Is that really necessary? I didn’t claim to be an angel. Regardless, it will probably explain a fraction of what you might think.
I think the latter considering taking his advice would likely put my ass in trouble.
I have known a lot of people with DWI/DUIs.
Not one has ever been allowed to drink. Period.
All of them had to attend one alcohol class a week that included a piss test.
Sometimes the tests were random, sometimes they were every week.
Every one had them.
They all had to attend AA meetings. Sometimes 1 or 2 a week, sometimes 7 or 8 a week.
None of them were allowed to drive except one guy who lived in the country. He could drive to and from work and to and from his meetings.
One other young girl had to get get a breathalyzer installed in her car.
Several were on house arrest, one with an ankle bracelet, another only allowed out to go to work. He had to be in from 6pm to 6am and there were random checks.
I don’t know anybody who ever got a DWI or a DUI who could go out to bars and/or drink while they were on probation.
They’d better not drive either because before they could get their license back the state came out and interviewed their neighbors to see if they had been driving.
I don’t know where you are but I cannot imagine that you are allowed to drink or hang in bars while you are on probation for a DUI.
IANAL but from what I have been told being arrested for anything, not just the crime you are on probation for, is a violation of probation and you can go to jail.
Yes Sahirrnee, I’m aware. I’ve not heard of most of those type of consequences for first time offenders though.
Anyways, from here out, feel free to speculate, ask questions or offer advice. But, please don’t leave personal attacks on my character because I feel compelled to respond to those. I am not in the best position to do that right now.
Was your DUI for alcohol or for weed (given your many previous threads regarding your heavy use of it)? If weed, I don’t think being in a bar or drinking should be a big deal, unless the judge said so of course.
Alcohol. I quit weed somewhat recently.
My old college roommate got a DUI and never even lost her license. Nor was she tested or asked to abstain from alcohol. She was required to go to some kind of alcohol education class for 12 months but that was pretty much it. While not the most responsible thing to do, we still went out to the bars on the weekend and what not. I think legal ramifications vary state-to-state for first time offenses and by BAC.
But coming out to your house and interviewing your neighbors to see if you have been driving - for a first time offense? I have never heard of that even for a second time offense.
Anyway, best to be clear on the terms of your probation and keep your nose clean for the duration.
Wise words…especially if you are your own worst enemy.
I have.
BS.
Not that every thing in your post is false but much of it is.
Show me where first time offenders get house arrest, bracelets on their ankles, piss tests every week or have to attend 7-8 AA meetings a week, breathalyzers in their car, or asking the neighbors if they had been driving (I’ve never heard of that ever.)
My consequences consisted of about a $2000 fine, loss of license for 60 days, probation for a year, attend 3 AA meetings, and attend 3 ARD night classes and one ARD weekend session. After that, the DUI gets expunged.
Well I guess you’re the expert. 
I’m not about to name real names or post records.
You never said you were a first time offender, the guy who they checked to see if he had been driving was on his second offense.
You don’t have to like what I say and you don’t have to believe me.
Doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.
No need to get personal. I still don’t believe you.
Well, the list is fairly accurate in my state and based on friends I have. I know people that have had DUIs and many of them have had home confinement on first offense.
In Virginia where I live, you can be sentenced to up to one year in jail for first offense DUI. However, it is not typically done (not typically doesn’t mean no one ever does some level of time for DUI.) There is no minimum jail sentence, so sometimes the prosecutor will let someone off with no jail time for a first offense. However, I know several people who have had to do 24-48 hours. A lot of prosecutors and counties/cities take the position that you need to do some incarceration for a first offense DUI and won’t go lower than 24-48 hours.
What I’ve heard from personal friends is that if you’re given 24 hours jail, that means 24 hours in an actual jail. If you request home confinement instead, they will typically approve it, but it will be a multiple of the 24. So you may have to end up doing 3-5 days home confinement in exchange for avoiding 24 hours in jail, and the home confinement has to be financed by the person incarcerated.
For “aggravated DUI” which is just a first offense where you blow over .15, you have to do 5 days, that’s first offense. If your BAC is over .20, you have to do at least ten days, again, for a first offense.
The scenario with home confinement is very real, because a lot of people who get these offenses are otherwise “normal” people, maybe have middle class jobs or whatever. They’re afraid of really don’t want to go to a “real” jail, so they work out deals to get extended periods of home confinement. I’ve also heard of weekend jail where people work off a minor sentence for DUI over a few weekends in jail.
A lot of the other penalties mentioned, like AA meetings and pissing in a cup or whatever I know a bit more about because it touches on an area my agency when I worked for the commonwealth dealt with.
Once you’re convicted of DUI in Virginia your license is suspended for like one year (it’s temporarily suspended at the moment of arrest but can sometimes get reinstated between the end of that administrative period and conviction.) You can get a special license that allows you to drive during your one year suspension, and it requires you be involved in the ASAP program which basically mandates a bunch of stuff you’re saying you don’t believe. Stuff like meetings, classes, being subject to alcohol testing when you go to the classes and etc.
You can avoid some of that if you do not wish to drive during your one year suspension. Although I believe you actually do have to go through at least some level of alcohol treatment to get your license back even after the one year (I could be wrong on that), and that treatment, while not legally required usually includes going to classes, AA meetings and etc, and the facility that holds the classes customarily tests you for alcohol use.
Well, Martin it sounds like you know what you’re talking about. Those punishments sound much harsher than here in PA. I’d still bet that Virginia is the exception, rather than the rule. Especially if you got a good lawyer.
Not really, no. MADD ranks states based on the harshness of how they handle DUI offenders and Virginia comes in at 22, so a little harsher than average, but not the harshest. Pennsylvania is in at 35. Most of what sahirrnee describes, in my experience, is usually more associated in your DMV relationship than anything else. DUI typically even in the harshest states carries a week or so in jail for a first offense. So there’s usually not a probation component at all, and thus no legal governing of your behavior once your sentence is over.
From the criminal court perspective, in most cases DUI is a simple minor jail time, fine, and you’re done. It’s your relationship with the state DMV that gets complicated, as many require all of those things sahirrnee was talking about in order to get your license restored. Also, most States make the penalty for driving on a suspended license much more severe when your license was suspended for DUI versus just suspended for some other random reason like too many unpaid tickets etc.
Well, then. Guess I was wrong. Thanks for the info Martin.