Got my first DUI last night... What to do?

[Melena]

I don't know about the military world, but at least police wise, so long as it's not a felony you keep your job.

[jamesfk]

Could have been worse, just thank god you didn't kill anyone. A few years loosing the license is better then living with the guilt of murdering someone.

[Raytheon]

I have to kind of laugh at the title, which says "Got my first" as though he's anticipating getting more. Poor wording son.

Sucks though dude, you're probably in a pretty deep world of shit. Good luck, hope you can manage to keep your job.

lol.... Poor choice of words indeed....

I've got a couple friends I work with who've gotten DUI's, they fought it and got it dropped. Not to say that's the standard, but it gives me hope.

I already told my SSO about it, she said just to keep her informed and nothing will be updated in JPASS until after my court hearing, to see what I actually get charged with. Typically, whenever I've done clearance interviews, they're very particular about asking you if you've ever been convicted of a crime, not simply charged. I realize I'm gonna get fucked on this either way, but to what magnitude is the question.

[Raytheon]

Could have been worse, just thank god you didn't kill anyone. A few years loosing the license is better then living with the guilt of murdering someone.

Truth. I'd never want to live with that. Feels bad man.....

[archibaldcrane]

Question:

When he pulled you over, before he pulled out out of the car, did he ask you "Have you had anything to drink tonight?"

Regardless of the situation (had a beer at dinner, are completely shitfaced, anywhere in between), for anyone else reading this:

THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS ALWAYS, ALWAYS: "No sir."

Always.

Always always.

If you say you've had anything to drink, the odds of him pulling you out for a field sobriety test are extremely high. If you say no, and he pulls you anyway, whatever. Lying there isn't illegal, and if he's going to pull you out of the car the "lie" isn't really going to make things any worse, you're already fucked.

"No sir."

Practice it.

[tyven]

glad to see you at least arent being an asshole about it. nothing worse than someone that gets a DUI and then gets all bitter and defensive when everyone points out what a fucktard they are.

[Byrd]

Truth. I'd never want to live with that. Feels bad man.....

I have sympathy for people who get one DUI, but none for people who get more. It's easy to not realize how drunk you are, although a .191 is awfully high for that. It seems like most people I hear that get DUI's do it when they've quit drinking for a while and think they're OK to drive when they're not, they've just gotten used to this level of intoxication so it feels normal. A friend of mine was arrested and in the clink until his BAC got down to 0.00. They tested him every hour, and he said it went down exactly .02 an hour for the 7-8 hours it took him to get clear.

Bottom line: it's your first DUI, nobody got hurt, no property damage. Your life is going to be a pain in the ass for a while for diversion/meetings and car insurance, but probably no long term damage. Just learn from your mistake, call it a life lesson, and move on.

[Raytheon]

Question:

When he pulled you over, before he pulled out out of the car, did he ask you "Have you had anything to drink tonight?"

Regardless of the situation (had a beer at dinner, are completely shitfaced, anywhere in between), for anyone else reading this:

THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS ALWAYS, ALWAYS: "No sir."

Always.

Always always.

If you say you've had anything to drink, the odds of him pulling you out for a field sobriety test are extremely high. If you say no, and he pulls you anyway, whatever. Lying there isn't illegal, and if he's going to pull you out of the car the "lie" isn't really going to make things any worse, you're already fucked.

"No sir."

Practice it.

Goddamnit, where were you last night >< Pretty sure I fucked that one up. I'm fucking terrible at lying. Fucking parents instilling that truth shit in me... I gotta shake it, cause it is fucking me.


Tyven, I'm huge on personal responsibility, which I obviously had a lack of judgement last night, but I'll admit when I fucked up, and I fucked up. I think Byrd has it right though, I do drink often, and I think I just have such a high tolerance now, I didn't feel too drunk to drive. I'm sure that's what everyone who's ever gotten a DUI thinks also, but it's one of those things, until it happens, you just don't really know. I can't tell the difference if I was .020 or 0.20. Too drunk for me means passing out. That's been redefined as of last night though :/

[Kaslo]

Get a lawyer, be ready to spend $2-3k if you want to keep your license. And a .191 is over double the legal limit in most states.

