millerboycott.com

Last week, we discussed a traffic stop that resulted in more serious charges against a driver, based upon law enforcement’s allegations that arose during the investigatory stop. Law enforcement in Wilmington, North Carolina accuse a man of a slate of offenses based upon allegations arising before, during and after a traffic stop related to an alleged hit-and-run car accident.

Police in Wilmington, North Carolina arrested a man roughly one block away from the accident Friday. Authorities say that a witness reported that a moving vehicle had struck a parked car in Wilmington shortly before 10:15 Friday night.

Police say that the witness reported that the driver had fled the scene of the accident, and was driving without any headlights–even before the alleged wreck. An officer responding to the accident tip reportedly pulled over a 26-year-old Wilmington man roughly a block away from where the witness had reported the accident.

Law enforcement claims that the driver appeared to be impaired and refused to get out of his car when police commanded that he do so. Authorities say that the driver eventually got out of the car, but remained combative. Police say that the officer subdued the man and placed him in handcuffs, according to WWAY News Channel 3.

Law enforcement claims that the driver was put in a squad car, where authorities claim that he began kicking the back window of the cruiser. The man was transported to a hospital for medical clearance and subjected to a blood test. He was later booked into jail on suspicion of hit and run, driving while impaired, and a charge of hinder and delay.

Source: WWAY News Channel 3, “Police: Man arrested for DWI tried to kick out cruiser window,” April 15, 2013

• Our firm represents people accused of a crime in the Pitt County, North Carolina area. For more information on the firm, please visit the Greenville DWI defense page.

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

In the ongoing "War on Drunk Driving", the latest news from the front…. 

High-Ranking Cop Caught Lying About DUI Arrests

Des Plaines, Iowa.  Feb. 26 — A former police commander in Des Plaines, Illinois was brought up on charges last Wednesday by prosecutors who say he lied about drunk-driving (DUI) arrests. According to US Attorney Gary S. Shapiro, Timothy J. Veit was caught creating 122 bogus drunk driving arrests in an effort to boost the police department's revenue with federal overtime payments. Between 2009 and 2012, the effort generated 2,893 in bogus payments.

The source of the funds was the US Transportation Department's Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP), which funnels federal gas tax dollars through the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to bankroll traffic ticket-writing blitzes that typically take place on holiday weekends. Veit was in charge of his department's STEP campaign, which meant he had to meet a clearly specified traffic ticket quota to qualify for the monetary reward.

"IDOT notified STEP grant recipients of the performance objectives for the STEP enforcement campaigns, which performance objectives included that the grant recipient average at least one Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrest for every ten hours of overtime worked by law enforcement officers on impaired-driving enforcement campaigns," Shapiro wrote in his charging document.

As part of the funding agreement in the STEP program, local police departments must provide a detailed monthly report updating federal officials on the progress of ticket-writing blitzes. Veit signed and dated these compliance reports as well as a number of reimbursement requests. Prosecutors claim Veit claimed 27 DUI arrests in 2009 when there were only 13 arrests made. The next year, he turned 8 arrests into 47. In 2011, 8 DUI arrests became 62, and, last year, one arrest became 16. Each bogus arrest included made up blood-alcohol content readings.

City officials discovered the discrepancy in March 2012 and allowed Veit, who is 55, to retire in April. Since 2009, Veit had collected over ,000 in overtime himself. Veit is charged with one felony count of making false statements, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of 0,000, though he is likely to serve less time under federal sentencing guidelines.

Police departments across the country continue to deny they use quotas for drunk driving arrests.  Using quotas, of course, forces cops to make arrests because they have to — not necessarily because anyone is guilty.  See my past posts:  DUI Quotas, "Yes We Have No DUI Quotas" and "Inside Edition" Documents DUI Quotas Across U.S.  

Why do they have quotas?  As the man said, "Follow the money".  See, for example, DUI Roadblocks for Fun and Profit and How to Make a Million in the DUI Business. 
 

DUI BLOG

A joint effort by several law enforcement agencies in Pitt County recently used a sobriety checkpoint to bring charges against 95 drivers in Greenville, North Carolina. The Greenville Police Department, the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office, along with police from East Carolina University, the North Carolina Highway Patrol and officers from the Ayden, Grifton and Vidant police departments joined together to run a DWI checkpoint on Allen Road in Greenville recently. Law enforcement plans to use checkpoints again in the future.

Authorities say that six people were arrested at the recent Greenville, North Carolina checkpoint on suspicion of driving while impaired. However, police say that another 89 drivers are facing a variety of other charges based upon the use of the DWI checkpoint.

Authorities say that 17 people were found to be driving with a revoked license during the roadblock check. A dozen were allegedly found to be driving without a valid license. Police accuse a number of people of a variety of traffic offenses–several people are facing drug charges, and other felony arrests were also made in the law enforcement effort to enforce DWI laws.

