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Under cross-examination, Torrance attorney Darryl W. Genis, 36, grudgingly confesses that his 800-number ads are a tad misleading. Take the client testimonials: “I was charged with a DUI, .21% breath and priors. My priors and DUI were thrown out. I pleaded guilty to speeding,” reads one. “It’s true,” Genis says, “but we had to condense facts to fit the ad space. That caused some misunderstandings.” Still, Genis testifies unswervingly that there is a compelling reason for running his ads. “Drunk-driving enforcement is the witch hunt of the ‘90s,” he says.

It’s a decidedly unpopular point of view--and Genis has taken plenty of brickbats since he began running his ads (“I Get Results!”) in L.A. newspapers two years ago. “MADD compared me to a lawyer for Lee Harvey Oswald or Charles Manson,” he says. “Everyone’s entitled to a defense, and I work within the law.” Faulty tests, negligent procedure, police report errors--Genis finds the holes in the charges and uses them to make deals, or to get the case thrown out, with an 87% success rate.

After 13 years of DUI defense work, Genis has concluded there are some less-than-noble motives fueling California’s crusade against drunk driving, which resulted in 265,882 convictions in 1990. “I don’t have a problem with arrests made in good faith,” he says. “But I do have a problem with a law that encourages people to take risks, that says it’s OK to drink and drive up to a point.” If the state were genuinely concerned with public safety, he says, it would criminalize driving within 12 hours of drinking, and use blood tests, which are the most reliable. “It’s radical,” he says. “But it would work a lot better than the present law.”

So why hasn’t such a law been passed? Simple, says Genis: “For all the rhetoric, DUI enforcement is a terrific revenue generator.” Which, he maintains, has led to test abuse. “You have cops who have no training in optometry giving (eye) tests that supposedly give evidence of alcohol intoxication.” But the guiltiest parties, he claims, are auto insurance companies. “As long as the ‘problem’ continues,” he says, “insurance companies can keep charging outrageous amounts for special coverage.”

Of course, he’s not making out too badly himself. Genis works on three to 10 DUI cases a day; fees range from $2,500 to $4,500 for misdemeanor arrests. But, he adds, “I’d be glad to see the law change. I could always make a good living some other way.”