Can I Get a DUI Overturned If I Was Driving Due to an Emergency?

[hassonjohn]

San Diego, Ca
Here is the situation in a nut shell... My brother and I were at a bar to shoot some pool. One bar tender charged us for our drinks then went off shift. The next tender tried to charge us again which led to us bickering back and forth. I was about to give up and pay when some "regular" patrons took it upon them selves to intervene. One thing led to the next and I ended up defending myself against 3 or 4 of them. None of them security. My brother who was outside at the time came in to try to break it up and ended up getting pepper sprayed for no apparent reason. When I was finally able to break free I grabbed my brother who was not in good condition at all, put him in the car and was on my way to seek medical attention. The police pulled us over about a mile from the bar and indicated that the bar called them and might press charges. Which in turn led to a DUI for me. I know not to drink and drive but I saw no other way to get out of there without more violence occurring. All of this is supposedly documented in the police report. What do you think my next actions should be? Any hope to defend this?

 

[Proserpina]

San Diego, Ca
Here is the situation in a nut shell... My brother and I were at a bar to shoot some pool. One bar tender charged us for our drinks then went off shift. The next tender tried to charge us again which led to us bickering back and forth. I was about to give up and pay when some "regular" patrons took it upon them selves to intervene. One thing led to the next and I ended up defending myself against 3 or 4 of them. None of them security. My brother who was outside at the time came in to try to break it up and ended up getting pepper sprayed for no apparent reason. When I was finally able to break free I grabbed my brother who was not in good condition at all, put him in the car and was on my way to seek medical attention. The police pulled us over about a mile from the bar and indicated that the bar called them and might press charges. Which in turn led to a DUI for me. I know not to drink and drive but I saw no other way to get out of there without more violence occurring. All of this is supposedly documented in the police report. What do you think my next actions should be? Any hope to defend this?

Calling the police should have been the first (and only, really) step.

I cannot see you getting out of this one.

 

[hassonjohn]

Calling the police should have been the first (and only, really) step.

I cannot see you getting out of this one.

I agree. The circumstances did not allow for that. Had I stayed and called the cops or an EMT the situation would have gone from bad to worse. I was in pretty bad shape and so was my brother. I was actually fleeing for fear of being seriously injured or worse.

 

[Ohiogal]

I agree. The circumstances did not allow for that. Had I stayed and called the cops or an EMT the situation would have gone from bad to worse. I was in pretty bad shape and so was my brother. I was actually fleeing for fear of being seriously injured or worse.

You were illegally drunk to begin with. Public intoxication is also a crime. You never should have had that much to drink. You have no excuse for endangering everyone on the road because of your actions.

 

[Proserpina]

I agree. The circumstances did not allow for that. Had I stayed and called the cops or an EMT the situation would have gone from bad to worse. I was in pretty bad shape and so was my brother. I was actually fleeing for fear of being seriously injured or worse.

This is a serious question, okay?

When you were first bickering with the server, why did you choose to stay rather than simply leave?

 

[hassonjohn]

You were illegally drunk to begin with. Public intoxication is also a crime. You never should have had that much to drink. You have no excuse for endangering everyone on the road because of your actions.

This was apparently the wrong place to look for legal advice. Your opinion is not welcome or warranted. Everyone is perfect and until stuff happens to them! Remember this. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!"

 

[Proserpina]

Of course I'm not sure I'd be claiming self-defense...you're effectively saying you're guilty of assault. I suppose you could flip a coin and decide which is more critical.

 

[Proserpina]

This was apparently the wrong place to look for legal advice. Your opinion is not welcome or warranted. Everyone is perfect and until stuff happens to them! Remember this. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!"

And let he who gets drunk and can't control his anger deal with the consequences.

