San Jose Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

On Thursday, four Milpitas teenage boys were arrested on charges of attempted arson. The ages run from 18, 17, 15 and 14. The boys are also being charged with carrying an incendiary device; namely a Molotov Cocktail. It is not clear what the teens intended to set on fire and no reason has been put forward as to the motive. The eldest of the group, Kyle Schielke was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail, awaiting arraignment. The other boys, all minors, were taken to Juvenile Hall. The 14 year old is a runaway from San Jose.

Schielke will go through the normal court process at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. The other boys will face different treatment from the Juvenile Court. Actually, the minors will have said to be detained, rather than arrested. The District Attorney's Office then files a Petition (as opposed to a criminal complaint) listing the alleged charges. Once the case is adjudicated and a sentence handed down, the juvenile's records are sealed and can be expunged once they reache the age of 18. Of course, the process is much more complicated than that, but I am sure Mr. Schielke is wishing he had been born a few months later.

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It was reported that the owner and provider of a child daycare in Atascadero was involved in a car crash with a blood alcohol content over 0.2% (almost three times the legal limit). The shocking part of the story, however, were the four children riding in the car without seatbelts. The driver, a 42 year old daycare provider, was arrested on Monday on charges of driving under the influence and child endangerment. Bail was posted at $100,000. Police report that the driver left an elementary school with the children, aged 2 to 4, swiped a parked vehicle and then over corrected ending down an embankment.

Luckily the children were not harmed in the accident. As an experienced criminal defense attorney I would say that the driver (assuming she has no prior criminal history) is facing a tough year in jail. In some cases here in Santa Clara County a DUI defendant can do rehab in lieu or as a part of his/ her sentence. Unfortunately this driver might be doing rehab inside the joint. Here hard liquor means hard time.

Of course most DUIs are not so shocking (although driving while intoxicated is a serious matter). In fact most DUIs result from a traffic violation, such as speeding or an illegal lane change. The police officer then smells the alcohol and notices the "objective symptoms of being under the influence:" slurred speech, red, watery eyes, unsteady gait etc. But it is after the vehicle stop when things get tricky. The whole state of DUI law and motion is an odd mixture of science (or pseudo-science some might say) experts, subjective evidence and of course the DMV. Whether it is a rising blood alcohol defense or contaminated blood, the criminal process for DUI defendants is daunting, as this Atascadero woman is about to find out.