2nd and 3rd DUI

[Hobbes1999]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Utah

So I made bad decisions and I was arrested for a 2nd and 3rd DUI within 2 months of each other. Now technically speaking I haven't been convicted of a 2nd DUI yet so my lawyer said that is why I was only charged with misdemeanors. So my biggest fear is the 3rd one being upgraded to a felony at some point? Is it wise to just plead to both as misdemeanors and hope no one notices? If the judge asks how many DUIs I have I will just lie. Now my other option is to take a position I have been offered by my company in another state and forget the whole thing. I have already written off driving for at least 10 years as I am probably not insurable with 2 car accidents and the DUIs on top of that. I have heard many times they do not extradite for misdemeanor warrants. In fact there was a huge article about it in the USA today a couple years back. I am thinking if there is any chance this gets upgraded to felony I am best to just get a fresh start in a few state. Jail just isn't for me and I am not about to get raped. I don't really want to waste time with treatment when I already know I will just drink as soon as I legally can, nothing will change that and therapy is quite frankly a waste of time. If I can just plead to the misdemeanors around the same time and then just do community service and probation for a year I can handle that. I will just play the game and tell the people what they want to hear and get back to living my life. A felony on my record, however, cannot be afforded. I don't plan on driving anytime soon so a loss of DL means nothing to me. If I plead to the 2 DUIs as misdemeanors can they withdraw the plea and charge me with a felony? If I can't make this work I will just have to take that job in another state and avoid the cops and take public transit the rest of my life. I have a good career and can't afford to lose my job.

 

[adjusterjack]

Sure, add interstate flight to avoid prosecution to your crimes.

That's a federal felony as well as likely a state felony.

I suggest you do what your lawyer tells you and hope for the best.

You won't like being a fugitive. You'll be on the computer everywhere you go. Your prints will bring up your history anywhere. To employers you'll be more of a pariah than an illegal alien.

Good luck.

 

[Hobbes1999]

Sure, add interstate flight to avoid prosecution to your crimes.

That's a federal felony as well as likely a state felony.

I suggest you do what your lawyer tells you and hope for the best.

You won't like being a fugitive. You'll be on the computer everywhere you go. Your prints will bring up your history anywhere. To employers you'll be more of a pariah than an illegal alien.

Good luck.

Actually I am already employed so background checks are not an issue. I have been gainfully employed at this company for 13 years and am always a top performer. Again time and time again it has been shown that states do not extradite for misdemeanor warrants. They certainly aren't going to send someone looking for you

 

[quincy]

Actually I am already employed so background checks are not an issue. I have been gainfully employed at this company for 13 years and am always a top performer. Again time and time again it has been shown that states do not extradite for misdemeanor warrants. They certainly aren't going to send someone looking for you

You asked whether you could be charged with a felony. The answer is yes.

I recommend you listen carefully to what your attorney advises and follow his advice rather than your instincts.

Good luck.

 

[Hobbes1999]

You asked whether you could be charged with a felony. The answer is yes.

I recommend you listen carefully to what your attorney advises and follow his advice rather than your instincts.

Good luck.

My main question was could I plea to both DUIs as a misdemeanor even though they would technically be my 2nd and 3rd. I stalled out my 2nd one in court for over a year and they just barely charged me with the 3rd but they charged it in justice court as a class B misdemeanor. My question is if I plea to both as a misdemeanor and they don't find out til after the plea deal is done can they come back? If I can keep all the DUIs at misdemeanor level I will plea and move on with my life. My attorney only knows about the 3rd DUI because it was recently filed and I told him I wasn't sure if I wanted his services for that one or to go with a different attorney. Sometimes its best to have someone that doesn't know you are lying to a judge, (sometimes when you plea you have to answer how many DUIs you have had), I am more than willing to lie about that but I know an attorney can't knowingly let me lie.

 

[FlyingRon]

Yeah, lie (or leave out vital details) to your attorney. Let us know how that works out for you.

I suspect that you aren't subject to the third offense sanctions if you hadn't been convicted on the second at the time of the third offense. However, that doesn't mean that the fact that you do multiple priors won't be taken into consideration for whatever discretion the judge has at sentencing. Your lawyer needs to be made aware of all that is going on.

 

[commentator]

And being a top performer saving you from being fired from your job, fiddlesticks! I saw too many people who were top performers fired from jobs that they really believed would carry them for the rest of their lives. You're still talking like someone who's not dealing with their addiction issues, grandiosely trying to fix everything in your own mind so you don't have to get absolutely real with YOURSELF about your problem, not just your attorney. Only a complete fool lies to their attorney. And you'll be caught out, your employer will find out what's going on, you'll be caught with an outstanding felony warrant simply because of a non technical reason. Someone will tell on you. Someone you're friends with now, but make angry with you later, someone, like an ex, who hates you now, somebody will call in on you, report you to authorities, turn you in on Crimestoppers to get their Christmas cash. There's no future in your wild fantasy of carrying on your life as usual by becoming a fugitive.

