DUI in Parker?

[67weimann]

True, the portable device is not what will bge used in court, only the test given at the station. But once again, ZERO tolerance is the key here. You can blow .0000000001 and get a DUI if they can prove you were impaired to the slightest degree like you were riding a off-road vehicle on a public roadway. How do you fight that.
"Really you're honor I was completely sober and in my right mind. I know riding my bike on the road is illegal but can't you let me off this time?"
Do you have any prior offenses of any kind?

[Boatcop]

I assume it was Parker PD being South of the Keys, and they only do three things:
1. Man speed traps
2. Bust for DUI's
3. Domestic Violence/family dispute calls
If it was the Keys it was the Sheriff's Office. And believe me, we do a whole hell of a lot more than that.
You can blow .0000000001 and get a DUI if they can prove you were impaired to the slightest degree
Not true. If you are under .05% the law presumes you are NOT impaired, the same way it presumes you ARE if above .08%
The results of the preliminary Breath Test (on the side of the road) are not admissible in court. Only used to determine if alcohol is causing the impairment.
At your initial appearance, (the date is on your ticket, but can be done anytime between now and that date):.......
4 things you can do:
1. Plead Guilty or no contest. You'll do 24 hours in jail. Alcohol Screening, Fine, and a hit on your license.
2. Plead not guilty, hire a lawyer, go to court and take your chances. If you lose, same as above and over $5,000 in lawyer fees.
3. Plead not-guilty, hire a lawyer, have it dropped to reckless driving, same punishment as above, but no DUI on the record, about $2,500-$3,000 in lawyer fees.
4. Plead not-guilty, contact the County Attorney's Office yourself and offer to plead down to Reckless driving. Same punishment, but no lawyer's fees. People have done it in the past.
Finally, don't drive after drinking and keep the off road stuff off road.
This is a pretty sensitive issue right now. A few nights ago some guy on an dirt bike drove off a cliff right in that area (behind the post office-water company) and killed himself. We're pretty sure he was drunk, but waiting for autopsy.
We just got the State statistics and La Paz County leads the state in per-capita fatal traffic accidents, alcohol related fatal accidents, alcohol related accidents, AND DUI arrests. (occurrences per 10,000 population)
The above is for traffic accidents, etc. For boating we're lowest in the state in accidents.
Good Luck. Wish I could tell you more, but there's a conflict of interest.

[Trailer Park Casanova]

[QUOTE=Boatcop]
Not true. If you are under .05% the law presumes you are NOT impaired, the same way it presumes you ARE if above .08%
QUOTE]
-Looks like us Sea Lawyers are wrong again,, and it looks as if you have something to work with too,,

[Trailer Park Casanova]

[QUOTE=Boatcop]
Not true. If you are under .05% the law presumes you are NOT impaired, the same way it presumes you ARE if above .08%
QUOTE]
-Looks like us Sea Lawyers are wrong and talking thru our ass again,, and it looks as if you have something to work with too,,

[Faceaz]

If it was the Keys it was the Sheriff's Office. And believe me, we do a whole hell of a lot more than that.
Not true. If you are under .05% the law presumes you are NOT impaired, the same way it presumes you ARE if above .08%
The results of the preliminary Breath Test (on the side of the road) are not admissible in court. Only used to determine if alcohol is causing the impairment.
At your initial appearance, (the date is on your ticket, but can be done anytime between now and that date):.......
4 things you can do:
1. Plead Guilty or no contest. You'll do 24 hours in jail. Alcohol Screening, Fine, and a hit on your license.
2. Plead not guilty, hire a lawyer, go to court and take your chances. If you lose, same as above and over $5,000 in lawyer fees.
3. Plead not-guilty, hire a lawyer, have it dropped to reckless driving, same punishment as above, but no DUI on the record, about $2,500-$3,000 in lawyer fees.
4. Plead not-guilty, contact the County Attorney's Office yourself and offer to plead down to Reckless driving. Same punishment, but no lawyer's fees. People have done it in the past.
Finally, don't drive after drinking and keep the off road stuff off road.
This is a pretty sensitive issue right now. A few nights ago some guy on an dirt bike drove off a cliff right in that area (behind the post office-water company) and killed himself. We're pretty sure he was drunk, but waiting for autopsy.
We just got the State statistics and La Paz County leads the state in per-capita fatal traffic accidents, alcohol related fatal accidents, alcohol related accidents, AND DUI arrests. (occurrences per 10,000 population)
The above is for traffic accidents, etc. For boating we're lowest in the state in accidents.
Good Luck. Wish I could tell you more, but there's a conflict of interest.
Thanks for the advise, I just barely missed that .05. I think I'll try option #4, since getting off seams like a long shot anyway. No priors of any kind. Any ideas for why my alcohol level dropped so much in such a short amount of time? My wife, who's 90lbs less than me & drank the same amount, blew a .07. But, can't let it ruin a weekend, we're looking forward to watching the races this weekend. ~ Thanks,

[Cole Trickle]

