Posted on 01/01/2015 2:58:35 PM PST by Citizen Zed
During a No Refusal night like New Year's Eve, if the driver refuses a breath or blood test, the officer will head to the jail, where a judge is waiting to sign a search warrant to force a blood draw.
"At the jail, it's going to be Grand Central Station," said Connie Williams, owner of the Central Texas Phlebotomy Institute. "The judges are going to be busy tonight. They're going to be on call and ready to sign [the warrants]."
Williams has worked inside the jail on busy nights like New Year's Eve. She said two tubes of blood will be drawn and submitted as soon as possible to ensure the blood alcohol level is accurate.
"If they're cooperative it's going to be an easy draw. They're going to get booked immediately after that," she said.
Williams said many times, the person is combative and uncooperative, especially if they're intoxicated.
"If they're not cooperative, they will get wheeled in in what is referred to as 'the chair' in restraints, and everything is videotaped. Usually, it still takes two to four officers to hold that person into position," said Williams.
The pain of a driving while intoxicated charge doesn't stop there.
"A DWI is extremely expensive in Texas," said criminal defense attorney Jerry Smith.
Smith handles dozens of DWIs every year. He said in total, the offense could cost you up to $20,000 and probably not less than $10,000. If you're convicted, it will never come off your record.
(Excerpt) Read more at kvue.com ...
How are medical personnel dragooned into assisting in this barbarism?<p.I read here once that the cops threatened to arrest the charge nurse and ER attending physician when they refused to perform a blood draw.
There is more to the story, before you can get your license back you will need to take an expensive class. This class is taught by MADD and all proceeds go to them.
This is why MADD is front and center when it comes to lowering the BAL for a DUI, but AWOL when it comes to getting tough on the real problem; those who are way over the limit or repeat offenders. The repeat offenders are known as “good customers”.
Woman-hater, ay?
After-hours tutorials for the D-minus missies?
Higher grades for the short-skirted blondes?
Have you stopped raping your secretary yet?
(no! wait! sorry!...it's the mass media, I swear, sometimes I just get swept awaaaaaay!!!...lol)
Be nice if true, but you can be arrested AND convicted in some locals with a 0.0 BAC.
Hope you never meet Officer Friendly when he is having a bad day and he is determined to get his MADD bonus.
I do not drink, but am well aware my freedom and finances are subject to the whims of the cop behind the badge.
That’s why I walked to the bar for New Years Celebrations.
Had a few drinks, some cigarettes, hugged all the women, shook mens hands.
Then walked 1.5 miles home, in 32° weather.
Love to walk, didn’t get a DUI.
Good night, penalty free.
It sounds like no matter what number you blow, you're getting booked.
If you ran over and killed a child without being impaired, you would feel horrible, even if it was a true accident. If you had one beer, you would always wonder if it could have been prevented.
Not an angel and very lucky I never hurt anyone or myself when drinking and driving.
Walking is the way to go for drinking. In Tokyo its especially convenient because booze is sold 24 hours, and drinking in public is not frowned upon or illegal. I often talk to cops with a drink in my hand if I make a wrong turn somewhere after trying to find my way if I fell asleep on the train and had to get off at the last stop. ;)
Hope you never meet Officer Friendly when he is having a bad day and he is determined to get his MADD bonus.
I do not drink, but am well aware my freedom and finances are subject to the whims of the cop behind the badge.
I do not know of this 'Bonus' from MADD. During my time as a LEO, I arrested over 150 DWI's and in that time I never got anything from MADD. My Dept never got anything from MADD. And I never heard anything from MADD.
I was asked by the State Patrol to show/tell them my techniques for spotting Drunks. Which I was more than glad to do. And which I was not paid any extra for.
As for your First Point about being arrested for having a BAC of o.o. Yes you can. I've never arrested someone with a reading that low but I did arrest one man with a reading of 0.03.
His driving was very bad. Half on the road and half on the shoulder. Weaving between the two than jerking the wheel so his truck would cross the centerline. Plus he was dragging 50ft of someones fence behind him. Yes I arrested him. Yes I put him in Jail. And yes he was convicted. Sucks for him. There are levels of Intoxication and some people just can't handle their booze.
My State Law reads 'Driving while under the influence of Intoxicants and/or Drugs.' So with a reading of 0.00 and your messed up and driving, maybe it's drugs thats the cause. In that case your going to jail.
Glad I could be of help
Ed......Officer Friendly ;)
Have a nice day
Be glad that officer friendly was too busy harrassing drivers, or he might have arrested you for public drunkenness, or walking too slowly, or walking too fast, or some other trumped-up charge. All it takes is for the officer to have a bug in his bonnet and you are screwed.
I went through 2 checkpoints last night, and it was obvious the cops were fishing for ANYTHING to pull cars aside. At one stop the car in front of me was pulled aside because the rear seat passenger’s scarf tassel was out the door 3 inches.
In September I got fined a total of $581 for blowing UNDER the limit. Oh, and I had a 3 day suspension to boot.
Welcome to a stasi-state.
Now I’m an official member of DAMM.
I don’t believe in laws that penalize someone for something that didn’t injure another.
DUI’s are mechanisms, like cell phone and seat belt laws, to remove money from your pocket.
It's worse than that. An unjustified DUI can destroy the life of an otherwise law-abiding citizen.
What I mean by unjustified is somebody getting stopped at a DUI roadblock for no good reason at all. Then they have a cop shining a flashlight in their face and asking them if they had anything to drink that night.
Even if it was one beer, they are going away. What most people don't realize is that you can pass a field sobriety test and still get arrested if the officer feels you are intoxicated in any way. Think about it from the officer's POV, if he let's you go after admitting to even one drink, and you have an accident down that road, that officer is in a bunch of trouble. So he's going to take the safe road and haul you in - even if you can say the alphabet backwards and hop a straight line on one foot.
Then you are presumed guilty. Your license is taken away. You may well lose your job if it requires driving or if you can no longer get there. Then if you are convicted, your entire life can be destroyed. Most companies will not hire somebody who had a DUI in their record. Unless you are already independently wealthy or own your own business, good luck finding decent employment.
Now obviously we have a drunk driving problem out there and those who are truly drunk and get behind the wheel should be dealt with harshly. Law enforcement can easily spot these people without throwing up roadblocks and ensnaring innocent citizens.
The judge's job is to determine whether a search warrant is reasonable, given the circumstances of the case. An automatic search warrant seems to me a violation of due process.
I'm sure that you know rule #1 is that there's always one guy at the party who's "Fine to drive. Just fine. Don't worry about me!" Doesn't matter that they can't stand up straight, and just threw up on themselves. They're fine, and sometimes dammed belligerent about just how fine they are.
I wasn't ever particularly worried about them....I was worried about being on the road with them at the same time. And now, with a family, that would put a whole new dimension on things. My partying days are over, though.
Also - BTW, my parents were former EMS. They always said that XMas was always, always worse than New Year's Eve. Something about families being cooped up in the house with each other, and consuming extra amounts of Holiday Cheer, that brought out the worst calls.
New Year's Eve was generally pretty quiet, or so they said. Wonder if you saw the same thing?
Actually this is easily avoidable.... don’t go out on New Year’s eve....IF you must take a cab or dont drink and drive
DWI is a big deal these days.... but at least they don’t shoot your dog.
A cop in jail has never been known to shoot a canine. Canine lives matter!
Do the math on that. There were 1,400,000 DUI arrests in 2010.
I love my dog more than many members of my family, so I would heartily agree.
Bullshit.
Up to about .06, alcohol is a stimulant.
That’s your two drinks or less.
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