Tom Hudson

The California Supreme Court has joined a handful of other courts in the country that have said Breathalyzer results mean different things for different people and ruled that suspected drunken drivers can attack the test results in court.

Defense attorneys lauded Thursday's unanimous ruling for deferring to science, which has shown for years that the test results are highly variable. Prosecutors, however, predicted the move will undermine California drunken driving cases.

At issue is how authorities use booze breath to determine how much alcohol is in the bloodstream.

When consumed, alcohol is absorbed in the blood and carried through the brain to the liver and heart before diffusing in the lungs, where it is exhaled in breath.

Authorities now use a nationally accepted scientific formula known as "Henry's law" to convert the amount of alcohol vapor in the lungs to a blood-alcohol level.

The scientific problem is that breath-to-blood ratios vary greatly throughout the population and fluctuate individually, influenced by such factors as body temperature, atmospheric pressure, medical conditions and the precision of the measuring device.

That means the same breath-test result for one person's breath could signal intoxication while for another it could simple mean "just a glass of wine with dinner, officer."

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Ava George Stewart

This week's member in the spotlight is Ava George Stewart of Chicago, Illinois. Ava received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois, 2003 and holds a Master's degree in Managerial Communications and a Bachelor's degree in History and Sociology from Northwestern University, 1989. Ava was born in and raised in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Ava's thirst and life long quest for knowledge came naturally from her parent educators. Her mother retired as a high school teacher and her father was a professor at the local university. Ava has a strong will to better the world. Before going back to law school, Ava served as the Executive Director of several non-for-profit organizations, including Chicago Youth Centers, Wings.

One can witness Ava's commitment to societal change and improvement through her selfless involvement and countless hours of volunteer time. She currently serves as co-chair of the WBAI's Criminal Litigation Committee, is the Illinois Delegate for the National College for DUI Defense, and serves on the DUI Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She was re-appointed to the Illinois State Bar Association's Illinois Bar Journal's Editorial Board, and the Standing Committee on Marketing & Communications; additionally, she has been appointed the Chair of the 2015-2016 Criminal Justice Section Council, and was re-elected as a member of the Illinois State Bar Association's Assembly for a two year term in 2014. Ava served as the Chair of the Traffic Laws and Courts Committee for the Illinois State Bar Association in 2011-2012. She currently serves as a Board member of the Chicago Lincoln-American Inn of Court and Women Everywhere. She is also a member of the Cook County Bar Association and The Lawyers Club of Chicago, as well as a founding member of the Women's Criminal Defense Bar Association. She is a past Board member of MLER, Minority Legal Education Resources; an organization that prepares Illinois law students to pass the Illinois Bar Exam.

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Harley Wagner

This week's Member in the Spotlight is Harley Wagner of Martinsburg, West Virginia. He has been a member of the National College of DUI Defense (NCDD) since 2001. He is a Sustaining Member, serves on the Faculty, and has served as State Delegate for ten years. Harley received his J.D. from the Thomas Cooley School of Law in 1995 and his B.A. from the University of West Virginia in 1990. He was admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania in 1995 and in West Virginia two years later. He serves on the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' (NACDL) DUI Committee, co-founded the West Virginia DUI Lawyers Association, and co-authored West Virginia DUI Defense, The Law and Practice (published by Lawyers and Judges Publishing Company).

Harley was born and raised in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. Prior to becoming an attorney, Harley's list of occupations runs the gamut from a busboy at Shoney's, to bank teller, and a very effective car salesman (no surprise!). Harley always has a smile for everyone. It is no surprise he was raised in a family rich with affection and service for others along with tradition. His namesake, his grandfather William Harley Miller, was a World War II hang glider pilot. His mother, Carolyn, was Miss West Virginia in the 1958 Miss America pageant. She later devoted her life to teaching drama and English, skills Harley obviously inherited and uses to this day! His stepfather, Gilbert Miller, was recruited by famed Connie Mack to play for the Philadelphia Athletics, and later spent three decades coaching high school baseball and basketball (the school gym is named in his honor). Harley's father also serves the community in the practice of law as a civil and criminal trial attorney in southern West Virginia.

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Paul Burglin

This week's Member in the Spotlight is Paul Burglin. Paul was born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County, California. He still lives and practices in the place where he grew up. "A tree stands strong not by its fruits or branches, but by the depth of its roots." Paul cherishes giving back to the community that nurtured his deep roots. Paul developed a hard work ethic early on in life.

Starting at the age of 12 he delivered newspapers, washed dishes, worked at a deli, and served as a busboy. He worked the graveyard shift at Wells Fargo reconciling checks at night to get through college. He started at the Community College of Marin, where he was elected Student Body President and served as the Editor-In-Chief of the College of Marin Times. He transferred to U.C. Berkeley after becoming fascinated with the civil protests and demonstrations there- ignited in him a passion against injustice. He graduated with a degree in Political Science and then worked as a file clerk in a San Francisco law firm. Taking a year off school, "brown-bagging" it every day and saving nickels, he put himself through law school. He graduated from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1984.

Paul is a Regent of the National College of DUI Defense. He is board certified in DUI by NCDD. He co-authors the two volume treatise, California Drunk Driving Law, with NCDD Fellow Barry Simons. He is the editor of the NCDD Journal. Among his voluminous DUI specific training, he is one of the few attorneys in the country to have attended the Borkenstein Course designed for government scientists on alcohol forensics.

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Bell Island

This week's member in the spotlight is Bell Island of Gering, Nebraska. Bell was born in California in the late 1960s to a mom embroiled in the civil rights movement. He spent his weekends protesting the overreaching of the government and marching against injustice. From this, he became inspired by the exposure to lawyers who volunteered their time in the cause.

At age 8, Bell's family uprooted and traveled the country for six months, three of which was working for the carnival. Spreading their wings, they lived in San Antonio and Brownsville Texas. They also lived in Fairplay, Colorado before settling down in Lincoln, Nebraska. This is where Bell attended Junior and Senior high schools. From an early age, Bell learned to work hard at whatever job he had. He hoed cotton in Texas, detasseled corn in Nebraska and raked blueberries in Maine. He poured concrete bridge supports and built scenery for theater to earn his way through college. He graduated from Hamline University in Minnesota where he studied abroad in Eastern Europe, competed as a wrestler and performed in the school's theater. Upon graduation from the University of Nebraska College of Law, Bell worked for four years as a public defender for the Scotts Bluff County Public Defender's Office. As a public defender, he worked a second full-time job as a DJ to pay the bills. He opened his private practice in 1999. Bell is the founding member of the Island and Huff Law Firm.

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Steven Hernandez

This week's Member in the Spotlight is Steven Hernandez of New Jersey. Steven graduated with a Bachelor's in Business Administration in 1998, from the Rutgers University School of Business. He earned his Juris Doctorate in 2004, from the Rutgers University School of Law. Steven was born in Columbus, Ohio. He grew up traveling all around the world, as his father served our country as an Air Force officer. He even spent time living in Tehran, Iran. He was raised primarily in Riverside, California. It was there that he was inspired by his friend's parents (a pair of civil rights and criminal defense lawyers) to become an attorney. As Steven puts it, "Even though I did not understand what they were doing, I knew they were doing important work. The work, their sense of accomplishment, made me want the same thing."

Steven relishes the most difficult challenges. This is evidenced by his majoring in accounting, and delving into the most difficult facets of DWI science. He has earned the American Chemistry Society's (ACS) "Lawyer-Scientist" classification by receiving the prestigious Golden Column plaque. This evidences his successful passage of an exam as well as successful completion of the ACS's Forensic Chromatography course (both), Forensic Solid Drug Dose course, and the Forensic Chromatography DUI-Drug course. In addition, he has completed an instructor's course on the National Highway Safety Administration's standardized field sobriety testing, a Drug Recognition Evaluation (DRE) overview course, and is a certified operator on the Draeger, Alcotest 7110 evidentiary breath testing machine. In the past, he has also held a Forensic Sobriety Assessment certificate.

