What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
I'm going on 70 and have an extremely clean driving record. My wife is going on 65 and has never had a ticket or accident in over 43 years. Recently, I wanted to go on a 4 day hunting trip to far N Cal. (We live in SF BAY Area) It's a 6-7 hr. drive trip. I needed to drive my truck and trailer. This left me without a good hunting vehicle so I asked my wife if she would follow along in our Jeep Wrangler. She agreed but had to be home on Sunday because she watches an infant grandson first thing on Mondays. The hunting was fun, at the time, even though unsuccessful. On Sunday morning I woke up at 7am and it was pouring rain and the trailer roof up front was leaking like a sieve. I woke my wife and suggested we break camp and head out a few hours earlier than originally planned. She was absolutely fine and helped me with the trailer and assisted me in getting the trailer out of a very tight campsite. We left camp at about 8:45am. My FRS walky-talkies were on the fritz and her cell phone was dead without a car charger so we agreed to caravan, with her following me. She took our dog in the Jeep.
An hour after we left, we stopped at a café and had a nice breakfast (No alcohol). An hour and a half later we pulled over for fuel and sodas in Redding (No alcohol was consumed). All the way I kept an eye on her every couple miles. She was driving great, and would routinely pull out and change lanes whenever I signaled to change lanes to pass. Everything was as anyone could hope. Finally, about 2.5 hours south, I looked back and she wasn't there. I began to panic that she had some type of serious breakdown in the Jeep. I continued on slowly to give her time to catch up. But she did not come. Finally 6-7 miles further I came to an on-off ramp where I could safely turn around. After probably 10 miles (still no sign of the jeep). I came back to an exit in a small city. I thought perhaps she got off to get help, or gas or something.
When I got off I went under the freeway and there in an under construction service station lot was the Jeep and my wife with a CHP officer. I was happy and relieved that everyone appeared safe and she found help. I rolled down my window and tried to ask what had happened. I wanted to pull in next to them but the officer waived me away so I went on to an adjacent parking lot. At that point I still assumed this was a friendly situation and that he perhaps thought my rig was too big and might block traffic. I got out of my truck and walked several steps thinking I could join the conversation. At that point, the officer yelled for me to get back to my vehicle and sit down. I walked back to my truck and took a seat on the front bumper (well over 100 feet away). Well that really set him off and he yelled that he had now told me 3 times to get back and sit in my vehicle and if I did not he was going to put me down and haul me in to jail too. That was the first time I realized that this was more than a broken down vehicle situation. At that time he handcuffed my wife and placed her in his cruiser. He did a complete search of the Jeep and apparently turned up nothing suspicious. During the whole incident both my wife and I were calm, quiet, and respectful. At the arrest, the officer suggested because of everyone's cooperation he would be willing to recommend writing a citation and releasing my wife to me. But after calling, he said that the supervisor required full arrest procedure.
Finally, the officer called me over and explained that he was passing my wife on the highway and she tapped the brake and he noticed the right rear brake light was out. After he signaled for her to pull over, she safely pulled over where she felt it safest to get off the freeway at a ramp. He said that when she rolled down the window he smelled alcohol and proceeded to ask about field sobriety testing. My wife told him she had absolutely no alcohol and she would be more than happy to blow in his breath machine and she did so she could be on her way. He told me she registered well above .08 and that is why she was being placed under arrest. He also said that I would shortly be going through the very same process. But he never followed through on that (and I had nothing to drink for days). I was told she had to be taken an hour north to a County Sherriff office for formal testing, then another hour north to a hospital, then back to the County Jail for booking, so it would be at least 4-5 hours before I could see or talk to her. I was allowed to kiss her on the cheek, not on the lips. And she was gone after a faulty tail light stop. I kept calling in to the jail but was not allowed to talk to her. In the mean time my daughter and her husband and child came out to take my truck and trailer back to their house. I took the dog in the Jeep. I immediately stopped and had the taillight bulb changed out and waited outside the jail.
