DUI arrest but not charged

Hey,


I was recently (two weeks ago or so) arrested on suspicion of DUI but I am not going to be charged. I received a letter from the DA saying "I have no pending charges nor any future charges".

Further background info:
I originally was applying for both the AF and Navy but the AF selection board was first so I just kept up with the AF. I was selected for OTS and was scheduled to leave to start OTS last month. However, a week before I was supposed to leave I was pulled over and subsequently arrested on suspicion of DUI. A week later I received a letter from the DA stating, "I have no pending charges nor any future charges". Basically, I was arrested but the charges were never filed due to lack of evidence and it being a bad arrest on the part of the officer. However, the AF didn't like the fact I was arrested and took my OTS slot. I was wondering what the outlook would be on applying for Navy OCS.

Any of advice would be helpful. Thanks for your time.

edit: Brett beat me to it.

I was pulled over by a campus police officer leaving an area near campus where all the bars are located. I had two beers and was scared ( I had never been pulled over in my life and I was a week away from leaving) and didn't know what to do.

The officer's exact words were " You rushed through that left turn". Then made me do a field sobriety test. I failed and now I'm here. Like I said, the DA didn't even file the charges. It was just an arrest.

I can tell nothing Brett said was absorbed into your brain housing unit. The fact that you were arrested is enough cause for the AF to drop you. Make sense ?

It will still show up on your record as an arrest, you must disclose it, and you would have to explain why you were dropped from the AF program, and why you make poor choices.

If you were in the military and got in the same situation that would be enough to go to captains mast for Article 111. It would not have mattered that the police department did not go through with charging you for the crime. Two beers is not likely going to get you past .08 (unless they were 40s) so thats why they let you go. If you were in the military that is pretty much a career killer. Next time call a cab or get a designated driver no matter how many drinks you have had.

I agree with what has been said above, but I'll tell you this. I have several alcohol related citations I received as a minor, and I am still going up for the April board. I just had a security interview that was generated because of those charges in which I fully disclosed what, why, when how etc of each of those citations. I know very well that someone who is identical to me in stats but doesn't have that kind of charge will get picked over me, but that hasn't stopped me from applying.

Yeah, you may have issues getting in, and it may be a career stopper; but the worst they can say is no. Don't waste time thinking about the "what are my chances" aspect; spend time making up for it with good grades, high ASTB scores etc. At least if they say no you know that you gave yourself every possible chance to get accepted.

Disclose it, the paper work will be a pain, but apply anyways. If you are accepted, paper work will continue to be a pain, painful price, but a firm reminder to always have a plan if you are drinking and discourage any of your buddies or anyone else to drive at all... Because people in and out of the service still make poor decisions, risking all they have achieved.

To me, that still shows a poor choice. You knew you would be drinking, and you didn't have a plan to get home that didn't involve you driving. Were you drunk? Probably not. . .but was there enough reason for the officer to suspect you might be? Yes. Unfortunately, perception is reality in the application process. The best thing you can do now is keep your hands clean and put together an application. People have been accepted into the Navy for worse, but as others have pointed out, the Navy doesn't have a shortage of applicants right now and the board will probably be very competitive. Do your best and see what happens, you'll never know unless you apply.

In addition you don't have to be "drunk" to be charged, several states have driving while impaired, you can be .02 but if you show impairment your done, there was a story last year in Navy Times where a CO was relieved, he blew like .04 and was still charged because he was impaired.

There are a few things that help with law violations, the less the crime is the better and time from when it happened.

I see what some are saying, but in the end of the day, he was not charged. I had a guy in my command get pulled over and got arrested for dui. He was not drunk, he was on medication given by doctor. In the end he did not get charged, the case was dropped and he never went to captains mast. Being arrested and being charged are two completely different things. To take it to the extreme you get arrested for suspsion of murder but dont get charged, absolutely nothing happens. It happened to my friend. He went to the jail and was released a few hours later. Wrong place wrong time. His record is clean just like the OP. I dont see why it would matter. When the app says police record, he can honeslty say no.

Application says "have you ever been arrested?"

dohhhh..disregard the last then.. i thought it said convicted..

but the record isn't really "clean" any arrest shows up as you are put in the system, had a guy get his clearance changed to "no determination made" because he was arrested on leave and didn't end up being charged but OPM on a regular sweep found it and he didn't respond to request on what happened, but that was the commands fault.

