Don Bartell: The Houdini of DUIs

The legal community has lost another giant. Donald Bartell, who was tucked away in Riverside over his legal career, had a reputation that extended far beyond his quarters. Bartell was a towering figure, both literally and figuratively. He was a guru and a revolutionary in the DUI field.

He was the Wizard of OZ of DUIS. That's why he was often the keynote speaker at all the major DUI seminars. The programs would always save Don until the end to make sure that everyone stuck around. And they did. The titles of Don's talks were always something to the effect of how to beat a DUI in the face of evidence to the contrary. He was as humorous as he was intelligent. He knew how to work the room and wasn't afraid to speak his mind.

When all hope was lost in a DUI case, Don Bartell was brought in from the bullpen. Prosecutors knew that if they were going up against Don Bartell then they better have an ironclad case. If there was any crack in the armor, Don would find it and go to battle with it.

Everything Don did he gave his all. You knew that when he would pull out the signature towel to dampen his forehead that he meant business. He was a complete lawyer, earning successful results at both the trial and appellate levels. His trial victories were so impressive that they shadowed his remarkable appellate achievements. BAC results and difficult facts did not phase Don. It made him all the more hungry to try it in front of a jury.

Unlike most lawyers, Don's fight often began AFTER the trial court level. If Don felt that a ruling by the trial court was unjust, he would stop at nothing to appeal it until the issue was remedied. Some of the most famous appellate DUI decisions were brought by Don Bartell. Just when you thought Don couldn't get any better, he brought in appellate whiz Lara Gressley, who together became the leading voice in challenging trial court DUI decisions and policies. Some of their cases include People v. Vangelder, S195423, 164 Cal. Rptr. 3d 522 (2013), People v. Harris, E060962, 234 Cal.App.4th 671 (2015), People v. Arrendondo, H040980, 245 Cal.App.4th 186 (2016), and Espinoza v. Shiomoto, E064252, Cal.App.4th, Div. 2, (2017). These cases dealt with complex issues of DUI law such as forcible blood draws and expert testimony as they relate to breathalyzer machines.

Don wrote the bible on DUI Defense - Attacking and Defending Drunk Driving Tests. A trial doesn't go by where I don't pull it out to brush up on Don's pearls of wisdom. Now I wish Don would have personalized my copy.

Despite the fact that Don was a formidable opponent in the courtroom, he was actually a very warm and down to earth person. He ran a very busy practice, always with a trial on the horizon. No matter how consumed he was with his practice, he always made time to answer questions of the younger generation. The greater he was, the humbler he became. He taught us lessons that go beyond his wealth of knowledge that he imparted.

Don left the DUI field in a better place for us than how he found it. He leaves us well-armed with his treatises and training that lawyers for generations will turn to. Don would not want us to wallow in grief for his passing. Rather, he would insist that we look back on his life achievements and celebrate them - celebrate his acquittals and hung juries that everyone said couldn't happen. He would want us to laugh once more at his most humorous and wittiest sayings. And most of all, he would say to go to trial whenever possible. Anyone can plead guilty. But a valiant fight is demanded of the students of Don Bartell.

Editor's Note: Mike Donaldson, Don Bartell's associate attorney, informed us that Mr. Bartell passed away on October 1, 2022, of natural causes. A memorial in Mr. Bartell's honor is currently being planned, and Bartell, Hensel & Gressley would like to thank the legal community for all of its kindness and support.