BG Advice: Friend got a DUI on Friday....

[Denchi]

Hey BG. First off, this isn't a "How can she get out of this" sort of deal, she knows she fucked up, but she would like to mitigate the damage. Quick list of circumstances. (This is what she told me, I don't think she would lie, but obviously she may have exaggerated a bit, but we'll assume she didn't)

- She's 29, has a PHD, great job, pretty stand up citizen/responsible lady.
- Was out at Rugby games all eve. Claims she had 4 beers all night, last of which was around 130am. Drove home around 2am. Said she really felt fine.
- Drove from St Paul back to her home in St Louis Park. Pretty far drive, didn't feel drunk at all (always the story right?)
- Got pulled over for crossing the solid white shoulder line. She claims it really was a non-issue, but she got pulled over regardless, she was about 1 block from her house exiting the highway.
- Officer was nice and courteous
- She was asked to get out of the car and asked to do a field sobriety test. She was wearing heels and was never asked/offered to remove them during this process.
- Was cuffed/shipped off to jail. a breathalyzer was done at the station and she blew a .11

This is her first ticket ever. She's been in contact with lawyers since that evening, but I guess I'm just wondering if there's anything she can do? She needs her license to drive to work and she doesn't want to lose it. She'd like to try and reduce the sentence to a careless driving or something like that. Still bad, but not a DUI.

DUI's are awful, she knows, I know, she's not trying to get out of being punished altogether, she's just wondering if there's any chance for leniency/logistically what can be done/advice/etc.

[Pirian]

Start shopping for mopeds

[Xajii]

If it's her first offense, she probably won't straight up lose her license. She will probably get a limited license or something like that, meaning she is only allowed to drive to and from work for some period of time.

[Bregor]

she blew a .11

Dun goof'd

Long story short, any punishment will still let her drive to and from work AFAIK. Also nudes prz

[Ksandra]

She was wearing heels and was never asked/offered to remove them during this process.

I lol'd

[Denchi]

I lol'd

She's pretty terrible in heels, and apparently in some states officers are required to ask you if you'd like to remove them

[Koul]

My DUI story. Got pulled over for wide-right turn at a green light. Blew a .14, did bullshit field test. failed. whatever, officer liked me and said the best he could do is drop all the charges except the DUI. Got my blood drawn. Blood came back a .101, didn't get a lawyer as it was pretty pointless since I was over the limit regardless. Court had a plea bargain all set up for me already, spent 1 day in jail (not tent city, thank GOD) 64 hours of drug abuse classes costing 20$ per hour session. Lost my license for 3 months but I got a temp one which lasted 1 month. Other 2 I hadda take a chance when I drove to work as I lived/worked 30min away. What else did I haveta do... Court fees were about 3000$, had to take a driving safety course for one day. Oh, and I had a breathalyzer installed in my car for a year. Costed 90$ a month.

so, I think she's pretty effed in the A. The chances of it getting dropped to something a lot less is slim to none as she won't need do as much shit which means less money. Not to be all retarded and blahblah all it's about is money! but, it kind of is.

mabye if her blood comes back lower then the legal limit, she could argue her way out of it though. That'd be the kicker. If she didn't get her blood drawn, she has a sweet chance and I would talk to a lawyer and have them take her blood.

if she didn't take her heels off, she could try and argue it but the breathalyzer and all already proves she wasn't legally capable to drive home. Might be different but usually in order to get outta it with the field sobriety test, you gotta do the bullshitting right then and there "I have spine issues, I never walk straight" "I'm wearing contacts, my eyes get red and irritated when I wear em" that type of crap. If you say that, then the officers can't really use the field tests as proof of your drunkedness.

[jmc]

Only 4 beers all night, but still failed the breathalyzer?

First thing to figure out is how many drinks she actually had, unless they were some damn big beers.

[Kyte]

Possibility of lying aside, she could be 1) very small 2) started drinking very late 3) they were large beers (pints) and/or 4) they were strong beers.

[jmc]

Well, im just assumin she was drinking for a few hours since she was watching multiple rugby games.

[archibaldcrane]

Tell her to pay a lawyer, she can afford it and they'll have the best strategy for getting her off/reduced to reckless driving.

Any advice here beyond that is going to be pretty useless.

[Denchi]

Yeah, this thread is kind of what I was thinking....

I'm not sure if she was lying about the drinks, it's really hard to know how much alcohol affects diff people. Maybe she had 1 pint at 9pm, then 3 in a row at 1am. She's an averaged sized girl.

She's just really worried about getting a restricted license. She wants to go other places other than work and home....

[Abandon]

tough; she drank, then drove. that's what happens when you get caught.

she should've shown some skin; i hear that works

in fact, show her skin here, and maybe we'll drop some actual advice

[Churchill]

4 beers for a rugby tourny, i laughed. that's like an in between games hydro session

[test123]

If you drink any volume and think you still can still drive then you are pretty inconsiderate. What if that split second impairness means life or death on the road? This thread is about making up excuses "oh but she has a PHD" and "she is like everyone else". Just because your doing alright does not change the fact that she was impaired with a .11 BAC

[Gregorio]

You can get a DUI even if your BAC is lower than the legal limit (breath or blood). Just throwing that out there, for those saying stuff about coming up under .08.

[Dolmen]

If she gets a lawyer there's a good chance she can get the charge reduced to reckless. My boss had that happen to him ~6 years ago, and his attorney got it to reckless. Now he's on DUI #4 (3rd in 5 years) and I seriously hope they throw his ass in the jail.

As an aside, does anyone know the likelihood of having the following not end up in a felony or jail time?:
-3rd DUI in 5 years (Class 6 Felony)
-refusal of blood/breath 3rd offense (Class 1 Misdemeanor)
-operating under a suspended/revoked license (Class 1 Misdemeanor)

The class of felony/misdemeanor is what's listed on his Virginia court information online. He's a partner in my firm and we've been trying to kick him out, and this yields the perfect opportunity because you lose your CPA license if convicted of a felony. His lawyer got his 2nd DUI in 5 years dropped to being a 1st a while back, but I'm guessing that doesn't mean crap if he gets another one?

[Timwakefield]

It probably depends on the state, but I know that in PA it is virtually impossible to get out of the license suspension. Or any of the penalties, really. I always advise anybody I know here that gets one to NOT hire a lawyer because it is a tremendous waste of money regarding DUI's because the system here basically just runs you though like a number. My biggest mistake was spending an extra $1000 dollars on a DUI lawyer to do virtually nothing for me except walk me though the system. I think most states have some sort of temporary license or working license though, so all is not lost. Either that or suck it up and buy a bus pass.

But again, everything varies by state, so this may be irrelevant.

[Gadritan]

She's just really worried about getting a restricted license. She wants to go other places other than work and home....

Reeks of spoiled little bitch.

Also proof that a PHD has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence. Edit: Speaking of stupid, she does realize there's other modes of transportation that don't involve her driving right? You know, cabs, buses, car pooling. She wouldn't be the first person in the world to have to commute without a license. In fact, if she had a DD that night, BOOM, shit would be fine right now.

What Abandon said. Don't want to deal with stupid shit, don't do stupid shit.

[archibaldcrane]

Reeks of spoiled little bitch.

Oh jesus christ the main concern most people facing DUI have is losing their license. I love how people fly off the handle when it comes to these theads.