 How To Win A Drunk Driving Case: A Primer For The Layperson
by
Andrew Mishlove, Esq.
PRISONS AND CHECKPOINTS: WHAT PRICE SAFETY IN A FREE SOCIETY?
America is a land of extreme contradictions: rich
and poor, the freest with the most prisoners, and the
most committed to liberty with some of the most
repressive attitudes.
We certainly live in a very dangerous society.
Handguns are one of the leading causes of death among
young men.
People are afraid, and politicians prey on that fear.
Legislation has been proposed in my state to legalize
police highway checkpoints, already legal in forty
states (a U.S. Supreme Court decision on this is
pending at the time of this writing). HIGHWAY
CHECKPOINTS!! Politicians always look for easy
answers; but, they are often unwilling to make hard
decisions to protect us.
There is no question but that one of the great
sources of danger in our society is the automobile.
More Americans are killed each year in car accidents
than Americans died in the War in Vietnam. Most fatal
accidents involve alcohol. But despite the vast war
on drunken drivers, highway safety has not been dramatically improved. Politicians will always take
the easy steps of increasing penalties and
restricting individual liberty, rather than taking
the hard steps of limiting the proliferation and
legal immunity of taverns, and funding rehabilitative
programs. The society that glorifies alcohol finds it
easiest to deal with the damage by imprisoning the
drinker. If the present rate of increase continues,
within this century the majority of the population of
the USA will be in prison.
THE TWO-PRONGED STRATEGY OF DRUNK DRIVING DEFENSE
The fact of the matter is that most people who are
charged with drunk driving wind up being convicted.
Most simply plead guilty in some sort of plea
bargain. Some are convicted after a trial.
Therefore, in any case, it is important to take a
two-pronged approach. Both prongs must be worked at
from the beginning. The first prong is
consideration of the Six Key Factors, so that you
can win the case. The second prong is preparing for
sentencing, in case you lose or plea bargain.
Let's face it; you could very well be guilty.
That doesn't make you an evil person. It means that
you made a mistake. Learn from your mistake!
If you are an innocent person who is convicted
despite your best efforts, don't be bitter and
angry. Use this as an opportunity to learn and grow
as a person. Your life will be better and all of
our loved ones will be safer.
How do you learn from a drunk driving case? This
brings us back to the beginning. It's easy. Get
Help! Learn about
alcohol
abuse, attend AA
meetings. Get counseling for your personal
problems. Get an assessment to determine whether
you have an alcohol problem and follow through
with treatment recommendations.
Make this an experience that turns you into a
better person, not just a person with a conviction.
Do it before the sentencing hearing. Do it before
the trial. Do it right from the beginning of the
case. Everyone who appears before a judge at a
sentencing hearing (except, perhaps Mahatma Gandhi)
says that he is going to change, that he will do
the things necessary to become rehabilitated. That
is not good enough.
Be the rare person who goes into the sentencing
hearing saying that I have already done and will
continue to do the things necessary for my
rehabilitation. You will definitely be treated more
fairly if you do. But more importantly, you will
have taken a tragic difficult event in your life
and turned it into a source of change for the
better.
When the constitutional liberty of a single one of us
is trampled in the name of public safety, we all
suffer from a loss of freedom. I do not support
drinking and driving. It is a reprehensible evil,
just as is murder. But I object to the suspension of
human rights that has occurred in the name of the
unsuccessful war on driving while intoxicated.
In my state, which is festooned with saloons, a
simple dram shop law (requiring tavern keepers to
accept their responsibility for pushing alcohol on
their drunken patrons) would do more than all the
jail cells and highway checkpoints combined. But the
legislature lacks the spine to stand up to the
special interests.
This little handbook on drunk driving is, therefore,
intended to be one man's statement in support of the
right to be left alone, to be free of unreasonable
searches, to a presumption of innocence, to a fair
trial, a fair verdict and, yes, if you deserve it, a
fair punishment.
GET HELP!
If you've been arrested for drunk driving,
especially if it's happened more than once, it
probably means that you had an alcoholic beverage and
then drove a car. That is a terrible error in
judgment. Whether or not you believe that you need
it,
GET HELP!!
I'm insisting on this even if you are innocent of
drunken driving. I don't care if you were stone cold
sober, its stupid and dangerous to drink and drive.
It shows a lack of knowledge and a lack of judgment.
You could kill or maim yourself or do the same to
someone's son, daughter, mother or father.
Stop and consider the
consequences of a drunk driving
arrest, which is inconvenient and expensive even if
you win the case. Then, consider the price of a
taxicab. It's a no-brainer. If God wanted you to
drink and drive he wouldn't have invented the
taxicab.
You also need to take an honest look in the mirror
and ask yourself whether you have a drinking problem.
Whether or not you have a drinking problem, you need
to get help with your understanding of the problem of
alcoholism. Go to AA meetings. You may or may not
be an alcoholic, but everyone can benefit from the
advice and insights available at a twelve-step group.
So, even if you don't believe that you need it,
get
help! Use this challenge as an opportunity to improve
your life.
Drunk driving defense is a specialized area. Let one of the
qualified DUI LAWS
attorneys find a solution to your legal problem.
Find a lawyer near you.
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