"To Blow or Not to Blow" . . .
that is the question I hear many times of my clients who are afraid of being stopped for a dui/dwi. Of course, there is no easy answer, but I can give you some general "rules of thumb" about being stopped in Missouri:
If it's your first time you have ever been stopped or charged with an alcohol-related offense, and it is in Jackson, Clay, or Cass County, AND there was no accident involved, you may not want to go ahead and blow. Currently, in these counties and under these limited circumstances, there are programs through the local prosecutor’s offices who handle the challenge hearings (RSMo. 577.041) which permit you to win the challenge upon the completion of certain conditions. Such a challenge MUST be filed within 30 days of the stop.
If you blow over .08, and lose the administrative hearing, you will lose your license for 90 days, the first 30 of which you can not driver, followed by a limited driving privilege if you file and SR-22 for the last 60 days. If you do not fit into the narrow set of facts above and you refuse to take the breathalyzer, and you lose the Refusal hearing, you lose your license for a year, although you might be able to get a limited driving privilege after the first 90 days.
If this isn't your first time being stopped for a similar offense, this is where it gets dicey. Some people think they are being smart by refusing to take the breathalyzer - but then went ahead and took the "field sobriety tests" which usually gives the prosecution sufficient evidence to make their case against the defendant. Two refusals in a life time equals one of the many reasons you may not ever get a limited driving privilege or a hardship license.
Whether or not to take the breathalyzer is complicated and also depends on what county you are in when you are stopped, and whether you hold a license for the State you were stopped in. There are some times when it is best NOT to take the breathalyzer, like when it is the second time you have been stopped for drinking and driving in a 5 year period. If you suffer an alcohol administrative action, either 90 day suspension for blowing over .08 or a refusal and you blow over .08 a second time in 5 years you lose your privilege to driver for 1 year and no possibility for any limited or hardship license.
If you do refuse to blow, just make sure you also refuse the field sobriety tests!
Please keep in mind; however, that your individual circumstances may differ, and you need to speak to a good dui/dwi lawyer about the specifics of your situation so that the lawyer can give you accurate advice. It's best to talk to a lawyer BEFORE you are stopped, so you know what to do when and if you get stopped. Don't drink and drive, but if you do - plan ahead.
The transmission of information from The-Law.com to you is not intended to create nor does it create an attorney-client relationship between The-Law.com or David M. Lurie and you nor is this information intended as legal advice.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Get more than you bargained for?!? Patronizing Prostitution or Solicititing a Police Decoy
Get more than you bargained for?? Patronizing a police decoy or Solicitation of a police decoy.
You are lonely, feeling no one understands you, especially your wife or girlfriend. You may be angry at them or feel they are too busy to give you any of the attention you feel you need or deserve. Or you are single and just plain feeling lustful and want an outlet. You don’t want to invest the time and money in dating someone and not be sure you will find your outlet.
You come across an advertisement for some “personal service” in a local “underground” newspaper or online and you think “What the heck”!! You call the number. The person on the other end of the line sounds nice and willing to spend sometime with you, albeit for a price.
They explain what services they provide including not very veiled descriptions as “full service” or “a Monica Lewinsky”. They tell you what it will cost; you make an appointment and give you an address and a number to call when you get in the neighborhood. The excitement of the idea of following through and going to keep the appointment outweighs your better judgment.
You rationalize it with something like: No one will know, and it’s just the one time. Or I won’t do anything when I get there.
You go to the meeting place and talk to the person you talked to on the phone. They tell you again the prices and you say Ok, (you may even intend to say I have to go to my car and get the money and not return). You may or may not even get to the part where you take out your money. The other person then says excuse me I have to go to the bathroom, or change and tell you to get comfortable. They leave and as your excitement starts to build BOOM in a rush several police officers explode into the room. You are informed you are being charged with Patronizing Prostitution. Your potential stress relieving partner was really a police officer.
Other times you may merely be driving down the street and you get waved over, or you may be stopped at a stop sign and someone leans in threw a rolled down window and offers a sex act for a price.
The police, in recent times, have discovered that they have a very hard time combating prostitution. Instead of going after the prostitutes, particularly in Kansas City, Missouri area, the police are now going after the people who do business with the prostitutes.
In other words, they go after the customers, or in slang terms, the "Johns". It's not uncommon for someone to report that they merely stopped to talk or went to meet to talk, never offered to have sex for money, and were arrested for patronizing prostitution; soliciting a prostitute.
The City ordinance in Kansas City was expanded a number of years ago to require merely that there be an assent to have sex in exchange for something of value. It matters not who names the sex act or the price.
http://www.municode.com/RESOURCES/gateway.asp?pid=10156&sid=25
If a prostitute solicits you, the only thing you should do, is say "no" and walk away. If you engage them in any conversation at all, you will likely be arrested.
Entrapment is no defense where all law enforcement does is provide the means for someone otherwise disposed to break the law to do so.
