3:00 AM congressional vote

[M.T. Pockets]

Well, I suppose somebody has to have a comment on this topic. I haven't heard a whole lot about it yet, but Patrick Kennedy's excuse for having the 3:00 AM accident the other night was that he was confused, and late for a vote. He said if he seemed disorientated it was because of some cold medication he was taking, not alcohol.

My comment is: What does it matter what kind of mood altering substance you were taking, alcohol or cold medicine. If it goofed you up enough to think you were late for a congressional vote at 3:00 am you have no business driving, period.

I don't care if he was drinking and covering it up (my gut feeling) or if he really was under the influence of another type of legal drug. It doesn't pass the smell test. The police officers at the scene said he appeared under the influence of something. I don't think an alcohol test was taken.

I guess it's true, apples don't fall far from the tree. At least nobody drowned this time.

[fabsroman]

If the officers thought he was under the influence of something, they should have done an alcohol test. Here in Maryland, it is illegal to drive under the influence of alcohol or any drug, legal or illegal. If the LEO suspects you of driving under the influence of a drug, the law requires you to take a blood test instead of a breath test. If you refuse the blood test, it can be used against you in Court and you lose your license to drive for 120 days as an administrative sanction from the Motor Vehicle Administration.

I will not be happy if they let this idiot go. I think it is about time society stops catering to athletes, movie stars, and politicians because they are the ones screwing up society to begin with. Of course, there are exceptions.

[M.T. Pockets]

Fabs, what would you have done if he would have gotten locked up and used his one phone call to wake you up and ask for help ?

Apparantly, I've read the first officers to respond reported he appeared to be under the influence of something, however, an official above them instructed them to take the congressman home.

Another thought, if he was this goofed up, how was he going to vote on any legislation ??

[Tater]

What I heard this morning is that he is taking Ambien (sleeping pills) and woke up dissoriented thinking that he was late for a vote.

[BILLY D.]

up here in podunk you can be arrested and fined for having any mind or mood altering drug in your system while driving. doesn't make any difference whether it is a prescription or illegal drug.

under the influence means under the influence, and it's not just alcohol we are talkimg about here.

like any other citizen he should have been arrested and tested. unfortunately he's not any other citizen he is a kennedy. the police should be horse whipped. that is pure unadulterated favoritism.

i'm sure if little billy doersam would have been involved in the same type incident after taking his oxycodone for his back problems, i'd be so far back in the jail cell grand ol' opry wouldn't get there till wednesday nite.

as for politicians, movie stars and athletes i'd like to to make a viable use for the whole group and just use them for trap practice. they are a travesty. how they can even look at themselves in the mirror in the morning is beyond me. they are so full of themselves. quadruple yuck!!!!!!!!!!

pepcid time.

[fabsroman]

M.T..

By the time my clients call me on issues like that, they have usually decided to blow or not blow, give blood or not give blood. However, I did get a phone call once from a client before he gave the breath/blood sample. This was before refusing to do so could be used against you and the administrative penalty for not blowing was a lot less (i.e., 90 days for the first one and 120 days for the second versus 120 days for the first one and 180 days for the second one now). I advised him of the administrative consequences of blowing and not blowing, the fact that the evidence could be used against him at trial, and that if he refused to blow it could not be used against him. I advised him not to blow if he thought he was going to fail the test. He refused to blow, lost his license for 3 months, and was found "Not Guilty" at trial because he was well in his 50's and the officer gave him balancing tests that he should not have. So, the officer did not have any credible evidence at trial.

Usually, people in Maryland do not get locked up for driving under the influence and there is rarely a bail amount. However, if a bail hearing is set, I appear before the commissioner or Judge and explain why the bail should not be set too high. I have only had to do this twice. Once for a second degree assualt charge and another time when I went to Court with my client, got him off the charges, but he got picked up for a violation of probation.

I don't do a lot of criminal stuff. Most of my work is in the small business area, and my rule regarding criminal stuff is that if the criminal case is not for a current client of mine, I don't take it. If it is a felony, I don't take it either.

Everybody is entitled to representation, it doesn't mean they are going to get off just because they have an attorney. It is my job to put up a defense for the client, if the client has one, and it is the assistant state's attorney's job to put my client in jail. At the end of the day, we are both supposed to strive toward finding out the truth, and allowing the Judge to determine the sentence.

If this guy was my client, he got arrested for driving under the influence, and he told me he was on some sleeping medication, I would advise him to let them draw blood to determine what he was on. That evidence would leave no question as to why he was driving under the influence, and if the drug could disorient him enough that he didn't know he was on it, I guess that could be a mitigating circumstance.

