DUI Lawyers

[WMR]

What you say is true. I just wanted to point out that people do get charged and convicted of OVI even if they don't register at .08 or above. I'd rather not get into a discussion about the merits of taking the breathalyzer. Suffice it to say that there are viable arguments on both sides.

I'm with you.

[Dom Heffner]

My defense:
1. The car smelled like alcohol because there was someone in my car who was literally doused in beer earlier in the evening.
2. Yes, I was at a bar. I'm at the same bar, every Monday, because I play a gig there.
3. I never told the police I was drinking.
4. I don't know exactly how many drinks it was, but I know it was two or three, likely three.
5. Yes, I did. I was exhausted from the night before, and when my blood sugar gets low, it's very normal for me to become even more tired. I have been in several comas, actually.
6. Yes, I have torn ligaments in my knee that require surgery.
7. I refused the test because a lawyer told me to. Had I known it would've ended up like this, I would have accepted.

. . . and I have witnesses and proof for pretty much all of this.

Just an outsider's viewpoint- I promise you I mean this with all due respect.

In reading your account, it sounds like a story I would hear from a teenager caught out late at night.

The blood sugar thing is the dog ate my homework of DUI stops.

Tack on the torn ligament, the I only had two drinks (the receipt says more but those were for my friends...), my car smelled like beer, I called an attorney who said not to blow....

Come on. Enough. And I promise you most reading this are saying this to themselves. And if we're thinking it, a judge is going to think it. While everything you say could be true, the fact remains you were drinking then driving and you refused to blow.

Why is blowing important you ask? Well if everybody who was blasted up on alcohol refused to blow, we'd never have a DUI conviction. They'd all just pass on the breathlyzer. No thanks, officer! And off he'd go.

Back to the diabetes point- Our office is right next door to a Bail Bonds place and every one of their DUI cases is a diabetes defense.

I once witnessed a guy drive into a line of cars at a red light and guess what his defense was? My ex-girlfriend was on the jury for a DUI case and that was his defense, too. One of our plaza partners got arrested a few weeks ago and that was his defense.

If diabetes causes you to drive erratically or fall asleep at the wheel, perhaps diabetics sholdn't be on the road. I mean, if the disease mimics drunk driving, why should you be allowed to drive just because it is a disease and not alcohol? The issue is safety, not alcohol versus diabtes. If you can't operate a motor vehicle safely, then get off the streets.

Being asleep at a stop light isn't much better than drunk driving- tests have shown tired drivers are just as bad if not worse than drunk ones.

I don't want to pick on you- I just want to tell you honestly what this sounds like becuase if you go in front of a judge with a story like that- I promise you this isn't the first blood sugar DUI they've seen.

[Dom Heffner]

Innocent until proven guilty? Hah! I love America.

Dude, you were given the chance to prove your innocence when you were offered a breathylyzer. You refused.

Now, after your blood has had a chance to dry up, you want to say, "Believe me, it was my blood sugar."

If I'm not drinking, I'm blowing. You were drinking, which is why you didn't blow.

There really isn't much else to say.

You may avoid a DUI but your license would be suspended in many states for at least a year.

[Dom Heffner]

Thank you, Sea Ray; I sent an email through the link.

Also, I think I forgot to mention that I declined to blow in a breathalyser. Like I said, I did drink that night, and my concern was that if they detected any alcohol in my system whatsoever, they would try to argue that I was drunk at the time of the arrest and sobered up by the time I got to the police station.
By the way, all of you are helping me very much. Thank you again.

I don't understand the bolded part. They pulled you out of the car while you were driving, so if you blew over the limit after this time, it would have meant you were drunk. I'm probably missing something....

[camisadelgolf]

Dude, you were given the chance to prove your innocence when you were offered a breathylyzer. You refused.

Now, after your blood has had a chance to dry up, you want to say, "Believe me, it was my blood sugar."

If I'm not drinking, I'm blowing. You were drinking, which is why you didn't blow.

There really isn't much else to say.

You may avoid a DUI but your license would be suspended in many states for at least a year.

Yes, I was drinking. I'm guilty of drinking and driving a vehicle in the same evening, but that isn't illegal. I am not guilty of driving while drunk. I am guilty of reckless operation (and driving without a valid license), and I am willing to accept that and be punished for that to the fullest extent of the law. However, I am willing to fight tooth and nail to prove that I was not driving while drunk.

And did you hear my reason for not blowing? Look at what wolfboy is saying. That's why I didn't blow. It's a prosecutor's job to get convictions--not concede to people he believes are probably innocent.

[kaldaniels]

Yes, I was drinking. I'm guilty of drinking and driving a vehicle in the same evening, but that isn't illegal. I am not guilty of driving while drunk. I am guilty of reckless operation (and driving without a valid license), and I am willing to accept that and be punished for that to the fullest extent of the law. However, I am willing to fight tooth and nail to prove that I was not driving while drunk.

And did you hear my reason for not blowing? Look at what wolfboy is saying. That's why I didn't blow. It's a prosecutor's job to get convictions--not concede to people he believes are probably innocent.

Well lets for a moment say you were drunk...with the actions you took how do you suppose the police could ever convict you then?

[Eric_the_Red]

Yes, I was drinking. I'm guilty of drinking and driving a vehicle in the same evening, but that isn't illegal. I am not guilty of driving while drunk. I am guilty of reckless operation (and driving without a valid license), and I am willing to accept that and be punished for that to the fullest extent of the law. However, I am willing to fight tooth and nail to prove that I was not driving while drunk.

And did you hear my reason for not blowing? Look at what wolfboy is saying. That's why I didn't blow. It's a prosecutor's job to get convictions--not concede to people he believes are probably innocent.

