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Indiana OWI Arrest

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tony317536

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Indiana

I was pulled over and arrested last night on an OWI charge (first offense) in Indiana. BAC was .09 ... The officer stated that he pulled me over because my license plate lamp was not functioning properly. If the police report states that the reason for the stop was the license plate lamp, can it be proven that he made an illegal vehicle which would result in the OWI charge being dropped? How can I prove that the license plate lamp was working?

Also, When I bonded out this morning, the bondsman told me that my license would probably be suspended. Will this happen when I go to court for the initial hearing this thursday or would the suspension take place after the case is decided?

Thanks

Tony
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
Q: If the police report states that the reason for the stop was the license plate lamp, can it be proven that he made an illegal vehicle which would result in the OWI charge being dropped?

A: That question is incomprehensible; try again.



Q: How can I prove that the license plate lamp was working?

A: I don't know; can you prove this?



Q: Also, When I bonded out this morning, the bondsman told me that my license would probably be suspended. Will this happen when I go to court for the initial hearing this thursday or would the suspension take place after the case is decided?

A: Some states have civil suspensions which take effect immediately. Then the criminal suspensions may take place on top of that.

Call the bureaucrats in your state capital that issue OPLs and ask them your questions.


Standard answer

Here are some hints on appearing in court:

Dress professionally in clean clothes.

Do not wear message shirts or caps.

Don't chew gum, smoke, or eat. (Smokers...pot or tobacco...literally stink. Remember that before you head for court.)

Bathe and wash your hair.

Do not bring small children or your friends.

Go to court beforehand some day before you actually have to go to watch how things go.

Speak politely and deferentially. If you argue or dispute something, do it professionally and without emotion.

Ask the court clerk who you talk to about a diversion (meaning you want to plead to a different, lesser charge), if applicable in your situation. Ask about traffic school and that the ticket not go on your record, if applicable. Ask also about getting a hardship driving permit, if applicable. Ask about drug court, if applicable.

From marbol:

“Judge...

You forgot the one thing that I've seen that seems to frizz up most judges these days:

If you have a cell phone, make DAMN SURE that it doesn't make ANY noise in the courtroom. This means when you are talking to the judge AND when you are simply sitting in the court room.

If you have a ‘vibrate’ position on your cell phone, MAKE sure the judge DOESN'T EVEN HEAR IT VIBRATE!

Turn it off or put it in silent mode where it flashes a LED if it rings. AND DON'T even DREAM about answering it if it rings.”

(Better yet, don’t carry your cell phone into the courtroom.)”


Here are seven stories that criminal court judges hear the most (and I suggest you do not use them or variations of them):

1. I’ve been saved! (This is not religion specific; folks from all kinds of religious backgrounds use this one.)

2. My girlfriend/mother/sister/daughter/wife/ex-wife/niece/grandma/grand-daughter is pregnant/sick/dying/dead/crippled/crazy and needs my help.

3. I’ve got a job/military posting in [name a place five hundred miles away].

4. This is the first time I ever did this. (This conflicts with number 5 below, but that hasn’t stopped some defendants from using both.)

5. You’ve got the wrong guy. (A variation of this one is the phantom defendant story: “It wasn’t me driving, it was a hitchhiker I picked up. He wrecked the car, drug me behind the wheel then took off.” Or, another variation: “I was forced into it by a bad guy!”)

6. I was influenced by a bad crowd.

7. I/my kid/my whatever has surgery scheduled.


https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?p=854687#post854687

Public defender’s advice

http://newyork.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/70300494.html


Other people may give you other advice; stand by.
 

BigMistakeFl

Senior Member
BigMistakeFl

The tail lamp will be your word against the cop's word. Which one will a jury believe? That's one of the questions you must ask yourself.

A conviction for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated entails both criminal penalties and mandatory license suspensions. In Indiana, a 90-day license suspension is typical for first time offenders. As Sr Judge said, you have two entities which will be suspending your license, your state's DMV, and the court.
 
Pulling you over for something as meaningless as a faulty license plate lamp means that the officer had another agenda. My take is that for whatever reason, the officer had suspicions that you were driving under the influence of something. If you've consumed alchohol and chosen to drive a car, you can get pulled over for sneezing and the courts will not care about the validity of the stop...only that you were stopped.
 

mayday

Junior Member
Sorry, Tony. All they need is just cause for a stop. My guess is that your vehicle was seen leaving an establishment. I know this to be true in Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa. If the officer smells alcohol at the stop no matter what the reason you're sunk. I got my own DUI for a burned out brake light. Not even a fixit ticket for the brake light though .By the way, in Illinois a burned out license plate light is worth a misdemeanor violation.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
Sorry, Tony. All they need is just cause for a stop. My guess is that your vehicle was seen leaving an establishment. I know this to be true in Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa. If the officer smells alcohol at the stop no matter what the reason you're sunk. I got my own DUI for a burned out brake light. Not even a fixit ticket for the brake light though .By the way, in Illinois a burned out license plate light is worth a misdemeanor violation.
Believe me, they don't need any other justification other than a broken lamp and that it's closing time. I used to do shift work and would head into work between 2-3 AM. The few days I had a tail light out, believe me I had a few traffic stops where the nice officer (sniff sniff) wanted to let me know (sniff sniff) that I had the bulb out.
 

tony317536

Junior Member
Wrong VIN #

I went to the police department today and got a copy of my police report. They have the wrong VIN # on the report. It's very close but it's missing one character in the first half of it. Will this do anything for me in court? I'm 100 percent positive that they have the wrong VIN because I compared it to my vehicle registration and the vehicle itself.
 

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