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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Jan 18, 2009 - 09:41pm PT
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I'll second Ken M's advice. I think I need to add one other bit of advice. If you are arrested for a DUI in the Park, do NOT go to trial unless you are certain you will be acquitted. Cop a plea. If you go to trail and lose, they will give you the maximum sentence.
When I was at the Taft Federal Correctional Institution, I shared a dorm with a climber with a 5.14 lead on his resume (I'm not naming him because I don't know that he would want his identity splashed all over the internet.) He'd been arrested in the Valley for a DUI, and insisted on going to trial. He lost, and was sentenced to six months plus three years supervised release. One of the conditions of that release was a three-year ban on enetering the Park.
The normal sentence in his situation would have been probation for a short period of time, and possibly even a deferred prosecution (where charges would be dropped after community service and a short period of probation.) Admittedly, this case had the complicating factor of involving a driver under age 21, but this sentence was extremely draconian, but was entirely consistent with the judge's sentencing policy.
This is the general policy on federal prosecutions (and please don't blame the current administration. This has been the policy for at least 30 years. The sentencing judge in the case I cite is a Clinton appointee). Many, many defendants who have perfectly valid defenses choose not to exercise their right to a trial because there is such a disparity in sentences. . . a story for another thread.
John
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pissed
Trad climber
Lake Placid NY and Scranton PA
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Jan 18, 2009 - 09:44pm PT
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Some officers use flashlights with breathalyzer sensors built into the light end with a read out on the butt end. If you ever hear a story about an officer "shoving the flashlight in my face" its probably because they are using that type of flashlight. With the rough estimate given by the read out the officer gets a sense of your state. If you are asked to submit to breathalyzer you can request a ride to the hospital for blood tests. Depending on your state, by the time you get a ride from the officer to the hospital, sit in the waiting room and have the blood drawn, you will be back to an acceptable level.
I got pulled over when I should not have been driving once. I turned my air conditioner on high and turned my head (toward the center console as to get my insurance card) as the officer put his flashlight near my face. I guess it worked, he ran my license and let me go.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 18, 2009 - 09:49pm PT
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The extra time taken to go for a blood test - if it's an option - will not necessarily result in a lower reading. It depends on the amount and timing of your drinking, how quickly it gets into your bloodstream, and the rate at which it leaves. There are many variables that determine blood alcohol level.
A blood test is generally more accurate than a breathalyzer, but then must be extrapolated backward to the time you were driving.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jan 18, 2009 - 10:03pm PT
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A few years ago I was doing a ride-along with a cop friend in Vancouver. We saw a guy pull out of a pub parking lot in front of us in a VW beetle. We followed him for a couple of blocks, at a top speed of about 10 mph, as he navigated from one curb to the other and finally ran into a parked camper trailer.
Story first, then the part that's relevant to this thread:
Turned out to be a Tibetan. Drunk, but not obnoxious or falling down. We didn't have a breathalyser in the car, and when we radioed for the BAT-mobile they said they were fully occupied and wouldn't be able to get there for quite a while. So we took him downtown to the station, to one of the little waiting rooms way down in the basement (Not a cell. Actually more like a Doc's examination room.) Had a pleasant chat with him. Told him we were climbers who loved reading about his country. He told us he (and his fellow Tibetans) thought white guys who spent a few weeks in Tibet and then came home and wrote books about the country were full of sh#t.
Anyway, someone finally showed up with a breathalyser and the guy blew way over the line. So Robb wrote him up, and we called a cab for him and he went his way and we hit the streets again.
Now, here's the relevant part: He got a lawyer, pled not guilty, and got off. How? Two things. First, he said that he'd only spent a very short time in the pub, slammed and few beers really fast, and then headed home. So -- according to his lawyer -- at the time we pulled him over, he was still sober. The alcohol hadn't had time to hit his bloodstream in sufficient quantity to impair him. No question that by the time we tested him he was quite drunk, but he wasn't driving then, was he? And the only reason he plowed into the trailer was that he'd noticed a car was following him, and he became so frightened he temporarily lost control. We could have been murderers. Or something.
Second reason he got off is that he was polite and friendly. I don't know all the fine points of the BC driving laws, but I do know that there are various dangerous-driving charges that can be brought regardless of sobriety. If you drive in a way a cop deems dangerous, you're basically f*#ked. There's almost nothing you can do about that one. But since he really had been going so slowly, and since he had been cooperative and polite, and had probably learned a major lesson about drunk driving, Robb decided there were better ways to spend his time that pursuing this case.
