Claiming You Got Drunk After an Accident as a Defense to Drunk Driving
My question involves criminal law for the state of: North Carolina
I was new to NC and still learning my way around. I decided to turn down a road I had never been on to see where it went... I got hopelessly lost and had no idea where I was. My phone died and I did not have a charger with me, it was getting dark and the road twisted and turned and was two lanes completely covered with trees. The car ahead was in the middle of the road like they were going to turn, they swerved back into my lane forcing me off the road into a ditch in front of an abandoned church. My car went node down into the ditch, as I attempted to get my wits about me a set arms reached into my car and I paniced got the car out of the ditch and drove it about 300 feet through the dirt to a gas station where I parked it. I have never been so scared in my life. I looked down and my daughters stuffed animal was on the floor of the passenger seat, all I could think of were the arms and the elephant, and holy shit where is my kid! Afraid the guy was still after me I frantically tried to get out of the car, but I could not as the seat belts locked up. also on the floor was a container I had put vodka in as I was going to spend the night at my sisters house. I grabbged the container, chugged it, and talked myself through getting the seat belt off. I got out of the car and ran to the first person I saw, told them what happened they called 911 and we waited for police. By the time they got there, the alcohol was soaking in. As I calmed down and was no longer in shock, I remembered where my child was. I was not drunk while I was driving, I was drunk after I got out of the car. I left everything in the car and got into an ambulance as I was told. I was arrested for DWI two hours later they drew blood and my bac was 2.6. To have had a BAC of 2.6 then I would have been close to death while driving.
I do not drink a lot, and certainly was not out having a good time.
I was tried and convicted in district court, and filed a notice of appeal. The police officers lied, they contradicted themselves, and claimed to be experts about things that when I reasearched them found they made gross errors in their testing. Most of their testimony was presumtive and speculatory. My layer who questioned nothing, is advising against the appeal as the judge let me off really light. I do not want this on my record as I am not guilty of it. CAll me niave but I am one of those people who still believes that the truth will prevail. The lawyer is a friend of the family so I either need to do his work for him or create more problems. Can anyone help me with case law here?
No one saw me driving or in the car.
I had no intention of attempting to drive the car and did not have the keys on me.
I was not near the car.
The officers claim that they inspected the car and there was signifigant damage to the front end. They claimed there was no other damage on the car.
And they claimed my car was free of any personal effects. I have no idea whos car they were looking at. It cost me $400 to repair the damage to the front end, the driverside door has been damaged and is a totally different color than the rest of the car and has been that way for a long time. I was going to do tile work at my sisteres and my car was packed floor to ceiling with toolls and tile, most of which ended up in the front seat. They claimed that they knew I was driving drunk because the hood of my car was still warm? Given that it was over 50* and I had been driving around lost for over an hour, and I cracked the radiator in the ditch... I am pretty sure that engine was probably still warm for many hours after it was towed away.
Advice?? suggestions??? referralls??? Help!!!
Re: Bizarre Chain of Events
ROFLMAO. You are in a deep, deep, hole and only a lawyer locally is going to help you out. No one here is likely to assist you in perfecting your story.
Re: Claiming You Got Drunk After an Accident as a Defense to Drunk Driving
You read this joke before posting, right?
It's not clear if it was a jury that convicted you or if you asked for a bench trial, but basically the finder of fact concluded that you were lying and were drunk when you crashed. As appellate courts normally defer to the finder of fact on issues of witness credibility, and as on appeal every reasonable inference of fact is taken in favor of the party who prevailed at the lower court level, your appeal is a tough row to hoe.
Get a second opinion from an other lawyer, ideally one who specializes in criminal appeals. Take the transcripts with you to the consultation, if available.
Re: Claiming You Got Drunk After an Accident as a Defense to Drunk Driving
Hell, I don't believe that "I got drunk after I wasn't driving anymore" story and nobody else will and, obviously, the judge didn't either.
Don't waste your time or your money on an appeal that you are only going to lose.
Re: Claiming You Got Drunk After an Accident as a Defense to Drunk Driving
you can certainly claim it, but the DA, Judge, and jurors are under no obligation to buy it.
Re: Claiming You Got Drunk After an Accident as a Defense to Drunk Driving
For the love of...
What is it with people today?
Re: Claiming You Got Drunk After an Accident as a Defense to Drunk Driving
Allow me to clarify a few things... sorry I was in a hurry when I typed that earlier. Prior to leaving my house I poured a signifigant amount of vodka and chocolate syrup into a water bottle and put it in the back of the car (suv) with my tile and tools. My intention was to buy milk to mix it with somewhere along the way and drink it later that night. After running the car off the road and the homeless guy scaring the hell out of me (who approached me a few months later in a grocery store to apologise) I backed the car out of the ditch and drove it across the dirt to the gas station next door. I parked the car in the parkoing lot next to the gas station, still completely freaked out and hyperventilating I tried to get out of the car, I could not get out as the seat belts had locked up. Because everything that was in the back of the car flew to the front, the water bottle was now in the passenger seat. At that moment there is no question that I was not thinking clearly, and I had hyperventilated to the point I could not breath, I needed to drink something. I did not think about or care what was in it, I chugged it. It took about another 10 min for me to calm down to the point that I could figure out how to get the seatbelt off. Durring that time the only thing I could think of was my daugters toy and the guy reaching into my car. Once I got out of the car I went to the first person I saw, still in shock and told them what had just happened and that i did not know where my child was. Which at that moment was true. I asked them to call 911. It was probably 30 min after drinking the vodka that the police showed up. At that point it was hitting me.
Re: Claiming You Got Drunk After an Accident as a Defense to Drunk Driving
Allow us to clarify a single detail.
Even assuming that every word of your story is the complete truth, on the available facts you don't have a chance in the world of getting anyone to believe it.
Re: Claiming You Got Drunk After an Accident as a Defense to Drunk Driving
My daughter is exceptionally beautiful, kind and talented, my sister is insanely jealous as she can not have kids, and has gone so far as to pay people to file false CPS reports to take my child, all of which have ended with CPS apologising to me, but it never ends, so yes I am hyper paranoid about my daughter. I know I was acting a little crazy, just letting you guys know why. She had just negotiated something with my roommate to make me look like an unfit mother. I was at a breaking point, the guy reaching into the car was the straw that broke the camels back.. I completely lost it at that point.
Re: Claiming You Got Drunk After an Accident as a Defense to Drunk Driving
Two stupid mistakes:
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Quote:
Quoting
imtabitha
Prior to leaving my house I poured a signifigant amount of vodka and chocolate syrup into a water bottle and put it in the back of the car (suv) with my tile and tools.
Vodka and chocolate syrup in a water bottle?
Yikes.
That alone makes you a bit of a drunk in the first place and was likely illegal to carry booze in your car that way as well.
I'm wondering how much you had to drink before you got in the car.
2 -
Quote:
Quoting
imtabitha
At that moment there is no question that I was not thinking clearly, and I had hyperventilated to the point I could not breath, I needed to drink something. I did not think about or care what was in it, I chugged it.
Another sign of being a drunk.
Complete loss of judgment.
Bottom line. Only God is your witness and, guess what, He ain't testifying for you so there's no way you'll ever prove your story in court so there's no grounds for appeal since the judge didn't make any judicial errors in finding you guilty.
Consider getting some counseling for your alcohol addiction although I'm sure you'll come back and say you don't have an addiction to alcohol.
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Quote:
Quoting
Dogmatique
For the love of...
What is it with people today?
I ask myself that same question quite often.