^this

[Koul]

caps for emphasis. DO NOT. GET A LAWYER!! I guarantee you will be wasting a buttload of money on a stupid DUI lawyer. DO NOT GET ONE!

I got my DUI two years ago. officer pulled me over for making a wide right turn at a green light. Usually, the legal limit is .08. Extreme DUI is .15 and super extreme DUI is .2. The breathalyzer is probably bullshitting a little bit though. I blew a .157 but my blood came back .102.

Honestly, you're going to haveta bite the bullet. You drank, you drove. Deal with it. I got pretty lucky because the cop ended up liking me so he knocked off pretty much everything except the DUI but he made it a smaller offense. When I went to court they already had a plea bargain set-up for me. 1 day in jail, substance abuse classes and a damn interlock for a year. Thankfully I got off easy with the jail-time too. Most people in Arizona go to tent city, I just went to Scottsdale jail. heh. My license was suspended for 3 months. Oh, and I hadda take traffic survival school.

For everything, I probably spent about.... 4,000$. Every single person I've talked to who has gotten a DUI that got a lawyer, wasted their money. 2-5k wasted on a stupid ass laywer. again, DO NOT GET ONE!

[Wulfgang]

Depends widely by state. I got a DUI seven years ago when I was 19 in a shitty ass situation. Went to Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN, was at a house party a few blocks from campus totally hammered in like January, ended up finagling a girl into my car for some petting, and turned car on because it was freezing out. Two metro cops pull up to serve a noise complaint, one notices my car running right across the street, knocks on the glass, so I sort of get dressed and step out. I bluntly explained the situation (wanted vagina, was cold out, ergo turned car on) and he asks me to do a field sobriety test which I completely fail (my BAC had to be like 0.24 at this point) and I refuse the breathalyzer. Didn't know that you can get a DUI in Davidson County, TN just for having your keys in the ignition, even if no driving is involved. Funny thing is that the chief of police's son gets a DUI a while later for the same scenario (not driving but keys in ignition).

I go to the station, and eventually 3 hours later agree to a breathalyzer under heavy pressure from station cops. Blew a 0.15 at this point. Long story short:

-Hired a lawyer for $2,500, guy was worth every penny as he had the DUI knocked down to a reckless driving which you can get for just driving 25+ over the speed limit
-Spent ~12 hours in the drunk tank the first night + had to do a weekend in ultra-minimum security jail (had video games and TV, could walk around all day, etc.)
-Had to do a driving course for ~$300
-Never lost my license, not even for a day
-Somehow never got reported to insurance, likely because mine was based at a small firm in CT and the DUI was in TN I guess

Do some research and get a good lawyer, totally worth it. 0.19 is really high though, my lawyer said that if I had blown a 0.16 or above it would have been nearly impossible to knock it down from DUI (apparently once you reach a multiple of a legal limit, it is like crossing an invisible boundary). That said, if I was a cop and saw a kid in my scenario, I would have just told him to get dressed and go back inside...

EDIT: Article about Chief of Police's son, he was obviously driving though until he passed out, so not really the same:
http://nashvillecitypaper.com/conten...serpas-son-dui

[Dimmauk]

Your story was nice until you said .191.

Go fuck yourself, stop driving drunk.

I was wondering when this post would happen.

[Aksannyi]

Didn't know that you can get a DUI in Davidson County, TN just for having your keys in the ignition, even if no driving is involved.

This seems really retarded to me. I know the reason they do it is that they assume that if your keys are in the ignition you were actually driving the car at one point (drunk or not) but still, seems if you're not actively driving they can't assume you were. I work in a law enforcement-related field and one of the things we are always told is not to assume anything. We can suppose and infer all we want but until we know for a fact or witness it with our own eyes, it didn't happen. Then again, I've never liked the idea of "guilt by assumption" anyway, there's a reason things need to be proven in court.

[Tyche]

caps for emphasis. DO NOT. GET A LAWYER!! I guarantee you will be wasting a buttload of money on a stupid DUI lawyer. DO NOT GET ONE!

