DUI Advice.

[piccolo]

wow, little hypocrttical here... aren't we...

you just said that "thinking" this, is a good cause for arrest... so, i did nothing but say that, but in your mind, it's an offense that is best suited for jail time. But drinking underage, and lieing to the cop, is AT BEST, an offense punishable by an underage drinking ticket...

As far as I know, going 45 mph over the speed limit gets you arrested under any circumstance. Its the normal procedure. 45 over = jail.

Drinking underage does not. Getting arrested for this is abnormal, as the usual punishment is ticket or citation.

See the difference?

 

[piccolo]

it's an automatic regulation for a DUI.. what don't you get about that..

maybe your confusing an occupational license, with a regular license...

haha

No.

Me, for instance. I got a dui a few years ago. When I went into the dmv, not only did the magistrate rule not to suspend my license, but I got a new one that day from the same dmv, as the officer still had my old one.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

If you didnt mean jail when you said this: "a cop not stopping an underage drinker, because he felt that the crime was small, and not worth his time... then that kid drives a car, and kills sone... that's the cops fault for not upholding the law when he had a chance...."

Then what did you mean? A ticket isnt going to prevent an underage drinker from then getting into and driving a car.

Well, if you've already gotten one ticket that night, why try for two? When I was in college the ticket for underage drinking was over $100. I knew a few people who got busted at parties for that, that ended their drinking for the night. If you've already rolled the dice once that night and lost, why try again? Also, might give the kid pause that wow officer was able to see from the street that I was drunk, imagine if I were in a car?

 

[The Guard]

Uh, yeah.

Did you think I actually meant people were getting raped and killed right there when he was arresting the underage drinker? Holee hell.

Backpeddle some more.

 

[piccolo]

Well, if you've already gotten one ticket that night, why try for two? When I was in college the ticket for underage drinking was over $100. I knew a few people who got busted at parties for that, that ended their drinking for the night. If you've already rolled the dice once that night and lost, why try again? Also, might give the kid pause that wow officer was able to see from the street that I was drunk, imagine if I were in a car?

If you dont believe these kids should be arrested (like chaseter), then why are you arguing with me?

Backpeddle some more.

Comprehend less.

 

[chaseter]

Chaseter,

Sounds to me like the cop gave you a chance to fess up, and probably would have let you off with a warning, had you simply told the truth. You were stupid and lied about your age, which he already obviously knew, so he taught you a lesson, which is what being arrested for breaking the law is designed to do.

Basically what you keep saying is "I did not know that I could get in trouble if I got caught lying about my underage drinking". Are you serious?

As for the ***** thing...people, the law is the law. If you operate a lingerie shop in Texas, you should darn well know the laws about ***** sales in Texas, the nature of which have pretty high profile over the years.

What chance did he give? He asked once. He could have said to tell the truth or warn us the severity of the consequences surrounding lying about your age. He could have informed us that lying is a Class B misdemeanor and would land you jail time. He could have been friendly and personable so that the lesson he was teaching us also went hand in hand with a good experience with the law. What good teachers punish failure and never explain why you failed?

He would not have let me off with a warning. I would have gotten an MIP regardless. He never even said that is what happens when you aren't truthful. He was like a robot. He was Robocop. Well, nm...Robocop still tells the bad guys to put down the gun before shooting them. I knew I would get in trouble regardless. The buzz made me think I could get away with it...drinking does that.

The law is the law...hahahaha. I hope that you are 1 mph over the speed limit and you get a ticket. Please quit acting like you are holier than thou and have never sinned. Some cops are d-bags, that is the truth. I ran into a d-bag cop that night, the end. Why do you think there are so many spoofs of cops? You have never had a bad experience with a cop?

 

[amazingfantasy15]

What chance did he give? He asked once. He could have said to tell the truth or warn us the severity of the consequences surrounding lying about your age. He could have informed us that lying is a Class B misdemeanor and would land you jail time. He could have been friendly and personable so that the lesson he was teaching us also went hand in hand with a good experience with the law. What good teachers punish failure and never explain why you failed?

