Articles Posted in OUI/Drunk Driving

If you have a commercial driver’s license (CDL) you are automatically subjected to stricter rules and regulations. You may also face harsher penalties for traffic violations and other offenses. If you are convicted of a ‘major violation’, whether you are driving your personal vehicle or a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), you will be immediately disqualified from operating a CMV for one year. One of the most common major violations for individuals with CDLs is driving while intoxicated (DWI). Contact a Boston DWI Lawyer Today.

Major violations for CDL Holders

CDL violations are classified as major or serious. Major violations are the greater of the two and result in immediate suspension, revocation, or lifetime loss of a driver’s CDL. Serious violations can also result in suspension, revocation, or lifetime loss, however, this typically only occurs on a cumulative basis. Examples of major violations include:

Being charged with a DUI, DWI, or OUI while operating your personal motor vehicle

Operating a CMV with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.04% or higher

Refusing to submit to an alcohol test

The first major violation will result in a one-year suspension of your CDL. However, if you were transporting hazardous materials at the time of the violation, you may receive a three-year suspension. The second major violation will result in a lifetime suspension of your CDL, but certain reinstatement options may be available after ten years.

Any Amount of Alcohol Can Affect Your Ability to Operate a CMV

It is also important to note that if you are caught driving a CMV with any detectable amount of alcohol in your system, but less than 0.04%, you will be required to go out of service for at least 24 hours.

The Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999

You don’t have to be driving a commercial vehicle to lose your CDL for DWI. If you get charged with any kind of drug or alcohol offense, the charges will result in a suspension of your CDL as well. This suspension or revocation is above and beyond the standard fines and penalties for DWI charges. You may lose your personal driver’s license, spend time in jail, and face hefty fines. The Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 establishes the following guidelines for CDL holders:

If a driver’s personal vehicle license is suspended or revoked due to an alcohol violation, the CDL will be revoked for one year.

If a driver receives a second alcohol conviction, the CDL will be revoked for life.

If you have a CDL, with the exception of parking violations, all traffic violations must be reported to your employer within 30 days. In addition, depending on the severity of your charges and your history, criminal penalties may apply. Continue reading

A woman from Medway, Massachusetts is facing charges following her sixth arrest for driving under the influence. The charges will be brought against 52 year old Corinne Zaniboni in Framingham District Court on Wednesday in an effort to deem whether or not she is a danger to the public. Zaniboni was arrested on Thursday following an accident in Holliston where she crashed her vehicle into a stone wall. No one was injured during the incident.

Holliston Police responded to a call for a car accident around 8:30 PM Thursday night at the intersection of Garrett Way and Highland Street. Upon arriving on scene, responding officers found Corinne Zaniboni’s Toyota Camry had slammed into a brick wall along the side of the road. The report for the accident was filed by Holliston Police Sgt. Matthew J. Stone at Framingham District Court on Friday, a day after the accident had occurred.

According to the report provided by Sgt. Matthew Stone, Zaniboni had been attempting to reverse her vehicle when he arrived on scene. She repeatedly apologized to Sgt. Stone saying “I’m so sorry. So sorry about all of this.” It was at this time that Sgt. Stone detected alcohol on her breath and ordered Zaniboni to take several field sobriety tests. Sgt. Stone went on to say that Zaniboni had been slurring her speech during the encounter, and that she had failed each of the sobriety tests he administered. Zaniboni agreed to take a portable breathalyzer test that Sgt. Stone suggested after she had failed the other sobriety tests—she blew a .29 on the breathalyzer, which is well above the .08 legal limits. Portable breathalyzer tests, however, are inadmissible in court. Sgt. Stone has stated that upon arrival at the police department he administered a second breathalyzer test to Zaniboni in which she blew a .30.

Law enforcement is often on high alert for drunken behavior…particularly drunk driving…during holidays. Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17th, is one such holiday.

‘Nuff said.

Apparently, Franklin’s Dominick Revell, 43, (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) did not get that particular memo. The Commonwealth alleges that he was operating his vehicle under the influence on Tuesday.

So they arrested him.

The Defendant was brought to court and arraigned on Wednesday at the West Roxbury District Court. The Commonwealth told the court that he was found unconscious at about 8:50 p.m. Tuesday in a car outside a McDonald’s restaurant on American Legion Highway in Roslindale. It was there, they claimed, that he had allegedly rear-ended a 77-year-old Mattapan man’s vehicle in the drive-through.

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Robert E. Murphy of Ashland, a 59-year-old (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) gentleman is, or was, a Hopkinton school bus driver. He has now been arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle to endanger. According to WBZ, this is his third OUI case, the last having taken place 25 years ago.

The Defendant’s arrest, together with his history, has touched off renewed interest into how many drunk driving cases a person can have before a license is suspended or lost.

According to the report, it is very difficult to have one’s driving priviledge suspended or terminated in Massachusetts. The article explains that “In general, just being charged with an OUI offense-no matter how many times-is not enough to have a license suspended or revoked.”

Today is Memorial Day. I know that this is not the subject matter originally intended when this holiday was named, but just the suggestion of “memories” makes me…well…remember. I think back to when things seemed more simple in many ways. Sometimes that was good, sometimes it was bad.

Often, I hear people opine that folks were more civil back in yesteryear. Well, here is a story which shows that not everybody is immediately argumentative when it comes to law enforcement. Sometimes, the alleged criminal is completely cooperative.

Maybe even too cooperative for their own good.

Boston University Police Department increased alcohol-control efforts, following a spike in alcohol-fueled hospital runs, in the first week of February. BU Today, reported that 11 university students were hospitalized for alcohol related incidents. Half of the transports were under 21. In the state of Massachusetts, it is illegal to consume or possess alcohol before 21 years of age.

BUPD Captain Molloy reports that alcohol transports are up 7 percent over the fall semester. This concerning rise has the police department beefing up their patrols. Captain Molloy explains, “We are going to begin plainclothes enforcement,” stationing officers around and near the campus. Students should expect raids from officers dressed in plain clothing at loud or reported parties. In addition to plainclothes enforcement, BUPD plans on increasing police patrols, breaking up all raucous parties, and arresting and citing offenders.
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John J. Basler, 25 years of age, was working as a state trooper. Today, he is the “Defendant”. He is facing criminal charges in Plymouth for Massachusetts drunk driving. No, not ONLY for drunk driving. You see, he allegedly killed two people.

On September 22nd, the Defendant was involved in a two-car crash that killed a 64-year-old mother and her 23-year-old daughter. Last week, was arraigned in Plymouth District Court.

As one would expect, the Defendant has been suspended without pay from the department, which he joined last year. He is currently charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and carrying a firearm under the influence of alcohol. One would expect that the vehicular homicide counts will be coming shortly. In the meantime, however, the Commonwealth agreed for him to be released on his own recognizance.

Are you still thinking that it might be a neat idea to try to out-run the police? How about federal officials? Do you think, perhaps, if you keep the chase going long enough, leaving the jurisdiction in which they are authorized to make arrests, they will simply give up?

Sayeth this Boston criminal lawyer, “think again!”.

In the recent case of United States v. Ryan, the First Circuit Court Of Appeals addressed the issue.