A Night In The Drunk Tank

A

akivory

Joined
Feb 5, 2001
Messages
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Friday evening after a drive looking at houses for sale we stopped at a grocery store and ran into our daughter and family. My wife invited her and her husband and five children over for dinner. After eating I went out my workshop for a few hours. At 10:30 PM I came in the house and remembered a video that I needed to return. I jumped in my wives mini van along with my six year old grandson. On the way home we stopped at a convenience store and as I was leaving I forgot to turn my lights on. The road was icy and the snow was blowing. I was soon pulled over by a city cop who is part of a special drunk driver task force. I have not had a drink since I was teenager over thirty years ago and have never used drugs. I was very surprised when he asked my to step out for a sobriety test. I blew 0 on the breath test and thought I had passed the field sobriety test.
It shocked me when he cuffed me and called for a tow truck to impound my van.
After being taken to the police station I blew another zero. Between being put in a drunk tank and testing I did not leave the station until after 3:00AM.
I had requested a blood test and was released from the hospital where the test was given without being booked.
I asked the officer if he had ever been wrong in arresting someone who later proved to not be impaired by alcohol or drugs. He told me in nine years he had never been wrong..
At one point he told me the by the evidence I appeared to be under the influence of both a stimulant and a depressant at the same time.
After he saw he did not have enough evidence to on to get a conviction his attitude changed . I asked him about his knife and it turns out he is a bit of a knife nut. I told him that my Grandmother was killed by a drunk driver and I appreciated him helping keep our community safe.
I have to go to Cort on Tuesday and was told that it is most likely charges will be drooped.
I have a question for those who have more with expedience in these matters.
Should I retain a lawyer?
 
Did he pay the tow and impoundment fee's as well as any other fee's that he ran up for you during all this? And what happened to your 6 year old grandson while all this was going on?

After blowing 0 on the breath test, and he still puts you through all that, I'd sue the hell out of him. It seems like you have an over enthusiastic cop out there, and needs to be given a good lesson in not harrasing the community.
 
I don't know if it's the right decision for you, but I would certainly retain a lawyer.

Your grandson saw Granddad cuffed and taken away?

When he had done nothing wrong--and was supported in this by 2 breathalyzer tests?

Is the city paying for your tow fees?

And I would not appear in court without someone competent to represent me--and by that, I mean someone who knows the law and the way things run locally. Furthermore, in light of the results, I would demand that the city pay my legal fees.

I asked the officer if he had ever been wrong in arresting someone who later proved to not be impaired by alcohol or drugs. He told me in nine years he had never been wrong..
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Well, he was wrong now. At the very least, apologies are in order, as well as making sure that you are not out of pocket by this.


At one point he told me the by the evidence I appeared to be under the influence of both a stimulant and a depressant at the same time.
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Really? By which evidence? That you forgot to turn your lights on?
 
Your kidding right? Yeah you need a lawyer,not anti-cop and definitely anti-drunk driver but this officer needs a little education. He just took almost 6 hours of your life and stands to take more. Lawyer up, it's worth the money. The system is not your friend,and will just do it's best to keep you moving from point A , your arrest. to point z, your punishment, with the minimum of aggravation from you. Don't let them railroad you.
 
Yes, retain a lawyer. Getting arrested, having to take 2 breathalyzers and blood test, all for what should have been at most a minor traffic ticket, in front of your grandson, I commend you on your level headed post!
 
Agreed, first thing Monday AM call a lawyer that specializes in DUI cases. He'll have a field day with this.
 
Recently, a jerk cop from the County Sheriff's department pulled me over, claiming that he "thought I was drunk" and that "two different drivers honked" at me when I changed lanes in traffic. Neither of these things was true, of course; the fact was that the cop was made that when I changed lanes, I did so directly in front of him. He was offended that I dared to get in front of his vehicle, and that's all.

I got the charges dropped to a non-point infraction, something about opening a car door unsafely in traffic. I paid a fine. I'm debating whether it will do any good to file any kind of complaint with the Sheriff's office.
 
The last time I was pulled over (around 15 years ago) the reason the cop gave me was that I was driving with "excessive caution" - 2:00 AM, lights on, stopping at all signals/signs, not weaving over the dividing line, using directional signals, keeping within the speed limit, etc. I knew it was really a DWW (Driving While White) stop because I lived in a neighborhood where most white people there after dark were there to buy drugs or pick up hookers.