He would not have let me off with a warning. I would have gotten an MIP regardless. He never even said that is what happens when you aren't truthful. He was like a robot. He was Robocop. Well, nm...Robocop still tells the bad guys to put down the gun before shooting them. I knew I would get in trouble regardless. The buzz made me think I could get away with it...drinking does that.

The law is the law...hahahaha. I hope that you are 1 mph over the speed limit and you get a ticket. Please quit acting like you are holier than thou and have never sinned. Some cops are d-bags, that is the truth. I ran into a d-bag cop that night, the end. Why do you think there are so many spoofs of cops? You have never had a bad experience with a cop?

So you never believed that there would reprecussions of you lying about your age to the police officer? Also why would you lie when you gave him the information to check and catch you in the lie? That was a horrible plan to begin with, even drunk you should have realized that. You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble just admitting you were wrong, saying sorry and offering to pour out the beer. Cop may have been a *****ebag, but you were just as big of one, hell you probably pissed him off making him waste his time looking up your real age.

 

[chaseter]

Yeah, I was a total d-bag saying yes sir, doing what I was told, but saying 21 instead of 18. I totally made his night go to hell when he walked over to me What a d-bagg I was He checks all your information anyways. I could have told him the truth and he still would have looked up my info to see if I have any warrants. Do you know what you are talking about?

He asked how old we were when he came over. I said 21. I then gave my name and ssn. How is that being a d-bag?

 

[amazingfantasy15]

Yeah, I was a total d-bag saying yes sir, doing what I was told, but saying 21 instead of 18. I totally made his night go to hell when he walked over to me What a d-bagg I was He checks all your information anyways. I could have told him the truth and he still would have looked up my info to see if I have any warrants. Do you know what you are talking about?

He asked how old we were when he came over. I said 21. I then gave my name and ssn. How is that being a d-bag?

If you knew he was going to check your information, why did you lie? How was that going to help your situation in any way? I'm just having trouble understanding why you thought it was a good idea to lie.

 

[chaseter]

I already said why I lied in here. He asked how old we were. My friend lied because he was asked first. So, being drunk, I lied about my age as well thinking the cop would go away. He then asked us for id's. We didn't have them. So, we told him our information (name and SSN). He didn't ask for our DOB. We were then carted off to jail.

I thought he would just go away after I said I was 21. He never asked me if I was sure that is how old I was after I gave him my name and SSN so I didn't know if I should just bear my soul and say I lied or if I wait for him to ask if we were sure that what we told him was the truth. He was being rude, I didn't want to step out of line so I was only answering the questions asked and doing exactly what I was told to do.

 

[Hound55]

I love it when people use this ridiculous argument. That's when you know they have no clue what they're talking about when it comes to police work.

First, there ARE officers out there doing those things. They're just not all doing that at once, because if they were, the little laws wouldn't be enforced. There are some directing traffic, handing out tickets, handling misdemeanors, dumb kids, loud parties, etc.

Second, cops don't generally just hang around waiting to stop crimes like a superhero. They certainly patrol certain areas closely in the event that this happens, but most of the time, they investigate and put a stop to whatever happens to come along during that patrol, be it misdemeanor or felony, and if a crime occurs that they weren't aware of previously, they respond to it and react to it.

You're dangerously close to acting like this officer actually decided to let a crime be committed or go unpunished in order to give a kid a hard time for no reason at all. Which is just silly.

It's entirely possible the officer was a prick. A lot of them are. It's also entirely possible chaseter was being a prick. What is pretty clear is that the officer was following the law. Which is what he's supposed to do. You want to make statements about whether that law is fair, etc, etc, go ahead, I may agree with you, but don't condemn the officer for doing what he's supposed to be doing in the first place.



I said it is an officer's job to uphold the law. I didn't say they all did it, or that they all did it to the same degree. The one chaseter encountered did. And I'm supposed to what, pity him because he got caught outright lying to someone who did choose to uphold the law? For whatever reason, he did something incredibly stupid. He paid the price for it. Hopefully he learned from it, but it seems that what he's "learned" is along the lines of "This is everyone else's fault but mine".

You're right, what the cop did would seem pretty extreme given the severity of the offense. You're also right that most officers probably wouldn't have hauled him into jail for underage drinking. I doubt we've heard the whole story. We never seem to around here.

Spot on.

