Supreme Court Cites Los Angeles DUI Attorney as Authority

 In a landmark decision, the California Supreme Court has cited a Los Angeles DUI lawyer as authority in reversing previous law prohibiting California DUI attorneys from offering evidence in trial that breathalyzers used in drunk driving cases are susceptible to inherent error.

In California v. Neal, the Supreme Court three times cited the legal textbook California Drunk Driving Defense, 4th edition as scientific authority for its decision. Used by California DUI lawyers statewide, the best-selling text on the subject is authored by Los Angeles DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor. As reported in TheNewspaper.com: A Journal of the Politics of Driving:

The California Supreme Court last Thursday entered a ruling allowing motorists accused of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) to question the reliability of the breathalyzer machinery used to secure convictions.

"Simply put, the machines all automatically convert the amount of alcohol tested in the tiny amount of breath taken from the suspect," California DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor explained. "The internal computer multiplies the amount by 2100 -- using the average ratio of alcohol in blood to alcohol in breath -- to estimate the amount of alcohol in the suspect's blood. Problem: We are not all average. And ratios vary from 1300:1 to 3500:1."

With this in mind, the supreme court held that partition ratio evidence may now be raised as a defense to a general DUI charge. The court, however, in previous rulings made it clear that motorists could be convicted of per se DUI regardless of any scientific evidence regarding actual intoxication. The high court cited Lawrence Taylor as an authority on the subject three times in its decision, but Taylor blasted the decision as irrational.

Known nationally as "The Dean of DUI Attorneys", Lawrence Taylor is a former Los Angeles deputy district attorney and Fulbright Professor of Law who has lectured to DUI lawyers in over 41 states. Taylor currently heads his law firm of 8 DUI defense lawyers serving clients in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside-San Bernardino, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay area.

The decision has been widely applauded by DUI defense attorneys in California, while prosecutors have criticized the decision, predicting that it will result in far more DUI lawyers winning acquittals.

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