Lawrence Wolf, California DUI Lawyer (Interview Transcript)

 

RJ: Hi, this is Richard Jacobs from myduiattorney.org and I’m here today with Lawrence Wolf. Larry is a criminal defense attorney in the Los Angeles area of California. How’re you doing Mr. Wolf?

 

LW: I’m good, thanks.

RJ: Good to see you. Thanks for taking the time to do the interview, I appreciate it very much.

 

LW: My Pleasure.

 

RJ: If you don’t mind, we’ll go right into the questions and my first one is: what motivates you to be a criminal defense attorney and why in particular, do you tend to work on DUI cases a lot?

 

LW: Well, after thirty-five years of practicing criminal law, it’s really the most exciting part of the law that I can tell, it’s the type of situation where you can get immediate relief for the client, where you can get immediate results for a client. That is even more so true in the criminal justice system when dealing with DUIs. The way the law is in California is there’s this now a 10 day requirement that you have to contact the DMV within, and so that really requires an immediate assistance to the unfortunate person whose been arrested for drunk driving.

 

RJ: Ok, so over the thirty-five years, how many DUI cases have you handled?

 

LW: Well, probably as a prosecutor, I’ve handled thousands and a defense attorney, I’ve handled thousands, so I guess that’s thousands and thousands.

 

RJ: Safe to say, you have a tremendous amount of experience under your belt! So through all these years, is there any typical circumstance that people you’ve defended or prosecuted have? Are there more men than women, more first timers? Any commonalities?

 

LW: You know, it’s really interesting, there certainly are characteristics of an individual common to people arrested for drunk driving. But it really cuts across all barriers, all lines, all types of individuals. Certainly, there are more first-time offenders and I think that that’s fortunate for the fact that that shows that at least people are getting the message and I think the message is obviously so severe in California and Los Angeles for the first time that it does cut down the recidivism of people arrested for subsequent offenses. Certainly, more men are arrested than women and probably the age groups tends to be more between twenty-five and forty-five for the majority of individuals arrested for drunk driving.

 

RJ: One thing I just thought of that I’ve never asked is…

 

LW: Why are you asking me?

 

RJ: Well, uh…

 

LW: I’m just kidding.

 

RJ: How about the physical circumstances? Are more people are arrested at night or at daytime or in certain areas where they’re driving?

 

LW: The most common area to be arrested is right outside of a bar at two o’clock in the morning and even though that may sound funny, the reality is that it’s sad but true. You know, it’s no easier for a police officer to sit outside a bar at two o’clock in the morning and for lack of a better word, ‘pick off’ people who most likely have consumed alcohol and are driving.

 

More specifically, to answer your question, certainly between the hours of twelve and three o’clock in the morning, probably 2am is the most frequent time when individuals are arrested for drunk driving.

 

RJ: Ok and do a lot of the clients that you see, tend to have levels, you know, blood alcohol levels that are close to the 0.08 limit or a lot higher?

 

LW: Again that is a wide range, you know. I think, probably the highest limit I ever had was a client who not only had a 0.40 (and the limit being 0.08) but he also had LSD in his system. I think that was an extreme situation. Certainly, for first time offenders there’s a much wider range, I think you’ll see individuals on first time offense is certainly close to the 0.08 limit and also going up to the 0.20 limit.

 

Multiple offenders tend to have much higher readings than certainly first time offenders and that’s for the main reason that those people have become more accustomed to alcohol, more accustomed to the ability to drive under the influence of alcohol and therefore, their tolerances are much higher than the first-time offenders.

 

RJ: Do you see more DUI cases due to alcohol or due to drugs (Drug DUI)?

 

LW: There are a far greater number of individuals who are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol versus driving under the influence of drugs and the reason therefore, I think is twofold. One is that individuals consume more alcohol than they do drugs and there’s a greater amount of individuals who obviously consume alcohol and then drive.

 

Also, I think that the effect of drugs is not always the same as the effect of alcohol on individuals and in fact, therefore, the amount of alcohol a person may consume would cause their driving to be greater impaired than if they had consumed some type of drug.

 

RJ: Have you seen any effect from the medical marijuana laws in your state that you’re starting to get more cases due to marijuana DUIs or has it no effect?

 

LW: I don’t think that the legalization of marijuana has or the medical marijuana has really had a significant, if any, effect on Los Angeles DUI arrests. The reality is if you have a marijuana card and you’re driving under the influence, it’s still against the law, even if you don’t have a card, it’s still against the law. So it really has no effect on that aspect. The aspect it has effect on is with regards to possession and if you have a medical marijuana card then obviously it’s not illegal to possess it but it is still illegal to drive under the influence of it.

 

RJ: Are there any laws in California that address drivers with BACs below 0.08 or drivers who have drug metabolites in their system but aren’t necessarily impaired while they’re driving?

 

LW: Well, if they’re not impaired regardless of what they have in their system then they would not be committing a crime as far as drugs go and the reality is that it is very difficult for a prosecutor to prove that the amount of drug substance that someone has in their system equates to being under the influence.

 

There is far less research and studies done certainly for drugs than there has been done for alcohol. So it’s more of a difficult prosecution burden than anything else. In terms of limits, in California, if you have a 0.15 or above, then that requires an increased punishment. Other than 0.08 or below then it’s not a crime as to the limit however, you still could be convicted of driving under the influence.

 

RJ: What else do you know that’s unique about the DUI laws in either California or Los Angeles County and the other counties you serve?

 

LW: Well it is interesting to the extent that depending upon which courthouse you end up going to versus which prosecutor you may end up having, it really varies widely. There are some courthouses that are certainly more stringent on drunk driving, there are some courthouses that are solely dedicated to enforcing the drunk driving laws and therefore, those courthouses tend to be less willing to, perhaps, look at an alternative sentence, whereas, there are other courthouses that maybe considered more liberal and are certainly more willing to look at the option of an alternative sentence.

 

RJ: Oh I didn’t know there are dedicated DUI courthouses. Do they have a particular name?

 

LW: Well, in Los Angeles, it is the Metropolitan Courthouse and 95% of their cases are driving under the influence.

 

RJ: Oh okay. Good to know. So what would be your best tip if someone’s been drinking a little bit or a lot and they’re in the process of being pulled over. What should they do, what shouldn’t they do?

 

LW: Well, that’s an interesting question. What I always tell individuals who have perhaps consumed some type of drug is that it is critical that they at least have one beer and the reason that it’s critical that they have one beer is that because when they take that breath test, if it shows up that there’s no alcohol and you have consumed some drugs, they are going to take a blood test from you which will then show the presence of drugs. However, if you have taken some alcohol, you will get a very low reading and therefore, the suspicion of drugs in your system will be greatly reduced.

 

RJ: Mmm hmmm….

 

LW: If you have taken..yes, I know, it’s a little bizarre but if you have taken alcohol, in California, the severity of not taking a chemical test is extremely significant. If you refuse to take a chemical test in California on your first offense, you could potentially lose your license for one year.

 

So I advise my clients, because of that option that they should take a chemical test. However, they should never take any other test; the officer will offer you Field Sobriety Tests, will ask you questions and again, you want to be polite but you don’t want to provide any additional evidence for the police officer.

 

If he says he’d like you to take a Walk The Line test, you know, you want to be polite to the officer and explain that you really appreciate his asking you to do that but you have a bad back and you are afraid of hurting your back and you prefer not to. So, you really don’t want to take any test or answer any other questions but obviously, you want to be polite and tactical about it.

 

RJ: What kinds of help have you been able to provide to your clients? For instance, have you been able to reduce jail time or ignition interlock requirements, things like that?

 

LW: Well, I think certainly all of those things are able to be reduced and eradicated and often eliminated, but I think, probably, the most beneficial thing is us being able to assist those people who perhaps do have some problem with drugs or alcohol and this perhaps is a wakeup call; being able to assist those clients in getting, perhaps, the assistance they need with those issues.

