Can you be arrested for a DUI while at home?
I hit a bench on my way home from dinner and was arrested for a DUI at my house after being home for about 15 minutes. I told the officer I had consumed two drinks upon returning home. I did take a breath test in the car and the officer would not show me the results. He just said I was .08 (.08 is t...
I hit a bench on my way home from dinner and was arrested for a DUI at my house after being home for about 15 minutes. I told the officer I had consumed two drinks upon returning home. I did take a breath test in the car and the officer would not show me the results. He just said I was .08 (.08 is the low end for being under the influence in Michigan) I asked several times to see the test results but he would not show them to me. At the hospital I took another blood test and it was .069 They took me to jail and I had to bond out. I am feeling like I am really getting hosed here. Was this arrrest even legal? Can a DUI arrests stand up under these circumstances? I live in a very small town.
You’re lucky. You could have been charge with a "hit and run" since you admit hitting a bench and then just driving home.
The arrest is legal because you drove a car under the influence of liquor even when it was moade at home.
If your so drunk your driving your house you deserve what you get! LOL !
It sounds like someone got your license plate number when you hit the bench. I would get a lawyer. .069 is not DUI. and, from what I understand, the test equipment they use on the road is not accurate.
You were an idiot. You drove drunkand got caught. Now quit trying to find a way out of the mess you caused and live up to your mess. In my opinion you should not have been arrested but beaten until you were near death and the sent to the hospital to recover so youcould be properly executed by public hanging. You are a real piece of work feeling like you are getting hosed because you were driving drunk. What a piece of $&*#.
Okay, now I’m no legal expert. But my next door neighbor is an attorney here in Texas. He said absolute not, a person can drive drunk on there on private property if they choose. Said it might not be the best ideal, but perfectly legal. You can hit your bench till there is nothing but splinters left. If it is on your property, you can completely destroy your on property, if you want to, providing you try to collect insurance on it. My neighbor suggest you get an attorney, small town or not. He further reports if the situation occurred as you state, that the police do not have a case. and a civil suit against them is something for you to consider.
I’m sorry I misread the part about the bench, I don’t know how for it clearly states you hit the bench on the way home. Sorry Kid, I thought it was on your on property. A public bench, you better get an attorney and forget the civil suit, just hope you get out of this one. Remember someone could have been sitting on that bench you hit. Not a responsible choice to drive and drink.
Wow! D = Driving U = Under I = Influence – You consumed 2 beers – and hit a bench (sounds like you were a little buzzed). You must have been under the influence if you went off of the road enough to hit a bench. I say the ticket was accurate since you should have known better, however I believe that you have a case here. Small town or not.
Check you local law, I think you need an attorney for this one. I think you have a good case. If you consumed alcohol after the fact you will have to be able to prove that, but you may have a very good case…Some states do not require the officer to show you the results. You are only entitled to a true alchol breathalyzer or intoxilizer reuslts done at the PD or hospital.
Fight it!!
Don’t let them get you. You did nothing wrong. This county is so fucked up it is getting ridiculous.
Go online, look up the statutes in your state. Bring all cites with you to court and fight!!! Get a lawyer!!! They’re hoping you just roll over and they make their "drunk quota" for the month. Don’t let the bastards get you.
FUCK THE POLICE
I think you’re getting hosed too. Get a lawyer. I would think that they’d have to prove that you were driving the car that hit the bench, and that your blood alcohol was above the legal limit while you were driving. I also think that they can’t withhold evidence against you, but it’s your word against theirs when it comes to your request to see the breathalizer test.
DUI to the slightest is an offense in all states-which means you blew anything over a .001. It still counts as DUI.
yep . 2 drinks in 15 min dought it . have a good time in court the only thing i see here is another drunk off the road glad your in a diff state then me
Yes, first just being home is no issue, you were driving, and you hit a bench ( that would also be leaving the scene of an accident and you should be charged with that also.
For a DUI in most states the officer does not even have to do a breath or blood test but can actually just try to convict you from what he sees, what he smells and what he observes.
The officer would have to be trained to do this but I have done them and made them stick.
And no he does not have to show you the breath test, but normally the portable one they use in the field is not admittable into court anyway. Only the larger breath machine at the station of the blood test could be used in court. ( at least in the states I have worked in)
I would say in general a good attorney ( 2000 to 5000 dollars) could get you out of it.
yes i agree with the situation that happened, regard less if you hit the mark on the breathalizer or not, you hit a park bench while driving.
Here’s the deal. You admit to hitting a bench. You were arrested 15 minutes after making it home. Sounds to me like there were witnesses who called 911. Perhaps you were weaving, and driving erratically just prior to the bench incident.
Furthermore, .08 is just the benchmark in these situations.
