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May 2008 DUI report
Thursday, July 03, 2008
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By Register Staff
The Napa Valley Register publishes monthly statistics on arrests and convictions for driving under the influence — and so-called “wet reckless” convictions — in Napa County. Statistics are published the first Monday of each month.

Arrest information is from the Napa County Sheriff’s Department. Convictions, names and blood-alcohol levels are from Napa County Superior Court.
Convictions include cases in which the person pleaded guilty or no contest to one or more drunk driving charges, or where one or more such charges resulted in a guilty verdict at trial.

Vehicle code violations considered are: driving under the influence (Vehicle Code section 23152), reckless driving while under the influence (23103.5) and causing injury to another while driving while under the influence (23153).
The blood-alcohol levels provided by the court are based on a variety of tests — some taken at the scene of the arrest or county jail, others through a later blood test — and have not necessarily been proven or admitted in court. It is unlawful for any person to operate a vehicle if that person has a blood-alcohol level of .08 or more, according to the California Vehicle Code.

Arrests: 59
Convictions/pleas: 80

Reported blood-alcohol below .10 or unavailable: 18

Reported blood-alcohol between .10 and .19: 40

Reported blood-alcohol between .20 and .29: 19

Reported blood-alcohol between .30 and .39: 3





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58 comment(s)

skiph wrote on May 30, 2008 3:30 PM:

" Does it bother anyone that this report is made before the month even ends? "

MP wrote on May 30, 2008 4:17 PM:

" I don't think there are court sessions on Fridays so there wouldn't be any additional activity until next week. "

mypoint wrote on May 30, 2008 4:26 PM:

" Why would it bother anyone? These are convictions, not arrests and since this is the last working day of the month, nobody else is going to be convicted. "

LifeLongNapan wrote on May 30, 2008 4:55 PM:

" The great retired boxer Julio Cesar Chavez got a DUI and lives in Napa? Amazing! "

nola wrote on May 30, 2008 6:24 PM:

" Just a question to anyone, since I am a newcomer to the area....do the names of CHP officers or public officials also get posted in this list, or does it get swept under the rug? Coming from Louisiana, its all in who ya know....is it the same here? "

mypoint wrote on May 30, 2008 9:32 PM:

" Nola - yes, unfortunatley, it's the same here, probably everywhere. You'll also notice that we live in WINE country, a very tourist driven economy and yet, very few tourists receive DUI's.... "

crusherfan wrote on May 30, 2008 10:24 PM:

" hella more people from napa then usual...what gives??? "

funnyme wrote on May 31, 2008 9:08 AM:

" At least 44% share the same background (35 out of 80). "

Cadence wrote on May 31, 2008 12:11 PM:

" Ssshhhh, funnyme.
You weren't supposed to notice. And if you DO notice, it's correct to murmur, if you can murmur in print, something vague and sweet about cultural differences. "

conscious wrote on May 31, 2008 1:34 PM:

" And the other 56% what background do they share? Because ofcourse you can tell about a person from their name... Everything would be just oh so perfect in the Napa Valley if we were all the same, right. I don't think so... "

funnyme wrote on May 31, 2008 3:03 PM:

" conscious,
Thanks God we are not all the same, it would be pretty boring, and that is exactly what makes the Napa Valley so "perfect"...56% obviously share different backgrounds so I can't put them all in one whole group. But, 100% of the convictions share ONE thing in common: They were ALL intoxicated!
Wouldn't you say? "

crusherfan wrote on May 31, 2008 3:39 PM:

" what is the shared background? "

chunk wrote on Jun 1, 2008 1:00 PM:

" Is the shared background that they're from Napa? "

funnyme wrote on Jun 1, 2008 1:22 PM:

" They have latino/hispanic names and last names in common. That's all. "

chunk wrote on Jun 1, 2008 4:26 PM:

" And?? So what. "

funnyme wrote on Jun 1, 2008 6:13 PM:

" 1) 35 out of 80 DUI convictions are hispanic/latino. That is 44%, or
2) 59% (35 of 59) of the arrests have hispanic/latino names and last names in common.
3) 27% of the population in Napa are hispanic/latino.

Statistics are fascinating...That's all.

