Smart thing to do…he’s guilty of public intox. He is NOT, however, guilty of DUI at this point (IMHO).
This very thing happened to my brother here in Illinois about five years ago. He was sleeping in the driver’s seat, keys in the ignition, at the side of some county road, having driven some distance and decided that he was too drunk to drive. The county cop made him take a breathalizer test, took him in, yada yada yada, and he was convicted of DUI.
My brother later said that, en route to the county pokey, the cop informed him that if he’d been in the passenger seat with the keys out of the ignition he’d have been OK. YMMV
On a related note, ISTR some case a few months ago that went a little like this: Person A gets pulled over for DUI and taken to the pokey. He calls Person B, who comes and bails him out. Person B drives Person A (who’s still quite lit) to the impound lot (or wherever Person A’s car was). Person A, still drunk, gets back in his car and drives, and eventually hits and kills persons C,D and so on.
Person B was charged as an acessory to murder and, I think, convicted and sentenced but his case was on appeal.
Anyone remember how that case turned out?
He started the car the car rolled=DUI
My earlier posts said: drunk in a car with keys in ignition=DUI wether or not he started the car. It happens,and I agree with it…
Casey1505 and rjk are both on the money, PAwise, unless the laws have recently changed.
in my court-mandated DUI class (an actual DUI, mind you- not asleep in the back of the car), the teacher told us that the keys cannot be on your person, or in the car (which may legally be considered on your person- i’m a bit hazy on that). so she suggested that we place our keys underneath a tire, and sleep it off.
i must say, all in all, a good class. not worth the huge-ass money i paid for it (not complaining- after all, i did drive with a few sheets into the wind), but a good class.
jb
Mrs. Tonk is an attorney who deals with a lot of DUI cases, and that’s the way it is in Alaska as well. The legal theory is that the person “is in control of the vehicle” if they have the keys.
Not that I agree with it at all. See, I’ve got a really nice penis which is often stiff. Should that qualify me as a rapist, since I’m in control of it, and could have engaged in non-consensual sex?
Thanks for the page, Tony Montana
On the OP: I don’t believe there would be any criminal liability for the cab driver (i.e., he or shee would not be charged with any crime). However, someone could always sue if the A caused an accident. We had a case here some years ago in which an underage kid bought beer at a stop-n-rob, got drunk, rolled his car and ended up in a wheelchair for life. The family sued the business for selling him the beer, and won quite a bit of money.
As to the question of the DUI: in Washington state we have a separate law called * Physical Control* (Being in Actual Physical Control of a Motor Vehicle while Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor and/or Drugs). http://www.leg.wa.gov/RCW/index.cfm?fuseaction=section§ion=46.61.504
This has all the same penalties as a DUI, but does not require evidence that the suspect actually drove the vehicle to the spot where it is parked. It does state that if you pull your vehicle completely off the roadway before being contacted by the police, you cannot be convicted. Being in Actual Physical Control usually requires that you be behind the wheel and have the keys available, though no necessarily in the ignition.
This law eliminates the need to prove that the person actually drove the car to where it is parked. And since it allows an exception if you get the car off the road, it usually is only used when we find a car parked partially or completely in the road, usually with the person passed out behind the wheel.
This is hearsay, but a friend of mine told me about a time when he was driving, and realized that he was too drunk to continue. He said that he threw the keys under the car (the implication being that he couldn’t get a DUI that way) and went to sleep.
I don’t believe you mean “mitigating factor,” but something like “incriminating factor.”
This is usually called “the Dram Shop Act” and I believe all states have something similar.
A friend of mine sort of did the same thing. He had pulled over to the shoulder to try to sleep it off - because he knew he couldn’t drive safely the rest of the way home. He passed out. He woke up hearing sirens and saw the flashing lights in his rear view mirror, he panicked and threw the keys out the window. He would have only gotten Public Intox. if the officer hadn’t found the joint on the floorboard… :smack: oops !
I recently saw a story on 20/20 (or some such news program)…
Police pick up person A for public intox…person B picks up person A…person A convinces person B to take him to his car, gets in, and kills someone…
person B has been charged with various crimes, since he knowingly dropped off person A in an intoxicated state with intentions of operating his vehicle…so it looks like the cab driver could have some responsibility.
What if the drunk person disabled the car in some way as to prevent it from being driven? Such as removing a tire so the engine may be started for heat but car could not be driven?
I have personally served on a jury that convicted a man of DUI in a similar case. He was alone in a car that was ON, but it was not moving, and well over the limit. We only deliberated for about 10 minutes, and the state law in MA was clear, that he was guilty.
My GF’s son got his 5th,yes FIFTH DUI(felony) when he attempted to start a vehicle that was on blocks,all four wheels were off the ground(He was so snokered he didn’t notice)
He’s in prison (not jail) serving 2 years.
BTW he also got some sort of attempted theft IIRC for trying to start the vehicle…