Not all states allow law enforcement to conduct sobriety checkpoints. Most North Carolina drivers are aware the DWI checkpoints are used throughout the state to enforce North Carolina drunk driving laws. Some out-of-state visitors, or students who study in North Carolina, may be surprised that DWI checkpoints are used in the state, especially those out-of-state drivers who hail from the states that have outlawed sobriety checkpoints.

The United States Supreme Court says that the use of checkpoints to enforce DWI laws is constitutional as long as the roadblocks are conducted with proper safeguards to protect the integrity of the law enforcement action.

In other words, a checkpoint cannot be set up and run at the whim of law enforcement, but when properly conducted, a DWI checkpoint may be constitutionally sound, according to the nation’s highest court (some of the states that do not allow sobriety checkpoints do not allow the roadblocks under state constitutional protections).

However, just because North Carolina generally allows for sobriety checkpoints, drivers accused of DWI should not be shy to contact a DWI defense lawyer regarding the allegations involved in an individual case.

Source: WNCT, “Greenville DWI check nets 95 violations, including 6 DWI’s,” Jonathan Rodriguez, updated March 4, 2013

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

If the Selinger government was trying to create the perception of independence around the new, politically-driven Independent Investigation Unit — which will soon investigate allegations of serious crimes committed by Manitoba cops — it probably wasn’t the best idea to hire a local prosecutor as the unit’s “civilian director.” Justice Minister Andr
Manitoba stories

Police in Asheville, North Carolina say that a man was driving through town smoking synthetic marijuana. The 50-year-old is now facing charges of driving while impaired and damage to property. The ordeal reportedly began when a police officer spotted a Jeep on U.S. 70 in east Ashville that appeared to have a gas hose dangling from its gas tank, according to law enforcement.

Officers claim that they could see the driver smoking some kind of pipe while traveling. Police apparently decided to conduct a traffic stop of the Jeep. Officers claim that as they approached the Jeep, the driver continued to smoke the pipe in the passenger compartment. Law enforcement claims that a gas can was also in the passenger compartment while the driving took drags on the pipe.

Asheville Police assert that the man had stopped earlier in the day November 27, at an establishment in east Ashville. Police claim that the man bought synthetic marijuana at the establishment and continued on his way. Police believe that the driver began smoking the product in the Jeep, and later stopped at a gas station to fill up the Jeep. Police accuse the man of driving away from the gas station with the gas hose from the pump still dangling from his Jeep.

Asheville Police arrested the driver, a man who is reportedly from Nebo, North Carolina, on suspicion of DWI and criminal damage to property after the encounter. Authorities claim that the man had purchased a large quantity of what law enforcement describes as synthetic marijuana at the east Asheville business earlier in the day.

Source: Mountain Xpress, “APD arrests man with synthetic marijuana for DWI, damage to property,” David Forbes, Nov. 28, 2012

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

Several people have lost their jobs, and a new City Manager has been installed in Cherryville, North Carolina following a scandal involving law enforcement in the city. Federal officials accuse three police officers of corruption after an investigation unveiled evidence that the officers allegedly protected trucks full of stolen goods. Agents from the FBI claim that three officers accepted money to provide the truckers with protection in Gaston County.

Criminal defense lawyers know that allegations in the media, as well as the claims in a police report do not provide proof of criminal activity. Our system of justice puts the burden of proof upon the government, but proof must be made in a court of law. Therein lies the rub in the Gaston County allegations.

Dueling issues have arisen from the scandal. The officers remain innocent of the corruption charges until proven guilty in a federal court. At the same time, Gaston County officials will dismiss numerous criminal cases due to the alleged involvement of the officers in the corruption allegations.

As a society, we look to law enforcement to protect and to serve. But at the same time, criminal defense lawyers stand as sentries in court to protect against an over-reaching government.

Gaston County prosecutors will reportedly be voluntarily dismissing 59 charges in the aftermath of the corruption probe. The cases all rely on the testimony of the officers accused of corruption. Among the overall cases, prosecutors reportedly will be dismissing eight drunk driving cases. Additional drug cases, traffic violations and other types of charges will be dropped. Each of those cases presumably involve police reports.

The plain language of the police reports is called into question. Allegations in any police report, however, is subject to challenge. Greenville DWI defense lawyers, like criminal defense lawyers all across the country, protect individual rights by testing the evidence in court produced by the state to help avoid wrongful convictions.

Source: WBTV, “Cherryville names new City Manager weeks after police scandal,” Jessica Sells, Nov. 7, 2012

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

Law enforcement in Greensboro, North Carolina says a woman fled the scene during a traffic stop early Friday morning. Officers say the woman was pulled over for an alleged expired license tag. During the traffic stop, the police officer says that the woman did not have a license or other identification and he returned to his patrol car to look up the woman’s identity on the computer. That is when she is accused of bolting.

