The Fourth of July celebration is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, hot dogs, picnics, and other parties.  Also, it is a day where many Americans will be consuming alcohol.

As North Carolinians across the state flock to the Southeastern North Carolina coast to celebrate the 4^th of July Weekend, the state has begun “Booze It & Lose It: Operation Firecracker” to deter drunk drivers across the entire state and remove impaired drivers from the roads.  Operation Firecracker began Monday, June 27, and continues through Monday, July 4.

Operation Firecracker is conducted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and it coordinates the Highway Patrol, sheriff’s offices and police departments.  During this period there will be additional checkpoints and stepped up patrols that will be conducted across the state.

The Fourth of July holiday is considered one of the deadliest for highway travel.  In 2010, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, there were 205 alcohol-related automobile accidents during the Independence holiday, which resulted in six deaths.  Additionally, alcohol-related crashes also accounted for 105 injuries in the state during the same week last year.  During the 2010 “Booze It & Lose it: Operation Firecracker” campaign officers conducted more than 4,600 patrols and checkpoints, which resulted in more than 1,200 North Carolina motorists being charged with driving while impaired.

This means there will be an increased police presence at the beaches in Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick Counties.  The beaches that will be affected will be Surf City, Topsail Beach, Wrightsville Beach, Kure Beach, Carolina Beach, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, and Sunset Beach.

Collins Law Firm always urges people not to drive while impaired.  If you consume alcohol, we encourage you to have a designated driver or to take a taxi home.  However, if you are charged with a DWI/DUI, underage drinking, or any other crime in or around Wilmington, NC in New Hanover County, Brunswick County (Bolivia, NC), or Pender County (Burgaw, NC) and need a lawyer or attorney to represent you, call Collins Law Firm at: 910-793-9000 for a confidential consultation.

Americans were not discouraged by high gas prices, which at $3.77 a gallon was one dollar a gallon higher compared to last year, and took to the road this past weekend in enormous numbers to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend.  According to a  AAA report 34.9 million travelers journeyed at least 50 miles from home, which was an increase of 100,000 travelers compared to the same weekend last year.  The report declared that 41 percent of the people traveling in the South Atlantic region went to a beach.

In North Carolina that meant that people came to our beautiful beaches up and down the coast.  North Carolinians spent the holiday weekend at the beaches in Pender County, New Hanover County, and Brunswick County.  The beaches in our area that saw a dramatic rise in population this past weekend was Surf City, Topsail Beach, Wrightsville Beach, Kure Beach, Carolina Beach, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, and Sunset Beach.

The increase in driving led to more dangerous conditions on the roads.  The roadways going to and from the beaches had many traffic jams because so many people descended on the beaches in our part of the state.  In addition to more cars clogging the roads, people were more likely to be drinking and driving.  The North Carolina Highway Patrol announced that at least nine motorists died during the Memorial Day Weekend.  Last year, eleven motorists died and 358 people were injured in car accidents.

The Star News (Major newspaper in Wilmington, NC) published before the holiday weekend that the Wilmington Police Department would host a multi-agency traffic checking station on Sunday afternoon and evenings.  Officers involved in the operation will target impaired driving as well as underage possession of alcohol, open containers of alcohol, or failure to use seatbelts.  It is highly recommended to find experienced attorneys or lawyers to help you if you were caught in one of these checkpoints.

If you were hurt in a car accident, or you were charged with any crime or issued a traffic citation during the Memorial Day Weekend in or around Wilmington, NC scheduled for court in New Hanover County, Brunswick County (Bolivia, NC), or Pender County (Burgaw, NC), you should contact a lawyer or attorney at Collins Law Firm at 910-793-9000 for a consultation.

