Can you really get a DUI without driving?

As we already know, Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is a criminal offense in Pennsylvania and Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) is a serious traffic offense in New Jersey. In the state of Minnesota a DUI conviction was issued against a man who was not driving. Although he appealed the lower court's ruling, the Supreme Court of Minnesota upheld the DUI conviction.

Daryl Fleck of Minnesota was found by a neighbor to be asleep in his car with the driver's side door open. Mr. Fleck's car sat legally parked in the parking lot of his apartment building. The police who responded to the neighbor's call found that Fleck's car was not running and that the engine was cold. Furthermore, the keys were absent from the ignition and instead were found inside the center console.

Fleck, however, was proven to be intoxicated as his blood-alcohol level was .18 (Minnesota's legal blood-alcohol limit is .08). He also had a history of prior DUI convictions. Yet, there was no proof that he had driven on this given evening in 2007. It appeared only that he was "sleeping off" a night of drinking that had taken place in his home. Still, for this offense he received a felony conviction for DUI which landed him in jail for 48 months and required him to serve five years of probation.

Mr. Fleck appealed the court's decision all the way up to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The conviction was upheld by the high court, based upon a ruling from 1992 which applied the concept of "physical control", meaning that a person's ability to drive may be greatly affected but they still have control of the vehicle. The Court found Fleck to be in control of the vehicle because he was in a position to start up the engine and drive the car since the vehicle and keys were available to him. Intent to drive (or not drive) did not come into play, even though police were unable to get Fleck's car to start.

Pennsylvania DUI law also incorporates "physical control" language into its DUI statutes: "An individual may not drive, operate or be in actual physical control of the movement of a vehicle after imbibing a sufficient amount of alcohol such that the individual is rendered incapable of safely driving, operating or being in actual physical control of the movement of the vehicle." (PA code section 3802)

To some, a DUI conviction based upon the assumption that because car keys are available to a drunk person they are going to use them is absurd. In cases such as these, where a person takes shelter in his car and refrains from driving, does it seem the person was acting more responsibly than irresponsibly? With news of convictions such as Mr. Fleck's, people may just opt to drive if they know there is a chance they will be charged with DUI anyway for "waiting it out" in their car. How does that keep us any safer?

If you are facing a Bucks County, PA DUI charge of any sort, contact a lawyer with a vast amount of experience in Pennsylvania DUI matters. Call Michael L. Saile, Jr. for a free, in-office consultation.

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New Jersey legalizes medical marijuana…will it cause a spike in drunk driving arrests?

New Jersey's Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act attained passage by both the New Jersey Assembly and the State Senate on Monday, January 11, 2010. Governor Jon Corzine signed the bill into law on Monday, January 18, 2010 just a day before leaving office. This new law allows chronically ill patients access to marijuana for medicinal uses. There are now 14 states with a medical marijuana law on its books. The law is scheduled to go into effected in six months.

In the eyes of many, this is a very liberal leaning law. However, New Jersey's medical marijuana law is the most restrictive and tightly controlled in the nation. It is believed it will quickly become a model for other states considering passage of such a law.

The legislation permits only those patients afflicted with certain diseases, including but not limited to multiple sclerosis, cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, muscular dystrophy, and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), to obtain medical marijuana. A doctor's prescription is mandatory and only two ounces of the drug per month is permitted to be dispensed to patients suffering with severe pain, nausea, seizures, muscle spasms or extreme loss of weight and/or muscle tissue brought on by their chronic disease.

Unlike in California, where anyone with a "recommendation" from their doctor is permitted to use, possess, and/or grow medical marijuana, the growing of marijuana is strictly prohibited under the New Jersey law, as is using the drug in public. Along the same line, a qualifying medical marijuana patient who is caught driving while high is not exempted from a DWI (driving while intoxicated) arrest. Driving under the influence of marijuana remains illegal and is subject to the penalties associated with the highest levels of blood alcohol content (B.A.C.).

The state of New Jersey will implement a strict registry ID card system for users of medical marijuana. Only those patients suffering with a condition set forth within the parameters of the law who have a written prescription from their doctor will be permitted to obtain the drug. Further, all marijuana dispensaries in New Jersey will be heavily monitored by the state. An additional restriction requires all caregivers who may have to procure the drug on behalf of an ill person to undergo criminal background checks.

