Pinellas County Deputy charged with BUI
02-09-2005, 08:52 PM
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Re: Pinellas County Deputy charged with BUI
Originally Posted by Troutly
Russ,
DWI enforcement and th resulting arrests/ fines, etc, costs the State untold dollars more than what they ever will bring in fine wise.
There is the cost of enacting and funding law changes, enforcing the laws, people hired in the courts, detox facilities, treatment, testing, monitoring, jailing, etc etc etc. This does not even take into account the cost when they crash and burn, or get ill from all their drinking. Many of the folks I arrest are also smokers. Not saying one is the result of the other, they just seem to run hand in hand. Then, there are those drinkers who also abuse prescription drugs, illegal drugs, and gamble their money away. Again, one may not be directly linked to another, but I see them running together time and again.
As for the legal limit. You are right, they have to set it somewhere. Study after study shows that impairment for the majority of the people out there is evident and testible at .08 .
Our state has the prima facia law of .10 (we go to .08 in August). What this means is if you test at .10 or higher, the TEST ITSELF means you are under the influence.
But, what few people know, is that in this state, you can be arrested and charged with DWI all the way down to .04 . This is the 'relevant evidence' clause in the law. In a nutshell, what this means is if you test .04 to .09, the test itself is not enough to convict for DWI. We then need to prove impairment through driving conduct, physical skills, etc. It is a good law to have for those inexperienced drinkers who cannot find their ass with both hands even before they reach .10 . Then we have the test refusal law as mentioned before.
Let me finish by saying this....NOWHERE in the U S of A is it said you CANNOT drink and drive (unless you are under age, or have a no alcohol use restriction). It is not a zero tolerance deal. You can still go out, drink responsibly, and drive a vehicle. It is when you are irresponsible and drink to impairment that trouble starts.
What is said is you cannot drink to impairment (under the influence) and then drive. In a nutshell, under the influence means your physical or mental abilities are impaired to such a degree that you can no longer drive a vehicle with the same degree of caution and ordinary prudence under the same similiar circumstance when sober. Impairment can also mean testing over the state's statuatory limit (.10 / .08).
NHTSA has gone to great lengths to come up with a battery of validated (through testing) Standardized Field Sobriety Tests to measure impairment. Most states use them.
.\
DWI enforcement and th resulting arrests/ fines, etc, costs the State untold dollars more than what they ever will bring in fine wise.
There is the cost of enacting and funding law changes, enforcing the laws, people hired in the courts, detox facilities, treatment, testing, monitoring, jailing, etc etc etc. This does not even take into account the cost when they crash and burn, or get ill from all their drinking. Many of the folks I arrest are also smokers. Not saying one is the result of the other, they just seem to run hand in hand. Then, there are those drinkers who also abuse prescription drugs, illegal drugs, and gamble their money away. Again, one may not be directly linked to another, but I see them running together time and again.
As for the legal limit. You are right, they have to set it somewhere. Study after study shows that impairment for the majority of the people out there is evident and testible at .08 .
Our state has the prima facia law of .10 (we go to .08 in August). What this means is if you test at .10 or higher, the TEST ITSELF means you are under the influence.
But, what few people know, is that in this state, you can be arrested and charged with DWI all the way down to .04 . This is the 'relevant evidence' clause in the law. In a nutshell, what this means is if you test .04 to .09, the test itself is not enough to convict for DWI. We then need to prove impairment through driving conduct, physical skills, etc. It is a good law to have for those inexperienced drinkers who cannot find their ass with both hands even before they reach .10 . Then we have the test refusal law as mentioned before.
Let me finish by saying this....NOWHERE in the U S of A is it said you CANNOT drink and drive (unless you are under age, or have a no alcohol use restriction). It is not a zero tolerance deal. You can still go out, drink responsibly, and drive a vehicle. It is when you are irresponsible and drink to impairment that trouble starts.
What is said is you cannot drink to impairment (under the influence) and then drive. In a nutshell, under the influence means your physical or mental abilities are impaired to such a degree that you can no longer drive a vehicle with the same degree of caution and ordinary prudence under the same similiar circumstance when sober. Impairment can also mean testing over the state's statuatory limit (.10 / .08).
NHTSA has gone to great lengths to come up with a battery of validated (through testing) Standardized Field Sobriety Tests to measure impairment. Most states use them.
.\
Scott, thanks for the information, guess in my "I generaly hate anything to do with government intrustion" ideology, I sometimes get a little carried away and don't always see all the angles. You made some very strong points that I in all honesty, did not consider. You educated me on this issue. Thank you. Russ
02-09-2005, 11:01 PM
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Re: Pinellas County Deputy charged with BUI
In some states, the court orders those to be installed as part of probation to a convicted drunk driver. The device requires a blow for the car to start and the device knows the pattern of blow the driver makes therefore someone else cant blow to allow you to start. The device keeps memory and requires expensive monthly fees be paid by the offender as a condition to probation.
02-10-2005, 08:50 AM
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Re: Pinellas County Deputy charged with BUI
Originally Posted by Troutly
[COLOR=Blue]
Whatever you do, do NOT waste your $$$ on those cheapo breath testers. They are not worth the $$ spent or the risk in getting an inaccurate reading.
COLOR]
Whatever you do, do NOT waste your $$$ on those cheapo breath testers. They are not worth the $$ spent or the risk in getting an inaccurate reading.
COLOR]
I've had a dozen people volunteer to drive my boat when they thought they were sober, and still registered over .10.
No, I wouldn't count on it to tell the difference between .09 and .11, but it shocks a lot of people how high their BAL is at saturday, 6:00 pm on a holiday weekend, leaving Party Cove. And it's kept me out of trouble. (Bet you're looking up my record now!)
Gary
02-11-2005, 05:45 AM
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Re: Pinellas County Deputy charged with BUI
I was charged with a BUI once.. I blew a 0.03 at the time the legal limit was 0.10 the cop said OH well and charged me anyway. after several trips to court and a few grand I beat it when a judge with common sense said no way . I wasn't even close to drunk. Here to find out these 2 cops if you blow anything but 0.000 they charge you and let you fight it in court 
02-11-2005, 07:01 AM
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Re: Pinellas County Deputy charged with BUI
I got set up once by a cop who wanted to date a girl I had been seeing for over a year. She told him flat out, not interested. Well he got his buddies to bust me for a DUI. Problem was I was on medication that absolutely prohibited any type of alcohol in my system, even cough syrup. I had a follow up exam the following day and my Doctor did a complete blood work up on me and was able to determine that there was and had not been any traces of alcohol in my blood. Took that to court, the Judge just reamed the cops inside out, and dismissed the case.
02-11-2005, 01:40 PM
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Re: Pinellas County Deputy charged with BUI
Just for trivia. After reading Troutly's info on his local DUI laws I happened to notice the DUI postings in the Annapolis paper last night. Quick browse of them showed about half listed refused the breath test. Largest "sentence" I saw was 1 year, all but 4 days suspended, and 13 weeks AA. Didn't seem to be any difference (in my quick scan) for those taking the test or refusing. All of them were being reduced to just a hand full of days or weekends plus fairly low fines (remember one of them was just over $200).
-Greg
-Greg
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