At about 6pm the officer came out and talked to me. He told me she had flunked the test and been formally booked for dui. He said that she had been extremely cooperative and he learned all about the family and grandkids and she was always very alert. He told me it would almost certainly be 12pm-1am before she was released. I told him I couldn't believe this because, except in the vehicle behind me, I was always with her and she had nothing alcoholic to drink.
I spent 5 hours out on a country road with the dog. Finally, the jailers told her they were releasing her on her own recognizance at about 12:20am and she could drive herself home (though they never retested her). On the way home my wife told me that on Saturday night (the night before) she had opened a bottle of white wine and had stayed up and finished the bottle. But she had nothing after about 9-10pm on Saturday night. Neither of us could possibly understand how it could be that she could still be above limit in the morning, much less at 2pm the following afternoon. On Monday she set up a doctors appointment to find out how this could have happened? The doctor ran blood tests and confirmed excellent liver function.
She does suffer from extreme GERD, Gastro problems at such a serious level that it requires surgery 2-3 times a year. We don't know if this could effect anything or not? She says the alcohol smell may be because she was pretty much in the same cloths for 3-4 days.
At any rate we are looking for advice. Originally, we believe that the true facts of what occurred stand for themselves. But a friend suggests a lawyer and court case are a far better choice. Someone else told us to just plead it out to a lesser charge. I do not know what to do. We are not overly wealthy but what we do have needs to last us through retirement and continue to help the kids and grandchildren. My wife has been in deep depression, so far, after this. She said the cuffs for several hours were very painful and she has never been through anything so personally demeaning and embarrassing in her 64 years. Though this isn't about me specifically, I am shocked that a 69 year old man might have been shot, injured or even arrested over "complications of a burned out light bulb".
The lawyer we contacted says unfortunately the long term County DA he knew well just retired and he has no knowledge of this particular CHP officer.
Sorry to be long winded. Any help appreciated?hat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
I'm going on 70 and have an extremely clean driving record. My wife is going on 65 and has never had a ticket or accident in over 43 years. Recently, I wanted to go on a 4 day hunting trip to far N Cal. (We live in SF BAY Area) It's a 6-7 hr. drive trip. I needed to drive my truck and trailer. This left me without a good hunting vehicle so I asked my wife if she would follow along in our Jeep Wrangler. She agreed but had to be home on Sunday because she watches an infant grandson first thing on Mondays. The hunting was fun, at the time, even though unsuccessful. On Sunday morning I woke up at 7am and it was pouring rain and the trailer roof up front was leaking like a sieve. I woke my wife and suggested we break camp and head out a few hours earlier than originally planned. She was absolutely fine and helped me with the trailer and assisted me in getting the trailer out of a very tight campsite. We left camp at about 8:45am. My FRS walky-talkies were on the fritz and her cell phone was dead without a car charger so we agreed to caravan, with her following me. She took our dog in the Jeep.
An hour after we left, we stopped at a café and had a nice breakfast (No alcohol). An hour and a half later we pulled over for fuel and sodas in Redding (No alcohol was consumed). All the way I kept an eye on her every couple miles. She was driving great, and would routinely pull out and change lanes whenever I signaled to change lanes to pass. Everything was as anyone could hope. Finally, about 2.5 hours south, I looked back and she wasn't there. I began to panic that she had some type of serious breakdown in the Jeep. I continued on slowly to give her time to catch up. But she did not come. Finally 6-7 miles further I came to an on-off ramp where I could safely turn around. After probably 10 miles (still no sign of the jeep). I came back to an exit in a small city. I thought perhaps she got off to get help, or gas or something.
