Media Coverage

Ahwatukee Foothills News

Avoid DUIs over the holidays - Task force is active, penalties harsh
By Jason Ludwig Staff Writer

The holidays are a time for celebrating, but be careful with that eggnog – Arizona’s DUI task force is in full swing, ready to bust drunk drivers breaking some of the strictest DUI laws in the country. The Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day task force yields the most arrests of the state’s four task forces (the other three coincide with Memorial Day weekend, Independence Day weekend and Labor Day weekend). In 2006, the taskforce made 2,662 arrests, up from the 2,399 made in 2005 and the 2,591 made in 2004. As of Dec. 21, police had nabbed 1,254 since Thanksgiving Day this year.

Ahwatukee Foothills resident and attorney Melanie Beauchamp specializes in DUI defense. Most people picked up for DUI, Beauchamp said, aren’t problem drinkers or devil-may-care lawbreakers, but rather just people who don’t know how little they can drink before being legally impaired with a BAC (blood alcohol content) of .08. "People don’t know what one drink is," Beauchamp said. "One drink is four ounces of wine, one 12-ounce domestic beer or one shot. That’s not a lot of alcohol." The petite attorney explained, "If someone my size has one martini, that’s three to four ounces of vodka. I could be as much as .12, and that’s just one drink."

The .08 limit – meaning there’s .08 grams of alcohol per 100 grams of blood – is when, legally, a person is drunk in Arizona no matter what their level of impairment. You can be DUI below that, though: if driving is impaired "to the slightest degree," state law says, then you’re DUI.

"Most people are trying to be responsible, they just need to be educated," Beauchamp said. "My clients are the nicest people in the world, they just lack information."

That lack of information can lead to devastating results. A first-time DUI conviction up to a .14 BAC will result in at least one day in jail and about $3,500 in fees, not counting attorney or court-ordered counseling fees. A BAC between .15 and .19 is considered an extreme DUI, carrying a minimum of 10 days in jail (with a 12-hour daily work release) and about $5,000 in preattorney, pre-counseling fees. If someone’s caught with a BAC of .2 or above, even on a first offense, they’re really in hot water. "The real big difference comes when someone has what they call a ‘super-extreme’ DUI, where the blood alcohol content is about .2," Beauchamp said. "They get 45 days straight, with no work release. They lose their jobs." When someone tries to fight a DUI, they may avoid all that but the bills rack up quickly. Even at Beauchamp’s practice, with prices that are comparatively reasonable, defense for a non-extreme, first-offense DUI can hit $5,500. "If you have to go to a jury trial, that costs $6,000 (on top of the $5,500) and up, depending on the length of the trial," she added. And of course, even first offenders lose their driving privileges and, as of May of this year, have to get an interlock device installed that costs $60 a month to maintain.
 
Should you be unfortunate enough to get pulled over after sipping too much eggnog, Beauchamp says to behave yourself but don’t say anything that can be used against you later.

"You always want to cooperate and be polite," she said. "Give the officer your license, registration and insurance, and call an attorney immediately. I don’t recommend people answer questions, since what they say can be distorted, before they talk with an attorney." You can also skip the field sobriety tests. "They’re completely voluntary, but officers don’t say that." If police want to do a chemical test, you have to take it – when you got your driver’s license you agreed to surrender it for a year if you refuse – but that should be it. "If you really want to fight it, give the officer your license, registration and insurance and submit to a chemical test and call an attorney. Do answer any questions and don’t do field sobriety tests."