Dear Readers,

DUIs are different, and so is this issue of The DUI Report.

DUI charges are, of course, criminal charges.  However, they don’t carry with them the same element of conscious disregard for the law that most crimes do.  Many of the DUI defense lawyers I’ve spoken to over the years have told me that they really like their clients, since their DUI clients are not like their typical criminal clients. DUI arrests truly cross all social, racial, and economic boundaries.  And for that reason, and many others, DUIs are different.

This issue of The DUI Report is also different.  Instead of providing detailed technical articles on sometimes difficult scientific topics, this issue of The DUI Report is designed to provide practical help that a person can immediately put to use if they’ve been arrested for suspicion of DUI.

Most DUI arrests trigger two different cases, a court case and a DMV case.  “What To Do First” provides specific, clear-cut direction for someone charged with DUI, so that he or she is protected both in criminal court and with the DMV.

For many of us, our driver license means everything: our livelihood, our social life, our ability to address our most basic needs.  Therefore, the DMV Hearing can be just as important, if not more important, than the outcome of the criminal court case.  Many people don’t have an understanding of the issues that come up at a DMV Hearing, or how those issues impact the outcome.  That’s why this month’s article “Winning the DMV Hearing” is so important.

Of course, no issue of The DUI Report would be complete without an interview with one of the important people in the world of DUI enforcement or DUI defense.  In this issue we are fortunate to have caught up with one of California’s foremost DUI lawyers: Darren Kavinoky.  Kavinoky, founding lawyer of The Kavinoky Law Firm, is regarded as a true DUI defense warrior, and he is held in high esteem by prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges.  I’m certain you’ll find this month’s interview with Mr. Kavinoky helpful and worth the read!

As Mr. Kavinoky points out, many of his clients come to him with a sense of dread, mistakenly believing that there is no way to successfully defend a DUI case. They think that if the machine says they are guilty, they have no recourse.  Thankfully, our article entitled “Why Fight My Case?” thoroughly addresses these common, but incorrect, assumptions.

Drunk driving cases are often referred to as the exception to the Constitution.  DUI is a crime that is often politically and financially motivated in its enforcement and prosecution.  Those who stand up and fight are truly liberty’s last champions.  I hope that, if nothing else, this issue of The DUI Report gives you courage.  It takes courage to take the next step to defend yourself.  It takes courage to stand up in court and say, “not guilty.”  It takes courage to fight.  It takes courage to persevere.

If this magazine inspires just a little more courage in you, then we at The DUI Report will have been truly successful.  I wish you well.

Braden Pollock
Editor-in-Chief