When I got off I went under the freeway and there in an under construction service station lot was the Jeep and my wife with a CHP officer. I was happy and relieved that everyone appeared safe and she found help. I rolled down my window and tried to ask what had happened. I wanted to pull in next to them but the officer waived me away so I went on to an adjacent parking lot. At that point I still assumed this was a friendly situation and that he perhaps thought my rig was too big and might block traffic. I got out of my truck and walked several steps thinking I could join the conversation. At that point, the officer yelled for me to get back to my vehicle and sit down. I walked back to my truck and took a seat on the front bumper (well over 100 feet away). Well that really set him off and he yelled that he had now told me 3 times to get back and sit in my vehicle and if I did not he was going to put me down and haul me in to jail too. That was the first time I realized that this was more than a broken down vehicle situation. At that time he handcuffed my wife and placed her in his cruiser. He did a complete search of the Jeep and apparently turned up nothing suspicious. During the whole incident both my wife and I were calm, quiet, and respectful. At the arrest, the officer suggested because of everyone's cooperation he would be willing to recommend writing a citation and releasing my wife to me. But after calling, he said that the supervisor required full arrest procedure.
Finally, the officer called me over and explained that he was passing my wife on the highway and she tapped the brake and he noticed the right rear brake light was out. After he signaled for her to pull over, she safely pulled over where she felt it safest to get off the freeway at a ramp. He said that when she rolled down the window he smelled alcohol and proceeded to ask about field sobriety testing. My wife told him she had absolutely no alcohol and she would be more than happy to blow in his breath machine and she did so she could be on her way. He told me she registered well above .08 and that is why she was being placed under arrest. He also said that I would shortly be going through the very same process. But he never followed through on that (and I had nothing to drink for days). I was told she had to be taken an hour north to a County Sherriff office for formal testing, then another hour north to a hospital, then back to the County Jail for booking, so it would be at least 4-5 hours before I could see or talk to her. I was allowed to kiss her on the cheek, not on the lips. And she was gone after a faulty tail light stop. I kept calling in to the jail but was not allowed to talk to her. In the mean time my daughter and her husband and child came out to take my truck and trailer back to their house. I took the dog in the Jeep. I immediately stopped and had the taillight bulb changed out and waited outside the jail.
At about 6pm the officer came out and talked to me. He told me she had flunked the test and been formally booked for dui. He said that she had been extremely cooperative and he learned all about the family and grandkids and she was always very alert. He told me it would almost certainly be 12pm-1am before she was released. I told him I couldn't believe this because, except in the vehicle behind me, I was always with her and she had nothing alcoholic to drink.
I spent 5 hours out on a country road with the dog. Finally, the jailers told her they were releasing her on her own recognizance at about 12:20am and she could drive herself home (though they never retested her). On the way home my wife told me that on Saturday night (the night before) she had opened a bottle of white wine and had stayed up and finished the bottle. But she had nothing after about 9-10pm on Saturday night. Neither of us could possibly understand how it could be that she could still be above limit in the morning, much less at 2pm the following afternoon. On Monday she set up a doctors appointment to find out how this could have happened? The doctor ran blood tests and confirmed excellent liver function.
She does suffer from extreme GERD, Gastro problems at such a serious level that it requires surgery 2-3 times a year. We don't know if this could effect anything or not? She says the alcohol smell may be because she was pretty much in the same cloths for 3-4 days.
At any rate we are looking for advice. Originally, we believe that the true facts of what occurred stand for themselves. But a friend suggests a lawyer and court case are a far better choice. Someone else told us to just plead it out to a lesser charge. I do not know what to do. We are not overly wealthy but what we do have needs to last us through retirement and continue to help the kids and grandchildren. My wife has been in deep depression, so far, after this. She said the cuffs for several hours were very painful and she has never been through anything so personally demeaning and embarrassing in her 64 years. Though this isn't about me specifically, I am shocked that a 69 year old man might have been shot, injured or even arrested over "complications of a burned out light bulb".
The lawyer we contacted says unfortunately the long term County DA he knew well just retired and he has no knowledge of this particular CHP officer.
Sorry to be long winded. Any help appreciated?hat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