 

[chaseter]

Yeap, I didn't tell the whole story Here is the whole story...enjoy.

It was a Friday night, about 10 pm. I had just gotten through playing GTA: San Andreas. My friend and I decided to go outside and drink because we lived at North Gate, party central. It was a football weekend so everyone was out and about. I think we were playing OU that weekend. You could hear people shouting, horns honking, and drunks every where. The bars were literally the block over. We wanted to people watch and chill with a cold one. People were everywhere. I think it was about 75-80 degrees, a rather warm night. Some construction was going on across the street and a road was closed off to accomodate the cranes and dump trucks. We were sitting on the tail gate of my truck, the street light from the intersection shining down upon us. We got a few drinks in and we could see the bicycle cop headed toward us. We knew we were caught. Should I run, rand through my mind. My friend was a fatty and I knew I could outrun him but I was on the back of my truck, I knew he could run the plates. The cop pulled up and asked us if we were legal to drink. My friend said he was 21, and then I followed. The cop asked us to poor out our drinks. My friend asked if he could finish his and the cop said no. He sighed and we poored out our drinks. He shined his light at my friend, asked if he had any identification on him. My friend said no and then he looked over at me. The light shined bright in my eyes and I said no, padding my pockets. He went back to my friend with his small flash light. He asked my friend his name. My friend gave his name, social, and hometown address. He was writing down notes furiously with the small pad and pen he had pulled out of his little satchel on his belt. He then looked over at me and I gave him the same information. The cop stepped back and called the station on his radio mounted to his shoulder. He ran our information and looked at us, writing down some more notes. He then said alright boys, if you will stand up and turn around, you are under arrest. We were shocked. I asked why and he said it was because I had lied to a police officer. I apologized and so did my friend but he said it was too late. He had never given us a chance or asked us to verify if the information was indeed correct. I knew that I shouldn't have lied. But, I had never been in this kind of trouble. I was scared, and the buzz was wearing off as things got real. I wished I had known how the situation would have turned out and how hindsight is always 20/20. I wished that he had warned me about the severity of the crime so that I would second guess what I was doing at the time. When you see cop shows, they always seem so reasonable and are always talking to the offender to work out a compromise. Some even drop all the charges and the kids walk away with a lesson learned. I guess it wasn't my night. We stood with the cop, waiting on the squad car. The radio buzzed and he answered. The car arrived and we got in. The drive wasn't long, about 15 minutes. We arrived at the city jail and were booked. I remember seeing how scary jail was from the inside. We were put in a holding cell for 10 hours with a guy that was arrested for beating up another man, a guy that was arrested for posession, and a few other guys that sat sulking in the corner. In the next cell, a guy screamed and pounded on the door for hours on end. We weren't given a phone call. We asked when we would get a phone call and they said soon each time. We were then transferred to central at 8 am the next morning. So, we had spent about 9 hours in the small city jail. County jail was about 30 minutes away in the adjacent town. We went by way of a large truck. We were then booked into county. We were thrown into a cell with about 20 guys and one phone. The pay phone in the cell of course had a waiting line. Guys sat on the phone for minutes on end talking to loved ones and asking for bail. My turn came up and I called my parents. I remember thinking how dissapointed they would be. I called about 11 am and my mother answered. She asked why the caller id showed up as Brazos County Jail on the phone. I sulked and told her what happened. She gave the phone to my father and I told him what happened. The first thing he told me was, "Well son, you officially beat my time." I smiled and he said to sit and wait, your real trouble will come after you get out. My friend called his parents and I assumed our parents talked. My dad made a call after looking up bail bondsmen in the area. We were bailed out at about 4pm Saturday afternoon. The bail bondsmen took us over to his office where he said our parents took care of the $200 up front fee. He told us when our court date was and to be there. Our other roommate picked us up and we went back to the apartment. My dad told me to go see a local lawyer to help us out. My friend and I split the cost and we visited the lawyer twice. Meanwhile, we had our first court visit for the MIP. We didn't have to see a judge because we just declared "No contest." We got 10 hours of community service, had to attend two seminars, a court fee around $100, and another fee for the charge. We then had to attend court on Valentine's Day of 2005. We got there early in suits and ties. Our lawyer showed up and took us in. The court was very busy. We sat in a large group with each person's name being called up. Our names came up and our lawyer went forward. He asked the judge to be lenient because it was Valentine's Day. I was disgusted that we payed this guy $500 each to say that. He told that we only lied about our age but the judge showed no leniency and we got 40 hours and 6 months probation. We walked out and the lawyer said, "Sorry guys." I wanted to punch him. I wanted to kick him in the balls and watch him stumble over the railed walkway behind him. We went to the Probationers office were we sat there with crack dealers and rapists. Yes, the guy next to me was on probation because of raping someone. I was again fearful. Our probation officer assigned us community service and we had to meet with him once a month. We had to pay more insane amounts of money each visit to the probation office. I think it was $200 each visit. So, in all I spent over a grand. I did learn my lesson and I always think of what I should have done that night. I wished the officer had been more friendly and lenient but he wasn't and I can't change that. I am sort of glad I went to jail. It is life experience and I am better for having done so. I never thought I would go to jail but now that I have, I have a story and a lesson. I remember going home for the summer, having to drive back 6 hours for a 10 minute visit to the probation officer. All of that ended at the end of the summer and my last punishment was to tell my grandparents and extended family what I had done. That was worse than staying in jail with the drug dealers. But, I thought to myself how stupid the reason was we went to jail. It was stupid on our part and it was stupid on the officer's part. My family scoffed it off than goodness. They were more dissapointed that I was drinking, one side of my family are strictly religious people that think farting is a sin. The other side made jokes and scoffed it off to life experience. It was like going to jail for protesting or streaking, something no one really cares about when you apply for a job and they run your record. But, when they ask you what happened, you have a funny little story to tell them and they smile. Did I leave anything out?

