Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant What happened? Please help!

[LucieM]

My jurisdiction is: WA

My husband and I were coming back from his brothers house on the motorcycle last week. When we were 1 block from where we live we got pulled over. The Police Officer said that we had a blue license plate light, (even though it is a white LED light, and comes stock on quite a few Harleys). He then asked my husband if he had anything to drink tonight, and my husband said that he had a beer at his brothers....The police officer then asked him to come take a breathalyzer test. My husband did, and he blew a .09, (The legal limit here is .08). The officer proceeded to hand cuff my husband. I saw what was going on and went over to ask why he was getting arrested (politely), and the officer yelled at me to go sit down and shut up...I asked him again (politely) to please tell me what was going on with my husband, He said to me "Shut up and go sit down or I will arrest you too" I then said, "Sir I am not your child...I need to know what is going on with my husband, he only had one glass of beer." The officer then grabbed my wrist, twisted it behind my back, threw me down in the dirt and stickers and put hand cuffs on me. I then (crying and all) asked him "Sir can you please take my helmet off, I am claustrophobic." He then said "If I here one more word out of you I will tazer you!" I (having severe PTSD) had a huge anxiety attack and couldn't stop crying. The other officer (He called 5 of them there) took me to jail, (He was extremely polite and courteous) and let me call my mom. I have court on Friday...I need to know if I should get a lawyer and plead not guilty....or just plead guilty. I have never been in trouble with the law, and don't want a record!

 

[tpajet]

Sounds like the cop was on a power trip, however, when an officer tells you step away, you need to comply. Look at the basic part of this from his angle (obviously not including the power trip) he is one person, in the middle of arresting someone who is legally intoxicated, and he has a second person aproaching him, who won't step back when he tells them too.

Yes, he should have been less big-headed, but you ddint' comply with his order.

Now, the bigger question - what were you charged with? Also, yes, get a lawyer (you are entitled to one) and run it by them before you plead guilty to anything. If nothing else, they may get a plea deal, etc, but again it depends on what you were charged with.

As for your husband, it doesn't matter the actual amount beer he drank. The blood alcohol test measures the amount of alcohol per a certian amount of blood. So either you husband is one skinny dude, or he had a couple beers you didn't know about. But, yes, some people can drink a small amount and be over .08.

But, here's another catch to all of this in your favor. Your husband should have a lawyer as well. Ask that lawyer, as well as yours when you get one, if the stop was legal in the first place. If you can show that the light is in fact legal, and hence the cop had no real reason to stop you, you may get the charges (or some of them) thrown out on the basis that the stop was not legal in the first place.

 

[Thor]

tpajet is mostly correct. The lawyer will fill you in on technical details. Remember this--before a vehicle can be pulled over there has to be probable cause (PC) to do so. Usually in a DUI case it is driving behavior like speeding up, slowing down, inconsistent, weaving across lane lines or almost going off the road--hitting a curb, etc.
No PC to pull over--no case. If there was no driving behavior the cop used the excuse of the blue light--common bogus pull over)
Never admit to consumption of any liquor. Step two is usually a roadside sobriety test. That takes probable cause also. Every driver responds--"a couple of beers" when asked by a cop even if they can barely stand up. If a mobile breathalzler is available (sounds like it was) then blowing over the limit (forced on states by the feds) should nail your husband for DWAI (a lesser charge but expensive and with driving restrictions plus classes, and UA's that cost more money (UA=Urinary Analysis A piss test)

Your offense is really not an offense. You just were too assertive and protective. The cop was a jerk and probably gave you an unlawful order. Cops that can't handle a little adversity should not be cops--but they are there. Excessive force is something that is not tolerated from cops in society today. File a complaint with the cops department if they have an Internal Affairs Department--otherwise file a complaint with the office of the prosecuting attorney (not the city attorney if he was a city cop but the county prosecutor ofter called a District Attorney) It's going to cost money but its better to keep it off your record now. Tyr