any defense?

[Happy Trails]

Also wondering how police can just walk into my garage. And shouldn't they have mentioned why they pulled me over?

The officer observed something....

You do need a lawyer, this will be your second DUI (at least that is what it appears to be).

While you were on your own private property at the time the officer caught up to you, that will not make a difference. You were observed driving intoxicated....

So that answers your question as to whether or not it is a defense that you were on your home turf.

Information link: http://paduidr.com/parts/newduilaw.html

 

[vonnegutfan]

The officer observed me speeding, yet he was coming the opposite direction, towards me, and didn't clock me. He just thought I looked liked I was speeding. He also "tried" to stop me outside of the borough limits, yet he's a town officer. Think that will make a difference in my defense?
It's funny also, that they've now decided to charge me with fleeing, which is total BS since I stopped on the 100 block of the street I was "chased" on, and was "observed" on that same street about 1/4 mile up. This is so much crap.

 

[seniorjudge]

The officer observed me speeding, yet he was coming the opposite direction, towards me, and didn't clock me. He just thought I looked liked I was speeding. He also "tried" to stop me outside of the borough limits, yet he's a town officer. Think that will make a difference in my defense?
It's funny also, that they've now decided to charge me with fleeing, which is total BS since I stopped on the 100 block of the street I was "chased" on, and was "observed" on that same street about 1/4 mile up. This is so much crap.

Q: Think that will make a difference in my defense?

A: No, because you have no defense.



Standard answer

Here are some hints on appearing in court:

Dress professionally in clean clothes.

Do not wear message shirts.

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 five 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!”)

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.

 

[moburkes]

OP, your posts are very confusing.
You don't know why you were stopped. But you were given field sobriety tests. You were taken to the hospital for blood tests.

At first you You weren't stopped until you were in the garage. Then you said that you stopped on the 100 block of the street.

You don't get a ticket. You got a DUI. You were sent to the hospital......

If you don't know what happened to you, what defense could you possibly use to get out of the DUI ticket that you never got? How would you even be able to attempt to defend yourself, when you only give half-truths?

 

[vonnegutfan]

thanks for your post, senior judge.

Moburkes,
I didn't know why they stopped me at first. It wasn't because I "looked drunk", or was driving sporatically etc. I now know it was because I looked like I was speeding.

I was stopped in my garage on the 100 block of the street I was supposedly chased on. I saw the officer coming the other direction on that same street about 1/4 mile up the street, and he made a u-turn (outside the town limits) in order to follow me. The first block you come to as you enter the town is my house on the 100 block. From where I observed the officer making the u-turn (no lights or sirens) to where I parked my bike is about 1/4 mile.
When I said I wasn't given a ticket, I mean that I was given no paperwork at all after the arrest. Usually, I thought, you recieve a ticket the day of the arrest.

 

[vonnegutfan]

Just a side note.
I know i shouldn't be drinking and riding my bike, but seriously, should this be a criminal matter. I don't know, ever since this happened, I've been asking around and I couldn't believe how many people have lost so much because of a DUI. Our prisons are overcrowded, new ones being built every day.
I guess I'm not looking for special treatment, but I'm the guy that walks down to the town news agency to buy cupcakes for the mentally retarded in my spare time. I have no criminal record for anything other than DUI and maybe we should be educating our children in grade school about how you can lose your job and family because of a few drinks.
Oh, and I woke up this morning to find that there was a cinder block, for some reason, smashed behind my girlfriend's car, and all the change in my ashtray and my cd's were gone. DAMN KIDS!
It pisses me off that the kids stole my change and cd's, but you know what, they don't deserve criminal records and fines for it. They need to stop being force-fed lies from our capitalist government and from huge, high-dollar corporations. They need parents, too. Or maybe they're just kids being kids.
Just ranting. You guys can now feel free to tell me how many children have been killed by drunken asses like me etc etc etc. If someone could, tell me how many people (other than riders) have been killed by drunk motorcyclists. I think that would be an interesting statistic.

 

[moburkes]

Just a side note.
I know i shouldn't be drinking and riding my bike, but seriously, should this be a criminal matter. I don't know, ever since this happened, I've been asking around and I couldn't believe how many people have lost so much because of a DUI. Our prisons are overcrowded, new ones being built every day.
I guess I'm not looking for special treatment, but I'm the guy that walks down to the town news agency to buy cupcakes for the mentally retarded in my spare time. I have no criminal record for anything other than DUI and maybe we should be educating our children in grade school about how you can lose your job and family because of a few drinks.
Oh, and I woke up this morning to find that there was a cinder block, for some reason, smashed behind my girlfriend's car, and all the change in my ashtray and my cd's were gone. DAMN KIDS!
It pisses me off that the kids stole my change and cd's, but you know what, they don't deserve criminal records and fines for it. They need to stop being force-fed lies from our capitalist government and from huge, high-dollar corporations. They need parents, too. Or maybe they're just kids being kids.
Just ranting. You guys can now feel free to tell me how many children have been killed by drunken asses like me etc etc etc. If someone could, tell me how many people (other than riders) have been killed by drunk motorcyclists. I think that would be an interesting statistic.

You're sick. If the fact that you might kill me or one of my family members, or one of my friends, or someone I know, or someone I don't know because you should have the right to drive drunk, then nothing I can will make you understand. You are stupid.

 

[vonnegutfan]

I expected that.
I didn't say it's right, or ok, or safe etc. All I'm saying is that in the past 13 years, the death toll hasn't changed. I don't want it to go up either, obviously. All I'm saying is that there has to be another way of handling this or at least helping this, other than making millions more criminals every year, and billions of more dollars for the government.

