DUI Dishonor Roll

MADD:  Every two minutes a person is injured in a drunk driving crash

Amherst police arrested three drivers on the charge of Driving Under the Influence over Homecoming Weekend and all three took the legally admissible breath test back at APD headquarters.

One of the three, Brendan Gillis, compounded his mistake by failing to appear in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday morning for arraignment and a warrant for his arrest was immediately issued.

UPDATE (10/5).  Mr Gillis appeared in Court this morning with an attorney and had his case continued to December.  

Brendan Gillis, age 22, now on the run (APD intake photo)

You can run but you can't hide -- especially in the age of supercomputers.

Anton Kolossov, age 19

Interestingly the BT may actually help Mr. Kolossov as the results are just barely over the limit.

Daniel Cutler, age 32

DUI DIshonor Roll

 

Every two minutes, a person is injured in a drunk driving crash

Somewhat surprisingly -- considering how busy our little college town was over the weekend -- APD took "only" three drivers off the road for "allegedly" driving with impaired enough sensibilities to be a threat to the general public, aka drunk driving.

Since all three took the legally admissible -- borderline infallible -- Breathalyzer Test back at APD headquarters, their chances of being declared innocent by a "jury of their peers" is pretty much zero.

If you refuse the BT it's an automatic loss of license for six months;  if you take it and it shows you're drunk (.08 threshold) it's a loss of license for only 45 days but with associated costs of $2,587.

So what's an impaired driver to do?

Unfortunately if you refuse the BT that is not admissible in court as evidence, so a prosecutor must rely on he-said-she-said testimony of the arresting officer.  And some DUI attorneys specialize in picking apart trained police officers.

If declared innocent by a jury the attorney simply petitions the Registry of Motor Vehicles to instantly reinstate the license.  Eureka.  At least until their client does it again and slaughters an innocent family enroute to a wedding.

Although the state Supreme Judicial Court struck a blow for common sense public safety on Thursday by upholding the concept that a prosecutor can enter into evidence a failed BT because the driver couldn't follow the simple rules for a proper BT.

   Breath Test Screw Up

Simple that is if you're sober. 

In other words it sends the message to a potential jury that the driver was, you know, impaired.  Drunk.  Dangerous.  Deadly.

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning all three defendents were arraigned before Judge Patricia Poehler and had their cases continued.

Ryan Gardner, age 25

Click to enlarge/read

 Boon Gibson, age 25

#####

Michael Bilodeau, age 20

 #####

DUI Dishonor Roll

Drunk driving involvement in fatal crashes in 2014 was almost four times higher at night than during the day

Amherst police arrested three drivers on the charge of drunk driving over the long weekend and all three of them failed the legally admissible Breathalyzer test back at the station. And a legally admissible BT doesn't lie.

 Shealee Engen, age 21, stands before Judge Estes

 Click to enlarge/read

 Devin McCormick, age 24

 Brennan McKenna, age 26 took a Ch24D disposition 

DUI Dishonor Roll

MADD:  2014 drivers between ages 21-24 had highest percentage fatal crashes (30%)

Unfortunately it's a safe bet this coming weekend will have many times over the number of impaired drivers on the road, not only because our beloved students are back but also because it's a major holiday with one extra night to party hardy.

Jake Nolan, age 24, arrested by APD

 Click to enlarge/read

Alec Grater Cafiero, age 22, arrested by UMPD

Take Me Out Coach!

Austin Whipple, age 22, stands before Judge Tom Estes this morning in Eastern Hampshire District Court

Only a week after our Select Board publicly discussed hosting a recognition/celebration for the steller performance of Amherst native Michael Hixon at the Rio Olympics another college aged student athlete was arraigned in Eastern Hampshire District Court on a charge of drunk driving.

Austin Whipple, son of UMass football coach Mark Whipple, had a Blood Alcohol Concentration of .24, which is THREE TIMES the legal limit.  And yes it was the legally admissable chemical test taken back at APD headquarters.

 Click photo to enlarge/read

So rather then hiring a high priced DUI attorney his family should save their money and take the 24D plea deal because with evidence like that his chance of beating the rap is less than zero.

And as a means of restoring his public reputation perhaps Coach Whipple should have him speak to area high schools and the incoming UMass freshman class about the dangers of alcohol.

Especially now that UMass is initiating a Party Registration program that could use some widespread publicity.

 UMass starts September 6

Don't Drink & Drive

MADD:  About one-third of all drunk driving arrests are repeat offenders

The two APD routine arrests over the weekend for Driving Under the Influence illustrate perfectly why the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Monday reaffirmed the common sense notion that perps who have been detained for DUI have no right of counsel prior to administration of the Breathalyzer.

DUI Attorney Not Mandatory

In Massachusetts, an "implied consent" state, you do have the right to say "No" but that will result in a loss of license for six months.  And you do have the right to a phone call within one hour of being escorted into the police station.

Since the Breathalzyer test is time sensitive and DUI attorneys are not always available in the dead of night, requiring police departments to forgo this invaluable tool would result in far too many guilty parties going free.

With any one of them potentially going on to change forever the lives of an innocent family.

 Rafael Garcia, age 21 (APD intake photo)

Click to enlarge/read (note time of stop)

 Joshua Silver, age 27

Another late night incident

DUI DIshonor Roll

MADD statistic:  Every two minutes a person is injured in a drunk driving crash

Only one impaired driver in the town of Amherst was taken off the road last weekend by UMass police, but statistically speaking a few more managed to escape the long arm of the law.

Hadley police bagged two.

All three individuals had a plea of not guilty entered in their behalf by Judge Thomas Estes in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday morning and their cases were continued until next month.

Sam Tang age 20 is arraigned in Eastern Hampshire District Court

Click to enlarge/read

Ariel Barnett-Soleil, age 26, arraigned before Judge Estes

Click to enlarge/read

Aaron Braithwaite, age 50, arraigned before Judge Estes

DUI Dishonor Roll X Two

About one-third of drivers arrested for drunk driving are repeat offenders

Amherst and Belchertown police each took an impaired driver off the road last weekend and in each case it was the perp's second offense.  Of course with Mass law the 3rd time is the charm, where the potentially deadly violation becomes a felony offense. 

 Gregory White, age 32 (APD booking photo)

Click to enlarge/read

In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Tuesday both defendants had their cases continued to next month.

Gregory Glenn age 28