There not giving you the DUI based on the first or secon breathalizer test.
Did you do a field sobriety test? If yes this is what got you written up along with what you blew on the calibrated macine.
If you wouldn't have taken the field sobriety test and blew a .06 on the calibrated machine it would be harder to convict you.
I wen't through this in a boat 4-5 years ago and beat it.I blew a .06 on the boat and based on there test I was intoxicated.(The statistics say that 80% of sober people fail the field tests....It was not Boat Cops department that pulled me over but the people that did were a joke and the test was a sham)
They couldn't find a mouth peice for the calibrated machine at the docking station on memorial weekend and drove me into Parker Jail. Once there I blew .04 back to back. (They did this asuming my BOL was rising)
After I blew that the gentelman said ok I guess we cut him loose....The lady Ranger said no way and wrote me up for BUI and Recklesss driving.
Sadly they dropped me back off at the dock 20 minutes after they wrote me up and pushed me off behind the wheel of the boat.(My crew were there and I was the sober driver)
Cost me about 3K and took less than 2 weeks to beat it.(We hired a DUI lawyer out of havasu)
What really bummed me out was the flat out lies in the report. :cry:
My recomendation to anyone that gets pulled over is to be very courteous accept the breath/blood test and decline the field sobriety test on account of it being designed to make people fail.
Good luck..I would talk to council and see what they think.(I think based on what you blew you have a chance...If you would have blown a .10+ your screwed)

[Faceaz]

There not giving you the DUI based on the first or secon breathalizer test.
Did you do a field sobriety test? If yes this is what got you written up along with what you blew on the calibrated macine.
If you wouldn't have taken the field sobriety test and blew a .06 on the calibrated machine it would be harder to convict you.
I wen't through this in a boat 4-5 years ago and beat it.I blew a .06 on the boat and based on there test I was intoxicated.(The statistics say that 80% of sober people fail the field tests....It was not Boat Cops department that pulled me over but the people that did were a joke and the test was a sham)
They couldn't find a mouth peice for the calibrated machine at the docking station on memorial weekend and drove me into Parker Jail. Once there I blew .04 back to back. (They did this asuming my BOL was rising)
After I blew that the gentelman said ok I guess we cut him loose....The lady Ranger said no way and wrote me up for BUI and Recklesss driving.
Sadly they dropped me back off at the dock 20 minutes after they wrote me up and pushed me off behind the wheel of the boat.(My crew were there and I was the sober driver)
Cost me about 3K and took less than 2 weeks to beat it.(We hired a DUI lawyer out of havasu)
What really bummed me out was the flat out lies in the report. :cry:
My recomendation to anyone that gets pulled over is to be very courteous accept the breath/blood test and decline the field sobriety test on account of it being designed to make people fail.
Good luck..I would talk to council and see what they think.(I think based on what you blew you have a chance...If you would have blown a .10+ your screwed)
Afterwards, I asked the sheriff what would have happened if I declined the initial test. He said if any test is declined, it's an automatic 1yr suspension on your license. I don't know if that's a recent law, but I can't afford to lose my driving privilage. The sheriff actually put it very well - he said people come here & tend to think of it as a resort - where the rules are more relaxed. He's probably right, I definately would have thought twice about doing this in Huntington - just a lapse in judgement on my part. Thanks for the advise.

[Hal]

Just ran across this on AOLs home page. About the same thing as Alan was saying.
http://www.1800duilaws.com/article/how_to_beat_dui.asp
http://www.duirights.com/

[Moneypitt]

I do not advocate DUI/BUI, but IMO it is all about the Money, the almighty buck. The money you pay for attorney fees, fines, classes, impounds, probation, license reinstatement. It is a never ending cycle. The possible defenses listed in the first link are good ones, with a highly skilled, experienced attorney that can lean things your way in front of a jury, you might have a chance. The biggest problem is the jury/judge will give more weight to any officers account of the circumstanses than yours. Here in Ventura county a few years ago there was an uproar about an officer that used the exact same text in all his DUI reports, word for word, and it was finally discovered by a defense attorney that happened to be defending 2 or 3 of that officers arrestees and noticed the simularities in the reports. Guess what, the ex DA judge didn't care and refused to listen to arguments about misconduct and/or unfairly written reports........I think the 2nd district court of appeals corrected the judges decision and threw the cases out. You can win, but it is very tough to win against public opinion that feels a zero tolerance is the best policy, and that public is what makes up the jury pool, and also casts ballots for judges based on their performance. Best win/win situation, don't drink and drive/boat, period...........MP

[Trailer Park Casanova]

I do not advocate DUI/BUI, but IMO it is all about the Money, the almighty buck. The money you pay for attorney fees, fines, classes, impounds, probation, license reinstatement. It is a never ending cycle. The possible defenses listed in the first link are good ones, with a highly skilled, experienced attorney that can lean things your way in front of a jury, you might have a chance. The biggest problem is the jury/judge will give more weight to any officers account of the circumstanses than yours. Here in Ventura county a few years ago there was an uproar about an officer that used the exact same text in all his DUI reports, word for word, and it was finally discovered by a defense attorney that happened to be defending 2 or 3 of that officers arrestees and noticed the simularities in the reports. Guess what, the ex DA judge didn't care and refused to listen to arguments about misconduct and/or unfairly written reports........I think the 2nd district court of appeals corrected the judges decision and threw the cases out. You can win, but it is very tough to win against public opinion that feels a zero tolerance is the best policy, and that public is what makes up the jury pool, and also casts ballots for judges based on their performance. Best win/win situation, don't drink and drive/boat, period...........MP
I agree.
My only gripe is that if they want to impose a brutally harsh penalty for first time offenders, then they need an expungment option if the offender stays outta trouble for a set amount of time.
The almost death penalty that is imposed now is too harsh. Way way to harsh.
Fleeing offenders trying to avoid the brutal penalty may take out a family in a mini van. For what??