What to say in court...

Hey Guys......

Im am in a pretty fucked up situation....

aprx. 2 months ago i was working as usual( am a bartender ) and we decided to have a few drinks after work, which became MANY drinks and shots and so on.....

Howewer, my boss gave me like 20 dollars for a cab ride home, and i waited for 45 minutes for that cab and than i got irritated.... went up to my own car, turned on the ignition (too get the warm in the air condition going), got my winter jacket and got warm.... after a few minutes while i was getting warm and cosy someone knocked on my window...

and guess who? the cops of course,.... i came downtown and got a alchohol concentration of 2,26 which is pretty high... and i can risk losing my license for 3 years.

Now when i took my license in Iceland, i was told that you can be in the car as far as it does not move.... and mine didn't. But since now i am in Denmark i have to obey their laws.. but i did not know unfortunatley.

I am charged for Intentional Drunken Driving, (same as drunken driving) and am up for court in august... do you guys have some advices ?

Only thing i've got is that in my work as a bartender i confiscate keys, and talk people from drinking and driving, and have experienced accidents which my friends have been evovled in and such, so that my "moral" and self responsibility is too smart to drive a car drunk,...

U guys have some help??

You should say exactly the same thing you've written here. If the judge believes you, they won't take your license away.

get your boss to be your attestor

Quote:

Originally posted by ArneDK

Hey Guys......

Im am in a pretty fucked up situation....

aprx. 2 months ago i was working as usual( am a bartender ) and we decided to have a few drinks after work, which became MANY drinks and shots and so on.....

Howewer, my boss gave me like 20 dollars for a cab ride home, and i waited for 45 minutes for that cab and than i got irritated.... went up to my own car, turned on the ignition (too get the warm in the air condition going), got my winter jacket and got warm.... after a few minutes while i was getting warm and cosy someone knocked on my window...

and guess who? the cops of course,.... i came downtown and got a alchohol concentration of 2,26 which is pretty high... and i can risk losing my license for 3 years.

Now when i took my license in Iceland, i was told that you can be in the car as far as it does not move.... and mine didn't. But since now i am in Denmark i have to obey their laws.. but i did not know unfortunatley.

I am charged for Intentional Drunken Driving, (same as drunken driving) and am up for court in august... do you guys have some advices ?

Only thing i've got is that in my work as a bartender i confiscate keys, and talk people from drinking and driving, and have experienced accidents which my friends have been evovled in and such, so that my "moral" and self responsibility is too smart to drive a car drunk,...

U guys have some help??

just tell the truth buddy

i feel bad for you if you really werent drinking and driving

just be like ask the cops, the car had clearly been running for a while, if you were going to drive you'd have done it a while ago but you were just trying to warm up, you had placed a call to the cab company (any chance of getting a phone record for that)

i genuinely feel bad for you if you're truly innocent here

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just tell the truth buddy

i feel bad for you if you really werent drinking and driving

just be like ask the cops, the car had clearly been running for a while, if you were going to drive you'd have done it a while ago but you were just trying to warm up, you had placed a call to the cab company (any chance of getting a phone record for that)

i genuinely feel bad for you if you're truly innocent here
[/reply]

Yes, pretty innocent over here.... only illegal thing i have done with my car is getting a parking ticket...

Have tried to find a phone record, but i did it too late and they had erased it

Am going to check the police file soon, and my boss is going to be my attestor ...

best of luck, arne!

I think i have qoute that fit's that evening in general...

"My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying."

Ps. Thx BigJ

Unfortunately in front of a jugde you have two thinks to keep in mind:
The law only acept an existing rule that means
don´t sit or drive drunk as a driver in a car.
Problem is that you use the engine - and with a concnetration of 2,26 the jugde will tell you that next step after using the heating of car is to drive while no cap was available.
Second fact is that due to your job you must know not to use a car in any cases! From my point of view it´s not an advantage for you to tell this story.

sorry to say and good luck

for future reference, sit in the passenger's seat so there would be no doubt you werent driving

Get the very best lawyer you can afford and keep quiet!

i wouldn't be so anxious. there's no evidence that you were driving the car at the time. so, the only thing they have against you is the fact that you were sitting in a car. that's it. what crime is that?? wish you all the best in the court mate!!

