DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Need legal advice

Quote:

---

Was I drunk? Yes

---

Wrong. Are you a doctor? Do you have special training in drug and alcohol abuse? Did you take a breathalyser right before the cop approached you? I didn't think so. So how do you know you were drunk? The correct answer would be along the lines of: No your Honor I do not believe I was drunk. Never admit to anything. Once you say yes I was drunk you then you just pleaded guilty.


#2 Write down everything you can remember about the event and review it over and over. Also review a copy of the ticket (this will be much of what the officer remembers). Since this will be your word vs his you need to prove his memory is not accurate in his testimony. Ask him to describe you costume. He probably gave out a dozen of these. If you didn't make a scene there is a very good chance that he may not remember it. Take pictures of you in your costume. It will be better if the picture has a date/time stamp and of course you can't look drunk in the picture. Your advantage is that you get to choose the pictures the court gets to see. Also ask the officer how many of these tickets he gave out that night. If you can somehow find this out before hand yu may be able to catch him in a lie. Also if he doesn't remember something paraphrase him to make a point you want to make. So if he doesn't remember how many he gave out that night say something like: so you gave out so many ticket for public drunkeness that you have no idea how many you gave. Then follow it up with a quick question right after so he focuses on your question not on your paraphrase: so you gave out so many ticket for public drunkeness that you have no idea how many you gave. How can you possibly remember me? If he states your costume then that is a good segue to ask him for details on your costume. Also if you wore a costume that many others would have worn (like Sarah Palin) then ask how many people he gave similar tickets to were wearing that same costume. If he say none say well that is hard to believe I ran into at least 3 other Sarah Palin's. Can you name for me every costume worn by every person you gave a ticket to on said night.


#3 Never blatently lie. Either answer truthfully or vaguely. Yes I did have a few drinks but it wasn't excessive. If they don't define how many drinks qualifies as excessive then you are left to define that as you see fit. If they press you for exactly how many drinks you had well...Well we weren't having a competition so I wasn't counting. But again never blatently lie. Remember you are under oath and lying under oath is a significantly bigger deal. Being under oath prohibits you from lying but in no way do you promise to be precise in your answers. And don't try to say you were on your property when you clearly weren't. No way that excuse flies.


#4 Be prepared to answer as many question as you can come up with. Make sure all answers are consistent with each other and in no way conflicts with what is written on the ticket.


#5 Stay calm in court. Don't get rattled and think clearly. If you need time to think before answering a question ask to have the question repeated or clarified. Speaking of that make sure you understand what is being asked and don't offer up information you don't want them to know about.


#6 If there is a question you don't want to answer then verbal vomit can be you best friend. And by reading your posts I know you are well practiced Basically just start talking and take one tanget to the next. In a few minutes nobody remembers if you actually answered the question or not. And I see on TV law shows all the time that the lawyer says Just answer yes or no. I am not sure how to handle this. Whenever they say this they are trying to set you up. I would turn to the judge and say Your Honor, I am under opath and don't feel that a yes/no answer to this question can portray an adequate representation of the truth. I don't know if that will work but worth a shot. No harm no foul.


You are probably getting tired reading this and I sure am tired writting about it. So I will end with a final question. Is it worth it? Consider the following. Can you win? Was there a cop car there? If yes then they may have video. Think carefully what that video might show. And if you take it to court even if you win I think you still have to pay court costs. And if you lose I think you pay court costs on top of the $150. Then consider the time and effort. Also consider what happens if you lose. You can probably just mail in a bank check and plead no contest. Which I think essentially means that you are neither guilty or not guilty and stay off your "permanant record". However if you go to court and lose then you have a guilty conviction which you may or may not have to tell future employers when you are looking for a job - I don't know the answer. I also don't know the answer to question of how a no contest plea vs a conviction will affect what happens if you get arrested again for a similar charge (I assume you don't plan to stop drinking).


Also I am aware you were being facetious but maybe clarify for others that when you said you should have just driven home that you were just joking.


And by the way, why did they arrest you? Seems like they would just give you the ticket and let you go. Or maybe walk you home being that you were so close. What did you do, really?

Quote:

---

Another reason I am glad I didn't go to a small town college...

Not that I am proud of this,but I spent plenty a nite staggering around the off campus housing areas of OSU.. Never once had any kind of problem. Seemed the cops had more to worry about...

Did get busted once when I was 19 for walking down 11th Ave. w/ an open beer Can't really blame anyone but myself for that one...

---

Normally at OU this isn't a problem. On Halloween weekend they just look for reasons to arrest people. The town doesn't like it, nor does the university (which I can't say I blame them) and they use arrests as a deterent . I would have been thrown in jail hundreds of times for public intoxication at OU every time I walked home past an officer leaving the uptown bars.

Quote:

---

Wrong. Are you a doctor? Do you have special training in drug and alcohol abuse? Did you take a breathalyser right before the cop approached you? I didn't think so. So how do you know you were drunk? The correct answer would be along the lines of: No your Honor I do not believe I was drunk. Never admit to anything. Once you say yes I was drunk you then you just pleaded guilty.

---

Quote:

---

I want to fight this, my ticket says I was arrested at the corner of my street, I'm thinking I COULD say I was on my property when arrested (which is illegal to arrest someone on their own property without a reason...drunkenness is not a reason). They didn't breathalyze me or anything...

---