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Open Intox Ticket While on Probation for DUI

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scaredsilly

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Michigan. I am currently on probation for my second DUI. Over the weekend, I was riding in a vehicle where people had open beer, yet I was not drinking. There were 3 of us in the vehicle that night. Everyone received an Open Intox ticket. Is there any way I could fight this because I was not drinking and the cops never asked me if I was drinking nor was a breathalyzer done on me? Since I do not have my drivers license, there was no way I could have driven the vehicle that night. Will this be considered a violation of probation? I have been in treatment since September of 2005, with my final session scheduled for 5/24/06 and I am attending 2 AA meetings a week. What should I do? Please help me out. I am very scared that I am going to go to jail for volation of probation, which I so do not need right now.
 
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CdwJava

Senior Member
scaredsilly said:
Over the weekend, I was riding in a vehicle where people had open beer, yet I was not drinking. There were 3 of us in the vehicle that night. Everyone received an Open Intox ticket.
If "open intox" is the same as a possession ticket, then as long as you were aware of and capable of taking control over the substance, you were legally "in possession".

It would have been the same if a pile of dope was found on the seat next to you ... you could be charged for it.

Certainly you can argue that none of the drinks were yours, but given two prior DUIs I doubt that a judge is going to care too much.

Is there any way I could fight this because I was not drinking and the cops never asked me if I was drinking nor was a breathalyzer done on me?
If one element of the crime is that you have to have consumed the alcohol, then you might be able to fight it. If the prime element is possession, then you are probably toast.

Since I do not have my drivers license, there was no way I could have driven the vehicle that night.
That's a lame argument. Not having a license does not make you incapbale of driving, it simply means that you cannot LEGALLY drive.

Will this be considered a violation of probation?
Possibly. If you have a no alcohol stipulation on your probation (you probably would out here) then they are more likely to violate you for this than if you do not.

I have been in treatment since September of 2005, with my final session scheduled for 5/24/06 and I am attending 2 AA meetings a week. What should I do?
Apparently those meetings aren't seeping in ... remember the part about chainging your associates and surroundings? No amount of rehabiliation is going to help until you change that circle of friends. This event should be a reinforcement of that simple fact.

Change your surroundings. Change your friends. Change your life.


- Carl

(A friend of Bill W.)
 

BigMistakeFl

Senior Member
BigMistakeFl

This is a classic lesson in "guilt by association". I cannot seem to impress this upon my own 19 y/o son.

I would try to argue this if possible, but no one knows if a judge will listen. If nothing else, this wake up call may finally help you cross those "friends" out of your life.
 

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