[DUI Zone]

in reply to: I blew dirty, what’s next? #166

no worries

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: I blew dirty, what’s next? #164

That’s good. A nice PO is a blessing. Yeah, you want to tell them before they find out after a calibration. They would rather hear it from you vs seeing the log.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: I blew dirty, what’s next? #162

Sorry to hear. I know it’s a knot in the stomach situation, but if this is your first time ever doing it, they will usually apply a punishment. It depends on your PO and situation, really. I had alcohol detected on mine once but it was from nasal spray, even after the device manufacturer admitted nasal spray has a chemical that breaks down into an alcohol in the body, I was still given a punishment of a week in AA. I will say that in my experience, PO’s hate excuses because they’ve heard them all. They prefer honesty. They would rather have someone come to them and say “Hey, I messed up and had a drink and thought it was out of my system but wasn’t, so the device detected alcohol on my breath” vs “My dog licked my mouth after drinking beer” type excuse. You could bend the truth a little and say you had bad breath and used mouthwash and wasn’t thinking, but personally, I would just come clean. If you have a laid back PO and you come clean, they may give you a light punishment. Good luck.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: All About the Attorney #156

To further elaborate on what @Jimba said, I say all over this site that you have to find the right attorney for you. Make sure they have plenty of experience in cases like yours, possibly a previous District Attorney in the same court, and know the judge and current DA. It makes all the difference in the world. Again, these charges will not come off of your record, so you have to do it right on the first try.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: All About the Attorney #155

That’s amazing Jimba! And you are 1000% correct about the attorney making the difference. Thanks for sharing

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: 3rd and is it really 3 strikes and you’re out? #144

Hi Raul, yes most states come down hard on the 3rd. In Texas it is a 3rd degree felony charge which carries a minimum of 2 years and max of 10 years if you lose in trial, but plea deals carry a mandatory 10 days in jail. Probation can be 8-10 years. It’s a very serious charge.

My attorney was able to knock my 3rd down to a lesser charge of misdemeanor A and I received 15 days of weekend jail time and 2 years probation. I have another friend who received her 3rd and was convicted of a felony. She was able to do DWI Court where she attends once a week for 1 year with the judge and DA, along with others in the same situation. Doing the DWI Court lessened her probation to 5 years.

I’m not sure what state you are in, but getting an expert attorney who works with felony charges is very important. It’s always important, but felonies are a whole new world. If convicted, you lose the ability to vote or carry a firearm. You can’t be caught hanging out with another felon … the rules are quite extensive.

But it is not the end of the world. Get a great attorney to fight for you. Just remember that if you don’t see a way to go to trial and win, take the plea. In my situation, had I gone to trial and lost, I would have served a minimum of 2 years in jail. The jury can only give a minimum of 2 years whereas the DA and judge can give you just the mandatory jail sentence.

Best of luck to you. Sounds like alcohol has taken over you like it did me. Sobriety is your best move. I’ve been sober for over 4 years and life is better than it was. The most important part of sobriety in our situation is there’s no chance of screwing up and getting another one. And I’m not preaching, I’m just telling you my situation.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: What should I expect? #143

I forgot to mention, on my 3rd charge I also was not driving. It was during the shutdown for covid and we tried to Uber but there were no drivers. Rather than drive, I chose to just sleep it off in a private parking lot. The shit part was, it was cold and I had the car running for heat. Keys in a car equals operating a vehicle. The police said they thought there was a robbery, even though no one called them. Long story, but the judge believed me and my attorney was awesome. He was able to knock my charge down to a lesser charge because I wasn’t driving, so make sure your attorney sees a way out for you.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: What should I expect? #142

Sorry to hear guy. It really depends on what your attorney can work out with the DA. I’m not an attorney, but in my situation my attorney was able to knock it down to a DWI 1st, which meant no jail. In Texas, there is a mandatory 3 day jail sentence, but if you sat a night in jail, that would count towards those 3 days. I would google “DUI 2 [enter state] punishment] and see if your state has a mandatory jail sentence. It’s also a Class A Misdemeanor in TX, which is highest misdemeanor you can get. I would make sure you get a great attorney (read https://dui.zone/ ) and since you weren’t driving, maybe your attorney can get a decision to either have it dismissed or a plea of a 1st instead of 2nd.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: How to hide doing the breath test #139

Over my 3 convictions and about 8.5 years of driving with one in my vehicle, I can tell you it is not easy. The device I have, you have to hum when you blow and it makes a really loud beeping noise. Tinted windows help hide what you’re doing a little, but I usually will see if anyone is beside me in their vehicle and if so, I will put that arm on the steering wheel on their side and blow into the device letting my arm hide the device. I also know when my device is about to ask for a re-test so if I pull up to a red light, I try to stop where no one is beside me to see. The noise it makes is impossible to conceal, but if I’m at a drive through and know it’s about to go off, I will put it under my leg and it does a good job of muting the loud beep it throws at me. I’ve heard of people putting them in cups they can rip/cut so it looks like you are drinking a drink, but I’ve never tried that. The worst is having others in the car with you. I typically try to avoid company in my car unless they know about the device. It’s very embarrassing, which is why I think it’s one of the worst things about the whole DUI/DWI process.

