DUI Checkpoint for Memorial Day Weekend

The Los Angeles Police Department put San Fernando Valley residents on notice this week by posting stories with local publications warning of a DUI checkpoint in Canoga Park.  The checkpoint, which was scheduled to start on Topanga Canyon Boulevard between Devonshire Street and Chatsworth Street, began at 7 o'clock in the evening on Friday and ended 3 o'clock in the morning on Saturday.  The checkpoint will be checking for drivers who appear to be driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) or drugs.  Those who appear to be drinking and driving will be subjected to field sobriety tests as well as potential chemical testing to determine their actual blood alcohol content. 

Sobriety checkpoints (also known as DUI checkpoints), as any Los Angeles DUI defense attorney can tell you, are a hotly debated subject in many legal circles.  Part of what makes them controversial is the fact that citizens of the United States of America are protected from "unreasonable search and seizure" by our Constitution.  In addition, our entire legal system is based on the idea that a person is innocent until they are proven guilty in a court of law.  According to many Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys, however, sobriety checkpoints operate somewhat under the assumption that many people are in clear violation of local laws and are, in fact, driving under the influence of alcohol.  Setting up a checkpoint is, in the opinion of many Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys, akin to entrapment and the assumption that people are committing crimes like drinking and driving. 

If you have been arrested for DUI following a stop at a DUI checkpoint, call the Los Angeles DUI attorneys at Kestenbaum, Eisner & Gorin, LLP today.  Our Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys have a combined five decades of courtroom experience in helping clients beat DUI charges.  Our Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys know that DUI checkpoints must be operated according to a very specific set of procedures that must be adhered to or your charges might be dismissed.  For instance, by law, sobriety checkpoints must be announced to the public before they take place.  A Los Angeles DUI defense attorney knows that officers at DUI checkpoints must adhere to an impartial formula when deciding which cars to pull over and check (for instance, every sixth car).  Drivers must also be given the chance to pull out of the line leading up to the checkpoint without officers following them or harassing them after leaving the line.  Call the Los Angeles DUI defense attorneys of Kestenbaum, Eisner & Gorin, LLP at 1-877-781-1570 to begin preparing your defense.