Alcohol & Drugs: DUI, DWI 1st Offence DUI VT Age 22 No prior record Advice needed

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jsimon

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What is the name of your state? Vermont, USA
Town/County processed: Chittenden/Shelbune
Reason given for traffic stop: Out of date registration
BAC on scene: .191
Sex/Age: Male/22

Situation overview: Just broke up with gf of 3 years. Moved in with father temporarily and am working for him temporarily to save for a car and apartment. Bought car 2 days before dui. Took car to Burlington with out of date registration to get a replacement battery and a jiffy lube signature service. After completing these tasks i received a call on my cell phone from my step brother looking to hang out. We hung out, i got very drunk. I drove home and was stopped for out of date registration, not speeding or swerving, (not that it makes a difference) as i said, i was obviously drunk. They had my car towed and my brother and i were checked into act 1 detox in Burlington until we both blew legal. I received a citation to appear in court for DUI.

Clarification: I was emotionally distressed about the breakup and allowed myself to make incredibly poor and irresponsible decisions that went against everything i have ever believed about myself. I had recently signed up for courses at Essex tech and have put in multiple job apps around the area prior to this event and need my license and car for these purposes. The choices and actions that i made are not a good example of my standard behavior. However I take absolute responsibility for my behavior and am very thankful that all that happened was that i was stopped and charged, if i had hurt myself or more specifically someone else i would not be able to live with it. I am going to check myself into some form of alcohol counseling prior to my court date. I want to move on with my life in as positive a way as i can. That being said, I want to avoid if at all possible losing my license and/or having this dui on my record. I am willing to do anything. Please give me your thoughts.

What i need from you:

A) Clarification on the possibility of court diversion(I know you have to be under 18 but have heard that there may be a possibility because its is first offense plus i have absolutely no prior record)

B) Clarification on whether i should hire a lawyer

C) Clarification on whether i should request a hearing to dispute the suspension of my license prior to my dui hearing(license suspended unless i dispute: 03/12/08, dui hearing: 03/20/08)

D) Any other applicable advice you can give me.

I know im an idiot, i feel terrible about all of this. please help.

Ive tried to put everything useful i can think of down here but if ive missed anything i will be more than happy to supply the info.

thanks,
josh
 
A: Poor
B: Yes
C: On what grounds?
 
aren't you the guy who just responded to this exact thread on freeadvice? i posted in both places to attempt to achieve a wider range of response. but if they have the same usebase i guess its unnecessary.

but in the hopes that someone else will see and have something useful to say i will post my response to you from there here as well.

"thanks very much for your impressively speedy reply. i cant say i expected a different answer.

but just to flog a dead horse, you are saying that having no prior record, checking myself into counseling prior to the court date, and my need for transport to continue moving in any kind of positive direction is unlikely to sway things at all? either in terms or the license suspension or the dui conviction.

if this is the case, what would you suggest i do. hire a lawyer or just plead guilty and suck it up?


*edit* in regards to your statement "Based solely on the facts you stated", can you give me an example of some facts that would help. preferably not along the lines of my dying mother needs daily transport to the hospital and im the only one who can possibly do it or the like, because nothing like that exists."
 
checking myself into counseling prior to the court date

This is the best thing you can do.
 
again, thank you very much. i plan on it.

one last question: under what grounds would you consider it worthwhile to request a hearing to dispute the license suspension?

ok last two i guess, would you consider it worthwhile to present my story to the judge at my dui hearing in hopes of a reduced charge, based the information if have given you. or to just plead guilty. hireling a lawyer would be an extreme financial burden on my as i am currently only temporarily employed and secondary employment depends on me having my license..
 
Q: one last question: under what grounds would you consider it worthwhile to request a hearing to dispute the license suspension?

A: Tell me the grounds you think you have to dispute the license suspension?
 
as i have already stated:
a) i have no prior record of any kind and this is vermont we are talking about.
b) my current life situation requires me to have my license so that i can work and go to school.
c) i was stopped for out of date registration and not speeding, reckless driving, having an accident, or any other offense.
d) i did not resist or anything and my processing was very informal, i was checked into detox until i was sober and given a citation and let go as soon as i blew under .08

this is all i can think of, as i also stated before; what grounds are they looking for? i cant think of any reason to allow someone to dispute license suspension other than the reasons i have given. im not a criminal, im not a repeat offender, i made a terrible mistake. if i lose my license i will be unable to move forward in my life. i will have no choice but to burden my father with continuing to provide me with employment and housing. i realise that you, and very likely my prosecutor will say, "you should have thought about that before you drove drunk". but what is this system for, stopping criminals and protecting good people? or punishing people who have lived 22 years of non-criminal life who lost control and lost track of what was important to them because of a substance they generally have little if any contact with?
 
sorry for the double post, but it appears that either i am blind or there is no edit post function.

Well it is now the day after i first posted this and i just called chittenden county court diversion and within 10 seconds they were able to tell me that i am eligible for court diversion. for the exact reasons i stated here. I would just like to say that, no offence intended, but this board and specifically the member who replied to my thread are ENTIRELY USELESS. My advice to anyone in my situation is to avoid these incompetents at all costs and just call the court you are going to or your county's court diversion offices directly. thank you for your time. i wonder how long till im banned here.. good thing i know ill never be coming back anyway.


ok well i see that there is an edit post function for this post... must be that you can only edit for a certain amount of time after you post. again, sorry about the dp.
 
jsimon said:
as i have already stated:
a) i have no prior record of any kind and this is vermont we are talking about.
b) my current life situation requires me to have my license so that i can work and go to school.
c) i was stopped for out of date registration and not speeding, reckless driving, having an accident, or any other offense.
d) i did not resist or anything and my processing was very informal, i was checked into detox until i was sober and given a citation and let go as soon as i blew under .08

this is all i can think of, as i also stated before; what grounds are they looking for? i cant think of any reason to allow someone to dispute license suspension other than the reasons i have given. im not a criminal, im not a repeat offender, i made a terrible mistake. if i lose my license i will be unable to move forward in my life. i will have no choice but to burden my father with continuing to provide me with employment and housing. i realise that you, and very likely my prosecutor will say, "you should have thought about that before you drove drunk". but what is this system for, stopping criminals and protecting good people? or punishing people who have lived 22 years of non-criminal life who lost control and lost track of what was important to them because of a substance they generally have little if any contact with?
Click to expand...

None of this stuff has anything to do with a license suspension.
 
jsimon said:
sorry for the double post, but it appears that either i am blind or there is no edit post function.

Well it is now the day after i first posted this and i just called chittenden county court diversion and within 10 seconds they were able to tell me that i am eligible for court diversion. for the exact reasons i stated here. I would just like to say that, no offence intended, but this board and specifically the member who replied to my thread are ENTIRELY USELESS. My advice to anyone in my situation is to avoid these incompetents at all costs and just call the court you are going to or your county's court diversion offices directly. thank you for your time. i wonder how long till im banned here.. good thing i know ill never be coming back anyway.


ok well i see that there is an edit post function for this post... must be that you can only edit for a certain amount of time after you post. again, sorry about the dp.
Click to expand...

Translation: I got accurate advice but I didn't like it.
 
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