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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 18, 2009 - 02:50pm PT
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I was telling myself that I was a climber and had good balance while I was doing it!
I'll bet you a hundred bucks your average everyday obese sit on the couch all day fat person would have a hard time standing on one foot for an 18 count or walking a line for nine steps.
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Jim Wilcox
Boulder climber
Santa Barbara
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Jan 18, 2009 - 03:12pm PT
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Well,
Down the line(so to speak) if things go badly your lawyer woulda probably preferred you hadn't admitted to anything.
Everthing you say will most definitely be used against you, as needed. (least in my case it was)
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atchafalaya
climber
Babylon
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Jan 18, 2009 - 03:13pm PT
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Judge Best passed away in 2003.
Good job on the fst's. In CA, you dont have to be .08 to be arrested for DUI. See, Veh. Code section 23152 (a) and (b). You could have been arrested for .04. The officer sounds like a good one.
There are benefits to a breath test instead of blood. Blood is more accurate, but can be retested later. There is a .02 margin of error with the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test, and the jury instructions require the jury to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt, which would lower your BA by .02, helping to keep you from being convicted of the .08 charge.
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Jan 18, 2009 - 03:14pm PT
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hey Mark, in other words you weren't drinking HR coffee!
A friend of mine had a very bad experience with a HR cop. He was pulled over one evening. He had had one beer, but looked pretty wild from being out in the woods. He told the officer he had one beer and was probably pretty impatient with the cop. He passed the breathalizer and sobriety tests and was not even close to the limit, but they still arrested him for DUI as the police officier can say that he believes you have been affected and are under the influence even though you have passed all the tests including the breathalizer. They charged him, he had to get a lawyer. The PA dropped the case after viewing the police station tapes. So sobriety and sobriety tests have nothing to do with whether they can charge you anymore although I am sure they play a big part. Sounds like something that comes under Bushs new "Homeland security changes". Anyway, my thought is best to be upfront and courteous with the police officer since they can now charge you for DUI no matter how much you have had to drink.
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andanother
climber
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Jan 18, 2009 - 03:21pm PT
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There's some great advice in this thread.
When I'm out actively endangering the lives of innocent people, I like to be aware of my rights, and all the little tricks of the trade. And I just HATE getting caught.
Stupid f*#kin pigs. They're all just on a power trip. Who the f*#k are they to tell me I can't drink and drive? If I want to kill people, I should be allowed to!
Thanks to everyone here for helping me get away with being a potential murderer. I can't stand being held accountable for my own actions.
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graniteclimber
Trad climber
Nowhere
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Jan 18, 2009 - 03:30pm PT
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atchafalaya, if you were pulled over, would you go with a breathalyzer then instead of asking for a blood test? Also would you walk the line if asked?
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GhoulweJ
Trad climber
Sacramento, CA
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Jan 18, 2009 - 03:46pm PT
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Hudon is a Ghoulwe.
That alone says you were probably DUI.
I say based on Ghoulwe standards, it read .40
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Jan 18, 2009 - 03:51pm PT
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Hardman Knott says:
never drink and drive
Word
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orange crush
Boulder climber
ca
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Jan 18, 2009 - 04:19pm PT
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when asked if you have been drinking the correct answer is,
"why? is there a fat chick in the backseat?"
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atchafalaya
climber
Babylon
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Jan 18, 2009 - 04:23pm PT
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GC, unfortunately, there is no easy answer. It would depend on how much I drank and when, and over what period of time.
There is something called a rising blood alcohol defense, that exists when your PAS (preliminary alcohol screening device test, given roadside) is lower than your subsequent breath or blood test. You would have to take the pas and fsts to have the defense.
It occurs when someone "bottom's up" their drink at the bar, gets behind the wheel, gets pulled over, and the officer smells alcohol and starts FSTs (field sobriety tests). You can argue that the pas reading is the accurate reading, since it shows BA level at the time of driving, or close to it, and the subsequent breath or blood, which is much higher should not be used to show that you were .08 or higher at the time of driving. Toxicologists will testify that you can absorb all the alcohol in your stomach in 45 minutes.
Like I said earlier, that doesnt matter if they prosecute you for DUI based on impairment, and not .08 or higher. A .04, plus bad driving, plus failed fsts are good enough to convict for DUI under the statute. The standard required to convict is that the DA must prove you drank alcohol and were "impaired to an appreciable degree."
If it was me, I would always be respectful and nice to the officer, be honest about alcohol consumption, take the pas and fsts, and let the chips fall where they may, as I had made the decision to drink and drive. And hope for a rising defense...