You also find on here that some people think that they are better than others. They like to pass judgement from a pedestal, looking down at you. They more than likely haven't been in most of the situations in which they describe as if they know.

 

[The Guard]

I think you'll find that most people here know better than to lie to a cop. Not just some.

What chance did he give? He asked once. He could have said to tell the truth or warn us the severity of the consequences surrounding lying about your age. He could have informed us that lying is a Class B misdemeanor and would land you jail time. He could have been friendly and personable so that the lesson he was teaching us also went hand in hand with a good experience with the law. What good teachers punish failure and never explain why you failed?

He could have, but he is not required to. At age 18, you are expected to know basic right from wrong, and to understand that doing things like breaking the law, lying, etc, often has consequences.

You were stupid enough to drink in public while underage, and then to lie to a cop who had your information, despite, by your own admission, apparently being conscious enough to know it was wrong.

Seems to me that WAS your chance. You have to read between the lines here a bit. The cop isn't always going to say "Now, I know you're breaking the law, but if you come clean now I'll let you off with what is essentially a warning".

You live, you learn. In theory.

I don't know how rude/friendly the officer was, as I was not there. But I do know this: It's not an officer's job to hold your hand and be polite with you, and be your friend when you're breaking the law, especially if you aren't cooperating with him, and lying to him. It's his and the system's job to make you think twice about breaking the law again. That means being stern, and yes, sometimes being a bit of an *******, so that your memory of the experience where you broke the law ISN'T pleasant.

He would not have let me off with a warning. I would have gotten an MIP regardless.

Which, as I understand it, is essentially a warning, compared to the other potential consequences.

He never even said that is what happens when you aren't truthful. He was like a robot. He was Robocop. Well, nm...Robocop still tells the bad guys to put down the gun before shooting them. I knew I would get in trouble regardless. The buzz made me think I could get away with it...drinking does that.I already said why I lied in here. He asked how old we were. My friend lied because he was asked first. So, being drunk, I lied about my age as well thinking the cop would go away. He then asked us for id's. We didn't have them. So, we told him our information (name and SSN). He didn't ask for our DOB. We were then carted off to jail.

So you thought...if you lied...the cop would go away.

Just like that?

Interesting.

Regardless. You got drunk when you were underage, and then lied to a cop about your age in an attempt to get out of trouble. That was really, really stupid. Honestly, now, I think you'd be better off just admitting you got drunk and did something stupid. At least then you wouldn't sound so ridiculous trying to rationalize it and place blame on someone other than yourself.

