Question about a DUI / DWI?

Question

I got arrested for a DWI about 2 months ago. I blew over a .20, so it is a gross misdimeanor and I spent 4 days in jail while they were determining what to charge me with. After 4 days, was released without being charged. I started calling around about three weeks later about info on my liscense revocation and learned that I had been charged about two weeks after my arrest. ok, so my question is, I was arrestes in my house about 30-60 minutes after driving, because my truck hit a liht pole and a witness called it in. I am not trying to get out of my DUI, I am fully accepting all consequences that come from this, but I had been drinkin a couple beers and took a couple shots at home (i know this sounds like a lie, but it is true) because I thought I was free and clear,because I drove home (2 blocks) Im just upset, because I dont know if I would have blown over a .20 if I hadn't been drinking afterward? Do U think that I may have a chance of pleading atleast to a reg misdemenor?

Answer 1

You need to speak to a lawyer. Your story is too convoluted to decipher.

Most lawyers will give you a free consultation and you are going to need one anyway. Try and find one who has a decent amount of experience in DUI cases.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I'm going to forget that I'm a prosecutor for a few moments here because you put forth a lot of legal issues in your question.

First: You sat four days in jail without being charged and then you were released. Unless you were arrested on a holiday followed by a weekend (or vice versa) this would come close to violating the deadlines for a court appearance in most states. An attorney in your jurisdiction could crunch those numbers quite quickly...

Second: Understand that your license revocation is a civil process completely separate from a criminal prosecution. It seems odd to me that you became aware of criminal charges while looking into your license revocation. In order to be criminally charged, you would need to be served with a notice (summons), or in the alternative, by an arrest followed by a court appearance.

In my jurisdiction, if a suspect blew over a .20, they would have known it because they would have been held until court. On the other hand, if a urine or blood test was obtained, that would explain the delay --the sample has to analyzed before charges would have been filed. Your question doesn't provided enought info on this...

Third: You were arrested 30-60 minutes after driving to your residence. This is a huge issue for a defense attorney for two reasons: (a) the officers may not have legally (constitutionally) arrested you. They cannot enter your house without a search warrant unless certain exceptions apply (and you didn't explain how they made contact with you); and (b), you may have a valid post-driving consumption defense.

If I were you, I wouldn't even try to tackle these issues without consulting a defense attorney (court appointed or private).

[Many people probably wonder why a prosecutor would be telling a DWI suspect these things. My answer: My job is justice, not convictions. Violations of constitutional rights never end in justice. And I cannot answer a suspect's question whether his/her rights have been violated. Therefore, I will always advise suspects to consult with an attorney if they have questions]

Answer 4

Do you have a lawyer?? My first question is why the delay in charging you? Every DUI I ever arrested was issued his citation, charging him with the DUI, when he failed the breath test at the station. I do not understand a two week delay in the charges.
You should have also been charged with Leaving the Scene of an Accident. Might want to check on that.
Your breath test of .20 is pretty high. Most states have gone to the .08 level for a DUI. The hour you continued to drink after the accident certainly did not help you but I suspect you were probably over the .08 level anyway. While it may be true that you were drinking after you got home I doubt the Judge will accept that as a reason for your .20 level.

Sorry, fella, I think you're toast. . .

Answer 5

Even if you had drinks at home the police can call in a specialist that can extrapolate what your blood alcohol level was at the time of the accident. However, you need to get legal advice from a lawyer that specializes in DUIs and the complex case law that surrounds it in order to decide what your chances are at fighting this.

I don't understand the American system of charging people though. Here in Canada you would have been arrested, a breath test administered at the station and then you would have been charged with whatever charges applied and released. If your record was clean you'd be released when sober on a PTA (promise to appear in court). If you had a record of similar offences you would be held in jail until the next day and released on bail. If your record was horrendously long you may be held in custody until trial (this is rare) It would be unheard of here to be in jail for four days without being charged with something in relation to a DUI. Something is not jiving here.

Answer 6

Come on, dude. Time to get real, and don't pull our legs. In my state, blowing a .08 is presumption of being under the influence. And you didn't blow a .20 just from a couple of beers and a couple of shots. Even if they were doubles ! You were just totally wasted. And the fact that you were still conscious with that blood-alcohol level tells the prosecutor that you probably have a long career of drinking--and a serious case of alcoholism.

Get to a good attorney. Next, be prepared to get convicted, because they are NOT going to buy that cock-and-bull story about just having a couple of beers and a couple of shots AFTER the accident. Do you think the prosecutor and a jury and a judge are idiots?

You are going to get convicted one way or the other. All your attorney can do is try and arrange a plea bargain that will be in everyone's best interest. Otherwise, be prepared to pay several thousand dollars for the lawyer, as well as the fines and assessments, and the cost of the property damage if they force you to pay restitution as a condition of your probation and sentence. Oh,yeah. They are going to suspend your license. And your car insurance rates are going to go through the roof. You will probably have to be assigned to the assigned-risk pool for auto insurance when you can get your license back.

Next, I would ask for help, because you obviously need a referral to an alcohol treatment program and an A.A. referral. And you need to quit lying to yourself, too.

Answer 7

You can get arrested even if you refuse to blow. You can get DUI/DWI just from you driving clues. I have arrested people and got a conviction just using driving clues alone. As for your charge you generally cannot be booked into jail without a Probable Cause Affidavite that spells out the charge. So I don't think you have your information correct. County's just don't house people if there is no charge on file. Also it is my understanding that they can hold you for 3 days if thats what it takes for you to sober up. (No completely sure about that though.)

Answer 8

I'm not a lawyer and this isn't an area of the law I'm familiar with, but it looks to me they'd have trouble charging you with DUI to begin with. The witness probably couldn't prove you were drunk. The DA can't prove you didn't get drunk while home and striking the pole wasn't an accident.

You need to talk to an attorney, anyway, so discuss it with him or her. Maybe you can be found innocent and pass this off as a lesson learned the hard way.

Answer 9

Well.... you left the scene of an accident ?

The light post should have been called in for insurance purposes.

Had you followed proper procedure then you would have been entitled to a fair and equatable blood alcohol test.

Answer 10

No..you were drunk at the time of arrest...they don't care if you were drinking before the accident or after...and because you hit a light post and were sighted by someone driving drunk, you're liable for the light post too...