Fighting a Drunk Driving Charge by Claiming You Were Not Intoxicated

Hello everyone - I will make this short and keep it very factual. I was driving from Buffalo,NY to Albuquerque,NM and had been driving towards Edwardsville,IL from Buffalo,NY nonstop and was completely worn off.

Yes I had drinks in Chicago,IL in the middle of my route. Around 7am in the morning on the interstate my tire busted and my car went out of control on a busy highway and i baned on the siderail deploying the passenger airbags however I was able to control the car and without hitting or hurting anyone safely pulled the car from highway and landed in a truck stop.

While I was gaining control of what just happened, after 10 mins or so a police car pulls up. After coming to me her 2nd question was immediately to get out of the car and asked me if i drank. At first I said no then i said only 1 beer.

I did FST, and blew a .14 in the PBT. Went to police station and refused breath test.

Lawyer reviewed my video and says in his professional opinion i wasn't drunk at all during my FSTs(although both of us know I was) and I had no slurred speech and no bloodshot eyes as per police report(confirmed via the video).


I also have a witness in Chicago who I actually only had 1 beer with and knew that after 1 beer I went straight towards Edwardsville,IL and he can testify that all I had was 1 beer.

Lawyer also said if I take his professional opinion, he says by watching the video he knows im drunk, only because hes seen thousands of these videos before and knows how to check if a person is drunk but he said from a normal persons view I did not seem drunk at all and followed all FSTs correctly.


With all this info how much of a chance do I have in a 6 jury trial ? This county also has 12 jury trial. Should I go with 6 or 12 ? I am a first time offender. Have been offered court supervision but cannot take it since I have to plead guilty and I cannot have a guilty plea on my record.

Please share your opinions.

1 beer doesn't make anyone blow a .14 on the breathalyzer unless you are a midget/dwarf and the beer was something like a 32oz Irish Death Ale.

Nobody is going to believe that you only had one. Period. Not even you. In fact you stated "drinkS".

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Quoting Speedy Gonzalez

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32oz Irish Death Ale.

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Slight hijack..had to google that cause it sounds cool. Found out it is real.

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Quoting Speedy Gonzalez

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1 beer doesn't make anyone blow a .14 on the breathalyzer unless you are a midget/dwarf and the beer was something like a 32oz Irish Death Ale.

Nobody is going to believe that you only had one. Period. Not even you. In fact you stated "drinkS".

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You missed my point. I said there was 1 witness throughout my drinking escaparde who only saw me drink 1 beer. I could use him as a witness to say I only had 1 beer.

point #2, PBT in Illinois cannot be used in court and I refused the machine breath test. So there is no BAC to report when the case goes to trial.

Point #3 - Police in Illinois have every right to handcuff and take me to a hospital to get blood BAC extracted. That practice wasnt used by the arresting officer.

I hope im clearer in my ask now.

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Quoting Mikael_

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You missed my point. I said there was 1 witness throughout my drinking escaparde who only saw me drink 1 beer. I could use him as a witness to say I only had 1 beer.

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And unless you are the lightest of lightweights or it was a 5 gallon beer, no one is going to believe that.

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Quoting free9man

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And unless you are the lightest of lightweights or it was a 5 gallon beer, no one is going to believe that.

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Free9man....you are missing the point !!!!! The 0.14 BAC cannot be used or presented infront of the jury as per Illinois's laws !!!! And sicne I never took the machine breath test, there is no BAC to present to the jury and the court !!!!

As of right now when the case goes to trial, it goes with REFUSAL TO BLOW. No BAC readings at all. If the arresting officer mentions the .14 BAC from the PBT in the court case is automatically dismissed since it cannot be used as evidence !

Back to the beer part, I admitted to the cop drinking only 1 beer, and I had just 1 beer with a friend in Chicago legitmiately, who can be used in court to testify that all I had was 1 beer !

NOW, any of you guys who took the time to read, tell me my chances ?

I didn't misunderstand anything. You will be lying in court, and still nobody will believe a word of it. It is physically IMPOSSIBLE to obtain a .14 BAC on a single beer unless it meets the standards I laid out previously.

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Quoting Speedy Gonzalez

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I didn't misunderstand anything. You will be lying in court, and still nobody will believe a word of it. It is physically IMPOSSIBLE to obtain a .14 BAC on a single beer unless it meets the standards I laid out previously.

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Speedy - What if the Jury never sees the .14 BAC....the moment the officer brings up .14 PBT case is automatically dismissed. I am not sure why you keep bringing .14 up because that reading will never get to make it to the court ! The jurors will never ever ever ever ever know that I blew a .14.........

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Quoting Mikael_

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Yes I had drinks in Chicago,IL in the middle of my route.

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Your lawyer knows you intend to commit perjury, and is going along with it? Or is it that your lawyer has told you that he's not going to put you on the stand if you intend to lie, and you're wondering the odds of prevailing if you don't testify?

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Quoting Mikael_

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I did FST, and blew a .14 in the PBT. Went to police station and refused breath test.

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That makes it sound like you're a "pro" -- how many priors do you have?

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Quoting Mikael_

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...I had no slurred speech and no bloodshot eyes as per police report(confirmed via the video).

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The odds that the video is clear enough to show whether or not your eyes are bloodshot? Roughly zero percent.

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Quoting Mikael_

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I also have a witness in Chicago who I actually only had 1 beer with and knew that after 1 beer I went straight towards Edwardsville,IL and he can testify that all I had was 1 beer.

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And... that testimony is not relevant, as it tells the court nothing about what you drank before or after this person saw you consume one beer.

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Quoting Mikael_

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Lawyer also said if I take his professional opinion, he says by watching the video he knows im drunk....

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So it's apparent from the video, for somebody who knows what to look for, that you're intoxicated. You can anticipate that the jury will be told what to look for.
[QUOTE=Mikael_]With all this info how much of a chance do I have in a 6 jury trial ?[quote]
We would be guessing. If you're being offered a better-than-usual plea bargain by the prosecutor, something you can discuss with your lawyer, that would suggest (but not establish) that the prosecutor is less certain in your case than in an average case about obtaining a conviction at trial.

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Quoting Mikael_

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Speedy - What if the Jury never sees the .14 BAC....the moment the officer brings up .14 PBT case is automatically dismissed. I am not sure why you keep bringing .14 up because that reading will never get to make it to the court ! The jurors will never ever ever ever ever know that I blew a .14.........

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You don't know much about the way court works. The case is not going to be automatically dismissed if the field test is mentioned.