 

RJ: Ok and you know, this may be hard to say but, I mean, what levels of success have you had in mitigating some of the problems or all the problems people come to you with when, you know, they’re arrested for DUI?

 

LW: Well I think that it’s safe to say that by all means, certainly the majority of cases, we’ve been able to accomplish some better result for the client had they been representingthemselves or had tried to do it by themselves whether that be in terms of assisting with the program, with ramifications on their license regarding court appearances and inconvenience from work. To that extent, we’re certainly able to help most individuals.

 

RJ: Is there a particular story that you hear from a lot of the people that come in, such as: ‘I only had two drinks’ or another common story?

 

LW: It’s ‘two beers’.

 

RJ: Two beers, okay.

 

LW: Yes the proverbial ‘two beers’. You never want to tell the police officer that you had two beers. You know, from wherever it started - from the beginning of driving under the influence to today’s time, the joke is, is that the person ‘only had two beers’. So I will say that’s probably the most common situation.

 

RJ: This is related to the “I only had 2 beers” story…What have you learned in general about people’s behavior, their reaction to being arrested for DUI? What human insights have you gained into the whole process?

 

LW: You know probably the biggest insight is the fact that for some reason, people think they can talk themselves out of it. They think that if they explain it enough, say the right things, act in a certain way, that they will not end up getting arrested.

 

The reality is that almost all the time, if in fact you’ve been drinking and you have alcohol on your breath, you’re going to be arrested. So that attempt to try to talk your way out of it, that attempt to try to explain it,is really only going to provide additional evidence for the prosecutor. So probably the best advice is to be polite but say as little as possible.

 

RJ: Do you think that over time being a police officer, they get very good at being able to tell if someone is intoxicated or do you think that they don’t really have any special ability?

 

LW: Oh I think, you know, the reality is yes, they have special ability but it boils down todepending upon the level of alcohol a person has had. They really don’t have much better ability than you or I. I mean the reality is the first step is still the odor of alcohol; if a police officer smells that odor, you are going to end up being arrested.

 

RJ: Ok and do you feel the current DUI laws and punishments are too harsh or are they too lax and why?

 

LW: I think that they are too harsh to the extent that they affect an individual’s ability to really provide for his family. Even in a first DUI situation, an individual is looking at losing their license for thirty days. That is a significant period of time for someone who is trying to get to work, trying to support his family, trying to do what he needs to do.

 

That thirty days, I think, should not be required. That individual certainly gets the message by the fines that are being imposed, the often six month to nine month alcohol program that they have to participate in, the restriction on their license; those are all messages enough. I don’t think the additional message of having to lose your job and unfortunately, not provide for your family is necessary.

 

RJ: I guess the doom’s-day question is… What do you see as the future of DUI laws? Are they going to get worse?

 

LW: You know damn well that I can tell you that they’re never going to get any better. Unlike other types of crimes, the penalties for drunk driving are not going to be reduced. Over the last 35 years, they’ve only been increased; the alcohol level started thirty-five years ago at 0.15, it then went down to a 0.10 and now it’s at a 0.08. There’s certainly discussion about even lowering that to a 0.05 so I don’t think there’s any likelihood whatsoever that the future, that they’re going to get any more lean

 

RJ: So what would you say makes you and your firm unique in providing DUI defense and what statement do you want to make to potential clients that are watching this video?

 

LW: You know really, the most important word is just don’t drink and drive. That twenty-five dollars, that fifty dollars, seventy-five dollars that it’s going to cost you for that taxi cab ride is miniscule compared to the thousands and thousands of dollars that you’re going to unfortunately have to face if you are arrested and charged with a driving under the influence.

The reason, I think, we’re able to help is not only the 35 years of experience that we have in this area but also our ability to relate to people on a one-to-one basis and to be able to know what they’re going through and be able to help them in that situation.
 

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