Ingersoll complied with all of these guidelines, and was approved.

Hire a Proactive, affordable, and quality defense when you are facing San Diego DUIcharges. Whether you have been charged of a San Diego DUI, Poway DUI, La Mesa DUI, Santee DUI, Mission Valley DUI, Clairemont DUI, Point Loma DUI, La Jolla DUI, Carmel Valley DUI, Mira Mesa DUI, Pacific Beach DUI, Del Mar DUI, Carmel Valley DUI, Encinitas DUI, Oceanside DUI, Ocean Beach DUI, Escondido DUI, Vista DUI, San Marcos DUI, Carlsbad DUI, El Cajon DUI it is vital you need to hire an attorney who knows how to defend your rights and can determine if the government can prove their case. Contact the Law Office of Mark Deniz now for a free case evaluation at 858-751-4384 or send an email to [email protected].

San Diego-area municipalities have been increasingly using DUI or sobriety stops in recent years to apprehend suspected drunk drivers. The substantial state grant money, proceeds from fines and additional penalty assessments from court convictions has encouraged city governments and the California Highway Patrol to continue expanding the use of DUI checkpoints.

Checkpoints are often set up on weekends throughout San Diego County, from Oceanside to Chula Vista. The use of checkpoints is not always legal, however. In 1987, following the Ingersoll v. Palmer ruling, the United States Supreme Court gave guidelines necessary before any law enforcement officer(s) could initiate a checkpoint.

When a DUI checkpoint arrest is challenged in criminal court, the judge will consider each of the following factors:

  • The location chosen for the checkpoint
  • Time and duration the checkpoint is operated
  • Degree of discretion left to individual police officers
  • Standards set by superior officers
  • Whether advanced notice was given to the general public and approaching drivers
  • Ad
    herence to road safety conditions
  • Length of time each driver is stopped and detained

Defending Your DUI Checkpoint Case

I, Mark Deniz, can help you evaluate whether your individual rights were violated and the appropriate next steps in your individual case. I am a local San Diego DUI lawyer who has handled hundreds of jury trials and hundreds of DUI cases throughout the San Diego area.

Common problems with DUI checkpoints include:

  1. Police officers stopping and detaining drivers who turn off the road before going through an announced DUI roadblock. Making a turn, even if for the expressed purpose of avoiding the roadblock, is not illegal and is not a legitimate reason to stop and detain a driver. It is a violation of your rights, and I can file a motion to have the evidence collected after an illegal stop and arrest thrown out of your case.
  2. Breath testing with mobile breath test devices. Breath testsadministered in the field may give faulty readings due to damage that can occur to the device in the field and the calibration of the device. I can challenge the reliability of the results on several grounds, including the requirements of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations, which mandates that individuals being administered breath tests be observed by a police officer for a minimum of 15 continuous minutes prior to the test, which rarely occurs in any DUI arrest situation.

DUI checkpoints impose significant intrusions upon the general public. Their allowance in practice should be extremely limited. If you or a loved one was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving at a DUI roadblock in San Diego or surrounding areas, please call The Law Offices of Mark Deniz APLC to speak with me right away.

FindLaw Network