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Lynn Gorelick

This week's member in the Spotlight is Lynn Gorelick of Berkeley, CA. She has practiced law for over 31 years. Lynn earned her B.A from the University of California, Berkeley in 1978 and her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1982. Lynn grew up in a family that was actively involved in politics out of a spirit of caring for others. Her father and mentor Allan was a respected defense attorney and worked in the Alameda Public Defender's office before starting his own firm. He inspired Lynn by always reminding her that "… but for the grace of God go we…" and that our clients are not just clients but "… our people". Lynn's legal work can best be described in her own words: "I want my clients to know that I care about them."

Lynn is a sustaining member of the National College of DUI Defense (NCDD), as well as a faculty member. She is the immediate past Vice President of the California DUI Lawyers Association, serving on its board for 15 years. She is a member of the California Attorneys of Criminal Justice, and a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She makes it a point to give back to the legal community that needs it most. She has conducted training sessions for the Alameda County Public Defenders Office, the Alameda County's court appointed program, and the women defenders program. She is the "in court" contact for the Alameda County Public Defender's Office on DUI/DMV issues. Lynn holds certifications relating to preliminary alcohol testing devices, the National Highway Safety Administration's (NHTSA) standardized field sobriety tests and completed blood analysis training at Axion Analytical Laboratories. She takes pride in serving her community by being on the board of a women's recovery and treatment program gaining much satisfaction "in being able to watch the successes of those who work so hard to achieve recovery."

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Lenny Stamm

This week's Member in the Spotlight is Lenny Stamm of Greenbelt, Maryland. Lenny grew up in New Rochelle, New York. For four years he started as a goalie on the high school soccer team. Funny how life takes twists and turns, he was selected for the Program for Inquiry, Involvement and Independent Study (a gifted "school without walls" program) in which they made a visit to the United States Supreme Court barely arriving after it had just recessed only to return years later as the coauthor of some of the nation's most important DWI case briefs: Missouri v. McNeely, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, Bullcoming v. New Mexico. This gifted kid from New York grew up to become Maryland's most respected DWI/DUI lawyer earning the first annual Fred Bennett Zealous Advocacy Award by the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorney's Association (MCDAA). In October of this year, he was awarded the prestigious Legal Excellence Award for Advancement of Professional Competence by the Maryland Bar Foundation. For 12 years straight, he started and has put on the annual Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association's Advanced DUI Defense Seminar, giving back to the Maryland bar and elevating its knowledge and practice level. The defense bar of Maryland is top rate and we can thank Lenny Stamm for his esteemed contributions. He also wrote the book. He is on his 8^th volume of Maryland DUI Law.

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Peter Carini

This week's member in the spotlight is Peter Carini of Medford, Oregon. Peter hails from Brooklyn, New York where he was born and raised. At age 17, he was living in his own apartment in Manhattan, New York. He started working summers at the age of 11. He chose to go to college in Manhattan, graduating in business studies from Pace University. After obtaining his degree he tried his hand at sales- which would later come in handy as a criminal defense trial lawyer. Peter sold home heating equipment, including furnaces and boilers. After a few years (with a thirst to see the world) he sold all his belongings and moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands, without knowing a soul. He soon found a job as a yacht crew member and traveled all throughout the Caribbean. When he returned to his native New York, his grandfather had passed. At the funeral, perchance, he was reintroduced to the beautiful girl who had stolen his heart at his cousin's wedding right before he had moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands. This time, not missing an opportunity, they eloped to Martha's Vineyard. It has been 26 years and counting.

Always having a natural knack for the law, he aced three law courses in his undergraduate business studies at Pace University. He took the LSAT and headed towards scenic Oregon with a 3 month daughter in tow. Peter had two more daughters before graduating from the Williamette University College of Law. Peter is a true defense lawyer through and through, having never served a day as a prosecutor. After graduation, he worked for the Public Defender's Office in Medford, Oregon. In five years, he tried 75 jury trials before opening up his own practice. Over the first six years, he and his wife sacrificed a 3.5 hour commute to make it all happen working in between Salem and Medford.

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