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A lot of people are still drinking and driving. In spite of much stiffer penalties and increased public awareness concerning the harms of committing that criminal offense, it seems people are still doing it regularly. Weekly, you can count on another celebrity making headlines for a DUI arrest. This week, it was former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss who was arrested in Nevada on suspicion of driving under the influence of marijuana, her second marijuana-related run-in with the law in the past three months.

Of all the criminal matters I defend, I am most frequently asked questions about DUI laws more than any other offense. The article below should assist in helping you understand many of those issues.

CRIMINAL DEFENSE FORUM

So ‘Little Tony’ was found guilty in the murder of Gus Boulis. Tony, also known as Anthony Ferrari, was convicted yesterday of the 2001 murder of Boulis, the former Sun Cruz casino cruise ship and Miami Subs chain owner. This was one of Broward County’s most sensational trials. The entire trial lasted three weeks. Jurors took seven hours to deliberate their verdict. They’ll return in December to determine whether he should be given life or death.

There are a couple of unusual and or interesting points to note. First, it took twelve years from the time that Boulis was gunned down to the time that jury rendered their guilty verdict. It took eight years from the time that Ferrari heard the words, “You’re under arrest,” until he heard the word, “guilty.” Delays generally help the defense. I’m not stating emphatically that either the defendant and/or his attorney intentionally stretched out the pretrial preparation time the length that it would take a doctor to obtain both his undergraduate and med school degrees. I’m just saying that there’s a common phrase that we hear in the criminal arena, which is, “Cases for the defense generally get better with age, like wine.” Unfortunately for Lil’ Tony, that was not the case here.

Another point that needs to be made is, “Listen to your lawyer.” Ferrari’s attorney begged him not to testify. Footage shown on local media, literally featured Ferrari’s attorney banging his head against the courtroom wall. I felt his frustration over not being able to persuade his client to follow his advice. While the decision is ultimately up to each defendant to make, they typically rely upon whatever their attorneys advise them. Why? Because veteran, experienced, talented litigators, generally know a lot more about trial work than their clients. They have cultivated a gift for creating reasonable doubt. They know when their clients have to testify. They also have a feeling for how their client will be received by a jury. Generally clients take that advice. Not in this case.

One of the greatest challenges I have as a criminal defense attorney is in finding out, “Why?” Why did my client do what he did? (Assuming that he/she did commit the offense and the evidence can prove it) What motivated my client, for example, to commit a violent offense like aggravated battery, aggravated assault and even murder? You might think the easy solution is to simply ask them. Often I do. It’s not so easy. Many are not forthcoming. Many are not very communicative. Many lie or tell versions of the truth as they see it. Some are mentally ill and/or sociopaths. Uncovering the true motive can be very difficult, yet crucial, in order to zealously mitigate what they have done.

That same challenge is one that the attorneys for 14 year old Philip Chism must be facing right now. Chism is the Massachusetts teen accused of brutally beating a 24-year-old beloved math teacher to death. The teen has been described as someone who “kept to himself and wasn’t very outgoing.” “He was always quiet. …He never talked to anyone,” one of his classmates explained. Also, he had recently moved to Danvers, Mass. from Tennessee. No one knows why his family moved.

The teen, who was ordered held without bail, was in the victim’s math class. According to students in that same class, there was nothing unusual about the teen and victim’s relationship with each other.

“I killed a man and accept full responsibility.” No, not me. Matthew Cordle. You know, the Ohio man who made headlines after confessing in a viral video that he killed a man while driving drunk. Yesterday was judgment day for him and he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison and was stripped of his driving privileges for life. Cordle continued to seem remorseful when he passionately stated, “Whatever my sentence may be, the true punishment is living,” Cordle also was ordered to pay court costs and a $1,075 fine.

Cordle pleaded guilty in September to aggravated vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle while impaired. He took responsibility for killing 61-year old Vincent Canzani while driving drunk on June 22. Cordle maintains that while driving drunk he had “blacked out,” which is why he doesn’t remember details of the night of June 22, 2013.

The victim’s ex-wife, Cheryl Canzani Oates wrote to the judge and stated that her deceased husband wouldn’t have wanted Cordle to get the maximum sentence of 8 1/2 years, and believed that Cordle was “sincere in admitting he was sorry” that he caused her husband’s death. She further stated, “I know what pain Matthew feels. The pain will stay with him until his death.”

