[Resolute Conservative]

She was still impaired whether it was booze or pills.

[Travis McGee]

[nmh]

“Here’s the backstory: Cisneros had racked up a number of DUI convictions in the 1980s while his wife fought Alzheimer’s and soon after her tragic death. But then he remarried, and seemed to be walking the straight and narrow. He stopped driving, for one thing; his neighbors in Maricopa would later aver to the court that they never saw him behind the wheel of a car. (See “Death Sentence,” June 21, 2007.) “

When you have a questionable track record ... mistakes can be made. Another major point is people are fallible and make mistakes.

[goldstategop]

Of course we want to punish people who drive severely intoxicated to the point they are a danger to themselves and others around them. Its much harder to decide what to do in "gray area" cases where one has had a drink or two and isn't obviously impaired. Common sense would say give those drivers the benefit of the doubt. Not every offense needs to be punished with a heavy fine and the threat of imprisonment.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[frankiep]

Random sobriety checkpoints are a perfect example of being guilty until proven innocent. Wonderful.

I’m sure that the usual cop lovers here will jump to defend this lickety split.

[sinanju]

That’s the trouble with busybody law enforcement: Decent, respectable people have a lot to lose through this pettifogging justice.

For bad people, this sort of thing is a momentary inconvenience.

[Nick Thimmesch]

R-U-Shannon Wilcutt?

[Fury]

A cop friend told her not to hire a lawyer and to tell the truth at her pretrial hearing and that she'd be okay

Then he was not much of a friend. ALWAYS have an attorney present when being questioned in what could be considered an adversarial situation. ALWAYS.

[Rummyfan]

A cop friend told her not to hire a lawyer and to tell the truth at her pretrial hearing and that she'd be okay. But the pretrial hearing was a cattle call — she had just five minutes with the prosecutor, who offered to drop the other charges if she pleaded guilty to the DUI.

Sifford was not about to do that. After the judge refused to listen to her story — refused to even look at the paperwork she'd brought — she knew she had to hire a lawyer.

Moral of the story: GET AN ATTORNEY!

[demsux]

She didn't realize that Steven Ceballes, the aforementioned businessman, had already made a phone call.

That guy should be charged with filing a false police report or something of that nature. Should also be required to pay their legal bills...damn busybody/nanny stater.

[Enchante]

re: 1st case, she’s on Vicodin/hyrdrocone, she says she’s “too groggy to cook” so she drives her child to a restaurant where she mixes alcohol with the Vicodin? Yes, I’d say she’s impaired and also terminally STOOPID.

[Bruce Kurtz]

I’m having problems understanding why a bad set of dentures have to be surgically removed. Don’t you take dentures out everynight before you go to bed?

[VRWCmember]

I had one problem with the second lady in the story:

She'd had only one glass of wine. She'd been the designated driver.

If she was the designated driver, she should not have had even one glass of wine. Even though that is not enough to impair you, a designated driver is supposed to refrain from alcohol altogether.

[CindyDawg]

This is a tough one. You don't take pain pills and then try to get somewhere before they kick in. Delays can happen as in her case. When I have dental procedures my husband picks me up.
The guy was concerned and reported it? What else could he do? Why it took so long to clear it up though....

[gate2wire]

“Too tired to cook, Wilcutt took 4-year-old John to Mimi’s Café, a chain restaurant...”

Too tired to cook but she could drive her 4 yr. old to a restaurant and then to some mall? Hmm....bet she’d like a do-over on that one.

[refreshed]

Another interesting aspect of this case is that she ran a stop sign in a parking lot. That is cause for someone being deemed impaired? That’s the only evidence of impairment that was given in the story. Sheesh, a busybody supplied police with false information and you guys want her guilty of dui for running a stop sign in a parking lot? What a great bunch of libertarians replying to this article.

[Onelifetogive]

She didn't realize that Steven Ceballes, the aforementioned businessman, had already made a phone call.

I'm sure Mr. Ceballes was never properly thanked. Thank you Mr. Ceballes, you may have save several innocent lives...

[<1/1,000,000th%]

How does someone’s blood alcohol get so high on half a mimosa or one glass of wine?

[refreshed]

Another thing just occurred to me. Can we report any activity that we deem questionable and have our word taken for it, to the point that it ends up going through the court system? The potential for abuse if this were the case would be staggering.

[taxcontrol]

Far more effective, researchers have found, are immediate license revocations. If it happens quickly, and happens to everyone who's busted, revocation can be a serious deterrent, Wagenaar says.

Yeah, lets just do away with that whole "due process" thing.