Law Office of John Stanko, Inc.

December 2020 Traffic Court results

September 2020 Traffic Court results!

POLICE ACTIVITY OVERNIGHT IN SAN RAFAEL AFTER HIGH DRIVER CRASHES INTO HOUSE...THREE TIMES...WITH TWO DIFFERENT VEHICLES Just before 3 this morning we were noti...fied of an incident on Idylberry Drive in unincorporated San Rafael. The details of the call were so strange that we started our response not really knowing exactly what had just happened. From what we’ve been able to gather, sometime around 2:45 an extremely impaired individual drove his yellow Mustang off of Idylberry and into a fence near a home. Realizing his predicament he tried to remove his vehicle from the crash before anybody was the wiser but failed to realize it was still in drive. The Mustang traveled through the fence and into the home of the resident. Awoken by the sound of their house being crashed into, a resident of the house approached the driver to figure out what was going on. Realizing that the driver was clearly in no state to drive, the owner of the home took the keys from the vehicle and retreated back inside to notify authorities. Again, not wanting to be anywhere near the scene when the police showed up, the driver noticed the keys to the home owners car nearby and took them, intent on procuring a new get away vehicle. With a new plan for escape, the heavily impaired driver entered the Toyota, threw it in gear, and hit the gas. Unfortunately he had put the vehicle in drive instead of reverse and proceeded to again drive through the house, ultimately coming to rest right next to his already crashed Mustang. The home owner exited the home and attempted to remove the keys from the vehicle, however the driver began striking him repeatedly in the face causing major injuries. Marin County Sheriff's Office Deputies were first on scene and detained the out of control driver as he was apparently still attempting to drive the vehicle, unaware there were no keys. CHP officers arrived shortly after and placed the driver under arrest for a multitude of crimes including DUI, battery and theft of a vehicle while other charges continue to be investigated. This is a perfect example of why driving while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs is so incredibly dangerous.

More happy clients!

Marin County DUI Checkpoint this Friday, January 31, 2020, in Corte Madera. Be carful out there and don't drink or use and drive. Get a safe ride home!

More Traffic Court Success for my clients to end 2019! Happy New Year!

Traffic court results during July 2020 in the midst of pandemic.

Traffic court results.

YES, RACING AND SPEEDING ARE BOTH ILLEGAL Just before 9:30 last night an alert citizen called 911 to report a group of vehicles racing on northbound 101 from th...e south end of the county. Soon after the call came in, three of our grave yard officers located the vehicles traveling through San Rafael. The officers took up positions behind three of the vehicles and were able to get them pulled over at North San Pedro Road. Shortly after advising the drivers of the reason for the stop (racing and speed) one officer was told that couldn’t be right because racing isn’t illegal. Despite our officers attempts to educate the driver on the law forbidding such acts the driver refused to believe, going to far as to sign the citation under duress. We always try to use these situations as learning opportunities for the public, so we would like to clear up two points from this stop. First, just to be completely clear, California Vehicle Code section 23109(a) makes it a crime for a person to engage in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway. Even without the speed contest section applying, the vehicles were paced traveling over 80 MPH in a posted 55 MPH section of the freeway. Also, signing a citation with, under duress has no bearing on how the citation is handled by the courts. Moral of the story; keep the racing on a track and obey the speed limit.