Ugh... DWI crap

If you're sober and you refuse a breathalyzer and/or field sobriety test, even at the threat of being carted of to jail and having your blood forcibly taken, you are an idiot. I'm sure there are some who would get all riled up and be offended and might want to take some kind of stand and give the cops a hard time, but how many sober people are really going to be so uncooperative that it escalates into them being hauled in to get stuck with a needle?

 

So "drunk" drivers are more of a concern, and thus those under subjective suspicion of being drunk should have blood involuntarily drawn even though cell phone drivers are MORE dangerous than drunks according to the study?

And Desert, I cannot "provide documentation" - what I can do is tell you that I am a member of the legal community and am well connected to folks not only on the defense side, but also on the DA's office-side.

By the time they draw the blood sample, the BAC will have fallen quite a bit, unless the person was ****housed. At that point you're still in jail & charged with DWI. It's not like they'll say "oops! your'e under .08, you're free to go! oh, here's $200 in cash to go get your car out of the tow yard!"

You're still ****ed, and the state, have expended the money to incarcerate you is NOT going to just let it go. They WILL argue that you WERE legally drunk and that the delay in testing caused the BAC to fall low. Typically a normal jury & defense attorney worth their salt will mean the DA will lose, but, again you're still ****ed out of time & money.

On occasion, the DA's office will realize that it's a lost cause (usually when the defendant has a decent defense attorney) and drop charges. What if you can't afford a good defense attorney? Well, then you're ****ed again, but that's another conversation. I'll just say this - why, if safety is SUCH a concern, do the good defense attorneys get so many DWI's dismissed or reduced to reckless driving, while those who can't afford to spend $5-10k on a defense attorney get nailed to the wall? Shouldn't the DA's office tell these defense attorneys that they will zealously prosecute their clients in the same way they will everyone else? Objectivity, justice? Right. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ is what matters.

And wtf do you think that an increased number of drunks at NYE means the blood tests are okay? It's about "safety" right? Then HPD should not stop the blood tests AFTER NYE, correct?

 

You're right, but the decision to ask for the warrant is still in the individual cop's hands.

And how many on-call judges do you think will deny that request?

 

Plenty.

As I said before, you don't have to be over .08 to be hauled off.

If you're willing to provide the state with evidence that you've had ANY alcohol, more power to you.

If you're stupid enough to believd HPD will let you go just b/c you blew a .02 or a .7999999999999999999999999999, great!

Enjoy your night in jail, payments to my fellow attorneys, probation requirements, and social stigma.

 

Sleep in your car.

 

Just as an aside, what are your thoughts on this - here's what I did tonight:

Went to the Lair of Fatty (Pub Fiction) at 11 pm. Had one beer. Drove to Big Top at Midnight. Had one beer. Ate a taco next door at 12:30 am. Drove to the "281" at 1 am to meet friends. Ate Whataburger at 2 am. Drove 10 minutes to my temporary holiday residence.

I knew I would not drink more than 2 beers tonight. I ate. I didn't geteven a remote buzz. Had I chugged those 2 beers consecutively I might have maxed out at .04 for a brief period of time.

Had I been pulled over I still would have refused everything - I know how the system works.

How many of you would have cabbed it in that situation?

If pulled over, how many would have blown/done the field test?

I'm really curious as to everyone's approach to this.

 

I would not have cabbed it, I would just drink 1 beer per hour if I knew I was going to drive that much.

But I probably would have just stayed at Pub Fiction or walked around midtown all night.

 

I loved "Heavy Metal!"

 

I might have - I went there to meet my brother for a birthday party - but I saw a girl I went out with a couple of times, a long time ago.

She looked great & I felt like an idiot for not having pursued it further back in the day. So I bailed to meet other friends down the street.

 

Spin spin yada yada yada blah blah spin spin....


Simple: drunk driving kills, and it often kills the other people.
I don't care how much money they have to pay or how 'inconvenient' it is to drunk drivers, or how much the city makes off of them.

Keep your drunk a@@ from behind the wheel and you don't have to worry.

Is it so difficult for one friend to not drink on any given night? I had many instances where I was designated.

 

Wow. It all makes sense. Why the hell are the cops stopping every single person that leaves a bar and swerves on the road. We all know that everyone that says they're not drunk and refuses a breathalyzer is sober enough to drive.

I would feel much safer if there were not cops stopping people coming out of bars and swerving on the road. Of course the police should take their word for it. Alcoholics also don't have a problem either.

This is not about safety...this is about harrassing innocent people.

Damn...and just yesterday, I found out that all the people in prison are innocent.

 

This is a reply to Rocket_G's nonsense too.

If someone is driving unsafely, drunk or sober, I have no problem with the police removing them from the road.

 

What is worse -- someone who has had a few drinks and drives or someone playing 'light to light' in a high horsepower sports car?


Some might say they are about equal.

 

Both idiotic and both against the law. And anyone in my Mustang club that is caught doing either is immediately kicked out of our club, including me, the president of the club. My racing is done at the race track and if I'm going to be drinking, I'm not going to be driving.

 

You've never horsed around with one of your Mustangs on the street?

Never...

 

Drawing blood is a very dangerous precedent legally speaking. I am not for drunk driving, but you can't support letting cops draw blood.

 

Sure I did, when I was young and stupid, and I wouldn't have a problem being pulled over and thrown in jail for doing it, and I surely wouldn't be crying that it is a money grab for cops to be stopping me for BREAKING THE LAW!

 

If I am sober and suspected of DWI -- I will do the test and blow in the breathalyzer, but I will not give blood.