DUI/OWI/DWI questions

[mylife]

A friend of mine was recently arrested for DUI via ingestion of marijuana. Him and 2 friends were driving across a state border when a cop pulled them over and said he ran a stop sign. My friend panicked while the cop pulled them over and swallowed ~1g of marijuana.

The cop approached the car and asked if any of them had been drinking and none of them had been. Somehow the cop saw some pot in my friends mouth that didn't happen to make it down his hatchet.

He arrested him for DUI and took him to jail. Here's where the story gets strange...

Afterwards, the cop went to the drivers house and asked his mother if she minds if he takes a look in the house. She was oblivious to what had been going on and let him in. The cop searched my friends room and found his bong, which he confiscated. While he was searching I drove by their house and called his mother and asked if the cop gave her a search warrant. She said no so I told her to tell him to get the F out of their home. She did, and the cop left.

The next day the cop called both the passengers in the cars and left messages saying he needed them to come in and give him a statement. Neither of them returned the calls, one actually went so far as to change his number.

2 nights ago, one week after the whole event took place, the cop showed up AGAIN at my friends house and arrested him. He said that he saw him driving on the highway and said htat was a violation as his license was suspended immediately following his DUI arrest.

Then the cop went to one of the passengers house with another squad car and asked his dad if they would let him in. The dad asked for a search warrant, they didn't have one, so he told them to leave. The cops sat idle outside the home for 2 hrs waiting to obtain a search warrant but they couldn't obtain one.

Here's my questions...

1) From my understanding, after a DUI you should receive a temporary 2 week license to make arrangements for future transportation as well as other reasons. Is this correct?

2) What right does the cop have to search my friends home in the 1st place?

3) How can the cop arrest him AGAIN when he has no proof my friend was driving on the highway except that he saw a car similar to his???? (2001 stock Black Accord, VERY common around here)

4) How can someone receive a DUI for ingestion of marijuana when THC metabolites are stored in fat cells for approximately three weeks after ingestion? By this states standards, you could be pulled over for going 5mph over the speed limit, not be drunk OR high, but the cop could say your eyes look glossy and ask you to come to the station for a drug test. If you fail the drug test, they could charge you for DUI, even though you may not have smoked for weeks. Isn't that crooked?

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

1. depends on the state. Most yes. Florida for example is 10 days.

2. his Mom consented.

3. fight it the cop was wrong. First thing the state has to prove is that the driver had actual physical control. I would even pull out the civil litigation on that one.

4. check the state statutes. depends.

COps are assholes. You have to be a complete loser in life to find any pleasure in that line of work.

 

[SV2]

COps are assholes. You have to be a complete loser in life to find any pleasure in that line of work.

lol.. no wonder why any cop would hand you a ticket.. dude you sound like the worlds biggest snob

 

[big_bad_buff]

1) From my understanding, after a DUI you should receive a temporary 2 week license to make arrangements for future transportation as well as other reasons. Is this correct? NO!

2) What right does the cop have to search my friends home in the 1st place?

3) How can the cop arrest him AGAIN when he has no proof my friend was driving on the highway except that he saw a car similar to his???? (2001 stock Black Accord, VERY common around here)

4) How can someone receive a DUI for ingestion of marijuana when THC metabolites are stored in fat cells for approximately three weeks after ingestion? By this states standards, you could be pulled over for going 5mph over the speed limit, not be drunk OR high, but the cop could say your eyes look glossy and ask you to come to the station for a drug test. If you fail the drug test, they could charge you for DUI, even though you may not have smoked for weeks. Isn't that crooked?

#1 NO

#2 obvously none if he could not get a search warrent

#3 cops can say and do anything they want, but you can take this to court,( if he had witnesses your friend would win)

#4 correct, this case has serious flaws, was your friend high at the time? or just downed it when the cop saw him?


your freind needs a good lawyer, it will take time but this case is bull shit and it will get tossed out the window very easly with a smart lawyer.

 

[HULKSTER]

COps are assholes. You have to be a complete loser in life to find any pleasure in that line of work.

The force is strong with you.....cops are the scum of the law enforcement community. They are all a bunch of very ignorant, extremely angry/violent, control-freak, OCD government-controlled tools.

And for all of those FBI rejects who are reading this right now....those stupid, military-style, $2 dollar KMart discount haircuts do not look cool on you----or anyone else. Stop acting like you have just been dropped into the middle of Iraq. You are not a Marine, nor in any branch of the military. You are not in the FBI. Hell, you are not even a State Trooper. Most cops---especially the SUBURBAN COPS----do nothing all day but sit on the side of the road waiting to pull someone over for going 5mph over the speed limit, or to issue parking tickets. God forbid these mind-controlled tools actually demand that their local PBA rise up against the police departments and demand that quota systems be stricken down.

