Recent Updates
July 03, 2010
4th of July Weekend DUI Checkpoints - Los Angeles & Orange County
July 03, 2010
4th of July Weekend DUI Checkpoints in MONTEREY
July 03, 2010
4th of July Weekend DUI Checkpoints in RIVERSIDE
June 28, 2010
Examples of False Positives for HGN Testing
June 27, 2010
Fail Your HGN Test? Maybe Not...
Welcome to the blog of Law Offices of Michael J. Holmes. My firm represents clients in Chino Hills, California, and the surrounding areas who are facing issues such as DUI, drug crimes, theft & robbery, domestic violence, sex crimes, juvenile crimes, probation violations, expungements, assault and violent crimes. I will periodically update the blog with posts on events and issues that are relevant to my areas of practice. For further information on my firm, please visit my website at www.ocdefense.com or contact me toll free at (866) 919-2032 or locally at (714) 907-1192 for a free consultation.
4th of July Weekend DUI Checkpoints - Los Angeles & Orange County
Posted by: Michael Holmes
July 03, 2010
Topic: Understanding DUI & DWI
- Broadlawn Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard West near Universal Studios.
- Florence Avenue between Broadway and Main Street in South Los Angeles.
- Friday through Sunday from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. at undisclosed locations in West Covina.
- Atlantic Boulevard south of Hastings Street in East Los Angeles.
- In addition, the Garden Grove police will have a checkpoint next Friday, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. at 12301 Magnolia Ave.
- Irvine officers will set up a checkpoint Saturday from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. at Culver Drive and Alton Parkway.
- Westminster police will have a checkpoint from 8 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday in the area of Beach Boulevard and McFadden Avenue.
- In Cypress, the checkpoint will be at Moody Street and Lincoln Avenue on Saturday, from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.
- In Buena Park, there will be a checkpoint at Beach Boulevard and Tenth Street.
- The Orange County Sheriff's Department will be stopping cars in San Juan Capistrano.
4th of July Weekend DUI Checkpoints in MONTEREY
Posted by: Michael Holmes
July 03, 2010
Topic: Understanding DUI & DWI
4th of July Weekend DUI Checkpoints in RIVERSIDE
Posted by: Michael Holmes
July 03, 2010
Topic: Understanding DUI & DWI
Examples of False Positives for HGN Testing
Posted by: Michael Holmes
June 28, 2010
Topic: Understanding DUI & DWI
If you have 'failed' the NGH Roadside Sobriety Test, you may have actually only registered a false positive. How can you tell? I am glad you asked!
Even though this test is not a vision test per se, eyeglasses are to be removed in order for the officer to make a more accurate determination of the final total points. If the suspect can not see the stimulus after removing the eyeglasses, they must be allowed to perform the test with them on. According to the manual, hard contact lenses are to be removed so as to avoid dislodging when the eyes are out at maximum deviation or to prevent damage to the eyes. The manual says not to administer the test if the suspect is wearing hard contacts. A person with a glass eye or only vision in one eye can not be given this test.
At an accident scene, if the suspect sustains a concussion, this may bring on a pathological Nystagmus thereby invalidating this test.
As mentioned previously, colorblind individuals are not validated for this test.
If the officer believes that the Nystagmus might be present through non-drug or alcohol-related activities, the results can?t be scored. The benefit of the doubt must be given to the person that is being tested. The officer is also trained to administer this test with the suspect looking into a quiet background, away from police cruisers and other distracting activity. Otherwise, the individual being tested may produce a false positive due to an induced condition known as opto-kinetic Nystagmus. This is brought on when a person focuses on several objects at one time or objects that are moving away. The quiet background that is recommended is away from the view of passing motorists. This opto-kinetic Nystagmus is a defense mechanism of the body in order to keep the eyes from tiring. There are numerous visual or other distractions that may impede this test. Certain environmental factors such as wind, dust, etc. may interfere with the performance of the Nystagmus test.
In summary, the HGN test is just one of several tools that law enforcement are approved to use in order to ascertain sobriety. As I?ve explained, the administration of the test is very complex. Additionally, proper identification of Nystagmus as being directly correlatable to drugs or alcohol should require medical training. There are too many potential pre existing conditions and environmental variables at play.
If you have been charged with DUI or DWI and NGH testing was a component in your arrest, I strongly urge you to seek representation from a qualified Criminal Defense Attorney who can help build your case. An experienced Lawyer will know how to sort through all evidence related to the charges and aggressively defend your rights.
Fail Your HGN Test? Maybe Not...
Posted by: Michael Holmes
June 27, 2010
Topic: Understanding DUI & DWI
Some of HGN testing?s most vocal opponents site a variety of facts when disputing the reliability of law enforcement?s administration of HGN. Most police officers neither are trained medical practitioners nor are they licensed ophthalmologists. According to the 2003 American Board of Ophthalmology brochure, there are only 23,662 licensed ophthalmologists in the United States.
There are numerous causes of Nystagmus; meaning diagnosis by non-medical personnel is highly problematic. Nystagmus is naturally found in a significant percentage of people and can be indicative of many medical and physiological disorders. Some of the most common causes of Nystagmus include:
(1) problems with the inner ear labyrinth; (2) irrigating the ears with warm or cold water under peculiar weather conditions; (3) influenza; (4) streptococcus infection; (5) vertigo; (6) measles; (7) syphilis; (8) arteriosclerosis; (9) muscular dystrophy; (10) multiple sclerosis; (11) Korchaff's syndrome; (12) brain hemorrhage; (13) epilepsy; (14) hypertension; (15) motion sickness; (16) sunstroke; (17) eye strain; (18) eye muscle fatigue; (19) glaucoma; (20) changes in atmospheric pressure; (21) consumption of excessive amounts of caffeine; (22) excessive exposure to nicotine; (23) aspirin; (24) circadian rhythms; (25) acute trauma to the head; (26) chronic trauma to the head; (27) some prescription drugs, tranquilizers, pain medications, anti-convulsants; (28) barbiturates; (29) disorders of the vestibular apparatus and brain stem; (30) cerebellum dysfunction; (31) heredity; (32) diet; (33) toxins; (34) exposure to solvents PCBS, dry cleaning fumes, carbon monoxide; (34) extreme chilling; (35) eye muscle imbalance; (36) lesions; (37) continuous movement of the visual field past the eyes, i.e., looking from a moving train; (38) antihistamine use. See State v. Witte, supra; State v. Clark, supra; State v. Superior Court, supra; Mark A. Rouleau, Unreliability of the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test, 4 Am. Jur. Proof of Facts 3d 439 (1989); Louise J. Gordy & Roscoe N. Gray, 3A Attorney's Textbook of Medicine ?? 84.63 and 84.64 (1990), and other cases and treatises hereinbefore mentioned.
How about for those of us who are colorblind? A colorblind individual will likely have a pathological Nystagmus, therefore invalidating their test results. In the United States, about 7% of the male population ? or about 10.5 million men ? and 4% percent of the female population either cannot distinguish red from green, or see red and green differently (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 2006).
