Drinking And Driving

A little back info. This guy referred me a lot of high quality clients. I had never met him in person but spoke with him on the phone multiple times over the several months previous to this accident.
The first time I saw what he looked like was his mug shot online.

One word: Uber and Lyft.

Killing someone while DUI is no doubt a serious thing, but first degree murder is absurd.

While I think laws against drunk driving are currently too lenient, or may just too leniently enforced, all this kind of thing does is magnify the difference between “justice” for poor people and that for rich people. Poor people will go to jail for life, and rich ones will lose their driver’s license.

"Killing someone while DUI is no doubt a serious thing, but first degree murder is absurd."

^I agree with this.

I’m not so sure that it should be first degree but there is some elements of premeditation to it, I mean driving a multi thousand pound vehicle while impaired it’s certainly predictable that you could kill or maim someone.

Idk, I have mixed feelings on this. First degree murder does seem extreme for something that was clearly not premeditated, but I'm having trouble feeling sympathy for the guy. He was so fucked up that he rammed into her full speed when she was stopped at a red light. That could have been my wife coming home from one of her nigh time church events. I hope he rots or, better still, gets a shiv in jail and dies a painful death.

Eye for an eye. It sucks but let’s ask that woman’s family if he should get off with a slap on the wrist.

I had a law professor once tell the class he personally felt that DUI laws were too severe for first-time offenders.

I think most people would be surprised to find out they have legally driven "drunk" before, because people typically aren't super intoxicated at a .08, and don't think they're intoxicated nearly enough to be past the limit. Many years back, I was at Best Buy and saw a rack of breathalyzers. Well, I'm a driver and I was a drinker who didn't ever want to get a DUI, so I bought one just to be cautious if I'm doubtful about my ability to drive (if you have to question it, you should not be driving anyway). It came with extra straws so I let other people use it, even customers at work. Everyone got a kick out of it.

There's a cool restaurant/bar I used to go to that makes fantastic cocktails. I went there and had just one cocktail, went to my car, and blew a .09. I knew their cocktails were strong, but wow. So I sat in my car, smoked a blunt to kill time, until my BAC was lower. I didn't really like to drive with it anywhere above a .05.

A lot of my big spending regulars have gotten DUIs before. It's pretty common for something that is so avoidable. My sister's boyfriend is an older guy she met at a strip club. He isn't a multimillionaire or anything, but he enjoys a salary comfortably above the 100K range, owns many cars, has an apartment and owns two other houses, etc. He is now a felon because of Michigan's 3rd DUI law. So is my mom, for the same reason.

I never want to get a DUI. I quit drinking in May, so at this point I have nothing to worry about. Even back when I was drinking (a lot), I had a moment where I could've gotten a DUI but didn't, so I learned my lesson pretty quickly and would just uber or lyft, or get a ride with a friend.

This guy wasn't anywhere near borderline. His BAC was .341 an hour after the crash, which means it was even higher when he got in the truck. In other words, he was royally fucked up. How the guy was even upright is a mystery to me - he must have extremely high tolerance.

Also, this happened at 12:44 in the afternoon. This fucktard spent the morning bar hopping then got on a busy street in the middle of the day, no doubt completely out of his mind by that point. When he slammed into her, it pushed her out into the intersection and resulted in a 5 car crash.

Fuck him.

He always was wearing a packers jersey in Colorado which is already a misdemeanor.

always = also

My Nichole moment for the day

I don’t think premeditation is as demanding as some seem to think. There is also the felony murder rule to think about. On balance, I have no problem with the idea that a killing while driving drunk should be first degree murder.

^ I wasn’t speaking to the elements of the crime, I was simply pointing out that drinking and then driving has the elements of planning for those results were entirely predictable.

If his BAC was .34 that early in the afternoon and he was driving and not completely passed out, he is obviously a severe alcoholic. His BAC was almost at the level it typically takes for someone to die of alcohol poisoning...

With a BAC of .341, he would have been unconscious. He did not intentionally try to kill someone, that was consequential because of his intoxication. That, to me, is not premeditation.

^ he should have known in that condition he was likely to kill someone sorry @Nina that’s an element

Rick why would you assume it was higher when he got in the truck than after? A person could down 5 shots, one aftrer each other, get in an accident 15 minutes later ; blow a .04% bt and then blow a .1 20 minutes later. People aren't always declining because it takes time for alcohol to be absorbed so the number could be inclining. .341% is not unconscious. I have had cases above .4% where they were conscious and driving and one hysterical booking video shows my .41% client havbe a restaurant discussion with the cops and she appears on very slightly tipsy. The secret? 8 ball of cocaine cancels alcohol apparently.

I don’t have any sympathy for this guy, but a first degree murder conviction for this muddies the water on what murder is. It’s been a pretty long-standing rule that murder requires an intent to kill, not just an intent to do something stupid, negligent, or otherwise criminal. I have no doubt this guy intended to get drunk, and maybe intended to drive (although it’s debatable if he was capable of forming any kind of intent with a BAC of .341), but I also have no doubt that he did not intend to kill anyone. That always been the dividing line between murder and other forms of culpable homicide: negligent, criminally negligent, etc. Felony murder has been an exception with the intent to commit a felony substituting for the intent to kill.

While killing someone while driving with this level of intoxication was certainly foreseeable, maybe even likely, that doesn’t mean he intended to kill anyone.

The law has been changed to get a politically expedient result, which is dangerous.

"341% is not unconscious. I have had cases above .4% where they were conscious and driving and one hysterical booking video shows my .41%"

A person with a BAC of. 34 is not conscious. They're likely in a black out state and not able to think consciously. Just like someone can sleep walk without being fully conscious, of course.

They pu a b.a.c machine outside the blue wall when I was in college. We tried to set the record every time we went, and 1 week later the machine was gone.

I’m not sure about other states but here in California once you get a dui it is now mandatory (if you want your license back) that you sign a document stating that you have been informed that in the future should you ever kill someone while being over the legal limit you will be charged with murder. It is called the Watson law.

Don’t trust a Packer fan