Here in California, It used to be .10 for years, It is now the same as your state, .08. Police officers can arrest you, and will arrest and charge with DUI even If your breath/blood is below the established .08.
People make It home all the time, and are arrested for DUI in their driveways, or even after being home for hours.
The burden of proof Is on the state. Breath test devices are very accurate, blood is absolute proof.
The bottom line Is this: (And this Is what the D.A. Is going to look at)
1) You caused property damage.
2) You blew .07
3) "You" say you consumed 2 drinks within 15 minutes of returning home. (That’s a tough one for them to believe, considering you hit a bench.. and kept on going.)
4) Any prior convictions, your driving record.
5) Any other details you may have not mentioned, or may be unaware of.
i.e. witnesses, plate number provided by witnesses, and what you admitted to upon questioning by the police before being arrested and advised of your miranda rights.
Once you admit to being the driver of the vehicle in question, especially If you are the registered owner… It’s over.
Let’s face It… you were buzzed, you hit a bench, and you blew a .07.
Moral: Consider yourself lucky that no one was sitting on that bench, and that you didn’t hit a pedestrian.
With a clean driving record, you may be offered a plea bargain to plead guilty to a "wet" reckless driving violation, instead of a DUI.
The difference will save you jail time, but say hello to a criminal record, and higher insurance rates.
The arrest was legal… and justified.
NEVER, EVER, EVER, get behind the wheel even If you have had even 1 drink…. EVER.
The consequences to public safety are NOT WORTH IT.
Good Luck… I hope you view this as a learning experiance.
Yes you can be arrested at home and yes it can stand up. As for the first just making it to your home does not mean your "safe". Your conduct did not occur at home. In fact, in some states your can be arrested for DUI even if you were driving on private property. As for the second, it will depend on how long the second test was from the time of the 1st test. Your body breaks down the alcohol at a specific rate. Your second test can actually verify the 1st test.
Short answer, no. 1.You were not seen by an officer behind the wheel of a patrol car driving your car on a public roadway. 2. You were out of the public view, at home, for 15 minutes drinking and no one can repudiate that. 3. The most that you could be charged with was: Fail to report striking a fixed object and that would take a warrant signed by a judge. 4. A portable field breathalyzer is not admissable in a court of law. And finally 5. your blood alcohol level was under the legal limit. It does not matter when it was taken that is what is used as evidence in a court of law and by that YOU WERE BELOW THE LEGAL LIMIT. TTherefore you were not driving drunk. You should be receiving a Dismissal Letter from the DA’s Office or in the very least a Reduction of Charges Letter. Get an attorney, you were irroneously arrested and can beat these charges.
Case in point:
1. You say that you hit a bench on your way home. So that means that you were on a public roadway. Someone saw this and reported it. You could have left paint from your car on the bench and the damage to your car would be evidence. Your vehicle engine would still be warm so that would show that the vehicle had been driven recently. There could have been a camera on a stop light that could have taken a picture of you and your vehicle or someone else could have taken film evidence of the accident. Officers usually need these types of evidence if they have not witnessed the incident themselves. Also an off duty officer could have seen you. Still to be arrested for DUI you would have had to be seen by an on duty officer and it would have to been a warranted arrest or an immediate arrest. He could not have arrested you 15 minutes later after having been at home without a warrant.
2. You told the officer that you had drank 2 alcoholic drinks after you had come home. The restaurant or someone that had seen you drinking at the restaurant may have called you in as driving while impaired. Someone might have seen you drinking, worried that you were impaired and followed you, saw you hit the bench, follow you to your home and then call the police about the accident and your drinking. Even if they have a credible witness or have you on film, the officer will not be able to prove that you consumed the alcohol at any other time than when you state that you did.
3. A portable breath test in and of itself without a field sobriety test will not stand up in court. If you had just drank before you answered the door, of course it would register higher. That is why when you are taken in for a standard breath analyzer you are not allowed anything by mouth until after the test. Cigarrettes, mouthwash and other things can alter the results.
4. How long after being taken into custody did you receive a blood test? Alcohol metabolizes at specific rates. So if it was an hour or more after the field portable breath test the results would be different. A lot of that depends on your gender and weight.
Here are some websites that address this:
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http://www.duicentral.com/drunk_driving/blood_alcohol_level.html
http://www.runet.edu/~kcastleb/bac.html
alcoholism.about.com/cs/alerts/l/blnaa35.htm
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5. A good attorney or even not so good of one should have no problem getting you off of the DUI (driving under the influence)charge. You could however be charged with leaving the scene of an accident if you are not already.
Actually no matter how long they waited for the blood alcohol levels to be drawn, that test is the most accurate and will carry the most weight. It showed that you were under the legal limit, therefore you were not drunk.