Cadence, I was whispering but I guess I got loud...Ooops! "

funnyme wrote on Jun 1, 2008 7:28 PM:

" Statisticas are fascinating. That's all.

27% of the population in Napa are hispanic/latino.

Cadence, I guess my whisper got louder, it disturbed the NVR moderator's ears with my earlier attempt at answering Chunk's question. Ooops! "

pharper wrote on Jun 3, 2008 10:52 AM:

" Having a Hispanic/Latino last name doesn't make a person Hispanic or Latino. I can't believe anyone has the time to go through and count all the names in order to see how many are purportedly Hispanic because of their last names. "

injoy wrote on Jun 4, 2008 4:28 PM:

" What bothers me is all the repeat offenders....Im seeing a lot of the same names on this list that I have seen here before. Their punishment must not be fitting the crimes. "

funnyme wrote on Jun 4, 2008 6:41 PM:

" pharper,
I attempted to answer you earlier but it seems NVR moderator got nervous about crossing some PC line, anyway...
It only took me three minutes over my morning coffee to pick out hispanic/latino names out of the list.

injoy,
You made an even more remarkable observation...

As fascinating as statistics are, I wonder if we could get the monthly DIU reports in more detail, like age, previous arrests and convictions, sentence and/or fine.
I truly believe it would serve as a deterrant. "

napatreeworker wrote on Jun 9, 2008 8:27 PM:

" i ride a motorcycle from napa to st. helena, drive a large work truck to where ever we are working that day, then ride my motorcycle home at the end of the day. Thats a very bad commute. From drunks, to unlicensed vineyard workers. Wish i saw a highway patrol officer more often.... "

steph wrote on Jun 13, 2008 1:58 PM:

" funnyme, if you want to do some more statistical "analysis", check out the list of Californians who've lost their lives serving our country in Iraq. You'll notice that a HUGE percentage are Hispanic, too. It's just interesting, that's all. Right?

But they never get credit for that. "

funnyme wrote on Jun 13, 2008 5:02 PM:

" steph,
I am glad to see your outrage. Not that many are willing to show it when it comes to recognition of our veterans and their job well done.
I entirely support the BRAVE men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms. A 100% of them.

I don't care for drunks or drug addicts. A 100% of them. "

steph wrote on Jun 13, 2008 5:35 PM:

" I agree with you that drunken driving is WRONG, regardless of the race of the person driving. Frankly, I do understand your point, that unregulated immigration may be a contributing factor to disproportionate numbers of Hispanics being arrested, in that ignorance (flouting?) of the law and the consequences of DUI could be at play. I wish the employers of illegal immigrants would educate people about the dangers of drinking under the influence. "

napan007 wrote on Jun 16, 2008 11:00 AM:

" How is it that someone can have a Hispanic last name and not BE Hispanic? I can't believe it hasn't been clarified yet - a woman of ANY race can marry a Hispanic man and choose to take his last name. Or vice versa. Therefore counting through what various last names on this list sound like is an incorrect to compile a statistic. "

og2009 wrote on Jun 16, 2008 11:56 PM:

" Wow! So may interesting comments. Enough about the Hispanics. Thats like me mentioning that I have noticed Some very "High Class" Caucasian names in the DUI lists. They MUST BE DRINKING ALL THAT WINE THE HISPANICS ARE HELPING MAKE. PICKING GRAPES UNDER THE HOT SUN. YA. Why not talk about what the county is really doing with all our childrens Education money? whats with all the new gyms at all the schools in town? New parking lot at Redwood? How about some new books? or paper for the classrooms. I bought 15 rims last year alone. I have 9th and 10th graders and it up for the last 11years. "

og2009 wrote on Jun 17, 2008 12:03 AM:

" However I do agree about the background shared. Maybe you SHOULD all so put = John Doe---34yrsold----Napa-4th time.
Jane Doe--23yrsold----Napa-3rd time. "

funnyme wrote on Jun 17, 2008 6:14 AM:

" napan007,
You are absolutely right. It should come from either NVR reporters or CHP, or NPD, the specific details (gender, age, nationality, etc.) of each one of these drunks/drug addicts who have no regards for anybody else in the universe but themselves...They decided to get in a car and drive while intoxicated, shame should be at least the least of the punishments...but maybe that would be "cruel and unusual punishment" in the eyes of many out there. "