[Skinny Shooter]

It's Bush's fault...



Live video conference: http://www.tampabays10.com/news/loca...?storyid=30512
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRe...95&format=text
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive...2kennedy1.html
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3.htm

[BILLY D.]

Originally posted by Skinny Shooter
It's Bush's fault...



Live videoo conference: http://www.tampabays10.com/news/loca...?storyid=30512
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRe...95&format=text
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive...2kennedy1.html
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3.htm

yup, and it's a right wing conspiracy.

[Classicvette63]

The staties pulled my girlfriend over this week at 3am. No swerving, no speeding, no nothing. Pulled her over and ran her in, in handcuffs, to give blood. Fingerprinted, mugshots, the whole nine yards. She didn't get back home until 5:30 am. Funny thing is, she wasn't drunk or even close to it. I know 'cause I paid the bill at the bar.

She gets run the mill and the kennedy gets a ride home. Wait til the test comes back and she is well under the limit. The staties are gonna get a nice letter from me. If they want to just start pulling people over because of the time of day it is, they can go pound sand and scat in their hat for good measure.

[Dan Morris]

If I had pulled half what the Kennedys have, I'd never see day light from the slammer!
Dan

[BILLY D.]

Originally posted by Classicvette63
The staties pulled my girlfriend over this week at 3am. No swerving, no speeding, no nothing. Pulled her over and ran her in, in handcuffs, to give blood. Fingerprinted, mugshots, the whole nine yards. She didn't get back home until 5:30 am. Funny thing is, she wasn't drunk or even close to it. I know 'cause I paid the bill at the bar.

She gets run the mill and the kennedy gets a ride home. Wait til the test comes back and she is well under the limit. The staties are gonna get a nice letter from me. If they want to just start pulling people over because of the time of day it is, they can go pound sand and scat in their hat for good measure.

I WOULD IMAGINE A FEW LAWSUITS FOR FALSE PRETENCES SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THAT PROBLEM. I WOULD IMAGINE LAW ENFORCEMENT WOULD HAVE TO SHOW SOME REASON TO PULL HER OVER USUALLY CAUGHT ON FILM.

THERE IS A LOT OF MONEY TO BE MADE ON DRUNKS OR SUSPECTED DRUNKS, IT ISN'T ALL JUST ABOUT HIGHWAY SAFETY.

SOUNDS TO ME LIKE YOUR LADYFRIEND GOT RAILROADED. THE JACK BOOTED THUGS ARE INDEED ALIVE AND WELL.

[denton]

There is something in the dim, dark recesses of my memory that says a Congressman on his way to vote has immunity from arrest for minor offenses... possibly that explains his strange statement.

Later: Checked it out, and it is so. They are protected by The Constitution. I suppose charges could be filed later, but you can't arrest them when they are at work, or coming from or going to work.

Section 6. RIGHTS AND RESTRICTIONS OF MEMBERS

Clause 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

[fabsroman]

The police need probable cause to pull you over in the first place. In one case that I recently had, that probably cause was a burnt out side marker light and my client blew a .08 which is just over the legal limit. The judge didn't even give him probation before judgment because he did not go and get evaluated to see if he was addicted to alcohol.

On the flip side of all this, I had a tort case where the lady was almost killed by a drunk driver. If you saw pics of the car, you would not believe she lived. She was in a coma for 3 days and in the ICU for a week. It took her over a year to return to work, and then it was only part time. The last time I spoke to her, she was still suffering from headaches due to the accident. It was this guy's fourth DWI charge and he got 10 months in jail, with 6 of them on work release. So, he only really needed to serve 4 months. Utterly insane.

I rarely drink, and I never drive after drinking. My drinking usually consists of wine with dinner when the wife and I are doing a dinner and movie at home. I also have no sympathy for drunk drivers because you never know when you could be the one in the ICU in a coma as a result of a drunk driver.

However, I also do not believe in LEO's pulling people over for absolutely no other reason than it is late at night. I went over my parents this afternoon, and guess how many people I saw get pulled over. ZERO. On the way home tonight at 1:00 in the morning, I saw three different people pulled over on the side of the road during a 30 mile trip. That is just how it goes.

I don't blame the police for enforcing the laws; however, they need to do it the right way.

[Valigator]

The Kennedy's are peices of crap and have always been so...they get a free ride on most anything because of John F.s and Robert's assasination...its about as simple as that..