Los Angeles “Trick” DUI Victim Gets Day in Court

A California man, who believes that his ex-wife got a beautiful blonde to trick him into a DUI conviction, thereby impacting his child custody privileges, will soon appear in court.  A judge will consider whether Dave Dutcher’s DUI conviction unfairly affected his divorce settlement.

Dutcher, a newly divorced father of three from Contra Costa County met a woman on Match.com.   On the second date, the woman invited one of her friends along.  The evening ended with Dutcher drinking alcohol, and the two women inviting him home to join them in the hot tub.  Dutcher left the restaurant to follow them home, but was soon pulled over by a police officer.  Tests revealed that his blood alcohol concentration level was .12 %.  He pleaded no contest to DUI charges, and was fined $2,200 and ordered to perform community service.

Three weeks after that conviction, his ex-wife's attorneys went to court seeking to restrict Dutcher's parenting privileges, including his visitation hours with his children.   According to the attorneys, his DUI conviction shed a bad light on his parenting skills.  A judge agreed, and reduced his visitation hours.

Dutcher remained unaware that the woman he met on Match.com was known to his wife, until two years later when a police corruption scandal confirmed his worst fears.   His wife has since admitted that she also knew the police officer who tipped off another cop about Dutcher’s drunk driving.   Court records also confirm that the police officer who pulled him over had been tipped off by an acquaintance.

Los Angeles DUI lawyers believe there may have been more such tainted DUI arrests in Contra Costa County during this time.
 
Now, Dutcher wants to convince a family law judge that the DUI arrest was manipulated by his ex-wife and her lawyer in order to restrict his visitation hours with his children.  He's looking for a new divorce settlement that includes more time with his children as well as accountability for the people he believes duped him.