"Affluenza" And Other Crazy DUI Defenses That Actually Worked

"Justice? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Justice!"

Ethan Crouch is sick with the “Affluenza”

In December of last year, A Texas district judge convicted 16 year old Ethan Couch to 10 years of probation for his crimes. What did Couch do to deserve such a strict punishment? He just killed 4 people and injured two more, while driving with a blood alcohol content more than 3 times the limit and under the influence of Valium. One of the injured can only communicate by blinking. Suffice it to say, Ethan Couch has it pretty rough.

Ethan was no stranger to the law, having had many charges against him in the past. Most DUI Attorneys like Ronald Dinan & Associates can do a lot to reduce the penalty for drunk driving, but few would have the guts to pull off the defense that Ethan Crouch's lawyers did. Crouch's attorneys made the case that the negligent parenting and extreme affluence of their client's parents were to blame for his actions, calling his condition “affluenza.” The judge bought it, and Ethan's parents are now paying $450,000 a year for a fancy Newport Beach rehab facility. Unless you have some deep pockets, you might not be able to make this one work for you, but hey, it's got to be hard to be so rich that you can't handle it...

Tyler Alred Says a Prayer of Relief

Oklahoma 17-year-old Tyler Alred drove his car into a tree while his blood alcohol was 0.07. Not only did he hit a tree, he also killed his friend, a passenger in his car. While his blood alcohol level was technically below the legal limit, any driver younger than the legal drinking age that has any trace of alcohol in their blood is automatically guilty of DUI.

Alred pleaded guilty to the charges of manslaughter and appeared in Muskogee County before a district court judge for sentencing. Here is the crazy thing... although Alred plead guilty, the judge just ordered Alred to go to church for the next 10 years. That’s it. Just go to church. Never mind that he killed his friend while intoxicated, a full 4 years before he was even legally allowed to drink...

Another Home Run for Jim Leyritz

After a long night of partying on his birthday, this has-been allstar of the New York Yankees flew through a red light in Florida and killed a mother of 2 who was headed home from work. Here's where it gets weird: both Leyritz, and his victim, Ann Veitch were drunk when the accident occurred. It was determined that the victim's blood alcohol level was 0.16, or double the legal limit in Florida, but determining Leyrit's alcohol level was much trickier. 3 hours after the accident, he clocked in at the police station with a 0.14.

One might think that blood alcohol levels decrease with time, but Leyrit's attorneys argued that there was a possibility that he had suffered a slight concussion which had slowed the absorption of the alcohol in his body. That's right, a concussion... It gets better: Although witnesses at the bars claimed that the former pitcher had consumed 11-12 shots of liquor in the 3 hours leading up to the crash, his lawyers argued that his blood alcohol level at the time would have been below 0.08, only to rise by 75% 3 hours after the accident.

To top it off, Leyritz's attorneys were able to weaken the testimony of witnesses at the site of the accident to the point that they could no longer prove that he ran a red light, and that his victim had been driving safely. Leywitz was acquitted of manslaughter and charged instead with a paltry misdemeanor DUI with up to 6 months in jail. It looks like Leywitz's lawyers hit it out of the park for this former Yankee.