I thought he would just go away after I said I was 21. He never asked me if I was sure that is how old I was after I gave him my name and SSN so I didn't know if I should just bear my soul and say I lied or if I wait for him to ask if we were sure that what we told him was the truth. He was being rude, I didn't want to step out of line so I was only answering the questions asked and doing exactly what I was told to do.

He...never asked you...if you were sure...that's how old you were?

I don't think you understand how this works.

Obviously you weren't doing what he asked, because when he asked your age, instead of telling him your age...you lied about it.

The law is the law...hahahaha. I hope that you are 1 mph over the speed limit and you get a ticket. Please quit acting like you are holier than thou and have never sinned. Some cops are d-bags, that is the truth. I ran into a d-bag cop that night, the end. Why do you think there are so many spoofs of cops? You have never had a bad experience with a cop?

I expect to be punished when I break the law. I like it when cops give me a break, but when they don't, I usually understand why.

I have never said anything about never having done wrong myself. Now, stay with me here. You drank a beer when you were 18.

I leapt out of a speeding car that had just run a stop sign while racing another car in front of two cops when I was 18, got held at gunpoint, held on the ground, and ultimately let go with a warning three minutes later because I cooperated with the officers. Moreso, my friend, who had just run a stop sign while speeding, and had been racing, ALSO got off scott free. Because we cooperated.

So yes. I've been in the "What the hell's going to happen now?" situation. What I didn't do was make it more difficult for myself by lying, or, in your friend's rather hilarious case, asking to finish the beer.

Living in the real world has taught me that sometimes you get caught doing what society considers wrong, and that there are often consequences to doing so. I've had bad experiences with cops, sure. I've also had good ones.

He asked how old we were when he came over. I said 21. I then gave my name and ssn. How is that being a d-bag?

Uh...because you lied, and were uncooperative.

No one's judging you as a person for being scared or trying to get out of a situation. We're just saying it was stupid, given the situation you were in.

 

[Hound55]

You also find on here that some people think that they are better than others. They like to pass judgement from a pedestal, looking down at you. They more than likely haven't been in most of the situations in which they describe as if they know.

You know you sound like one of those immature pain-in-the-ass teenage girls from a show like Maury Povich when you say stuff like this, right?

"You don't know me! You don't know me!"

I've just been trying to make you take responsibility for what you've done, face up to it, grow a set of testicles and realise that its not this cop being a d-bag... he's doing his job... it was your decision to lie to him.

You knew he had you for MIP, apparently now your mind is working fast enough that you're considering whether or not you could make a run for it since the cop could run your plates... but you haven't thought "You know what, if I lie to this officer, that's going to be another offense compounded on top of the one I already have."

Its you trying to weasel out of things.

Just like you're trying to weasel out of this topic rather than say "You know what, that was my fault. I f***ed up and was stupid. I thought I could get out of trouble by lying and weaseling out, it was my fault." instead you've claimed that the cop was a d-bag, he didn't warn you specifically about the penalty for breaking another law which you should have been smart enough not to do in the first place and basically have looked to deflect blame every other way possible than manning up and accepting that it was a result of your own stupid decision.

If I do think I'm better than you in any way its because I'm mature enough to know that:
I have f***ed up over the course of my life
I will continue to f*** up over the course of my life
All of my actions have consequences and that should I find myself looking down the barrel of those consequences I should probably focus my attention on that which I can change in the future... the decision which put me in that position.

But now you've carried on so much down this line of deflecting blame every which way that even if you were to admit fault and say "OK, maybe that cop wasn't such a d-bag" people probably wouldn't believe you're being earnest regardless... because people have to EARN trust and respect.

And I'll end now before I come off as too big a preachy wanker...

 

[The Guard]

"Whatevah! I run with twelve gangs! And we only commit hate crimes!"

 

[chaseter]

And I'll end now before I come off as too big a preachy wanker...

Too late

I could understand all of this ruckus had I committed manslaughter or raped someone. I think two of you are taking this way too far and too high on your horse. I lied to a cop over a beer, went to jail. It is no big deal. I don't care that I went to jail. I got the maximum for something so little, so arbitrary is what I complain about. The cop could have been nicer. I could have told the truth. Do I need you telling me that I shouldn't have lied? No. I figured that out the second I got hand cuffed so thanks for the redundant info.

