first offense owi

[tecumsehcutie]

What is the name of your state? MI
Unbeleivable to be turning 40 years of age and this happening...I don't drink often, and was out celebrating my 40th b'day. It never crossed my mind that having 5 or 6 beers in 4 hours would result in my blowing a .19 (twice over our legal limit)..I never intended on being at the bar as long as I was but was trying to find a ride home for a woman who was very distraught, had A LOT to drink, and wanted to drive..I was trying to be "responsible".

I was actually pulled over in my drive way...arrested, and spent about 12 hours in jail..a place I NEVER want to be again..how people can do this time and time again and not learn a very HARD, humiliating, embarassing lesson is beyond me. I just found an article in the Sunday paper..."Drunk Driver Arrested"...guess who that was about..ME...another day of crying..

Can you please tell me what I have to look forward to? My arraingment is on the 15ht. I was let out of jail without having to pay any money. I've been told several different things. Apparently I did this in one of the hardest counties in the area...I just moved to this nice quiet town..go figure.

Anything you can tell me, I would greatly appreciate. I accept the responsibility for certain, but how can I tell the judge how absolutely sorry I am....to have possilby hurt someone or myself..

Thank you!

[Son of Slam]

Sounds to me like it could have been a lot worse. You may have had to chew your arm off.


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[BigMistakeFl]

I good suggestion I received in this forum after my arrest was to take a morning off and go to court. Sit in a courtroom and watch the proceedings. It won't take long for a DUI to come along. You can get a feel for what your case will be like and how it might progress, if it gets to that point.

Since the evidence against you is strong, there may be little point in hiring an attorney. But that is your choice. You will either plea not guilty or no contest. The judge will most likely sentence you with the minimum required penalties if your record is clean including a decent driving record. You would be wise to figure out how you will get to work and such, and could go ahead and get the DUI schooling scheduled. Also, you might get community service hours, which is actually a pretty good thing, if you find the right service for you. I found it uplifting. The community service hours are often a reason some people do not make the probation deadline. It's good to start on that as well. Jail is not likely for a first offense, especially if you get a jump start on the penalties.

[Sunshiny]

I am not able to give you the answers you need, but I am really sorry about what happened and wanted to let you know that. It sounds like you definitely had the worst luck that night, and I know it was so hard! My biggest advice to you is to be strong! I would get a lawyer and see where you stand! It's definitely worth it in the long run should you win.

[Dougthegreat]

Originally Posted by Sunshiny

I am not able to give you the answers you need, but I am really sorry about what happened and wanted to let you know that. It sounds like you definitely had the worst luck that night, and I know it was so hard! My biggest advice to you is to be strong! I would get a lawyer and see where you stand! It's definitely worth it in the long run should you win.

Yeah, she was a victim of the evil right-wing alcoholism propaganda machine, right?

Whatever. It sounds like the OP learned her lesson - or at least I hope she did. Too bad it had to be "the hard way"!

[Sunshiny]

Originally Posted by Dougthegreat

Yeah, she was a victim of the evil right-wing alcoholism propaganda machine, right?

If you say so...

Originally Posted by Dougthegreat

Whatever. It sounds like the OP learned her lesson - or at least I hope she did. Too bad it had to be "the hard way"!

Yep, I think she did...

[VendorMan]

I feel your pain, I wish there was something to help good people get through these tough times. I think that was good advice to check out court. I would also recommend taking the time to talk to a couple attorneys to see if there is anything that you can do to minimize your exposure. I'm not trying to pitch legal services, but you need to be over informed, over educated about this stuff. Granted it sounds like your case is a slam dunk,(bummer)
but there seems to be minor tweaks here and there that may ease the pain a little. Also stay on top of this down the road, my issue is that my DUI
(a weak one) happened 14 yrs ago, This year I was laid off after a 20 yr
career, because I didn't get this expunged early on, I'm going thorugh the whole thing all over. Don't make that mistake! Deal with it, get it done, and
move forward. It's not my intent to bring you down, but this is serious stuff, people need to discuss and share all the info. they can. Good people still make a mistakes, you don't want to mess up the process as well.