Dirty Napkin wrote on Jun 20, 2008 7:25 AM:

" Why can we comment on th DUI's but not the Most Wanted feature.... "

napakitten wrote on Jun 20, 2008 8:23 AM:

" It is really strange how my blazer got hit on 5/26 by a person from san carlos and it never made the list.. now if it was me who had no current proof of ins, my dl's or even the cars current reg i would be in jail toot sweet but this person got a dui and site and released. still trying to get all her info is really hard even the police are having problems. napa is funny on how they pick and choose what or who they list "

NVR Moderator wrote on Jun 20, 2008 9:06 AM:

" napakitten:
The published list of names is convictions in May 2008.
It takes months, sometimes, for a conviction, so your crash on 5/26 would not be in this liist. "

cathyodom wrote on Jun 20, 2008 2:14 PM:

" napakitten- we had a friend get a dui in october, and it didn't make it in until february, so sometimes it takes awhile for the conviction, like the moderator said. "

Burts wrote on Jun 20, 2008 3:00 PM:

" Just a suggestion to the NVR. Publish the mug shot photographs with the names. They are public record and should be fairly easy to obtain from law enforcement. Also list number of priors as many here suggest. "

kdbk wrote on Jun 22, 2008 10:18 PM:

" It's just a real blow to the apoligists for illegal immigration in this community. Yet another example of how illegal immigration hurts our nation, town by town, city by city. Sure, there are plenty of legal citizens on that list, and also a lot of illegals no doubt. So, the fact is clear to see (unless you just don't want to see it), crime is crime, and the more illegal immigrants we have in Napa, the higher our crime rate will be. It's just simple math, that's all. If it's one illegal immigrant, or a thousand, who commit crimes in Napa each month, it all adds up on top of the crimes commited by legal residents. "

reason-ator wrote on Jun 24, 2008 9:33 AM:

" You now, the longer this type of journalism righteously exists, the sleezier the outlet seems to me. It just gets more annoying to me as time goes passes.

It just starts to seem tabloid-ish to me after awhile. But if the Register is publishing this sensational list every month to encourage debate about immigration, then obviously they're satisfying their noble cause. "

reason-ator wrote on Jun 24, 2008 11:02 AM:

" You know, the longer this type of journalism righteously exists, the sleezier the outlet seems to me. It just gets more annoying to me as time passes.

It just starts to seem tabloid-ish to me after awhile. But if the Register is publishing this sensational list every month to encourage debate about immigration, then obviously they're satisfying their noble cause. "

Dwayne wrote on Jun 24, 2008 11:11 AM:

" It appears that the liberal left is once again succeeding in blurring the difference between Hispanic and illegal. Illegal is ILLEGAL, and it's nonsense to play the race card as a ploy to confuse the already confused. "

funnyme wrote on Jun 24, 2008 11:17 AM:

" kdbk,
Thank you for make it VERY CLEAR. "

enapa wrote on Jun 24, 2008 3:24 PM:

" I think all of the arrests made in Napa county should be listed every month. Whether it was DUI or not. "

Hear Ye wrote on Jun 26, 2008 2:35 AM:

" Dwayne-

What comment(s) are you referring to? "

napadad wrote on Jun 28, 2008 1:58 PM:

" statistics show that the average person arrested for DUI has driven while impaired 200 or more times prior to the arrest. Its also interesting that the three quarters of the convictions were at least twice the legal BAC. "

funnyme wrote on Jun 28, 2008 8:18 PM:

" I just love it when we can all see through the face of statistics...Once put in perspective it's far more damaging than originally thought.
Thank you napadad! "

reason-ator wrote on Jun 30, 2008 3:06 PM:

" napadad-

I don't understand how 3/4 of the 80 convictions are for BACs of twice the legal limit ( which would be 0.16%, correct ? ). I only see 22 cases of the 80 total ( .20 and above ) which could be definitely be assumed to be above 0.16 from the data in the article. Are you talking about this info, or the study you cited ("the average person arrested for DUI has driven while impaired 200 or more times prior to the arrest.") ?