BTW, I am only speaking about AMERICAN COPS.

 

[big_bad_buff]

BTW.....99.9% of cops lie there asses off on tickets and what not, throw a little bs here and there. they are scum. but hey, can't live without em right

 

[manny78]

1- I ahve no idea

2- He had no rights to search. This is obviously not an emergency case...

3- That cop is obviously dumb. This could be easily fought.

4- oral ingestion is not usually seen as a way to intoxicate yourself. Smoking weed is another story, and even there, it's hard to prove.....

Bottom line, he met a dumb cop...

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

2- He had no rights to search. This is obviously not an emergency case...

His Mom consented. That's all he needs.

 

[manny78]

His Mom consented. That's all he needs.

This could be debated for a while. But IMO his mom couldn't consent for a search concerning HIM. This would usually require a warrant, it wasn't an emergency and he asked the wrong person. The fact it was his mom is irrelevant.

Anyway, I'd get kicked in the nuts by my superior if I did that.....

 

[Johnny Gringo]

1. I suppose it depends on the state. In my state you have ten days from the time you get your DMV letter to request a hearing. If you do not reply within that ten days, you automatically lose your liscense. If you do request a hearing, you keep your driving privliges until the hearing at which time it depends on the outcome.
2. The boy's mom letting him in was plenty. He had all the right in the world after she cosented his entry into her house.
3. I've heard of this happening before, but it's complete bs and he'll win the case.
4. If the boy didn't receive a blood test, then he's going to win that one in court as well. Otherwise, as manny78 said, oral injestion of marijuania is not considered a way to intoxicate oneself.

Oh...To MATTTHESKYWALKER...I agree that cops are assholes!! For the most part, they are on a major power trip and try to be bullies by maniuplating and even making up their own law.

 

[ROID WARRIOR]

The defendant may want to have his own independent blood tests conducted to exonerate himself.

The police can charge a defendant with DUI if in the officer's expert opinion is the driver was impaired. I had a case in Orange County, NY several years ago where the arresting officer was a DRE. The defendant rufused to consent to anything more than a field sobriety test, which the DRE stated that the defendant failed. As such, the driving privileges were immediately suspended pursuant to NYS law. The defendant went before a DMV administrative judge regarding the driving while impaired charge. The judge dismissed the case when presented with independent lab results, taken within 48 hours, which were negative for any controlled substances.

Of course, there was also the defendant's subsequent civil case against the police department for false arrest and malicious prosecution, but that is a story for another day...


Good luck to your friend,

RW

 

[nycdefender]

Manny78--There are several exceptions to the search warrant requirement: hot pursuit (which you mentioned) and consent (which MTS mentioned). As long as someone at the house consented to the search, the officer is entitled to rely upon the consent to search the premises. Since she opened the door, the officer could reasonably conclude that she was a resident of the house; thus her consent was valid.

BBB--As to your first question, a defendant should be entitled to some due process before the government can take away a property right--namely your privilege to drive. At least in NY, the priviledge to drive is a property right.

Question 4. As long as the officer had reasonable cause to believe that the driver's ability to drive the car was impaired by ingestion of marijuana, yeah, he can arrest you. Whether the government can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that your friend was intoxicated/impaired (I don't know the Florida standard) by marijuana is a different matter. How the cop "saw" marijuana in your friend's mouth beats me. I recently won suppression of marijuana in a defendant's mouth when the officer grabbed my client's jaw and made him spit out a baggie of marijuana. The cop had asked my client what he had in his mouth, and my client remained silent. So the seizure of the marijuana in your friend's mouth may be a suppression issue. Unlike Road Warrior, I don't do independent blood tests, because I don't take on burdens as to my clients. And usually, my clients have injested some substance. I depend on NY's excellent jury charge to get acquittals. Issues at trial--Does running a stop sign in and of itself demonstrate that someone is under the influence of alcohol/marijuana? I think any reasonable juror would say, "No." Any DWI attorney worth his salt would point out to the jury all the prudent actions your friend took when he was driving the car. He pulled over immediately upon seeing the cop's turret lights. He pulled over in a safe manner and a reasonable distance from the curb. He had not been speeding, etc. I think your friend's case is reasonably triable.

Good luck.

 

[manny78]

Manny78--There are several exceptions to the search warrant requirement: hot pursuit (which you mentioned) and consent (which MTS mentioned). As long as someone at the house consented to the search, the officer is entitled to rely upon the consent to search the premises. Since she opened the door, the officer could reasonably conclude that she was a resident of the house; thus her consent was valid.

but you know like me it's the most complicated way. It's also a ncie way to screw up a case. Not something I would do personally.