I got my DUI two years ago. officer pulled me over for making a wide right turn at a green light. Usually, the legal limit is .08. Extreme DUI is .15 and super extreme DUI is .2. The breathalyzer is probably bullshitting a little bit though. I blew a .157 but my blood came back .102.

Honestly, you're going to haveta bite the bullet. You drank, you drove. Deal with it. I got pretty lucky because the cop ended up liking me so he knocked off pretty much everything except the DUI but he made it a smaller offense. When I went to court they already had a plea bargain set-up for me. 1 day in jail, substance abuse classes and a damn interlock for a year. Thankfully I got off easy with the jail-time too. Most people in Arizona go to tent city, I just went to Scottsdale jail. heh. My license was suspended for 3 months. Oh, and I hadda take traffic survival school.

For everything, I probably spent about.... 4,000$. Every single person I've talked to who has gotten a DUI that got a lawyer, wasted their money. 2-5k wasted on a stupid ass laywer. again, DO NOT GET ONE!

There's always one lawyer who graduated at the bottom of his class, just because you got that one doesn't mean everyone will. Lawyer up, especially with a career on the line.

[DAKPluto]

Goddamnit, where were you last night >< Pretty sure I fucked that one up. I'm fucking terrible at lying. Fucking parents instilling that truth shit in me... I gotta shake it, cause it is fucking me.


Tyven, I'm huge on personal responsibility, which I obviously had a lack of judgement last night, but I'll admit when I fucked up, and I fucked up. I think Byrd has it right though, I do drink often, and I think I just have such a high tolerance now, I didn't feel too drunk to drive. I'm sure that's what everyone who's ever gotten a DUI thinks also, but it's one of those things, until it happens, you just don't really know. I can't tell the difference if I was .020 or 0.20. Too drunk for me means passing out. That's been redefined as of last night though :/

Remember this, no matter what tolerance you think you have, if you feel even a tiny bit buzzed or any effect at all, odds are good you are already gonna blow over the legal limit at that point. Most people are shocked at how easy it is to blow .080, and how much their driving really is affected at that point.

[Cail]

Didn't know that you can get a DUI in Davidson County, TN just for having your keys in the ignition, even if no driving is involved. Funny thing is that the chief of police's son gets a DUI a while later for the same scenario (not driving but keys in ignition).

im almost positive here in CT (idk if its universal or not), that if you deny the breathalyzer that its instant arrest. I'm almost positive though, that our whole keys rule. I don't think you even need to have your car running, as long as the keys are in the ignition, you can get dui, etc

[Melena]

im almost positive here in CT (idk if its universal or not), that if you deny the breathalyzer that its instant arrest. I'm almost positive though, that our whole keys rule. I don't think you even need to have your car running, as long as the keys are in the ignition, you can get dui, etc

California is same way. Decline the breathalyzer, and you get to go to jail and have a nice picture taken and get sat in the drunk tank till you sober up. Also yea, all you need is your keys in the ignition and it's instant DUI, regardless if your driving or not. Hell my uncle's last DUI, cops saw him drunk getting off the train and stumbling down stairs, but they waited till he got in the car, turned it on, then nailed him.

[Koul]

Wulfgangs situation seems a little different from the typical pull-you-over DUI scenario though. Didn't mean to come off assholey with not getting a lawyer thing. You can always call up firms and chat em up about the situation and feel em out. That's what I did but none of em made me feel confident about my situation so I didn't get one. If you told the cops you were drinking when they pulled you over, that might put a wrench in your defense.

editing like crazy, sorry. but when everything is all done with. Look into the expungement laws if you're worried about career options.

[Raytheon]

Koul, I'd really rather not spend the money man, but I can't roll the dice with my clearance. I'm articulate, and I'm fully confident I can explain myself to a judge, but I don't know the laws nor do I know the loopholes. I'd rather pay 2-3k for the insurance of having someone with me that knows how the game works. If I lose my clearance, I'm fucking boned. Lose my job, lose my house.... Can't risk it.

[Sepukku]

i hate to say this but you're probably going to lose your security clearance. my dad has very low security clearance required for his job, and a DUI means instant termination.

But you can snort coke and still be an elected official at the federal level. #99percentproblems