But how do you "prove" you weren't drunk? How do you prove a negative? I just don't see how you win this one.

[kaldaniels]

But how do you "prove" you weren't drunk? How do you prove a negative? I just don't see how you win this one.

He's gonna claim the police have to prove he was drunk...something that they were not able to do.

[camisadelgolf]

I don't understand the bolded part. They pulled you out of the car while you were driving, so if you blew over the limit after this time, it would have meant you were drunk. I'm probably missing something....

It is possible to have alcohol in your system while not being drunk. If I blew even a .03, the prosecutor can make the argument that I was drunk at the time of the arrest and just sobered up quickly.

In the state I was found (asleep at the wheel, trouble with balance), the prosecutor is going to argue that I was so drunk that I appeared to have had about 12-14 drinks in the same evening. Have you ever seen a 170 lb. man with a high tolerance for alcohol get that drunk off three alcoholic beverages over the course of five hours? If so, was he so drunk that he passed out at the wheel and appeared to be so incapable of doing a field test that the officers felt it was best to skip the test for the safety of the person being arrested?

[hebroncougar]

Just an outsider's viewpoint- I promise you I mean this with all due respect.

In reading your account, it sounds like a story I would hear from a teenager caught out late at night.

The blood sugar thing is the dog ate my homework of DUI stops.

Tack on the torn ligament, the I only had two drinks (the receipt says more but those were for my friends...), my car smelled like beer, I called an attorney who said not to blow....

Come on. Enough. And I promise you most reading this are saying this to themselves. And if we're thinking it, a judge is going to think it. While everything you say could be true, the fact remains you were drinking then driving and you refused to blow.

Why is blowing important you ask? Well if everybody who was blasted up on alcohol refused to blow, we'd never have a DUI conviction. They'd all just pass on the breathlyzer. No thanks, officer! And off he'd go.

Back to the diabetes point- Our office is right next door to a Bail Bonds place and every one of their DUI cases is a diabetes defense.

I once witnessed a guy drive into a line of cars at a red light and guess what his defense was? My ex-girlfriend was on the jury for a DUI case and that was his defense, too. One of our plaza partners got arrested a few weeks ago and that was his defense.

If diabetes causes you to drive erratically or fall asleep at the wheel, perhaps diabetics sholdn't be on the road. I mean, if the disease mimics drunk driving, why should you be allowed to drive just because it is a disease and not alcohol? The issue is safety, not alcohol versus diabtes. If you can't operate a motor vehicle safely, then get off the streets.

Being asleep at a stop light isn't much better than drunk driving- tests have shown tired drivers are just as bad if not worse than drunk ones.

I don't want to pick on you- I just want to tell you honestly what this sounds like becuase if you go in front of a judge with a story like that- I promise you this isn't the first blood sugar DUI they've seen.

+1, not to mention, just being behind the wheel, impaired or not at this point, YOU are driving illegally because your license wasn't legal. You've got a whole lot working against you.

[Caveat Emperor]

He's gonna claim the police have to prove he was drunk...something that they were not able to do.

They don't have to prove he was drunk, they have to prove that his ability to operate his motor vehicle was appreciably impaired due to the effects of consumption of alcohol.

Big difference.

[camisadelgolf]

Well lets for a moment say you were drunk...with the actions you took how do you suppose the police could ever convict you then?

I was asleep at the wheel. I had trouble maintaining my balance. There was a scent of alcohol in my vehicle. I had been at a bar earlier in the night. The police will state that I was clearly drunk in their opinion. I'm sure they'll be able to come up with more evidence beyond that, too.

[redsfanmia]

Just an outsider's viewpoint- I promise you I mean this with all due respect.

In reading your account, it sounds like a story I would hear from a teenager caught out late at night.

The blood sugar thing is the dog ate my homework of DUI stops.

Tack on the torn ligament, the I only had two drinks (the receipt says more but those were for my friends...), my car smelled like beer, I called an attorney who said not to blow....

Come on. Enough. And I promise you most reading this are saying this to themselves. And if we're thinking it, a judge is going to think it. While everything you say could be true, the fact remains you were drinking then driving and you refused to blow.

Why is blowing important you ask? Well if everybody who was blasted up on alcohol refused to blow, we'd never have a DUI conviction. They'd all just pass on the breathlyzer. No thanks, officer! And off he'd go.

Back to the diabetes point- Our office is right next door to a Bail Bonds place and every one of their DUI cases is a diabetes defense.

I once witnessed a guy drive into a line of cars at a red light and guess what his defense was? My ex-girlfriend was on the jury for a DUI case and that was his defense, too. One of our plaza partners got arrested a few weeks ago and that was his defense.

If diabetes causes you to drive erratically or fall asleep at the wheel, perhaps diabetics sholdn't be on the road. I mean, if the disease mimics drunk driving, why should you be allowed to drive just because it is a disease and not alcohol? The issue is safety, not alcohol versus diabtes. If you can't operate a motor vehicle safely, then get off the streets.

Being asleep at a stop light isn't much better than drunk driving- tests have shown tired drivers are just as bad if not worse than drunk ones.

I don't want to pick on you- I just want to tell you honestly what this sounds like becuase if you go in front of a judge with a story like that- I promise you this isn't the first blood sugar DUI they've seen.

I like the way you said with all due respect. I agree with you 100% Seems like to me that this case is a slam dunk DUI and you should take a plea if offered.

[camisadelgolf]

For the record, I'm not expecting to come out of this without at least one conviction. My only argument is that I am not guilty of a DUI.

[camisadelgolf]

I like the way you said with all due respect. I agree with you 100% Seems like to me that this case is a slam dunk DUI and you should take a plea if offered.

Are you being sarcastic?