On Friday, April 15, 2011, Chief District Court Judge Jolly issued an administrative order, stating that newly elected District Attorney Jon David’s proposed traffic court program would be a “gross impropriety” because the owner of the company which would provide some of the driving courses under the program, contributed to David’s campaign.  The part of Mr. David’s proposed program to which the Judge referred is called StreetSafe, and is a program for people aged 16 to 21 who are charged with committing traffic offenses, and is supposed to educate young people about the dangers of risky driving.  The owner of the program, Doug Darrell, contributed money to Mr. David’s campaign, according to state records.
In Chief District Court Judge Jerry Jolly’s order, he wrote that because people were to be referred to the program, and would be required to pay money to the program operated by one of his campaign contributors, that the program would constitute a conflict of interest that “brings the criminal justice system into disrepute.”  Judge Jolly’s order puts a stop to all traffic court days, which were to be held in effect in Brunswick, Columbus and Bladen Counties, which comprise the 13th prosecutorial district.  The order shutting down traffic court stated that “the District Court of the Thirteenth Judicial District will not be a party to the scheme of the District Attorney Jon David and will not tolerate District Attorney Jon David financially profiting one of his financial contributors.”  Mr. David said that no hearing was held on the issue and he was not aware of the judge’s concerns until he read the order.
On Monday, April 18, 2011, Mr. David responded in a letter in which Mr. David wrote that the order was “slanderous” and was based on a “petty personality conflict.”  He further stated that the order contained factual errors, and he questioned why there was no hearing on the issue.
On Thursday, April 21, 2011, the Star News, the main news paper in the Wilmington, NC area, reported that a number of high-ranking law enforcement officials in Brunswick County indicated support of Mr. David’s program, and that they disagreed with the Judge’s order as misguided and that it would ultimately undermine public safety.  The law enforcement officials issuing the statement included Brunswick County Sheriff John and Police chiefs from Holden Beach, Oak Island, Shallotte, Leland, Northwest, and Bald Head Island.  Their statement said that law enforcement officials opposed Jolly’s ruling to close the traffic program because it would hamper their ability to patrol their jurisdictions because law enforcement officers would have to spend more time in court since the traffic court is eliminated.  Under the traffic court program, officers are not required to be in court, and the traffic charges are resolved without trials – usually by dismissals or pleas to reduced charges.  And in traffic court, lawyers could appear in traffic court for defendants to resolve their charges for them.
On Monday, April 25, 2011, the Star News reported that two groups connected with the Brunswick County Republican Party indicated support for District Attorney Jon David regarding the dispute with Judge Jerry Jolly over the traffic court program.  The story reported that Brunswick County GOP Chairman George Bell said “Mr. David, who had the support of 68 percent of the voters in Brunswick County in last year’s election, would not violate the trust of the citizens of Brunswick, Bladen or Columbus County,”.   “It appears that partisan politics is at play here and we agree with Mr. David that the charges are slanderous.”  The story also reported that the Brunswick County Republican Women’s Club President Kathryn Lawler wrote an email to Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Ola Lewis, asking her to intercede in the matter.
On Tuesday, April 26, 2011, the Star News published a story stating that District Attorney David is currently abiding by the judge’s order, but that the traffic court dispute “continues to simmer without resolution … It’s been just more than a week since David sent the judge a letter asking him to rescind his order that blocked David’s administrative traffic court and threatening to take legal recourse if Jolly did not change his mind,” the story reported, and it indicated that the District Attorney had not yet filed an appeal, and that while Mr. David disagrees with the order, he had instructed law enforcement officials to comply with it.  Mr. David said that “It’s an order that’s in effect right now, and until it’s rescinded or overturned by a superior jurisdiction, I am instructing officers to follow that.”
If you have been issued a traffic citation, or charged with any traffic violation or crime in Southeastern North Carolina, in Wilmington, NC or the surrounding areas including Bolivia, NC, Brunswick County, New Hanover County, Burgaw, NC, or Pender County, you should at least consult with a lawyer or attorney about your charges.  We may be able to represent you, go to court for you, and prevent you having to appear in court at all. You can call the professionals at Collins Law Firm for a confidential consultation at: 910-793-9000.

Spring is here, and people across the Southeast are thinking about going to the beaches in Southeastern North Carolina and planning trips.  We have beautiful beaches in our area.  In New Hanover County, there is Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Wilmington Beach, and Kure Beach. In Pender County, there is Surf City and Topsail Island.  In Brunswick County, there is Sunset Beach, Holden Beach, Oak Island, Caswell Beach, and Ocean Isle Beach.

There are many efforts to prevent littering, and many make the news in our region.  In Wrightsville Beach, the Cleaner, Greener Wrightsville Beach committee has proposed a list of ideas to help prevent littering.  They proposed the following steps:  to develop a visual image for regular signage and holiday banners to remind visitors to keep Wrightsville Beach clean; create a logo that can be included on T-shirts (possibly signage and banners, too) to identify beach sweep volunteers and solicit volunteers to educating the public about cleaner, greener efforts; color code recycling containers and consider additional recycle locations on the beach strand; maintain the Green Tab on the town’s website through IT manager, Raquel Ivins; work with the Wrightsville Beach Merchants Association and Mayor David Cignotti coordinating with their litter awareness efforts; and study and use results of the Cleaner Greener Survey in developing ideas and plans.

Another program is North Carolina Big Sweep.  They finished first in the voting in the MillerCoors River Network competition.  The first prize is a $30,000 grant.  The statewide non-profit group says the money will be used to coordinate cleanups in all 100 counties in North Carolina and to implement a litter awareness campaign.  WWAY has partnered with Big Sweep on annual beach clean-up programs in the area.

Our beaches are beautiful, and we should all help to alleviate littering.  Littering on most of our beaches is a crime – a misdemeanor, and a conviction for littering can remain on one’s criminal record for life unless steps are taken to prevent it.   If you are charged with littering, or any other crime in our area, Collins Law Firm can help prevent the consequences of being charged, such as court appearances, and convictions and the subsequent consequences of a conviction such as fines, court costs, probation, etc.  We have been doing so for over a decade.

One way we often help avoid convictions for such crimes as littering is to negotiate with law enforcement and the district attorney’s office to have a client perform a number of hours of volunteer service.  Often that volunteer service can be picking up litter on the beach.

If you have been charged with littering, or any other crime in our area, call Collins Law Firm at 910-793-9000 for a consultation about what we can do for you.