-
Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?
Go here:
Edit Account Details and Profile
Drinking and driving.
- Thread starter utswimmer37
- Start date
If you want a no BS answer, then buy some time from an attorney in your state/jurisdiction who specializes in the subject at hand. Write it down, put it in with your registration and insurance card. "You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. They're your friends. Write this down: "We gotta play it one day at a time." Rats, Bull Durham movie quotes creeping in.
A favorable FST, where you didn't fail any of the cues, and the police report was positive could help you. But all it takes is for you to do something stupid during it, plus get caught on the dash cam and it can get used against you.
I can't answer the question if you can refuse or not, but I would guess it is more hurtful than helpful in most cases. Maybe some of the former police we have on here can chime in.
I can't answer the question if you can refuse or not, but I would guess it is more hurtful than helpful in most cases. Maybe some of the former police we have on here can chime in.
In California, you cannot refuse a breathalyzer. If you do, it's automatic 1 year suspension and then you will have a bunch of cops ever so gently holding you down to take blood for a test anyways.
Having been the lucky recipient of a safety standaround today, we had a cop come and talk about holiday safety issues on the road and this topic came up.
Having been the lucky recipient of a safety standaround today, we had a cop come and talk about holiday safety issues on the road and this topic came up.
Good grief. He had THAT much trouble finding an open spot in that lot away from everyone else?This is not true in all cases and in all locations. As with everything, it depends on the circumstances. I had a Sailor recently who actually made it through the gate and back to the barracks, only to be reported (and arrested) because he was having significant issues trying to park at the on-base Subway. Everything was handled by the Navy, no civilian law enforcement involvement. But, just my .02c
There's some A-pool level rumormongering and sea lawyering going on in this thread by people extrapolating their experience on one base to the world. The interface between townies and base personnel is going to depend on Federal, State, and local laws, as well as the relationships between key players on base and in the local government. For you junior kids reading, this is key. Why?
Well, say you have an outstanding junior Sailor who is the child of alcoholics, and turns out to have a drinking problem. Specifically, though physically small, they're a violent drunk. This individual finds this out by getting lit for the first time while underage, and then beating the crap out of their significant other when they try to take the keys. No history of DV, no intent to do it again, horrible remorse the next day. Scared away from booze for life, even without the DAPA treatment and no-drink order coming down the pipe. But in this particular state, the legislature has decreed that when the cops get called to a dispute between significant others, even if not married/engaged, someone must go to jail. Putting this individual in the clink and headed for arraignment on assault charges. Unless, that is, you have a JAG who lets you know that the base has a good relationship with the city attorney, who knows that the local Navy has historically not brushed shit under the rug. And that after reviewing the facts of this particular case, the city attorney is willing to drop the charges, in exchange for the CO agreeing to take this individual to mast. Which allows you to take a huge fuckup and turn it from a conviction and jail time which would have ruined someone's life into NJP, a hobbled but not dead Navy career, and a painful life lesson, without the stigma of conviction following this Sailor around for life, a Sailor who has since rebounded better than anyone could have dreamed. In retrospect, one of the things in my career which I'm proudest.
The important thing for you future Legal Os reading this thread is to network your way into a small Rolodex of JAGs. By which I mean, when you go to Legal O Skool, first, fucking pay attention and do the damn homework. Second, when the RLSO folks do their brief and say "hey, call us if you've got questions," keep their contact info. It's great when you're new to be able to do a JO-to-JO "hey dude, this is my situation, am I cool" before briefing your CO. Because they're lawyers. Their job is to give people legal advice. The only hangup you will run into (douches excepted), depending on who your local JAGs report to, is that they are first bound to recuse themselves from giving any advice which would later keep them from being able to ethically advise their boss without a conflict of interest, because, well, duh. He/she is a Captain or Admiral and you're . . . not. Hence having two or three others to call in a pinch with dumb questions for your first couple of months. But most are glad to help. Plus, you can spread the dumb questions around, and no one JAG thinks you're too much of a moron.
Last edited:
Yeah, this kid was a train wreck from A to Z and someone we spent a LOT of time trying to fix. This incident found his BAC almost 4 times the legal limit. The funny part was he was observed and ultimately turned in by the SAPR barracks watch !!!! Don't askGood grief. He had THAT much trouble finding an open spot in that lot away from everyone else?
Don't know if it is the case in the other services, but in the Coast Guard, new policy says that if you refuse to blow you will be processed for discharge. Something to think about.
Sounds like a huge asshole that doesn't need saving. In my opinion and not really relevant to the thread.
Trust me when I say there's more to the story, but I'm being deliberately vague on a public forum for the sake of anonymity. I'm certainly not minimizing how bad DV is, but this particular case was the exception that proves the rule. What actually happened needed to be punished, but not to the degree that would have happened in civ court. What ended up happening IMO was well-tailored to the offense. PM me if you want; it was a bit of a unique situation. Yes, people who are OK with using violence in relationships to try to control their partner obviously need to be crushed. This wasn't that. What came down at Mast and afterward was a classic case of using punishment to successfully rehabilitate a person instead of just stomping on them with both feet and throwing them out of the Navy. That's what makes me proud.
My greater point was about being able to use people's discretion to come up with an appropriate punishment that fits the facts of the case, rather than let the law mindlessly hammer people. Sort of like when a CO takes a sexual assault case the local prosecutor won't touch, convenes a court-martial, and puts the scumbag away. Sometimes the military justice system and the CO's unique discretion can be used to fashion a more appropriate outcome to a case in our "zero tolerance" society.
Last edited:
KnightFlight
Well-Known Member
You can be arrested for reckless driving even if you blow under the legal limit. 0.08 is the legal limit for a DUI specifically. When you sign for a drivers license you pledge to not consume any alcohol and drive a motor vehicle. That means if you have 2 beers and the cop really wants to be D, you technically can still go to jail.
Citation Required
KnightFlight
Well-Known Member
What ever you did illegal to be pulled over in the first place.
Can't find anything for what you sign for, but a lot of states state something along the same lines as florida, "When you sign your drivers license you have agreed to take these [sobriety] tests upon request."
http://www.dmvflorida.org/florida-dui.shtml
Yeah, this kid was a train wreck from A to Z and someone we spent a LOT of time trying to fix. This incident found his BAC almost 4 times the legal limit. The funny part was he was observed and ultimately turned in by the SAPR barracks watch !!!! Don't ask
The SAPR barracks watch?
Is there really a duty solely dedicated to preventing sexual assault? Fuck this world.