DUI issues..

h317

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#21
dzervit said:
How many people do you know that NEVER drove after a few drinks?
So if the majority does it, it's ok to DUI?

dzervit said:
As for the DUI, tell him to suck it up and cop a plea if he can. And tell him to be on his best behavior from now until it's off his record...
I agree with your second point until I read " ... until it's off his record"
 
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#22
dzervit said:
How many people do you know that NEVER drove after a few drinks? Not totally wasted, but if they took a breathalizer would fail?!
I can say that I have not. Had I done so when I was younger I would have been required to pay for it, not been able to drive, and so on and on and on.


There is a slogan “CPA: Never Underestimate The Value.” (AICPA)

I would say the same for an attorney, never underestimate the value. I would not proceed down any legal road without one, except in the case of a minor traffic violation.

I have used “findlaw.com” in the past, most often in situations that are less significant and outside my area. You can search and email attorneys with specifics of your situation and get a good idea of their knowledge and willingness to take your case.

It just appears to me that an attorney contacting the DA’s office could facilitate a more favorable resolution and may not cost a lot but I could be wrong.
 
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#23
DUI attorneys cost a lot. The problem is first time offenders can typically negotiate a wrist slap type deal. I'd try and have your friend contact the DA's office on his own and try and work out a deal. If he doesn't like it, then get an attorney to try and work something out. But if you value your friend's life, make sure he seems remorseful and is more careful. Yeah, lots of us have a drink or two and then drive. Depending on the person, it can be safe. But, many of us are actually horrible judges of our tolerance level. That's also similar to how many of us think we're good drivers when everyone else would disagree. Use your judgment. Yeah, you want your friend to suffer as little as possible, but do you think he needs a wakeup call? Does he drink and drive often? What if he gets into an accident totally unrelated to his drinking. But, they find him over the limit. That would REALLY screw him. Maybe he should take it in the shorts this first time around (since it won't be as bad as the fines he'll get if he gets another DUI) and that will make him VERY careful the next time he goes out for a drink.
 
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#24
i should be keeping up w/ my own threads more often huh? i realize this is a touchy subject on both sides of the coin. truth of the matter is, it is really tough to defend those that drink and drive. until you find yourself on the other side of it.

i think its and issue most of us will face, either first hand, or through a friend like myself. or on the flip side through family or friend lost/ injured due to that careless act. but in this particular case, no one was hurt, (luckily, perhaps) and now he faces not being able to drive to work due to no license, and if he does drive because he has to work, esp w/ the pending mountain of legal bills, risks the chance of getting really screwed. i'm sure there's a lesson learned in there somewhere, but just to claim, "that's a lesson learned" is a horrible way of putting it. it also offers up no real solutions to the issue at hand.

now let me go back and try to answer some of the questions you guys raised.

Big Daddy said:
Did your friend take a blood or breath test? What were the results? Is this his first?
i didn't mean to ignore your question, i think the question got lost in the shuffle, while i was reading other responses.. sorry about that. (prolly due to not keeping up w/ the posts..) he didn't tell me too much details, but i think it was a breath test, don't know what he blew. as for the offense, this was his first dui.

as for your quote of "It is not BS if it is a law violation!" comment, if you ever got pulled over for FTS, and cited for it, are you just going to say that and end it at that? i don't really know you, so i can't say one way or another, but if you can walk way from that ticket, saying just that and eat the points, fines, insurance premium hike, you are someone totally beyond me, and sorry for even questioning you.
 
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#25
i know this goes against what i posted earlier about keeping to topic, but i'm curous now, so i'll ask..

h317 said:
So if the majority does it, it's ok to DUI?
it never really is ok is it? but it is the choice one makes, and a consquence may need to be paid.

but for those that drink, but don't drive at all until you get sober again, what do you guys do when calling a cab really isn't an option? i wish it was like back in college, when you can just walk into a bar, then walk back home, or hang out at your friends' place get s faced, and walk back home, or just fall asleep somewhere? wait until you are at legal BAC?

since there is a backlash against those that drink and drive.. AND QUITE UNDERSTANDABLE SO, i'm really curious as to how you guys deal with it. do you only drink if there is a designated driver? or control it somewhat, then drive home, knowing you still might have alcohol in your system? i try to pace myself, but it's not really a 100% solution is it? if a bar kicks me out at 2 in the morning, i can't even get into my car to sleep it off, because if i have the keys, i am a potential hazard, even in my sleep..

it's hard to pose this question w/out pissing someone off.. altho i'm sure i already did so [:p] so at least enlighten me, instead of being utterly "speachless".
 
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#26
Hopefully you can call a friend to pick you up if you're drunk. Normally, I'd sleep it off in my car. Not sure why that's not an option. Course, I get REALLY sleepy after I drink so I'm naturally more inclined to sleep it off rather than try and get home.

Since it's his first offense, see if he can wring a deal where he gets a restricted license that only allows him to drive to work and back. maybe he'll have to install that device that won't let you start the car until you blow in it and you're not drunk.
 

h317

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#27
Average Jae said:
but for those that drink, but don't drive at all until you get sober again, what do you guys do when calling a cab really isn't an option?
I didn't mean to flame you but I just have a very strong opinion against DUI. As posted in this thread, so many people lost their loved ones because of this selfish act.

Whenever you know you are going to drink some, you should have solved your commuting problem. You can either:
1. call a cab
2. sleepover at your friend's house
3. use designated driver who doesn't drink
4. give it a couple of hours to get sober
5. Ask your family/friends to pick up you
6. most importantly, when none of the above is available, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE

I am 100% sure that your local community or liquor/beer store has pamphlets on this.

Average Jae said:
but in this particular case, no one was hurt, (luckily, perhaps) and now he faces not being able to drive to work due to no license
Again, when someone got hurt, it's too late. You don't try your luck on somebody else's fate. It's a consequence he has to deal with.

I wish him luck and hope he has the wisdom not to do it again.
 
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#29
codex57 said:
Normally, I'd sleep it off in my car
I remember a story that made the front page of the local paper in my home town about a guy that lived by my sister (in Idaho) that got drunk at home and his wife kicked him out of the house so he tried sleeping in the car. Keep in mind that this was a rural area and temp was getting pretty low so he started the car to keep warm in front of the house. Well, his wife had called the police to let them know that he was drunk and a state trooper stopped by to give him a DUI with the explanation that if he is in the drivers seat with the motor running whether he was driving or not -- he still gets a DUI. The guy tore up the ticket and beat-up [kick] the cop so bad he was in the hospital for a few days and took his gun and hid out in the canyon. It took a search party something like three days to find him. I don't remember how long he had to go to prison [whip] for (and it was for beating up the state trooper, not the DUI).
 

Big Daddy

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#30
I wonder how true the story is being my 22 career with was in Idaho, my brother is a state trooper there and I know about 200 Idaho police officers? Where did this occur? I am not saying it did not happen, I just wonder how I missed it.

Just for everyone's information if he is sitting behind the wheel with the motor running, and is intoxicated he is in violation of the Idaho DUI code, 18-8002.
 
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#31
Big Daddy said:
I wonder how true the story is being my 22 career with was in Idaho, my brother is a state trooper there and I know about 200 Idaho police officers? Where did this occur? I am not saying it did not happen, I just wonder how I missed it.

Just for everyone's information if he is sitting behind the wheel with the motor running, and is intoxicated he is in violation of the Idaho DUI code, 18-8002.
It was sometime between 89 and 92. Made the front page of the Teton Valley News in Driggs, ID (also where the state trooper lived at the time). The actual occurance would have been related to the town of Newdale in Madison County. It happened just off of Highway 33 on N. Canyon Creek Rd. by the turnoff to Green Canyon Hot Springs (where my sister lives). His last name would have been Stevens, I don't remember the first name though (think it was Phil?).
 

Big Daddy

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#32
I will see what I can dig up from the archives and see if there is any more to the story, sounds very interesting. I knew of a trooper who had his flashlight taken from him by an older man (60+ not sure of exact age) and he got thumped pretty good by this old codger. There are some interesting stories out there.....
 
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#33
It would be interesting to see how bad I have mixed what was in the newspaper and what was rumor after so long. You know how small towns are -- we love our rumors.

Where were you in Idaho, South Western or up in the panhandle? (assuming this since you now live in Washington)
 
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#35
h317 said:
I didn't mean to flame you but I just have a very strong opinion against DUI. As posted in this thread, so many people lost their loved ones because of this selfish act.
i totally understand where yer coming from. so i don't think of your opinions as flaming me. with groups like MADD, or other ADD groups, nothing will bring out your emotions like losing a loved one to act of stupidity. and nothing a better cause then protecting loved ones.

all i'm being is realistic, whether my opinion is liked or not. it's great if you follow the mentioned outline to a T, but for a everyday joe, such clear cut adhearance to the ideal is far from realistic. knowing the right thing is easy, but doing the right thing sometimes takes a lot more.

lastly for tonight [:p] i am def against the "if yer in the car drunk w/ the motor running, it's a DUI" then there's also the one where if you have key in your person while drunk in the car, you can be considered a DUI. since when was having a potential to do something considered a crime? shouldn't they observe probable cause beside being passed out in your seat before citing your and hauling you away? but either way i'm not really gonna do anything about it besides bitch.. so i'll shut up for the night. [:)] sorry if i offended you, (numerous times if i might add) but sharing like this is kinda fun, don't ya think? [;)]
 

Big Daddy

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#36
I did not say if your in the car drunk with the motor running your DUI. I said according to Idaho Code 18-8004, if your in the drivers seat with the motor running and you are intoxicated you are considered a DUI by Idaho law, doesn't matter if you like it, it is the law and has been upheld by the 9th Circut Court of Appeals. There are no laws that I know of that consider a person DUI for being intoxicated in a car with the key(s) on their person.

Do you even know what Probable Cause is? Maybe this will help. quoted from Legaldatabase.com:

"However, before an officer can arrest a driver for drunk driving, the officer must have probable cause that the driver was driving while intoxicated. Probable cause is higher standard than reasonable suspicion. Thus, swerving a little bit doesn’t give an officer the right to arrest a driver for drunk driving. Indeed, the officer must pull over the driver and assess the situation and, after field sobriety tests or observation, know with reasonable certainty that the driver is intoxicated before he may arrest him or her for drunk driving.

There is also a "presence" element is drunk driving laws – thus, a driver may argue that, "I was pulled over on the side of the road, and I wasn’t driving when the officer saw me. So, how could he say that I was driving drunk – he never saw me drive."

The majority of the states do away with the "presence" element in the drunk driving context – because a drunk driver poses a threat to other drivers and because a police officer cannot simply issue a citation to a drunk driver and let him go on his or her way. Thus, most states say that the officer doesn’t actually have to observe the driver driving intoxicated – so long as all the surrounding circumstances indicate the vehicle could not otherwise be located where it was unless driven there by that person."
 

Big Daddy

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#38
Yeah... Codex I have to be careful because I still work (well some times) with some of them. I should write a book, but what the heck. One that comes to mind was a pursuit where the on duty shift supervisor was in an unmarked Plymouth Volare, remember those...oh now I am giving away my age, anyway the suspect was in a dodge vehicle...the name slips me, but the same body style as the Volare. They lose the suspect, or I guess he lost them, then about five minutes pass and you hear an officer screaming into the microphone (siren blasting in the background) I got him over here on Thain RD. The next transmission is the Sgt., "thats me a**hole". Want more?
 
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#39
hey big daddy, i wasn't quoting you, and i also do know that it doesn't matter whether i like it or not.. law is a law. apparently if i cared about it enough, i'd try to do somethign about it, but there you have it...

i'm sure you got some great stories, do tell a few more. this thread is pretty much dead now anyway right? my friend is currently looking for a lawyer. nothing like hanging your life on the line w/ a lawyer found in the yellow pages.. :\
 


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