Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire DUI advice for my daughter

Top notch nurses and people who work their tails off should be allowed to drive intoxicated. I guess by fire logic if she was black and on welfare she should be in jail.

OP, I feel for your daughter. People make mistakes. No one condones drinking and driving but most of us (that drink alcohol) at some point made a foolish decision to get behind the wheel when we shouldn't of. This mistake will change her life forever, just glad no one was hurt.
Find a well established attorney in the local area who has been practicing a long time. They often have connections to help them plead it down. Again, its going to cost her.

I think what her BAC level will tell you what to do.

After two hours it should have peaked and slightly dropped.

If she was way over......u need an attorney. IMO

Scrutinizing the test would perhaps be the best route.

No field sobriety test?

don`t hire a good lawyer,hire the best criminal attorney money can buy and sue these butt heads ! she won`t get a DUI if she was still in driveway.

My life includes colors beyond black and white...

Yes. You can get a DUI on private property.

Look it up. Particularly in your own state.

To say otherwise is just ignorance.

Just curious, but if the bar was 8 blocks from the house, how did the cop know she had been drinking when she backed out of there driveway?

I used to enjoy a beverage while mowing.
Then one day, it dawned in me as I was making the first pass by the
state highway. This is illegal, and there are 4 or 5 state cops that live
within a mile of here. And all but one have to drive past me.
Their being neighbors was probably what saved me.

Apparently Iowa DWI Laws also covers private property? That would be one thing to find out, was it legal for the police to charge her in her own driveway?

In some states DWI and other vehicle violations can only be charged in a PVA ( Public Vehicular Area) or on a street or highway. Not that I would do this, but in my state if I want to drink all day long and drive my vehicle on my property there is not a darn thing I can be charged with. If I drive up my drive way, sideways in a reckless manner, so be it, I can't be charged with reckless driving. Traffic laws in this state is based on PVA, streets and highways. There are some laws that cannot be charged in a PVA in this state. Most everything goes on a street or highway though.

Here is some reading for you.

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/ico/chapter/321J.pdf

She ain't beating chit. Diversion. Comply and no conviction. If available there.

A good attorney in the field of DWI defense will cost money. But the long-range implications for your daughter will be greater. The traffic stop in my view, if correctly described, lacked probable cause regardless if she was on private property or a public parking lot. But you need to know the laws in your state. DUI arrests usually involve a criminal component and a civil component (the breath test question). When I testified on the stand in my DWI cases, the more probable cause I had made the case stronger. The jury wants to hear the facts as to why the officer made the stop. Make sure the defense attorney gets the transcript of the officer's conversation with the dispatch center. Without discussing the case with a competent attorney, you can't make an educated decision. Throwing yourself at the mercy of the county attorney is a gamble. One bad decision can lead to long-lasting consequences. Good luck.

Some of these responses are soo ignorant.

the bigger concern for OP’s daughter is going to be that nursing license. Here in Texas a dwi wont get the medical license suspended but it will often trigger a review by the nursing board as to whether there are any addiction issues. From what it sounds like she would be ok on that but it wouldn’t be fun. Get her a good criminal lawyer but also have her to talk to a lawyer that deals with the medical Board discipline so that knows going in what effect different outcomes in the dwi could have on her nursing license

Yep.

If she was truly on private property there should be no issue..if she didn’t say much the defense would be just clearing the driveway near the garage door. No intent to drive out.

Osky

A traffic stop doesn’t require probable cause, just reasonable suspicion.

Very true

Good gawd. Deferred judgement or found guilty will be her choices....

When you get an attorney get one that has a record of winning against DUI charges. There are plenty who will take your money and don't want to go to the trouble to fight the probable cause for the stop. Public defenders are terrible about pleading defendants guilty. Even if you lose in the first court the probable cause may be thrown out in the next step. Our town probably has 60 attorneys but there aren't more than 5 I would hire for a DUI case. In this state even if she were convicted on 1st offense it would be fairly easy to go through the process to have it expunged.

Funny how many here are quick to blame the cop and the "victim" here is someone who chose to drive drunk.

What if the cop hadn't stopped her in the driveway and just a block down the road she hit and killed someone? The cop might have prevented that, but he's the bad guy? Get real.

She brought this on herself. Lawyer up and learn from it.