For my device, I blow to start, then between 8-13 minutes later I have to re-test, and then it’s about 30 minutes after that before I re-test again and it continues on the 30 minute cycle for re-tests. I suggest timing when you have to re-test so you get an idea when the next one is coming so you can prepare.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: Is the food in jail as bad as they say? #134

It’s horrible. Mentioned in my other reply to you to read my write up about my time served https://dui.zone/weekend-jail-time-in-denton-county-texas/

• This reply was modified 5 months, 4 weeks ago by DUI Zone.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: How bad is jail? #132

@JoeJoe the first thing I would say is it depends on what jail and what state you have to go to. I know some county jails around the US can be pretty tough, but I will say they should be separating the violent inmates from the non-violent. I had to spend 4 weekends in jail and I wrote all about my experience here in Texas. https://dui.zone/weekend-jail-time-in-denton-county-texas/

I would first ask your attorney if weekend jail is an option, or even a work release program if you have a job. With weekends, you check in Friday evening and out early Monday morning and it counts as 4 days. It’s an option I had because the work release hadn’t opened after covid. The work release program usually means you are released early each weekday so you can go home, get ready for work, and continue working your job. Then you go back in the evening. You spend the night at the jail and get 2 days towards your time. Your attorney would be able to confirm if they have these options available. The weekends were a great way for me to break up the 15 days and you basically are there the entire day half of the time.

But I suggest reading my experience. It might ease your mind.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: How bad does a DUI affect your insurance? #130

I have a trick for you and anyone else that reads this…I have had 3 convictions and it has not affected my insurance at all. How, you ask? I NEVER ask for my rates to be changed. If they hike my rate, I accept it and move on. The trick is to never force them to review your record. When you ask for a lower rate or try to dispute the cost with them, they will pull your record, and boom, they will see your conviction(s).

Matter of fact, during my probation and since my 1st conviction, I continued to get safe driver checks from my agency. This has gone on for 11 years since my first conviction.

You are not legally obligated to tell your insurance and they will receive no notification from the DMV about the conviction. If your insurance hikes your rate, which it seems that’s all they do these days, just accept it and move on. It will be much better than them pulling your record and probably paying an even higher premium or being dropped.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: Failed a interlock device #127

Yeah, I’ve been there and know the freakout factor. In my case, it wasn’t from drinking, it was nasal spray, but I was in complete panic mode.

This is what you “HAVE” to do. You get in touch with your PO ASAP and be 100% honest. Tell him/her you messed up and had some drinks and blew the next morning and failed. The one thing PO’s love is honesty because they are lied to constantly. She is going to find out either way, so you need to get ahead of things and tell him/her yourself. Expect a punishment, but due to your honesty, you are a lot less likely to go to jail. Especially if you have been clean and cooperative. Everyone makes mistakes and they understand that, so honesty really is your best move.

Also, if you are going to drink on probation, remember they can test up to 80 hours after your last drink. You need to do the math before blowing into your device. If you had 5 drinks, give yourself 6-7 hours after drinking at a minimum. I would recommend 10-12 to be safe, but it takes your body 1 hour to process 1 drink. This also depends on your body size, so if you are super skinny, definitely go with the 12 hour time before blowing. If you are a big body type, you could go for 1 hour per drink then add 1 extra hour at the end.

And remember, I am not a lawyer, I’m simply giving you my opinions and my experience of having been through this. I also have many friends that have been through this.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: Does the arrest get off your record? #126

The only way a DUI charge is removed from your record is if you have it dismissed in court or you are found not guilty by trial. Otherwise, it stays with you for life. I know that is the situation here in Texas, but I think it’s pretty standard across the US. They want to know if you are a habitual offender, like me. 🙁 You can go 15-20 years between convictions and they treat the first one like it just happened. Or say you get 2 in your 20’s, then in your 50’s you get a 3rd…it’s a felony. Because of that, they don’t let you remove them.

[DUI Zone]

in reply to: How to find a good lawyer? #117

Hey Willie. I detail this on the home page if you haven’t read it https://dui.zone/

Basically, you want to find an attorney that will be with you through the whole thing. Large firms with many attorneys will pass you off to someone else, but if you find one that has 1 or 2 attorneys on staff, you will have the same attorney the whole time. This is a huge life event and you want to feel comfortable throughout the process and when they send someone you have never talked to, you get uncomfortable.

If you find an attorney that sounds good, read all of their reviews…good and bad. When you come across an attorney who isn’t great, you will see a lot of the same complaints from people.

If you have the money, spend it on your attorney. The ones that charge a lot do so because they are highly sought after. Someone charging a small amount is usually brand new or doesn’t have a great reputation and is trying to get business with low prices.

Hope this helps.

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