Did I misunderstand something ? "

CLRAE wrote on Jul 1, 2008 12:22 PM:

" IF A PERSON IS ARRESTED OR CONVICTED OF A DUI--AND THEY CAN'T PAY THE FINE (WHICH IS HOW MUCH?) WHAT HAPPENS, THEN..??? ARE THE REPEAT OFFENDERS PUT IN JAIL? OR WHAT? DO THEY LOSE THEIR DRIVERS LICENSE? WHAT IF THE PERSON CANNOT PAY THE FINE FOR DUI?? "

psychochik wrote on Jul 2, 2008 9:34 AM:

" enapa, the problem with that is that not everyone that gets arrested for something gets convicted, so it would be slander to post something without a conviction.

Mods, if I'm wrong feel free to not post this !! "

Paisano wrote on Jul 2, 2008 9:46 AM:

" kdbk, This article is about drunk driving not immigration. Please stick to the subject. "

funnyme wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:15 AM:

" Hey Paisano,
The subject is drunks and drug addicts being convicted of thet crime of DUI...and so it happens that a lot of them "resemble" (is that pc enough) a hispanic/latino name and/or last name. It could all just be coincidence, what do I know?
We'll see what the June 2008 DUI report brings. "

mypoint wrote on Jul 2, 2008 11:51 AM:

" Every DUI report brings the same names, so I can't imagine it will change to0 much in the month of June. You can check the reports since January and nothing has changed. "

Paisano wrote on Jul 2, 2008 1:05 PM:

" funnyme, having a hispanic last name does not make a person an illegal immigrant. Like I said, stick to the subject "DRUNK DRIVING." "

funnyme wrote on Jul 2, 2008 2:21 PM:

" Hey paisano,
You are absolutely right, it doesn't, and EVERYBODY knows that.
However, in the event that the convicted drunk or drug addict with the hispanic name and last name turns out to be an illegal alien, it will make him a "double criminal". "

funnyme wrote on Jul 2, 2008 2:25 PM:

" mypoint,
You bring a good point too.
I wonder if the "same names" appear because they are repeat offenders (Yikes!) or is it because they don't carry ID's and it's easy to "invent" a common and popular name (A famous boxer for example)...I don't know. "

Paisano wrote on Jul 2, 2008 4:23 PM:

" funnyme, ok then. I guess all the Hispanic people on this list are here illegally according to you funnyme. They probably all live in one home, grow marijuana, and sell food on a shopping cart illegally. "

reason-ator wrote on Jul 2, 2008 7:59 PM:

" Hey, Paisano, the subject is 'May 2008 DUI Report", not 'DRUNK DRIVING'.

Please stick to the subject. "

funnyme wrote on Jul 3, 2008 1:19 AM:

" Hey Paisano,
I never said the people with hispanic/latino names in the DUI Report were illegals. There's no way for us to know that. Yet. Sorry.
However, your assumption on illegals is a bit dramatic...You know what happens when you assume things, don't you? "

napatude wrote on Jul 3, 2008 2:31 AM:

" Steph: little bit of a slow response to your comment "funnyme, if you want to do some more statistical "analysis", check out the list of Californians who've lost their lives serving our country in Iraq. You'll notice that a HUGE percentage are Hispanic, too. It's just interesting, that's all. Right?" If you go to the site that has all the names of the deceased from the conflict, war or whatever you choose to call it Hispanic sur names are not the minority. If you actually do a stastical analysis from the beginning the stats show that " the deceased veterans" majority is not of Hispanic surnames. "

crusherfan wrote on Jul 3, 2008 7:48 AM:

" what the hell does the war in iraq have to do with dui's in napa??? "

Paisano wrote on Jul 3, 2008 8:21 AM:

" funnyme, No I don't. Why don't you enlightened me? "

funnyme wrote on Jul 3, 2008 11:13 AM:

" Hey Paisano,
Here's a second attempt, I guess the first one was too explicit and NVR didn't like it.
When people assume things, like YOU DID when you wrote the comment on Jul 2, 2008 4:23 PM, people would make a fool out of themselves while the others laugh...
Thanks for the laugh! "

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