 

[vonnegutfan]

I'd still like to see how many people were killed due to drunk motorcyclists.

 

[moburkes]

I'd still like to see how many people were killed due to drunk motorcyclists.

Kids don't deserve criminal records for stealing and vandalism, drunk drivers don't criminal records for driving after having too many....Well, what do you suggest?

If you want to know how many...look it up!

 

[garrula lingua]

That's an impossible statistic to track.

Many times, a drunk driver (car or mc) causes an accident & goes merrily along, too sloshed to realize what they did to other people, trying to avoid them.

You are an idiot. Who cares if you agree with the DUI laws ?
You have no pride in yourself ...
Try saving your hard-earned money, instead of using it to pay attys and fines and programs ... and, primarily, because you put others in harms way, you are an idiot.

 

[vonnegutfan]

Try saving your hard-earned money? What is that supposed to mean. The thousands I have right now are all going to go towards an attorney and fines etc. If I had more, I'd walk, too. I'm the idiot, though. I understand more about how this lousy world works than you do, I'm sure. I've seen all this, so save your breath.

My girlfriend got into an accident a couple weeks ago that wasn't her fault. Some girl talking on a cell phone slammed into her. Maybe they should fine the hell out of that girl and put her in jail. She made a concious decision to talk on that phone, knowing that she was putting other people's lives in danger.

I don't expect anyone here to realize what I'm saying, or why I think that DUI should be handled differently in this country along with thousands of other laws. Everyone is looking for someone to blame in this country and to tell you the truth I think that there is entirely too much hostility in this country in general. Regardless of what anyone here has to say, I believe that at the heart of America, there is a vile and godless society of people with way too many natural resources. You can believe what you want, and you can blame the middle east or whoever, but take a look around. This country is uniquely individual and just about every other country is sickened by us. I'm sure we're the ones who are right, though.

This website is a pretty good example of the hostility I'm talking about. Look at the last couple of posts. Aggression all over the place. Name-calling like children in a schoolyard.

 

[moburkes]

Try saving your hard-earned money? What is that supposed to mean. The thousands I have right now are all going to go towards an attorney and fines etc. If I had more, I'd walk, too. I'm the idiot, though. I understand more about how this lousy world works than you do, I'm sure. I've seen all this, so save your breath.

My girlfriend got into an accident a couple weeks ago that wasn't her fault. Some girl talking on a cell phone slammed into her. Maybe they should fine the hell out of that girl and put her in jail. She made a concious decision to talk on that phone, knowing that she was putting other people's lives in danger.

I don't expect anyone here to realize what I'm saying, or why I think that DUI should be handled differently in this country along with thousands of other laws. Everyone is looking for someone to blame in this country and to tell you the truth I think that there is entirely too much hostility in this country in general. Regardless of what anyone here has to say, I believe that at the heart of America, there is a vile and godless society of people with way too many natural resources. You can believe what you want, and you can blame the middle east or whoever, but take a look around. This country is uniquely individual and just about every other country is sickened by us. I'm sure we're the ones who are right, though.

This website is a pretty good example of the hostility I'm talking about. Look at the last couple of posts. Aggression all over the place. Name-calling like children in a schoolyard.

I had no idea that I was being aggressive. I'll have to think about that one, so that I can try to understand. Up until now, you responded to the posts that I wrote. And you didn't have a problem doing so. It wasn't until I didn't agree with your assessment about DUI, that I suddenly became aggressive.

I have no idea what you are talking about above. Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with your DUI. Petition your local representatives, so that the laws get changed about people driving while under the influence. You'll get very far.

 

[CdwJava]

I know i shouldn't be drinking and riding my bike, but seriously, should this be a criminal matter.

Who SHOULD handle it? Mobile teams of alcohol counselors?

Yes, it is a criminal matter.

I don't know, ever since this happened, I've been asking around and I couldn't believe how many people have lost so much because of a DUI. Our prisons are overcrowded, new ones being built every day.

DUI drivers don't go to prison. It takes several repeat offenses for that to even be an option. They might spend a few days in jail, but they don't go to prison for DUI.

I guess I'm not looking for special treatment, but I'm the guy that walks down to the town news agency to buy cupcakes for the mentally retarded in my spare time.

Good. Maybe you have a line on someplace to do your community service, then.

I have no criminal record for anything other than DUI and maybe we should be educating our children in grade school about how you can lose your job and family because of a few drinks.

There is already a huge education push about the dangers of alcohol and drugs. And if a job and family is lost, it is NOT because of "a few drinks", it is because of the actions of the drivers.

Oh, and I woke up this morning to find that there was a cinder block, for some reason, smashed behind my girlfriend's car, and all the change in my ashtray and my cd's were gone. DAMN KIDS!

I'll bet you said that with a laugh and a smile, too.

It pisses me off that the kids stole my change and cd's, but you know what, they don't deserve criminal records and fines for it.

Yeah, darn it ... a sincere talking to will stop them from stealing.

What planet are you on?

They need to stop being force-fed lies from our capitalist government and from huge, high-dollar corporations.

Wow! Where did THAT sentiment come from? What does this have to do with the whole issue? And take a look at the DUI laws in socialist Europe and even the communist countries ... THERE you find prison for DUI - even some first offenders.


- Carl

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=197029

Looks like someone has a drinking problem.Maybe that is what is causing his stupidity.