 

[Hobbes1999]

And being a top performer saving you from being fired from your job, fiddlesticks! I saw too many people who were top performers fired from jobs that they really believed would carry them for the rest of their lives. You're still talking like someone who's not dealing with their addiction issues, grandiosely trying to fix everything in your own mind so you don't have to get absolutely real with YOURSELF about your problem, not just your attorney. Only a complete fool lies to their attorney. And you'll be caught out, your employer will find out what's going on, you'll be caught with an outstanding felony warrant simply because of a non technical reason. Someone will tell on you. Someone you're friends with now, but make angry with you later, someone, like an ex, who hates you now, somebody will call in on you, report you to authorities, turn you in on Crimestoppers to get their Christmas cash. There's no future in your wild fantasy of carrying on your life as usual by becoming a fugitive.

That may or may not happen but at the very least it buys you time which equals more paychecks. They usually don't extradite for misdemeanor warrants and I would be clear across the country. I still may take the job anyway even with a plea but will see how that goes. Now if I can plea both of them as misdemeanors then I will do that and move on. I am real with myself and I am not interested in treatment nor therapy. It would be a waste of everyone's time because I will tell people what they wanna hear and go back to doing my thing when treatment/probation is over. I've been able to do well at work the only issue was I should have just always taken public transit. The court should save the treatment spot for someone who really wants it/needs it not for someone who has money, has a job, and doesn't want it.

 

[Zigner]

Hobbes1999...a serious question for you: Why are you here? You have absolutely no intention to listening to what anybody has to tell you.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Hobbes1999...a serious question for you: Why are you here? You have absolutely no intention to listening to what anybody has to tell you.

Oh, he's listening. He's just not interested in advice on changing his ways. He is content with being an alcoholic. He's only interested in advice on how to game the system. Perhaps he is hoping that some other psychopath is on here, sharing pearls of wisdom.

 

[Zigner]

Oh, he's listening. He's just not interested in advice on changing his ways. He is content with being an alcoholic. He's only interested in advice on how to game the system. Perhaps he is hoping that some other psychopath is on here, sharing pearls of wisdom.

You said it much better than I.

 

[adjusterjack]

That may or may not happen but at the very least it buys you time which equals more paychecks. They usually don't extradite for misdemeanor warrants and I would be clear across the country. I still may take the job anyway even with a plea but will see how that goes. Now if I can plea both of them as misdemeanors then I will do that and move on. I am real with myself and I am not interested in treatment nor therapy. It would be a waste of everyone's time because I will tell people what they wanna hear and go back to doing my thing when treatment/probation is over. I've been able to do well at work the only issue was I should have just always taken public transit. The court should save the treatment spot for someone who really wants it/needs it not for someone who has money, has a job, and doesn't want it.

Typical response of an addict.

 

[Hobbes1999]

Typical response of an addict.

Why courts want to waste time forcing people into treatment and therapy is beyond me. What I do in my personal life is not their concern as long as I don't drive. I pay for my own drinks so I don't steal from anyone and I take the train everywhere. Now the question is can a plea be withdrawn by a judge/prosecutor once it has been entered? I figure if I plea these at the same time and they can't withdraw it I might be in luck. The only goal here is to keep the job. Putting employed non violent people in jail who support themselves and pay taxes is a waste of taxpayer money. I'm even willing to give up my DL forever at this point. My attorney said it could be possible but he couldn't knowingly let me lie to the judge. That is why I need to time this right.

 

[Zigner]

Why courts want to waste time forcing people into treatment and therapy is beyond me. What I do in my personal life is not their concern as long as I don't drive. I pay for my own drinks so I don't steal from anyone and I take the train everywhere. Now the question is can a plea be withdrawn by a judge/prosecutor once it has been entered? I figure if I plea these at the same time and they can't withdraw it I might be in luck. The only goal here is to keep the job. Putting employed non violent people in jail who support themselves and pay taxes is a waste of taxpayer money. I'm even willing to give up my DL forever at this point. My attorney said it could be possible but he couldn't knowingly let me lie to the judge. That is why I need to time this right.

Ask your attorney.

 

[quincy]

Why courts want to waste time forcing people into treatment and therapy is beyond me. What I do in my personal life is not their concern as long as I don't drive. I pay for my own drinks so I don't steal from anyone and I take the train everywhere. Now the question is can a plea be withdrawn by a judge/prosecutor once it has been entered? I figure if I plea these at the same time and they can't withdraw it I might be in luck. The only goal here is to keep the job. Putting employed non violent people in jail who support themselves and pay taxes is a waste of taxpayer money. I'm even willing to give up my DL forever at this point. My attorney said it could be possible but he couldn't knowingly let me lie to the judge. That is why I need to time this right.

Up to the time the judge accepts the plea agreement, the prosecutor can back out of the agreement only with good cause. Good cause would include learning of an additional offense like a third DUI which changes a material fact upon which the agreement was made. Otherwise, once an agreement has been made between prosecutor and defendant, the agreement is treated like any other contract and should not be breached by either party.

Your drinking becomes a problem, by the way, when your actions in drinking affect or can affect others beside you (like driving when drunk). Treatment for you is less about you and more about those who are forced to be around you when drinking or drunk, in other words. It also becomes a problem when you find yourself needing an organ transplant to survive and you become eligible for an organ donation before others who have not damaged their organs through their own actions.

I think the prosecutor will learn of your third DUI before you go to court and I think the odds of you keeping your job are not in your favor. I recommend you follow your attorney's advice.