Quote:

Originally posted by Gismou

i wouldn't be so anxious. there's no evidence that you were driving the car at the time. so, the only thing they have against you is the fact that you were sitting in a car. that's it. what crime is that?? wish you all the best in the court mate!!

it actually could be a crime, because it could show intent to drive

there's such things as attempted murder, attempted suicide

the point is for him to prove he had no intent to drive

Quote:

Originally posted by wacki1

Unfortunately in front of a jugde you have two thinks to keep in mind:
The law only acept an existing rule that means
don´t sit or drive drunk as a driver in a car.
Problem is that you use the engine - and with a concnetration of 2,26 the jugde will tell you that next step after using the heating of car is to drive while no cap was available.
Second fact is that due to your job you must know not to use a car in any cases! From my point of view it´s not an advantage for you to tell this story.

sorry to say and good luck

Quote:

Originally posted by Toffo

Get the very best lawyer you can afford and keep quiet!

both are right, good luck dude

That's fucked up shit. I bet it's the same policy in Finland. But our law-system gives you strict rules to play, if you can show you didn't anything wrong, the case is closed. You have to ask your boss to witness you didn't drive and the cab was on it's way. I don't think it's criminal to sit on the driver's seat while influenced.

Quote:

Originally posted by Ascaris

That's fucked up shit. I bet it's the same policy in Finland. But our law-system gives you strict rules to play, if you can show you didn't anything wrong, the case is closed. You have to ask your boss to witness you didn't drive and the cab was on it's way. I don't think it's criminal to sit on the driver's seat while influenced.

here in germany it is, if the engine is running, you are guilty.

Drunk driving laws can be hard to deal with at times. In most of the US it is illegal to put the keys in the ignition while drunk, let alone cut the car on. In some jurisdictions, it is illegal to get behind the wheel, even with the ignition off and the keys in your pocket. It shows intent.

Throw yourself at the mercy of the court and explain exactly as you have here. If you have any way of showing the temperature that night was really cold, it may help. If it is truly your first offense of this nature, you may be able to get the judge to drop it or reduce it to something much lower.

I HOPE it's not the same policy as in Finland. In Finnish law sitting on the drivers seat with alcohol in blood IS driving under influence, even if the engine is not running, or even if you don't have the key. Sitting on any other seat is ok.

Turning the engine on from the passenger seat would be drinking and driving again, because you are not allowed to touch the controls under influence regardless of where you sit.

Turning the engine on is also a bit hard from the passenger seat. You would need to shift the transmission to neutral, which might require pressing the clutch pedal (most cars in Europe are stick).

Absolutely imperative that you get the records from the phone company showing that you placed the call to the cab company.This will do two things, it will directly negate the charge that you were intendng to drive, if that is an essential element of the crime. Two, it will give you credibility by corroborating a part of your story.

Veracity transfers. If the judge sees you can be believed on that point, he might believe the other parts of your story as well.

I would also call you boss as a witness to testify that he gave you the 20;

Call the cab company and get the records from dispatch. Also, over here I would call as a witness from the cab company to verify that they were busy that night, cabs were delayed, and verify that they had you on the list.

I don't know how it works there but here there would be a presumption that if you were in the seat with the motor running you wouldbe guilty but you can rebut the presumption. I doubt that the crime would actually be sitting in the seat. That would be rather harsh. I could easily be wrong though.

The law should be printed and your attorney should explain that to you. You story seems plausible to an american. Good luck.

Quote:

Originally posted by ÜberPervert™

I HOPE it's not the same policy as in Finland. In Finnish law sitting on the drivers seat with alcohol in blood IS driving under influence, even if the engine is not running, or even if you don't have the key. Sitting on any other seat is ok.

Turning the engine on from the passenger seat would be drinking and driving again, because you are not allowed to touch the controls under influence regardless of where you sit.

Turning the engine on is also a bit hard from the passenger seat. You would need to shift the transmission to neutral, which might require pressing the clutch pedal (most cars in Europe are stick).

Yea , and i should got into the passanger seat, but... who is thinking about that when your tipsy and the chances of you meeting anybody is 1:10 000 ....

you know... it just does not cross your mind, at least not mine..! so for the rest of you.. keep it in mind ..

PS. My car is automatic

what Big said. good luck mate, you shouldnt have a problem.