72-year-old Kermit Gosnell, a Pennsylvania doctor, faces eight counts of murder for the deaths of seven babies, and a 41-year-old woman who died of an anesthetic overdose during a second-trimester abortion.

Gosnell performed abortions past the 24-week limit allowed by law, even allegedly as late as eight months into pregnancy. Authorities state he used scissors to sever the spinal cords of live newborns from their mothers.

Gosnell has pleaded not guilty and is about to stand trial. Jury selection was set to begin Monday. If he’s convicted, prosecutors would like to seek the death penalty. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said, “a doctor who cuts into the necks severing the spinal cords of living, breathing babies, who would survive with proper medical attention, is committing murder under the law.”

Kwame Harris, a 30-year-old former 49ers and Raiders offensive lineman faces domestic violence charges for the injuries on an ex-boyfriend. In altercation took place int he parking lot of a Menlo Park restaurant after an argument occurred.

Harris was present in San Mateo County Superior Court on Monday to meet with prosecutors. Harris has rejected a plea bargain and pleaded not guilty to one count each of domestic violence and assault causing great bodily injury and could face up to nine years in prison if convicted.

The tension began Aug. 21 when Harris and his ex-boyfriend were at dinner Menlo Park. Harris was to drive his ex-boyfriend to San Francisco International Airport for a flight following the meal but the two began to argue after Harris’ ex-boyfriend poured soy sauce on some rice, which upset Harris.

Scott Allen Stoner, a 41-year-old former Hollywood resident and registered sex offender from Las Vegas is being charged with sexually abusing two children. A young was forced to perform oral sex and touch his genitals from the age of 4 until she was 12. The same man molested a young boy from age 4 to about 10/11 years old. Due to the nature of the alleged crime, the victim’s name will remain anonymous.

The Broward sheriff’s office arrested Stoner Saturday at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. He is currently being held without bond on one count of sexual battery upon a victim younger than 12 and three counts of lewd or lascivious molestation on a victim younger than 12.

According to the affidavit, the young girl told police Stoner abused her as many as 30 times at a relative’s Hollywood home and when she visited Stoner in Las Vegas. Additionally, she stated that Stoner once videotaped the sexual activity.

At Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut Saturday a gunman shot dead 20 children and six adults before taking his own life. The bodies of those killed were transported to the office of the state medical examiner for post-mortem examinations.

The shooter was identified by law enforcement officials as 20-year-old Adam Lanza. Authorities are investigating possible motives, but many unanswered questions remain. Lanza killed his mother at her Newtown home before going to the school where he primarily targeted two classrooms of kindergartners and first-graders. Within minutes, Lanza killed 26 people.

Three weapons, a semi-automatic .223 caliber rifle, and two pistols were found with found in a car in the school parking lot and on suspected gunman Lanza’s body, respectively. The weapons were legally purchased by Lanza’s mother.

The New York nanny, Yoselyn Ortega, accused of murdering a 6-year-old girl and her 2-year-old baby brother pleaded not guilty Wednesday to first and second-degree murder. Upon returning home one night, the mother found both children dead in a bathtub in their New York home in late October.

When the children’s mother arrived home and saw Ortega standing just feet away from the tub, she slit her throat with the same knife she allegedly used to kill both children.

Ortega’s first court appearance took place Wednesday at Manhattan’s Weill Cornell Medical Center virtually. Ortega’s lawyer did all the talking and entered her plea for her. Ortega, who is a naturalized citizen for Dominican Republic, is expected to undergo psychological evaluation. The judge has ordered the Ortega be held without bail until she undergoes a psychological evaluation. Her lawyer declined to answer questions after the hearing.

John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer, has pleaded guilty to revealing classified information to reporters, the identity of a covert intelligence officer.

The Justice Department has revealed that Kiriakou also admitted to other allegations; that he illegally told reporters the name of a different CIA employee involved in a 2002 operation to capture alleged al Qaeda terrorist Abu Zubaydah, and that he lied to a review board about a book he was writing.

Kiriakou accepted a plea bargain with prosecutors; he pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, to the charge that he illegally revealed the covert intelligence officer’s name. The plea did not include Kiriakou’s subsequent two admission.