The officer says the woman took a detour from the road and drove through several front yards during the roughly half-mile police chase. The woman reportedly struck a traffic sign along the way, before stopping her vehicle in the front yard of a home. The 25-year-old Jamestown, North Carolina woman is accused of stumbling from the vehicle. She was arrested in the yard shortly after 2:00 Friday morning.

The woman was booked into the Guilford County Detention Center after her arrest. Police say that she had two outstanding warrants on charges of driving while impaired. However, she now faces a new set of North Carolina charges. Police believe that she was impaired at the time of the recent alleged police chase.

In addition to the new North Carolina DWI charge, the woman is accused of felony fleeing, driving with a revoked license, resisting arrest and a violation for the alleged expired license tab.

The alleged events all started after law enforcement conducted an allegedly routine traffic stop based upon the claim that the woman had an expired tab. Generally, law enforcement is not allowed to make a traffic stop based upon a mere whim. However, a minor alleged violation of the law, such as allegations of an expired tag, may give police the ability to conduct a lawful traffic stop.

Greenville DWI defense lawyers know that our constitutional rights are worth protecting. A person accused of a crime has the right to challenge DWI allegations, including, at times, whether or not a traffic stop was conducted in compliance with constitutional protections.

Source: WFMY News 2, “Woman Leads Greensboro Police On Short Chase Through Fisher Park,” Nov. 9, 2012

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

Agents with the North Carolina Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement teamed up with Greenville Police over Halloween. A sergeant with Greenville Police told The East Carolinian at ECU that Halloween night went better this year than it has in recent years. He says that with Halloween falling in the middle of the week, less people were downtown on the annual night for costumes and parties.

The police sergeant says that the numbers were down this year in Downtown Greenville, North Carolina. Nonetheless, agents and officers dished out more than 70 citations for alcohol-related offenses. Authorities released the Halloween totals this week. More than 100 people were charged with some sort of offense, with 73 cases involving allegations of alcohol offenses.

Leading the way were citations for underage possession of alcohol, which numbered 40. Twenty two people were charged for underage consumption and 11 people were charged with open container violations.

The Greenville Police sergeant says that many students found other things to do than drink alcohol this year. However, added security measures were put in place for the downtown area. Officers blocked off the area with barricades and officers were on patrol. A security checkpoint was also set up for the area.

State officials also released information about the statewide Booze It and Lose It” increased drunk driving campaign that ran from October 26 through Halloween. Statewide, law enforcement agencies arrested 729 drivers on suspicion of driving while impaired in North Carolina.

Pitt county agencies conducted 33 saturation patrols and set up 12 DWI checkpoints in conjunction with the campaign. Pitt County law enforcement agencies charged 14 drivers over the age of 21 with DWI and 17 people were charged with underage DUI in the campaign.

Source: The East Carolinian, “Citation numbers released for Halloween ’12,” Melanie Jock, Nov. 8, 2012.

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

A freak accident in Wilmington, North Carolina has led to drunk driving charges for the driver accused of crashing into a house. A woman was sitting on her porch across the street and says that the car rumbled between two houses in Wilmington, before crashing into the kitchen of one of the homes. The neighbor says that she could hear “the gas line going off,” just before the home exploded.

Authorities say that the car accident caused a gas leak, followed by the explosion, which ignited both the house and the car. Police say that the car struck the gas line and a 100 pound propane tank. No one was seriously injured in the incident. But the Wilmington man accused of losing control of his vehicle is facing charges for driving while impaired.

Few details are available concerning the DWI allegations. News reports have focused upon the nature of the car accident. Sources say that kids live in the home, but the children were at school when the car accident occurred shortly after noon Monday. One person was inside the home, but was not injured.

Authorities called the gas company to the scene to secure the gas. Neighbors were evacuated until emergency crews could arrive to control the gas feed and get the fire under control.

Smoke billowed from the home, attracting people from miles around.

The man charged with DWI also faces a charge for failure to maintain his lane. He reportedly was taken to the hospital after the wreck before being booked on the criminal charges.

Sources:

• WECT, “DEVELOPING: Man crashes into gas line of home, sparks fire,” Updated Nov. 2, 2012
• WWAY, “Driver charged with DWI after car hits house, sparks fire,” Christina Anthony, Oct. 29, 2012

Greenville DUI Attorney Blog | North Carolina Underage Drinking Lawyer | Pitt County First DUI Law Firm

Manitoba’s Justice Minister, police and child advocates joined to launch an Amber Alert Facebook page Thursday.

Manitoba stories