Prosecutors Specially Trained for DUI Cases

Anyone arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in Riverside County can continue to expect to face highly trained and specialized prosecutors because of grants once again being utilized by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved the renewal of two grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety that provide funding for these specialized teams.

A $488,280 grant to the DA’s Office funds the DUI Vertical Prosecution Team that works DUI cases from arrest
through sentencing. The grant enables District Attorney Mike Hestrin to assign three specially trained deputy
district attorneys to prosecute drug-impaired drivers in all regions of Riverside County.

To combat drug-impaired driving, the DA’s Office implemented the DUI Vertical Prosecution Team two years ago
after successfully applying to the California Office of Traffic Safety for funding to enable one specially trained
prosecutor to focus exclusively on drug-impaired driving cases. The goal of the DUI Vertical Prosecution team is to prevent drug-impaired driving and reduce drug-impaired traffic fatalities and injuries by holding drug-impaired
drivers accountable.

Prosecution team members will work with the Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Program of the California District Attorneys Association to increase the capabilities of the team by obtaining and delivering specialized training, including training in the emerging problem of drug-impaired driving. Team members will share information with peers and law enforcement personnel throughout the county and across the state.

Prosecutors now assigned to the team are Deputy District Attorneys Justin Feikert in the Western Division, Kevin Shek in the Eastern Division, and Billie Gibson in the Southwest Division.

A second, $394,722 grant enables DA Hestrin to assign a specially trained senior deputy district attorney and a
senior district attorney investigator to investigate and prosecute all DUI-related homicides and DUI with injury
cases in Southwest Riverside County. Cases involving death or injury will be prosecuted from the original filing of
the case through any trial. The grant also provides training to help combat the growing problem of driving under
the influence of drugs.

Goals of this grant include reducing the number of persons killed and injured in DUI-related traffic collisions, and
increasing police officer and prosecutor expertise in DUI investigations and prosecutions. This specialized team
will coordinate and participate in DUI prevention and awareness programs such as “Every 15 Minutes” with local
schools, law enforcement agencies, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

Sr. Deputy District Attorney Chris Bouffard and Sr. DA Investigator Joseph Cristinziani are currently assigned to the team at the DA’s Southwest office in Murrieta.

The funding period for both of these grants, which were approved by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors in September, runs from Oct. 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2015. Funding for these programs is provided by grants from the state Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

--Information from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office

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