Q: What do I do if stopped for a D.U.I.?
 

Disclaimer: No endorsements applied, intended, suggested, recommended or implied... Your own state laws may differ. AZ limit is .08

A: Be polite and courteous to the Police Officer; provide your driver's license, insurance and registration. Invoke your 5th Amendment rights: Do not answer any questions or perform any eye or roadside tests. Call your lawyer BEFORE submitting to any alcohol tests, unless it takes hours to contact and arrive. The law requires that you provide blood, breath or urine sample. If you refuse you will lose your license for 12 months or more. Answer copied and edited from local magazine.

We now have a local PHOTO web page for DUI arrests. http://www.stopduiaz.com/stopsites/stopduiaz.com/

John_AZ

LOL pretty funny how hung over everybody looks in those pictures!

Just hope you never have to find out the answer to this question!

Look at Cory Edens. WTF?!!!!!!

That guy looks like a freakin' lunatic.

A good number of those folks look like they are smiling for the camera, that's not a freakin HS yearbook picture they're takin.

Good site but have you ever seen the people weaving on either Cave Creek road or Carefree Highway? Makes me stay at home after 7 pm...

I saw some coasters in a bar once with an attorney's ad on one side and tips for DWI on the other. I thought it was pretty good marketing :D.

While I certainly don't advocate driving under the influence.. I think the local nazi's along with MADD have gone way too far.. It's turned into a witch hunt.. and at 0.08 is a bit low.. Now I heard that CA wants to make it 0.05 !!
I was pulled over a month ago,, sober as a church mouse, the cop says " now I want you to be real honest with me" have you had anything to drink ?? Say'd he thought he smelled something and my eyes were glassey ( the wind was about 40 mph ) I told him not only had I not been drinking , I'd been with a Morman all day!! ( which was true). The SOB STILL gave me a partial field sobriety test!!!
Like speeding tickets, its' turned into a money making proposition!!!
Before anyone goes off on me,, I totally agree with truley drunk driving,, it's criminal... just saying it's gotten out of hand..

If you get pulled over and need a lawyer you probably shouldn't be driving. The price of a taxi is a great bargain compared to layer fees or a jail sentence.
Merry Christmas.

Well, a retired Police officer friend once told me to keep a 5th in the car, sealed of course. When asked to get out of the car, facing the officer, making sure the he can see you breaking the seal, then take a big gulp of it, telling the officer that you were nervous. This dilutes the test as you weren't in your car, he saw you open a sealed bottle then drink. I have never tested this, so I don't know how well it works:D

That describes an episode from "The Practice" except is was after an accident and not a stop I believe.

I'd suspect doing this would simply enable the cop to slap you with public intoxication, open container and other violations, in addition to the original DUI and impeding an investigation (possibly obstruction?)

Guess it depends on what the D.A. thinks he/she can make stick. Dunno, but it sounds like pretty lousy advice to me.

I was told this back in the 80s.

Like I said, I was told this back in the 80s, a time, when in FL. you could go threw a drive through, order a miniature, a coke & cup of ice with a stir stick.

True dat'. I getcha'. I still remember seeing my first "drive-thru packey" in FL. Don't know if they still have them or not. Pretty weird though.

I worked part-time at a gas station for a while when I lived down there; I do recall that the store sold 24 and 40-ouncers, as well as the standby 12-ounce variety of beer individually, kind of like you'd find with soda cans - for immediate consumption. This place was on the side of a major highway, that there was no way anyone could get to by any means other than driving.

All the rednecks would come in early afternoons, buy a couple and crack 'em right then and there. The trash cans used to be full of emptys. Scary what a regular occurrence this was. I'd say fully 60% of the cars stopping in on an afternoon would leave with the driver in some state of "above-0.0%-BAC". Very different world down there.

Sounds like candidates for the jail run by the good Sheriff of Maricopa County.

We still have drive thru package stores, but I have seen them sell a "Set-Up" for a while now. Yes, they still sell the 40s, but it isn't generally rednecks buying & drinking them:p

How did he explain this to his congregation?


<TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#cccccc><TD vAlign=top></TD><TD>State v. Pastor Perez Duran


Facts:
On June 18, 2005, Defendant drove onto the shoulder of the road and almost hit a parked police car. The officer noted signs and symptoms of impairment including slurred speech and staggering. The Defendant had an open beer bottle in the car with him. BAC .316% and his license was suspended for prior DUIs. Defendant had prior felony DUI convictions. Sentence:
Defendant pled guilty to Aggravated DUI and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

And how was he even awake?

10 years in prison!!! That's a bit harsh. Hell O.J didn't spend 10 years in prison.

I've heard you're supposed to keep a can of pennies under your front seat. When you see the lights in your rear view, cram a mouthful of pennies in your mouth and gargle with them. The copper screws up the breathalyzer equipment.

I'm with 9dreizig on this one. Drunk driving is bad, wrong, and stupid, but the resources that are being applied are just over the top. I was pulled over for suspected DUI once because the cop said I didn't signal. Turns out it was a bad light bulb, but we didn't figure that out until he had hassled me for nigh on half an hour. I was stone sober, of course, hadn't had a drink in probably two days.

The interesting thing to me is that stupid people will continue to do stupid things, regardless of the consequences. I've known people who understood that driving drunk would land them in jail, but they did it anyway. After they get their license suspended, they continue to drive ... drunk. They end up in jail again. We all know that it's a multi-thousand dollar offense that's virtually guaranteed at least one night in jail, if not a lot more, and people still do it. There are road blocks in some places set up for drunk driver apprehension. Cops wait in bar parking lots watching for people to come out drunk and go for their cars. But people still drive drunk. We have reached the point where the people who are still driving drunk should earn an award.

I've heard from older police officers I know (Sergent's, fwiw) that that trick does not work. In fact, he said, most of the "tricks" you hear about do not work. His advice was to be as polite as possible, tell the officer that you respectfully decline to submit to his testing, contact your lawyer immediately and take the ride to jail. I have heard of that one working (someone I know personally).

As for the old "keep the bottle in the car" that is NOT a good idea. In addition to the aforementioned consequences, the tests these days are so good they can tell WHEN the alcohol entered your blood --they can tell if you were drinking previously, not just drinking at all.

Don't believe all that hucklebuck about instantly loosing your license and all that nonsense. In IL we have "Zero Tolerance" laws for minors, whereby if you blow positive, any bit at all, for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER, you loose your license. I thought it was bull**** when I heard about it in Driver's Ed., and I still do now. I know a few people who got DUIs while we were either still in HS, or had just gotten out, and none lost their licenses. We're talking 17 years old, DUI, no loss of license.

As with most things, I imagine the amount of money you have will ultimately determine your sentence. If you're a poor dirtbag who shows up to court with no attorney and a string of traffic violations for the last 10 years, you're getting a suspension, a fine and possibly some jail time. If you're wealthy and have a good lawyer, you can probably buy yourself deferred adjudication, a suspended sentence, sealed record, etc.

There are always at least two (usually three) tiers of "justice" here. One for the super-rich/power-elite (we almost never see this in practice day-to-day, but it's out there), another for the people rich enough to afford lawyers and buy their way out of trouble, and the last one for everyone else.

When I lived in Coronado in the mid/late '80's, the local Police were famous for being extremely aggressive on drunk driving, which I support to a point.

I was the Squadron Duty Office (SDO) one Friday night. I got a call from the Coronado Police saying they had one of the squadrons officers in the drunk tank. This was at 0400.

Proceedure in those days was to have the SDO go pick up the person and take them home. The Police knew there was no need for bail.

It turns out that they found the guy asleep in his car. He had decided that he had had enough to drink and, rather than drive home, he got in his back seat and went to sleep.

Now I know the law, but, when I asked the arresting officer why they didn't call me, the SDO, when they found him asleep so I could take him home, he just shrugged.

