October 26, 2008
DUI Probable Cause: Created by presence of police officers
In a recent blog post at DUI Blog, Lawrence Taylor discusses "black and white fever." In my experience, both personally and professionally, it is true.
I often use the argument that it is natural to weave and commit other traffic violations when an officer in a marked patrol vehicle is behind my client. Anybody who denies that the presence of a police vehicle on their tail makes them nervous is a liar. In fact, nervousness in that situation, even if the person has done nothing wrong and has not been drinking, is so axiomatic that it should go without saying.
What causes this nervousness?
We have all been accused of something that we didn't do at some point in our lives. We are also all aware that not all police officers are good cops or good people. I would like to hear from anybody who has had this experience, and also from anybody who denies nervousness when an officer in a marked police car is following.
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My story..
Friday morning I woke up feeling ill. My throat hurt and my ears ached. I pushed through a busy day at work and left a little early to go home and nap. My boss talked all day about what a long week it was for us (especially me who works 30 hours a week on top of going to school full time. I am taking 20 credits this semester and will graduate in December with 2 degrees and currently have a 3.7 gpa – I just bought my first house in August that keeps me very occupied). Anyway, my boss asked if I wanted to go to happy hour. I told her I would think about it, as I wasn’t feeling well. I text her later to tell her I wasn’t going to go. She text back “come on, its right down the street, one margarita wont kill you- it may sooth your throat!)” I agreed and went. I spent 2 ½ hours sipping on a (AS IN ONE) Margarita and nibbling on a quesadia. I hadn’t eatn’ much, as I mentioned my throat hurt.
So here it is at 10pm on Friday night and I am leaving a restaurant (Much Gusto) in Tempe. I am driving my beat up Jeep. As I pullout of the parking lots I realize that my interior lights aren’t shining very bright. So I wiggle the button that turns out my headlights (as I have done many times before) and they kick on. I drive, turn on to the 101 and get pulled over as soon as I got on the free way. The cop stated that he pulled me over because my headlights weren’t on. I apologized and showed him that my headlights were on, but there must be a break somewhere in the wire, as it takes some giggling to turn on sporadically. To make this long story shorter.. I will skip a head a little. The cop arrested me and charged me with a DUI. I blew a .06 which of course is below the legal limit but still high enough to consider me “impaired to the slightest degree.” Now, I am surprised that I even blew that high, I always thought that having one or two drink at a 2-3 hour dinner would not have me “blow” that high. Maybe there are other factors involved, like my temperature, the throat spray I had used earlier, the fact that I had just smoked a cigarette….
There is some more to the story. When I was 18 (almost 5 years ago) I got a DUI. At that time I blew a .08 or .09 and was under 21, so I plead guilty and served my time. 24 hours in jail 2,500 in fines. Plus the costs of 16 hours of alcohol classes, defensive driving, drug screening ect. And, as a college kid who’s parents are not financially sound and therefore couldn’t help even if they wanted to, that fine and time required set me back significantly. But I did it, and tried not to complain.
Now, if I get convicted of this BS Dui- I am looking at a minimum of 90 days in jail! 2500 in fines, an interlock devise which will cost me thousands of dollars and this is only after I loose my license for god knows how long.
A good lawyer (which some think I need) will cost me $4500.