Recent Gallup Polls show that over 70% of Americans favor marijuana being legalized for medical use, that is doctors legally prescribing marijuana to patients who suffer terrible pain due to their illnesses. There are many happy people in New Jersey with the passage of this law, feeling that they no longer have to engage in a criminal act just to realize relief from insufferable pain. It appears more and more Americans are growing sympathetic to their plight. Public sentiment would also suggest it is a law whose time has come. Where do you stand on the issue?

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2 hit-and-run victims, same alleged drunk driver

In the early hours of January 8, 2010, Chelsea Murningham, 21 of Philadelphia, was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. So was Brian Reilly, of Penndel, Bucks County. They were each victims of alleged drunk driver Michael Saunders, of Philadelphia.

As he was leaving Albert's Café on Grant Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia, Michael Saunders hit and knocked over Ms. Murningham in the parking lot and then fled the scene. While other bar patrons were gathered around Ms. Murningham in the parking lot in an attempt to provide her aid, Mr. Saunders drove back into the lot. He sped in his minivan toward the gathered crowd and ran over 23-year old Brian Reilly.

Ms. Murningham was left with bruising on her right hip, as well as shoulder, lower back, leg, and neck pain.

Mr. Reilly was actually pinned underneath Saunders' minivan. He suffered a broken bone in his left arm, a dislocated left shoulder injury, a black eye, facial swelling, and extensive bruising on his back. Mr. Reilly must remain in an upper body brace in order for his left arm to remain in place and heal.

As for Mr. Saunders, in addition to inflicting bodily harm upon two individuals in the parking lot of the restaurant that evening, he is also responsible for causing property damage. As Saunders was attempting to leave the premises, before he hit Ms. Murningham, he crashed into a parked car. The owner of that car was present; he and Saunders got into an argument. Saunders proceeded to intentionally bang into that man's car five more times with his minivan.

After hitting the man's car repeatedly, Mr. Saunders hit two other vehicles parked in the lot, just before he hit Ms. Murningham. Saunders fled the scene after hitting her. He returned to the parking lot within minutes, which is when he ran over Mr. Reilly. Saunders fled, yet again. Mr. Reilly was transported to Aria Health at Torresdale while Philadelphia police caught up with and apprehended Saunders in front of his Philadelphia home.

Mr. Saunders was charged with driving under the influence and many felony counts, including attempted homicide and aggravated assault. He is also charged with risking a catastrophe.

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New Bucks County, PA DUI ARD procedure!!!

Congratulations to the new Bucks County District Attorney for improving the court procedure for DUI matters in the Bucks County Common Pleas Court. The Bucks County Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) cases are now being adjudicated in a separate courtroom than the remainder of the Bucks County criminal cases.

In the past, all Bucks County criminal cases called to court on a particular morning were initially directed to Courtroom #1. The list of the all the criminal cases were called by a judge and then the court would address various issues regarding the cases. After a short break, the Bucks County ARD cases were then called forward and were addressed by the court. The remainder of the Bucks County criminal cases, which included guilty pleas, had to wait and wait until the cases were called to the attention of the court. Many times guilty pleas in were not heard by the court for the purposes of sentencing until mid-afternoon.

The new Bucks County ARD procedure is much improved. Much like Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, the DUI-ARD cases are called to a different courtroom and are adjudicated separately from the other Bucks County criminal matters. This new procedure should speed up the criminal court process, assuming that there are available judges. The Bucks County Court of Common Pleas is short on judges. Hopefully this year, there will be more available judges for court matters.

Contact us, Bucks County DUI attorneys if you are interested in being admitted to the ARD program if you are charged with a DUI in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

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NJ’s new Ignition Interlock legislation passes the Assembly & Senate!

Good news for New Jersey drivers! This evening, Ricci's Law has passed both the Assembly and the Senate with flying colors. Ricci's law is New Jersey's new Ignition Interlock law. For those of you who do not know, an ignition interlock device prevents intoxicated drivers from starting a vehicle's ignition if their blood alcohol content (BAC) is above a certain level. It is expected that Governor Corzine will enact Ricci's Law before he leaves office this month.