Please, please both of you tell me if you have been to jail for something. If not, then please get off your high horse. Were you there Hound? Did you know how the cop acted? Or do you assume?

 

[The Guard]

Yeah, we didn't make it into a big deal. You did, with your venemous tirade against cops and lawyers and whatnot.

 

[chaseter]

I didn't know I went on a tyrade against all lawyers. I also didn't know I went on a tyrade against all cops. Nice

 

[Hound55]

Please, please both of you tell me if you have been to jail for something. If not, then please get off your high horse. Were you there Hound? Did you know how the cop acted? Or do you assume?

No, I haven't.

Is it supposed to somehow weaken my position that I'm not stupid enough to lie to a police officer?

I read how you described the incident, also reading nothing that sounded like d-baggery on the police officer's end... despite knowing that in all likelihood if your story was to have a slant it would be towards your P.O.V. So if you couldn't make it seem like he'd done something valid to make him be considered a d-bag... then no, I don't think he was.

I have what you're saying to go off of... yet you still haven't managed to make him come across like a d-bag.

Although on the bright side that likely means you aren't lying ABOUT the officer, as you had lied TO the officer...

 

[Hound55]

I didn't know I went on a tyrade against all lawyers. I also didn't know I went on a tyrade against all cops. Nice

I didn't see him say "all" cops or for that matter "all" lawyers. He said cops and lawyers which is a general statement.

Again... READ.

 

[ultrasuperduckman]

This is a thrilling debate.

Ha!

I can understand thinkingt he cop would go away if you told him what he wanted to hear. It's happened with me, but it's a rare shot. The times I been busted by a few cops when I was underage I told the truth and got away with nothing. Yes, the cop sounds like an *******, probably upset for having to ride a bike. Most cops would have given you a better warning but the deal is not that they shouldn't, it's that they don't have to in the first place. You shouldn't have lied, and you know that now you say. So that's what counts.

I got back to court on Oct 13th guys. I'm gonna' look into those meetings Guard mentioned for sure. Now I just got to try and find a lawyer.

 

[chaseter]

No, I haven't.

Is it supposed to somehow weaken my position that I'm not stupid enough to lie to a police officer?

I read how you described the incident, also reading nothing that sounded like d-baggery on the police officer's end... despite knowing that in all likelihood if your story was to have a slant it would be towards your P.O.V. So if you couldn't make it seem like he'd done something valid to make him be considered a d-bag... then no, I don't think he was.

I have what you're saying to go off of... yet you still haven't managed to make him come across like a d-bag.

Although on the bright side that likely means you aren't lying ABOUT the officer, as you had lied TO the officer...

Thank you for being truthful. Now be 'mature' enough to not spew life lessons for things that you haven't experienced.

I will admit that maybe my usage of the word d-bag was a little harsh in describing the cop. I later mentioned of him being a robot and I think that fits the situation better. He was a robot. He could have been personable and friendly, he wasn't. But, we didn't give him a reason to be mean to us. So, he was more of a robot than a d-bag.

Cops, like anybody else, can choose to be friendly, offer advice, and even educate you.

 

[chaseter]

I didn't see him say "all" cops or for that matter "all" lawyers. He said cops and lawyers which is a general statement.

Again... READ.

I didn't know that my ONE lawyer and ONE cop experience in the story warranted him to use the plural form to describe my tyrade.

 

[Hound55]

I didn't know that my ONE lawyer and ONE cop experience in the story warranted him to use the plural form to describe my tyrade.

So you not only don't read what other people write, you also don't read what you write..?

Go back over the whole thread and see how it escalates from one cop being a d-bad, to you claiming "most", to back-pedaling to your most recent stance of "a few" just a few posts back...

 

[The Guard]

I got back to court on Oct 13th guys. I'm gonna' look into those meetings Guard mentioned for sure. Now I just got to try and find a lawyer.

I can't take credit for suggesting those meetings. .

I think they'll give you a lawyer if you can't afford one outright.

If you don't have REALLY GOOD reason to believe you can get off scott free, I wouldn't waste your money on a lawyer of your own.

The preceding was not legal advice.