Is there a takeaway from this in terms of the OP? I mean, other than "If you drive when you're drunk you're an inconsiderate and dangerous as#@&%e." Well, yeah: Treat the cop that pulls you over with respect. Might or might not save you a ticket, or loss of your car, or time in the slammer, but it sure won't hurt.\
D
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graniteclimber
Trad climber
Nowhere
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Jan 18, 2009 - 10:06pm PT
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"A blood test is generally more accurate than a breathalyzer, but then must be extrapolated backward to the time you were driving."
If it goes to trial, do they really use some forumla to extrapolate backwards to the time you were drinking? So if 40 minutes have gone down and its just under .08, are you still screwed?
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Dr. Rock
Ice climber
http://tinyurl.com/4oa5br
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Jan 18, 2009 - 10:31pm PT
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Cops tend to go on a feeding frenzy during the bad times.
General Funds start to dwindle with the property taxes, layoffs mean competition among the ranks, so who pays the price just when we get laid off and don't have any money which leads to a Bench Warrant?
Of course we do.
Don't ya love The System?
Everybody drinks and drives.
in a world full of criminals, the only sin is getting caught.
The only Crime is Stupidity.
Now I will go bake a blueberry pie.
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Jan 18, 2009 - 10:34pm PT
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I got pulled over on Friday coming home from work....rolled through a stop sign;...now I have a ticket...I am a bad man.......I must pay a fine. I also didn't have my insurance card and I have a cracked windshield.....I am a really bad man...
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Dr. Rock
Ice climber
http://tinyurl.com/4oa5br
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Jan 18, 2009 - 10:39pm PT
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Calif Stop: $189
Traffic School 40 bucks plus 10 dollars for the paperwork at city hall.
Total: $239
So screw the school.
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Chaz
Trad climber
Boss Angeles
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Jan 18, 2009 - 10:43pm PT
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Jesus!
You guys are a bunch of troublemakers.
I haven't been stopped in over 10 years, and only twice in the last 20.
You all are a regular crime wave.
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east side underground
Trad climber
Hilton crk,ca
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Jan 18, 2009 - 10:44pm PT
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never admit or say anything to the man ,he can and WILL use it against you
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Sir loin of leisure...
Trad climber
X
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Jan 18, 2009 - 10:46pm PT
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your lucky you all did'nt get clubbed down like baby seals,or hippies....
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S.Powers
Social climber
Jtree, now in Alaska
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Jan 18, 2009 - 11:06pm PT
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Just a little input from your friendly neighborhood ranger, If you tell me you haven't been drinking and I smell alcohol, I will get really suspicious and run you through the full gambit of tests, I mean you are lying to me and I know it, why are you lying? If you tell me you had two beers, don't say a few, I will investigate it, but if your not drunk you get to have a good night.
If you have been drinking, no matter how much,and you are driving and you get pulled over, you can not be upset (I guess you can, but It's irrational) that an officer run's you through some tests to make sure you are fit to drive.
Notice how many times I used the word YOU its your choice, if you make a bad choice, it's your fault you get a DUI not mine.
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Sir loin of leisure...
Trad climber
X
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Jan 18, 2009 - 11:09pm PT
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guerilla fingna ....don't be the screwdriver...best song in the world...
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east side underground
Trad climber
Hilton crk,ca
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Jan 18, 2009 - 11:10pm PT
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never met a "friendly" neighborhood ranger
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S.Powers
Social climber
Jtree, now in Alaska
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Jan 18, 2009 - 11:12pm PT
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well now you have, nice to E-meet you.
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S.Powers
Social climber
Jtree, now in Alaska
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Jan 18, 2009 - 11:22pm PT
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screwdriver..
Well if I gotta be a tool I'd rather be a screwdriver than a hoe.
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east side underground
Trad climber
Hilton crk,ca
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Jan 18, 2009 - 11:22pm PT
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been working the night shift the last couple of months,have to drive the GAUNTLET of 395 from mammoth to hilton crk late at nite. NEVER DRINK A DROP the MAN is LURKING and would like nothing better than to beat you down. cops,rangers, always friendly when there not on THE JOB.:)
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Sir loin of leisure...
Trad climber
X
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Jan 18, 2009 - 11:29pm PT
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It's a f*#ked up world, but whatca gonna do? don't be the screwdriver when the oppressor turns the screw.....SCREWDRIVER!!!!
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