DUI in Pennsylvania?
Sunday morning at 3:45 am i was pulled over for driving without headlights. only problem is i was drunk. ( i know i messed up dont need lectures, need answers) i was given field sob tests and BAC. i think he said my breathalizer was .067% . They also found my cousins bowl with residue of marijuana i...
Sunday morning at 3:45 am i was pulled over for driving without headlights. only problem is i was drunk. ( i know i messed up dont need lectures, need answers) i was given field sob tests and BAC. i think he said my breathalizer was .067% . They also found my cousins bowl with residue of marijuana in it. They said they are charging me with DUI, DUI under marijuana, Drug Para. , Underage Drinking, and driving without headlights. i did not cause a wreck and didnt drive crazy. i was actually double parked when he hit his lights. my ? now is what kinda penalty am i looking at? Im 20 years old n i drive ambulances for a living ( yes i know at age 20 i f**cked up) but am i looking at jail, wat fines, losing my DL or EMT license please help.
first answer ur no help, and as for the third answer he seen me driving but didnt hit his lights till i was double parked. and .06 is illegal when ur a mine im only 19
I am a full time police officer in central PA. I am certified by NHTSA as a Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Practitioner and Instructor. First of all, you don’t have to be driving to be charged with DUI. In order to arrest someone in PA for DUI a Police Officer must have probable cause to believe that all that the person in question drove, operated or was in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, another drug, or both. PA Case law has shown that merely sitting behind the steering wheel with the engine running, stereo on etc.meets the definition of "actual physical control" and "operate." For someone under 21 years of age the blood alcohol concentration has to be 0.02% or higher to be charged with DUI. For the police to charge you with "DUI under marijuana" the police officer would have had to obtained a sample of your blood and sent it away to a certified laboratory for further testing. You don’t have to "drive crazy" or "cause a wreck" to be charged with DUI. Of the 30+ DUI drivers I have arrested this year only a few were "driving crazy". Regarding the advice from Illinois, you never want to refuse to submit to a blood, breath or urine test. Penn Dot or your states licensing department will suspend your license without a DUI conviction plus you will still be charged with DUI. In PA, if you refuse to submit to a chemical test it is assumed you have the highest blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in your system and are charged sentenced accordingly. I am not sure what the PA Department of Health will do with your EMT certification. My advise is contact them and ask them yourself. The costs and fines vary from county to county. I would guess you are looking somewhere between $1,000-$1,500 plus attorney fees. The best thing you could do for yourself is obtain and attorney and have them apply for ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Diposition). ARD is a first time offender program where your criminal record can be expunged after a certain period of time. If you have any further question please e-mail me at brfreiwald@yahoo.com. Good Luck!
That happened to an EMT I know and the ambulance squad kicked him off. He was actually driving the ambulance drunk in an emergency call.
YOu are gonna lose it all.
your not going to jail, if its your first offense you will use your ARD program. its just a thing for first offenders, you will lose your liscence for 3 months and have to take a class. but i would get a lawer cuz he could get some of those charges dropped. first of all you said you were doubleparked. so you werent driving when he flashed you. you could beat that in court. just say somebody else was driving, they ran when the cops showed up, you only know the guy’s first name. you were in the drivers seat cuz you were looking for your eye glasses. the fact that you were double parked is whats gonna make it difficult. if you had been in a regular parking spot there is nothing they could have done. they have to see you driving, since you were technically in the street they could say you were "driving". you could argue this a couple different ways. with a good lawyer you could end up with only a possesion charge. you werent even drunk. .06? its ok to drive when you are .06. my lawyers would eat that case for breakfast and i would skate with a fine for MJ possesion.
If I were you, I would have refused a breathalyzer and field sobriety tests. Where I live in Illinois, those tests are optional, you do however get your license suspended for half a year, but with no test results it makes it harder for the D.A and police to prove that you were DUI in court. I don’t specifically know all the law pertaining to DUI, but I do know that they have to have more than one test done in order to actually prove DUI.