Attorney Found Passed Out in Car, Convicted of DUI

San Diego criminal defense lawyer Allen Robert Bloom, 61, was convicted of two DUI counts by a jury in the Vista courthouse on January 19.

Deputy Andrew E. Dvorak testified that he could smell vomit as he approached the green Jaguar parked at the side of Palm Canyon Drive in Borrego Springs, after 1 a.m. on October 9, 2011. The driver’s door was open and projected into traffic lanes, the deputy said, and he claimed to see vomit on the roadway, in the door jamb, and on the interior carpet of the car. Also on view was Bloom, apparently asleep with his head back and the car keys on the seat between his thighs, according to testimony of the deputy and CHP officer James Peterson, who arrived to assist.

Bloom was transported to a sheriff’s station in Ramona. His blood alcohol level tested at .10 percent two hours after he was discovered in his car. Bloom’s defense attorney, Vikas Bajaj, suggested that a female companion whom Bloom had been seen with earlier had been driving the car before she wandered away into the desert.

After a three-day misdemeanor trial, the jury deliberated for less than five hours before declaring Bloom guilty of both misdemeanor DUI counts he was charged with.

Judge Katz sentenced Bloom to five years of unsupervised probation, gave him a $1942 fine, and ordered him complete a first-conviction DUI program.