Brother Arrested for a DUI, Wants to Kill Himself, and is Now in a Psychiatric Ward

[matrixfan321]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New Jersey

**What Happened:**
Last night, my brother (19) was arrested for a DUI. During the arrest procedure, he told the police officers that he was suicidal. They had him go through many tests and had him to talk to a social worker. During the many tests, they discovered that he had traces of marijuana in his system. He also told them that he smokes three times a week. He has a small possession charge on his record.

After talking to the worker, he is now being shipped to a psychiatric ward because they have deemed him suicidal. He says that what he told the officers is true and that he really does want to kill himself. This scares the shit out of my mom and I. Since this is so recent, my mom and I are not sure of the implications with the law. I'm really hoping you guys can help. More importantly though, we're really worried about him.

His driving record currently has one speeding ticket. Recently, he got into an accident and was charged with reckless driving, change of lane, and failure to provide insurance. We paid a lawyer to take care of this accident on the 21st.

The current DUI related charges against him are

• DUI
• Speeding (83 in 55mph)
• Reckless Driving
• Failure to provide registration

So my question is does testing positive for marijuana will induce another charge? What is a likely outcome of this shitstorm?

[PTPD22]

Whether the positive marijuana test will result in another charge depends on how the test was administered. Was it during the DUI investigation? Or, was it during a medical evaluation as part of his psychiatric evaluation. I tend to believe that it must have been through a medical evaluation and, therefore, probably not admissible as evidence against him. If it had been part of the DUI investigation, the blood sample would have gone to a crime lab and there is no way you would have the results back the next day.

Even if the marijuana is admissible, it is likely that it would only be used as evidence to bolster the DUI charge, not for a new charge.

As for the likely outcome, it seems likely that the speeding would be dropped as a lesser included offense of the reckless driving. The prosecutor will also be likely to agree to drop the failure to provide registration charge. So, as you already know, the DUI and reckless charges are what your brother needs to worry about. Assuming he is convicted on both, jail is a possibility. While your brother seems to be in great need of a diversion program, he will need to convince a prosecutor that a diversion would be effective. You mention that he already has a prior drug conviction and has another reckless charge already pending. That is starting to show a pattern of behavior that may convince a prosecutor that incarceration is needed to adequately protect society from your brother’s continued behavior.