Currently, ignition interlock is part of New Jersey's DWI law. Unfortunately for the past few years, NJ's ignition interlock law was optional and it was up to local Municipal Court judges to apply the law when sentencing DWI offenders. Most NJ Municipal Court judges did not order ignition interlock on DWI offender's vehicles.

Ricci's Law will now make ignition interlock mandatory on most DWI offender's vehicles, including 1^st offenders with a BAC above 0.15%. States across the country are enacting mandatory ignition interlock laws for all DUI/DWI offenders. The federal government will soon be passing legislation that will require every state to pass ignition interlock laws for all DUI/DWI offenders' vehicles. Each state that does not comply with the soon to be enacted federal law will lose millions of dollars of federal highway money each year. No state can afford this! In 2009, Pennsylvania legislators introduced 9 ignition interlock bills.

What do you think about ignition interlocks? Do you approve of the use of ignition interlocks on all DUI/DWI offenders' vehicles or is it just another addition to the harsh penalties associated with drunk driving?

I believe it's a lifesaving technology and any legislature that does not utilize this lifesaving technology is reckless with public safety.

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Swine flu scare disrupts Bucks County Court…

Did you hear the one about the Bucks County juror who claimed to have swine flu?

People go to some pretty outrageous extremes to get out of doing things they don't want to do, but in this case, juror DiCicco claims he was looking forward to jury duty and was, in fact, "really curious" about the process.

As you may recall, tensions surrounding any mention of swine flu ran pretty high back in the spring and early summer. Video clips of people in Mexico wearing facemasks were still very fresh in our minds, legions of spring-breakers canceled travel plans, plus there were constant reminders by our local newscasters of the coming pandemic, and, of course, a certain politician declaring railcars and airplanes to be virtual petri dishes filled with swine flu bacteria. People were scared and very cautious.

Then, there's Anthony DiCicco, a 24 year old Jamison, PA resident who was called to report for jury duty on July 13, 2009 at the Bucks County Courthouse in Doylestown. Upon being interviewed by lawyers on both sides of a medical malpractice case, Mr. DiCicco was selected to serve as a juror.

During the lunch break on July 13, Mr. DiCiccio approached a court official, stating that he had just gotten a message from his doctor's office saying test results showed he was sick with swine flu. The news of Mr. DiCiccio's illness was delivered to Judge Waite, the presiding judge in the case on which DiCiccio was serving as a juror. Judge Waite reacted with the declaration of a mistrial and sent the entire jury home, along with the entire jury pool and court personnel because they had all come in contact with the allegedly infected DiCiccio that day.

A fellow juror who observed odd behavior from DiCiccio following the action taken by the judge informed the court that DiCiccio may not have been totally honest about his health issues. Bucks County detectives were assigned to look into the matter of Mr. DiCiccio's specific health claims. Soon after, civil contempt charges were filed against DiCiccio.

As part of their investigation, Bucks County detectives make inquiries into the validity of Mr. DiCiccio's claim of a swine flu diagnosis. The nurse practitioner at the doctor's office from whom DiCicco claimed to have received a message testified at the contempt of court hearing that there had been no swine flu diagnosis issued for DiCiccio and no call made to DiCiccio by their office on July 13.

Not only did Mr. DiCiccio's act of poor judgment cause concern to many he had come in contact with that day and completely disrupt the court's busy schedule, but there is also a monetary cost to Bucks County and both parties involved in the medical malpractice case, which will now have to begin anew.

Mr. DiCiccio's contempt of court case was heard by judge Clyde W. Waite, coincidentally. DiCiccio was found to be in contempt of court for faking a diagnosis of swine flu and was sentenced to serve three days. These days will not be served in jail, however, but rather at the courthouse. Judge Waite ordered Mr. DiCiccio to spend three days in the Doylestown courthouse observing various jury trials.

A unique punishment was handed down by the judge, some would say. Does it fit the crime?

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Check our new Understanding Blood Alcohol Content webpage!

If you were wondering whether or not to have that final glass of holiday vino, take a look at our new web page on blood alcohol content. This web page will explain the absorption process of alcohol into the blood stream. Its some good information to know if you have to drive home!

Click here: BAC

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