If you are worried about the cost of an attorney, you could go to the DA and see if they will drop it down to reckless driving if you so wished. However, you seem to have a pretty good chance of beating this in court. Go see an attorney. It will be well worth your money on just what you will save on insurance and fines, to say nothing of probation and possible jail time. The officer will probably be untouchable where a lawsuit is concerned and if this happened in the town inwhich you live, you might want to consider how a lawsuit against an officer will affect you. Even though it is not right and no one will say that it is true, you will be watched very closely by the officers anytime you are in the public. Beat the charges and let the other go. Some officers, especially in a small town, take it personally when someone goes after one of their own, even if the officer was wrong. Your attorney may be able to make this go away without it even going to court.
If you were drunk, even just a little or just buzzing, no matter how the court case goes take this as a good lesson. The next time it may be a car or a pedestrian that you hit and you may be facing manslaughter charges instead of just a DUI. Drinking and driving is dangerous and can be devastating for all the people involved.
It’s called "private property DUI" and if someone signed a complaint against you, yes they can arrest you. You can go to court and fight it, but a woman here in my town hit a dumpster on "private property" but she was seen at a gas station, who happened to call her in, and she was arrested, charged and now faces losing her license. You hit a bench while driving and left the scene, at the very least they’ve got a 10-57 or hit & run criminal damage to property. Never drive even if you only had 1 drink, because your judgement is impaired and you could kill someone the next time. Then you’d be up on vehicular manslaughter charges. Think about it. Own up to your actions, and face the consequences.
You left the scene of an accident. That is a crime.
Apparently you were observed, otherwise, they could not have found you.
Unless the bench was in the middle of the road, why did you hit it? Benches are made for sitting, therefore they are off of the roadway quite a distance for safety. Surely, you are not that bad of a driver (if so, please surrender your drivers license).
All of the evidence, including the breath test results, will be submitted in court.
Make a deal.
they have the right to arrest you, you also left the scene and could be charged with hit and run, so be thankful you did not hurt anyone and stand up and do what you have to do and is right…………
You hit the bench before you got home. If the police has reason to suspect that you were drunk while driving when you hit the bench, yes, this arrest is valid.
Honestly…..I don’t think it’ll fly. If you were witnessed hitting the bench you may be found guilty of leaving the scene of a property damage accident and that’s about all. But proving in a court of law that you were intoxicated at the time you were driving would be impossible. To people that say that the only reason someone would swerve off the road and hit a park bench is because they are drunk…well I’d say you’ve never seen anyone trying to drive while talking on a cell phone. Point being there are a hundred reasons why some one could hit a park bench…dozed off,driving to fast for road conditions, bad weather, bad driver what ever. Obviously the arresting officer did not see you hit the park bench or he would have stopped you and arrested you on the road thus being able to administer a test and prove you were intoxicated at that time. D.U.I. first offence and some subsequent offences is a misdimenor traffic offence and must occur in the presence of the officer…this obviously did not. Consuming two alcoholic beverages in 15 minutes from the time you entered your house is realy suckin’ ‘em down but I can believe that you could become intoxicated enough after you got home. The thing to remember is that they have the burdon of proving that you were driving while intoxicated you do not have the burdon of proving that you weren’t. In no way do I advocate drinking and driving or not taking responcibility for your actions however I also do not think in this case you will be found guilty,whether you are or not .
I’m not sure in MI but in tx for us to be able to arrest on a misdemeanor (which dui, dwi is) you have to actually see it; the officer if he didnt see it and got witness statements should’ve gotten a warrant for your arrest. to get out of it you should take it to a judge and get it dismissed as an illegal arrest then even if he tried to get a warrant it would fall under a double jeopardy charge therefore he couldnt get a warrant and there is no way in the U.S. you could be convicted of it because of our constitution. hope i helped
Look buddy whats ur problem, U either accept gracefuly or if u feel u R uneccessarily drawn to it. Wheather U live in small or big town hire a lawyer and also work better to fix the errng police officer. Try u have any police contacts at the higher level. Do not leave the guy.
yes
Son, get yourself a good Jewish lawyer. You can beat this rap.
NO! Hire a lawyer ASAP. They must have keys in the ignition to conduct the field of sobriety test.
It looks like he already did. You should also been charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.
Suck it up and learn from it.
if you don’t want to be punished for DUI, then don’t drink while driving, you are a danger to everyone on the road. Stop crying about it and take your medicine like an adult.
LET ME TELL YOU THE LAW DOES JUST WHAT THEY WANT TO DO AND YOU BETTER BELIEVE THAT CAUSE IT’S THE TRUE FACTS