 

[quincy]

San Diego, Ca
Here is the situation in a nut shell... My brother and I were at a bar to shoot some pool. One bar tender charged us for our drinks then went off shift. The next tender tried to charge us again which led to us bickering back and forth. I was about to give up and pay when some "regular" patrons took it upon them selves to intervene. One thing led to the next and I ended up defending myself against 3 or 4 of them. None of them security. My brother who was outside at the time came in to try to break it up and ended up getting pepper sprayed for no apparent reason. When I was finally able to break free I grabbed my brother who was not in good condition at all, put him in the car and was on my way to seek medical attention. The police pulled us over about a mile from the bar and indicated that the bar called them and might press charges. Which in turn led to a DUI for me. I know not to drink and drive but I saw no other way to get out of there without more violence occurring. All of this is supposedly documented in the police report. What do you think my next actions should be? Any hope to defend this?

Interestingly, a "medical emergency" defense was used by a man arrested for a DUI not all that long ago in California. The Yuba County District Attorney decided not to prosecute, even though the driver was arrested after speeding through several stop lights and failing both the FST and breathalyzer.

Of course, the area where the medical emergency occurred did not have cell phone service and the driver felt he had no choice but to drive his friend to the hospital. A bit different than the facts presented here.

But, sure, there is always a little bit of hope when defending a DUI.

I suggest you seek out the help of a really good, experienced DUI attorney, though, hassonjohn, if you expect any sort of positive result.

You should have left the bar earlier and/or called the police when matters started getting out of control. I agree with the others that you endangered other lives by driving drunk.

 

[Silverplum]

Oh, so you didn't want to hear from an attorney?

Call your friends, then.

This was apparently the wrong place to look for legal advice. Your opinion is not welcome or warranted. Everyone is perfect and until stuff happens to them! Remember this. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!"

 

[Just Blue]

This was apparently the wrong place to look for legal advice. Your opinion is not welcome or warranted. Everyone is perfect and until stuff happens to them! Remember this. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!"

You are saying this to a site vetted attorney. Perhaps you should drop a few c-notes to a local attorney. Merry Christmas

 

[Rwedunyet]

http://www.aa.org/

Sorry to be so redundant tonight.

I'm not a lawyer.

This is serious advice that could prevent you needing legal advice in the future.

You chose to go to a bar. You chose to get drunk with a bunch of other drunks. You chose to act like a drunk in the presence of other drunken-ed individuals. And you chose to put your drunken-ed self behind the wheel of a car.

Dude, seriously. What did you THINK was going to happen?

This burns my butt. It's people like you (and my brother) that cause people like me to not let my kids go anywhere this time of year.

And now you want help getting it dropped? I'm sure that the lawyers on this site would be THRILLED to help you get out of this, so you can drive around in their neighborhood.

Here's the REAL situation in a nutshell: You got drunk and endangered the lives of others. You need to quit trying to "get out of it" and figure out how to not let it happen again.

You wanna have a few beers, that's fine. I'll drink a few with you. But, stay off the freakin' roads. My children are out there.

edited cuz I'm irritated and needed to add emphasis to the above link. maybe I'll just put it in a siggy line.

 

[Ladyback1]

This was apparently the wrong place to look for legal advice. Your opinion is not welcome or warranted. Everyone is perfect and until stuff happens to them! Remember this. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!"

LoL....You got an opinion from a VETTED attorney! FOR FREE, even.


I find your story of implausible--most bars won't actually give you the drink until you pay for it. Or perhaps you were running a tab?? Even then, are you sure bartender #1 charged you? How many drinks had you had? Are you sure? (I have spent more than my fair share of time in a bar...shooting pool even! I have yet to see a bartender, barmaid, etc. hand over a drink without getting paid first, or having a credit card for a tab...)

And really? What dollar amount are we talking that you were allegedly overcharged? $10-$15? Sure would have been cheaper just to pay the $10-$15, don't ya think??

I'm curious, what was your BAC when the cops pulled you over?

 

[CdwJava]

This was apparently the wrong place to look for legal advice. Your opinion is not welcome or warranted. Everyone is perfect and until stuff happens to them! Remember this. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!"

Voluntary intoxication is not a defense to a crime. You had too much to drink, engaged in a confrontation and got into a fight and then chose to leave. You should have gone earlier.

But, as stated, you are free to pay an attorney to try and raise a necessity defense.

So, since your brother needed a doctor, did he actually see one? if so, what was his condition and what was required to be done for it?

 

[Eekamouse]

If the fight hadn't have happened, how did you plan on getting your drunk brother and drunk self home?