Pure utter PC bullshit. I go out to dinner all the time knowing I'll have a drink or two and drive home afterward. There is a difference between drinking & driving responisbily within the legal limits and getting drunk then driving. There is no reason to take a cab or have a designated driver everytime I want a beer with my burger or a margarita with my nachos.

I also think it is pure PC BS that the Air Force dropped the OP as all charges were dropped. Many people get arrested mistakenly and there should be no penalty when it happens. I know the Navy and the other services are just as bad about this. Another reason it's a good time to be retired.

I'm with eas7888 on this one. Not everywhere you go nowadays will allow you to have one or two beers and get behind the wheel. Here in Japan, a .03 is enough to charge you with a DWDI (driving while drinking indicated). That is enough to be prosecuted off base by the civilian authorities and all bases in Japan have adopted the same laws. Also, in Italy they are cracking down on drivers who are under the influence as well with similar laws.

A sailor stationed in Atsugi last year was charged with vehicular manslaughter and DUI after he pulled into a parking lot and struck a Japanese national on a scooter, who fell down and actually ended up dying from injuries sustained. The sailor registered at a .03 BAC which is quite low, however guess who is in Japanese prison awaiting these charges? This sailor. Here is the article if you don't believe me http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific...indicted-on-manslaughter-dui-charges-1.134987

In my opinion I do not think it is a good idea to get behind the wheel after drinking, regardless how much you have had. How do I know this? From my 3 1/2 years doing Military Police work here in Japan and the dozens of careers I have seen crushed by the same mentality you are portraying that having one or two and driving is "okay".

Okay, where do you draw the line? Does a .03 equate to the asshat that is texting while driving? I don't think so yet the punishment involved is not even close. I'm sorry but you can't convince me that a .03 significantly decreased a persons reaction times to save the guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I get it, drinking and driving is bad, but one drink is not going to degrade a person so far that they can't operate a vehicle.

Hal, I'm not saying people don't know their limits. . .but the officer apparently had enough cause to warrant an arrest. Obviously, I wasn't there, and apparently there wasn't enough evidence to pursue a conviction, though that could be for a number of technicalities.

I understand what you're saying, however, the system is supposed to be "Innocent until proven guilty" and in this case, it seems like the OP has been shown to be guilty until proven innocent.

A .03 is not a very significant amount of alcohol in the system but it is enough to decrease reaction times. I do not have the figures in front of me but NHTSA has researched this and there are affects when one consumes alcohol and gets behind the wheel.

Regardless, alcohol in the system can be a considered a "contributing factor" to the totality of the traffic accident I referenced. Just like how most of the time (i'd say 90%) when individuals are involved in fights, domestic violence, alcohol is a contributing factor.

A contributing factor. . . one of my favorite things someone says. Ok, a very quick google search show's this http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101019162149.htm If you read they have .05 and below as a moderate intoxication. Also noted was

I read that to be there really isn't a difference.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/research/pub/impaired_driving/BAC/discus-conclud.html

Here is a summary on a study conducted by NHTSA on the effects of different levels of BAC.

I was stationed in sicily.. Some of the most absurdly ridiculous lunatic retarded drivers live there. DUI was a huge thing there. The CO used to say if you get a DUI i will crush you or if you drive drunk on my street i will cut you..Im sure he was bluffing on that, but every night from 9pm to 6am they had dui checkpoints at every entry on every base and housing units. To be considered for a DUI you needed .05.. To be classified as a DUI under itlaian laws you needed a .08. I say all this because in a foreign country with retarded drivers and horrendous roads, it was determined by the NAVY that anything under .05 was good to go. .03 is a joke.. It is 1 1/2 beer. And also, alcohol affects each person differently. Some people can drive safely under the influence and some can not at all. There is a Harvard study or some other Ivy League study on the matter. I have read it. There is also a study that like 8% of population can drive and talk on the phone with absolutely no drawbacks.
I would like to rip the other 92%'s heads off...

As a officer recruiter I would need more information to give you a good answer. What was your BAC? What was your degree in? What was your GPA? Also how well you do on the ASTB test if you haven't taken it. And you would probably require a waiver? Would need to see court docs - police reports - disposition. Your more than welcome to call my office at 916-631-7596 ask for William.