I was also stopped crossing the street in front of my house. The conversation went like this:

cop: What are you doing here?
mycroftt: Crossing the street.
cop: Why?
mycroftt: You don't really want me to answer that, do you?
 
If for no other reason than to get your record expunged or you'll be paying for it every time you purchase insurance and if ever stopped again it'll be reflected on a records check. Additionally if you are ever involved in an accident at some future date this blot on your record will be a gift to an opposing attorney in any litigation.

Retain an attorney, expunge your record, & recover expenses. Anything past that gets expensive. Ruff Cobb in Durango, CO
 
I think some people are too quick to sue these days. In this case, however, I think you should sue the hell out of him. False imprisonment shouldn't go unnoticed.
 
Sue them, they had absolutely no reason to detain you and put both you and your son through this.
It was a slow night for the drinking police forces, they were bored and wanted something to do to make their job important.

By sueing them, you will win and the police may think twice before hitting another inocent victim like yourself in the future. People need to demonstrate to the state that this kind of tyranical policing is unacceptable.
 
akivory said:
blah blah blah blah ...

I have to go to Cort on Tuesday...

Should I retain a lawyer?
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Yes. This is a given. Never go to court without one. If nothing else, having a lawyer telegraphs how seriously you view the matter.





Oh, and never concent to to a field sobriety test. It's totally subjective and will be judged by the office who, by suggesting it, has told you that he is biased. Insist on the scientific and objective blood test. This has the side effect of forcing the officer to decide just how certain he is that you're under the influence. Does he really want to go through the time and effort of arranging the blood test?
 
I drove down to a small dam and got out looked at the water and left, the other day.
When I was driving back up a large hill, a State Trooper was coming down. I noticed his brake lights and thought wonder if he's coming after me?
Get up to the top and he lights me up. I pull over and he gets out and checks my papers. Then he said some women that lives down by the dam had called him and said some people in a black car and a blue truck was down there drinking. He wanted to know if I saw anything. I said no there was nobody there and I thought he needed a reason to pull me over. He didn't like that and said where are you going? I said it doesn't matter where I'm going, I am not breaking any laws. I am not driving a black car, or a blue truck you had no reason to pull me over and I will leave now unless you want to write me a citation, or arrest me.
He said why would I want to do that? I said I know the law and you are not to pull people over without probable cause. If you wanted to investigate drinkers at the dam you could have continued on to the dam and not harassed me, as I am obviously not driving a car matching the reported ones.
He said he had the right to pull me over to assist in his investigation, I just laughed and said I'm leaving and I left.
 
This story reminded me of something that happened almost twenty years ago.

My friend owned a very large auto body shop. Him and his brother who was my best friend and I kept our race cars there. We were there 5 nights a week and would spend all weekend working on our cars, usually until 2-4:00 a.m ...
It just happened that his body shop did all the work on the local police cars, so they never bothered us....
One night another friend decided he would hang out and have a few beers with us. Only problem was, he forgot to turn on his lights when he left.
Needless to say, he got pulled over and ended up getting a DUI.

Definetely get an attorney, you should not be penalized for something that you didn't do... Sounds like this officer needs to further his training.
Fortunately most are very good and professional, but there will always be a small percentage that really should find another line of work.
 
Any DUI lawyer will have a feild day in court with this case..the cop did all his work for him. I would hope that you can somehow recoup your time and get something in return for the fact that your 6 year old grandson saw you in cuffs..not a little thing in my book. I wouldnt have chit chatted with the Ahole cop at all..unless it was to belittle him, but thats just me.
 
get a lawyer, win your case, get justice served. very level headed handling, you are indeed a gentleman.
 
I thank you all for the good information. A friend referred me to a good attorney who specializes in these matters and I will see him first thing in the morning.
I cannot get my van out until Monday. I asked the officer what he had done with my BM Mini Skirmish. He told me that the that the other officer who later responded had probably had put it in my van. He did and I was thankful my wife retrieved it when she picked up my grandson.She told me she broke into tears when he saw my keys , my fedora and my knife on the front seat of the van. From what I understand it would have been plundered at the impound lot.
I forty years of driving I have only had a few miner violations. It is important to me to get my record expunged.
I ran into a friend who is Alaska Native and told him my experience and the first thing he said was "now you know what we go through all the time".
My wife was told by the dispatcher that she would need $1500 cash to bail me out. With the help of my two grown daughters the money was raised and they went to Denny's to wait. They said all night long drunks came and went .
 
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