Again, I know the law, but it just seemed to me that they could have used this as an opportunity to help the guy rather than effectively end his career...

In at least Pa., refusal to submit to a request for an alcohol test for any reason results in an automatic one year license suspension (not a DUI conviction, but still). And if you piss off the cop, he can still prosecute you for being so visibily intoxicated as to be incapable of safe driving.

I have zero pity for a buzzed or drunk driver. I lost 2 fellow band members in the early 80's by a drunk lady going the wrong way on an Interstate with no lights on. Land yacht vs. step van = 3 dead. My 1st wife was sitting at a traffic lighjt in Baton Rouge when her car was struck by a drunk driver doing 60. The rear bumper of her car wound up at the back of the front seat. Need I say more? I support 100% the efforts to take these people off of the road.

Best way to avoid a damned DWI? Don't drink & drive!

(off of soapbox, just resting now).

No need to get off the box...can't be said enough:) If you get behind the wheel legally drunk, I have zippy pity.

Have any of you guys ever had a chance to blow a breathalizer? I was at a party where a friendly cop brought a few, and it was a real eye-opener. I'd had about 5 drinks in just over 3 hours, and I blew 0.04.

I know there are a lot of variables at play, but I knew from the way that I felt that I was way out of my comfort zone for driving. I was really surprised that I was legal to drive at that stage, I had an OK buzz on and there was no way I would have been behind the wheel.

I take drinking & driving very seriously, not because I am worried about getting caught but because I don't want anyone to get hurt, or worse.

I don't worry about trying to "beat" a sobriety test. My drink of choice is beer, & I never -- repeat, never -- drive after having more than 2 beers. Period. If I want to drink more than 2 beers it will be at home or someplace where I don't have to drive.

I would think the officer would simply say in court that you were drinking in the car when he found you. What proof do you have that the bottle was sealed before taking a sip outside of the car? It's your word against his--and the judge (and probably jury too) will believe him over you.

It's not a funny subject, to say the least; but when I was younger (19ish) I had a buddy get pulled over and the first thing he said to the officer was......"Ya got me"

true story. Charged and convincted.

Never been there and 0 chance I ever will be.

Porsche-O-Phile made an accurate statement about justice. Case in point-Mike Tyson. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1119tysonsentence.html. The photos site is interesting for the BAC count. Locally, Phoenix needs to be on board.
Maybe we can get a opinions from active legal or law enforcement. I'd be interested in their views.

John_AZ

An interesting aside (I think):

CA driver gets a DUI in his new pickup, has license suspended for a period of time.

Driver complies, doesn't drive while under suspension.

One Sat. morning, license still under suspension, he washes his new baby in his driveway then grabs a beer and sits in his truck, engine off, and plays with his sound system.

Cop rolls up and busts him for open container and DUI - again, on his own property :eek:.

Don't know if the guy was a known dick and the cops had their eye on him or if the cop was being a dick.

At any rate, the guy was convicted on both charges and ended up in even much deeper doo-doo. This story was told to me some years back by a friend who'd heard it from his DUI driving school instructor.

I think in CA they can order you to not drink during the suspension period.. Cannot imagine they could get him for DUI if he was in his own driveway..

Yeah, but O.J. didn't kill anyone, didn't you hear? He's STILL looking for the "real killers":rolleyes::confused:

I like the advertisements that the Michigan State Police put out just before the Holidays: They say “Don’t dive drunk, Know your limit” So I guess they are telling me I can have a few just don’t get drunk. Well how many can I have? You tell me? Same with MADD, they say don’t drive drunk, not impaired, I guess so they can still attend their "tea totaling" parties without guilt? And I don’t drink even drink anymore.

Sure you don't.... :p

All it taKES IS to have the key in the ignition, at least that is the way it is in FL.

except that most record every stop, so that would be caught on tape. But the best way to beat it is just don't do it.

"All it taKES IS to have the key in the ignition, at least that is the way it is in FL.
In your own driveway ?????

Yep, anywhere.:eek: