Phoenix DUI Abogados

One purpose of this blog is to hone arguments in a more informal arena – using readers as a sort of raucous, unmannerly focus group to vet and refine them – before they’re presented in more formal settings such as legislative hearings, public policy reports, and the like. So I was pleased when a combative commenter came forward in a recent post to criticize how I’d portrayed crime rates, which Grits said were declining. While that’s true, Texas population increased about 20% over the last decade, meaning that even though crime rates per 100,000 dropped 25%, overall numbers of reported crime either remained steady or dropped only slightly throughout the decade. Here’s how my intrepid critic suggested we should think about index crimes in Texas since the turn of the century, expressed as a fraction of the 2001 reported index-crime total:

His point was that, rather than crime declining, with the growing population the actual total number of reported index crimes remained mostly steady, dropping significantly only recently. Fair enough. And a clever way to present the data. I agree with my anonymous critic it allows for a better apples-to-apples comparison to the other data discussed. So now let’s compare reported crime figures to a similar ratio calculating the total number of felony convictions and deferred adjudication verdicts secured by Texas prosecutors over the same period:

To me, that says that Texas prosecutors no longer need more crime to secure more convictions, for reasons Glenn Reynolds has articulated. Prosecution is a growth industry. Here are the two ratios displayed together graphically, along with a similar metric for growth in arrests:

Don’t like Big Government? There’s your Big Government. Find the underlying data, from various sources, in this chart.

See how increases in felony convictions and deferred adjudications have become disconnected from the amount of reported crime or even the number of arrests, rising at far higher rates? If the Legislature wants to close more prison units they must reduce upward pressure on prison admissions over the long term, and this chart shows where that pressure is coming from. The state could chop that top ratio down to size quickly by adjusting drug possession offenses down one notch and/or indexing property crime category thresholds to inflation, but will the Legislature, particularly brand spanking new Criminal Jurisprudence and Corrections Committees in the House with rookie chairmen, be willing to take such bold steps with no (public) plan on the table and little or no time to prepare? That remains to be seen. Like Fox Mulder, I want to believe.

Related:

• Ham Sandwich Nation: Prosecution in Texas is a growth industry
• Direct sentences to prison up despite declining Texas crime

A new study recently reported in Science Daily indicates that the mixer used in an alcoholic drink can increase the individual's blood-alcohol level as well as his degree of intoxication: 

Alcohol Mixed with Diet Drinks May Increase Intoxication More than Alcohol and Regular Drinks 

Feb. 5.  – An individual's breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) following alcohol intake is influenced by several factors, including food. While it is known that food delays the stomach emptying, thus reducing BrAC, only recently has the role of nonalcoholic drink mixers used with alcohol been explored as a factor influencing BrAC. A new comparison of BrACs of alcohol consumed with an artificial sweetener versus alcohol consumed with a sugared beverage has found that mixing alcohol with a diet soft drink can result in a higher BrAC.

Results will be published in the April 2013 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research…

"More attention needs to be paid to how alcohol is being consumed in the 'real world,'" said Cecile A. Marczinski, assistant professor of psychology at Northern Kentucky University. She referenced an earlier field study of bar patrons. "Researchers found that, one, individuals who reported consuming alcohol with diet beverages had the highest BrACs, as compared to all other bar patrons, and two, that women tended to be more frequent consumers of diet mixers with their alcohol. These good naturalistic observations give researchers many ideas to explore in a controlled laboratory setting."

Dennis L. Thombs, professor and chair of the department of behavioral and community health at UNT Health Science Center, was the author of the field study referenced by Marczinski. "Research on artificially sweetened drink mixers is new," he said. "I believe this might be only the third study published to date on this issue, and the findings are quite consistent with ours."

"I am really interested in drinking and driving as a problem, so I wanted to know if the simple choice of mixer could be the factor that puts a person above or below the legal limit," added Marczinski. "I also wanted to determine if any BrAC difference would be something that subjects would notice, since this has implications for safe drinking practices, including decisions to drive."

Study authors had 16 participants (8 females, 8 males) attend three sessions where they received one of three doses — 1.97 ml/kg vodka mixed with 3.94 ml/kg Squirt, 1.97 ml/kg vodka mixed with 3.94 ml/kg diet Squirt, and a placebo beverage — in random order. The participants' BrACs were recorded, as well as their self-reported ratings of subjective intoxication, fatigue, impairment, and willingness to drive. Their objective performance was assessed using a cued go/no-go reaction time task.

"Alcohol consumed with a diet mixer results in higher BrACs as compared to the same amount of alcohol consumed with a sugar-sweetened mixer," said Marczinski. "The subjects were unaware of this difference, as measured by various subjective ratings including feelings of intoxication, impairment, and willingness to drive. Moreover, their behavior was more impaired when subjects consumed the diet mixer."

When asked why mixing alcohol with a diet drink appears to elevate BrACs, Thombs explained that the stomach seems to treat sugar-sweetened beverages like food, which delays the stomach from emptying. "The best way to think about these effects is that sugar-sweetened alcohol mixers slow down the absorption of alcohol into bloodstream," he said. "Artificially sweetened alcohol mixers do not really elevate alcohol intoxication. Rather, the lack of sugar simply allows the rate of alcohol absorption to occur without hindrance."

Both Marczinski and Thombs were concerned about the risk that diet mixers can pose for alcohol-impaired driving. "In this study, subjects felt the same whether they drank the diet or regular mixed alcoholic beverage," said Marczinski. "However, they were above the limit of .08 when they consumed the diet mixer, and below it when they drank the regular mixed beverage. Choices to drink and drive, or engage in any other risky behavior, often depend on how people feel, rather than some objective measurement of impairment. Now alcohol researchers who are interested in prevention have something new to consider when developing or modifying intervention programs."

Thombs agreed. "Research on alcohol mixers is critically important for improving serving practices in on-premise drinking establishments," he said. "About one-half of all drinking and driving incidents are estimated to occur in persons leaving these settings. This type of research can provide guidance to policy-makers interested in improving the safety of bars and nightclubs."

"We have an obesity crisis in this country," added Marczinski. "As such, individuals tend to be conscious about how many calories they are consuming, and they might think that mixing alcohol with diet drinks is a healthy choice. Yet the average reader needs to know that while mixing alcohol with a diet beverage mixer may limit the amount of calories being consumed, higher BrACs are a much more significant health risk than a few extra calories."

"In natural drinking settings, such as bars and nightclubs, young women are significantly more likely than young men to order drinks mixed with diet cola," said Thombs. "I suspect this occurs because young women tend to be more weight conscious than young men. Thus, from a public health perspective, artificially sweetened alcohol mixers may place young women at greater risk for a range of problems associated with acute alcohol intoxication."

Don't drink diet drinks and drive…

(Thanks to Justin McShane.)
 

A lawyer called me the other day about an ignition interlock law that came into effect July 2012. The essential facts concerning the case is that the citizen was arrested for DUI and plead to a reduced charge of Impaired.  He refused a breath test.  The refusal triggered an 18 month suspension/revocation of his license.

 60 DAY LICENSE REDUCTION:  Essentially, the lawyer was surprised that when the citizen pled to an impaired driving, it did not reduce his license suspension to 60 days.  Here is the problem.  A driver is only eligible for a suspension reduction under certain specified circumstances.  First, it must be a first time offense.  (Which it was in this case).  Second, the case cannot involve a refusal administrative suspension; the reduction to 60 days is only allowed for a 120 day suspension.

SUSPENSION FOR NO IGNITION INTERLOCK:  The lawyer was then was surprised that there was a letter of suspension concerning the new law that came in effect July 2012.  The law is Utah Code 53-3-1007 which essentially gives the power to the Driver License Division to suspend a driver’s license when the driver becomes eligible to drive if the driver does not have an ignition interlock device (alcohol breath tester) in the car when required.  The ignition interlock device is required for any conviction of DUI and is required for two convictions of any alcohol enhanceable offense; i.e. DUI/Impaired Driving.  It is also required if the person refused to take a breath test and is revoked for that refusal.

Understanding these laws is so important before considering a plea.  In this instance, pleading guilty to a reduced charge of Impaired Driving essentially did nothing for the citizen’s driver license.  There may have been other good reasons to taking the plea deal, but a citizen concerned with the driver license most would not benefit from this circumstance.  That is why it is important to talk with a lawyer who specializes in this complex area of the law.  A DUI is not just a DUI anymore.  The stakes are high and the consequences are severe.  Hiring the family friend lawyer who does not specialize is more times than not regrettable.