If I thought I was below .08, 1 to 3 drinks over a couple hours, I would breath test, as then I would get the benefit of the .02 margin of error. Blood testing is more accurate and .08 would mean .08. A .08 breath would have to be interpreted as possibly .06, raising reasonable doubt about you violating the .08 criminal charge.
Difficult decisions to make at the scene of your arrest after drinking...
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malabarista
Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
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Jan 18, 2009 - 04:34pm PT
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I've never been so drunk that I couldn't juggle 5 balls. This includes being so drunk I couldn't stop seeing double. I've always felt that means I could drive a car safely at nearly any state of inebriation, although I'll not test that theory.
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salad
climber
Escondido
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Jan 18, 2009 - 05:08pm PT
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i say deny.
i got pulled over around 12/20 on highway 280 in near burlinggame. it was about 2pm and i was going to pick up my grandmother inlaw for an xmas party down in los altos.
i was driving my mother in laws clk-something convertable benz. its fast!
i passed two cops on 280 that had someone pulled over so i figgured now was my chance. i pushed her up to 120 mph (briefly) then backed off.
traffic was about 80mph, but i was cruising at 90 after that.
pretty aware of my surroundings, but not enough. by the time i noticed the officer pretty far back he had me.
i had consumed 2 beers that day so i knew i wasnt legally drunk, but at 90+mph I assumed any amount of alcohol could get me in trouble.
he asked about 6 times if i had anything, was i sure, etc etc. i denied all the way. he commented about the cologne smell in the car. it was my irish spring deoderant, i had just gotten out of the shower.
i had to do some tracking tests against his finger but was allowed to remain in the car.
he wrote me a t 75 mph, just got it in the mail the other day... 186 bucks. not bad.
stupid on my part....
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Tan Slacks
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Jan 18, 2009 - 05:18pm PT
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Well, I am at work right now sitting next to a CHP officer, so I asked him your quwstion.. His immediate response was.. Do not lie. If there is any chance the officer smells anything, you are caught. He hates people who say they have nothing to drink when he can smell it. best bet, tell the truth.
Do not drink and drive. Period
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Jan 18, 2009 - 07:53pm PT
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Here's the thing: If you are legally drunk, it is very little different than a three year old with a loaded gun, swinging it around.....why would I want to facilitate that continuing?
If the orginal poster is simply asking, in essence, "how do I reduce the hassle factor", when he knows he is not drunk, then great.
The answer is, tell the truth.
If you give an officer an answer than he knows is likely a lie (saying that you've had no alcohol, when you smell of alcohol), then they are likely to give you the full-on evaluation with a fine tooth comb....which likely also gives them probably cause to do an exhaustive search of your vehicle. This may take hours, if you are loaded down, and make take a long time to put back together. Police HATE it when people lie to them, and they experience it a lot. When people do that, they may go OUT OF THEIR WAY to make sure that you do not have a nice day, if they are otherwise not particularly busy.
Beyond the original poster:
If they have you blow and you are positive....good. They may likely have saved your life. Or more importantly, my life. I'd just as soon you pile into a tree and improve the gene pool, if you are driving drunk. But you probably won't, and will kill some innocent child.
And I know that's funny, cute, and macho. But you haven't likely lost a friend this way. I have.
If you are not sure, what's the mystery? you shouldn't be driving, even if it IS inconvenient.
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WBraun
climber
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Jan 18, 2009 - 08:09pm PT
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A guy drunk at .30 hit my car and ripped the whole front door off the hinges in the Reeds climbing cliff turnout. He hit and ran. I was just about to exit my vehicle when he hit. If I had exited 2 seconds earlier I would have been dead.
I chased him down holding up the door and calling dispatch on the radio for an intercept. He was so drunk he couldn't even stand up.
He was toast ......
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 18, 2009 - 08:40pm PT
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well, it seems pretty obvious from what I've learned about police tactics today that he was on a fishing expedition. He has every right in the world to ask me anything he wants, I have every right in the world to not answer those questions.
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Sir loin of leisure...
Trad climber
X
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Jan 18, 2009 - 09:17pm PT
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I,m sorry for your car wener, I did'nt think I was that buzzed...
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Sebastopol, CA
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Jan 18, 2009 - 09:36pm PT
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I got pulled over last night too. The cop didn't like it that I pulled out of a parking space in front of him (he was barely moving) so he pulled me over. Last I checked, it isn't illegal to pull out of a parking space when there is plenty of room, but anyway, he was looking for drunks. I hadn't had a single drop, except for a travel mug full of coffee. He gave me a good questioning, then lectured me about driving slow in town and let me go. I think that even if I had been drinking, he didn't have probable cause to pull me over. The funny thing... just before pulling me over there was a bunch of teenagers beating the crap out of each other in a fight just 30 yards away, in the park. I guess I seemed like more of a threat.
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