Whether you meant to solicit a prostitute's services, or not, you need a good criminal defense attorney. A good attorney, in many instances, can probably keep this sexually related crime violation off your record.
What you have to understand is that once you are charged with soliciting a police decoy, you have in fact been charged with a sexually related crime.
Nobody wants his employer, any prospective employer, or anybody else that has access to your police records to know that you have been convicted of a sexually related crime. This is something you should go out of your way to keep that off your record.
Contacting a lawyer who regularly practices handling these kinds of cases may help you accomplish this.
You are lonely, feeling no one understands you, especially your wife or girlfriend. You may be angry at them or feel they are too busy to give you any of the attention you feel you need or deserve. Or you are single and just plain feeling lustful and want an outlet. You don’t want to invest the time and money in dating someone and not be sure you will find your outlet.
You come across an advertisement for some “personal service” in a local “underground” newspaper or online and you think “What the heck”!! You call the number. The person on the other end of the line sounds nice and willing to spend sometime with you, albeit for a price.
They explain what services they provide including not very veiled descriptions as “full service” or “a Monica Lewinsky”. They tell you what it will cost; you make an appointment and give you an address and a number to call when you get in the neighborhood. The excitement of the idea of following through and going to keep the appointment outweighs your better judgment.
You rationalize it with something like: No one will know, and it’s just the one time. Or I won’t do anything when I get there.
You go to the meeting place and talk to the person you talked to on the phone. They tell you again the prices and you say Ok, (you may even intend to say I have to go to my car and get the money and not return). You may or may not even get to the part where you take out your money. The other person then says excuse me I have to go to the bathroom, or change and tell you to get comfortable. They leave and as your excitement starts to build BOOM in a rush several police officers explode into the room. You are informed you are being charged with Patronizing Prostitution. Your potential stress relieving partner was really a police officer.
Other times you may merely be driving down the street and you get waved over, or you may be stopped at a stop sign and someone leans in threw a rolled down window and offers a sex act for a price.
The police, in recent times, have discovered that they have a very hard time combating prostitution. Instead of going after the prostitutes, particularly in Kansas City, Missouri area, the police are now going after the people who do business with the prostitutes.
In other words, they go after the customers, or in slang terms, the "Johns". It's not uncommon for someone to report that they merely stopped to talk or went to meet to talk, never offered to have sex for money, and were arrested for patronizing prostitution; soliciting a prostitute.
The City ordinance in Kansas City was expanded a number of years ago to require merely that there be an assent to have sex in exchange for something of value. It matters not who names the sex act or the price.
http://www.municode.com/RESOURCES/gateway.asp?pid=10156&sid=25
If a prostitute solicits you, the only thing you should do, is say "no" and walk away. If you engage them in any conversation at all, you will likely be arrested.
Entrapment is no defense where all law enforcement does is provide the means for someone otherwise disposed to break the law to do so.
Whether you meant to solicit a prostitute's services, or not, you need a good criminal defense attorney. A good attorney, in many instances, can probably keep this sexually related crime violation off your record.
What you have to understand is that once you are charged with soliciting a police decoy, you have in fact been charged with a sexually related crime.
Nobody wants his employer, any prospective employer, or anybody else that has access to your police records to know that you have been convicted of a sexually related crime. This is something you should go out of your way to keep that off your record.
Contacting a lawyer who regularly practices handling these kinds of cases may help you accomplish this.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Who should you believe - the Judge or your Probation Officer?
Who should you believe - the Judge or your Probation Officer?
(Be wary of the sucker bet!)
I represented a young female on her first offense DWI almost 2 years ago. To protect the innocent and the guilty, let’s call her Amber. As part of the standard conditions of dwi probation, Amber was NOT to use any drugs - unless prescribed by a licensed physician.
When Amber first met with her probation officer (we’ll call him Mitch), according to Amber, Mitch told her: “Since your charge is not a drug-related charge, I will not be asking you to submit to random drug screens.”
So, for the next 21 months, Amber continued her almost daily use of marijuana with no legal consequences. However, as happens frequently, Mitch (her probation officer) moved on to another job. Amber’s new probation officer, Carol, at their first meeting, asked her to take a “wiz quiz” (a drug test).
Guess what?? Yep, positive for marijuana!
As is the norm in this situation, Carol (the new probation officer), filed a violation report with the Court. Amber now has a new probation violation case against her. She must now appear in front of the same Judge she was put on probation by for her DWI. The Judge feels like Amber basically “flipped him the bird” by going against what he ordered. Amber must now explain to him why she went against his Order, and continued to use drugs when he ordered her not to. Amber needs to try and convince this Judge to give her another chance, allow her to continue on probation, and not just throw her in jail.
I don’t recommend that any individual attempt to do this on their own – hire a professional lawyer that regularly practices in the particular court and deals with these types of matters on a regular basis.
Once Amber hired me for her new probation revocation case, I immediately contacted Carol (her probation officer). I spoke with Carol about having Amber participate in some sort of remedial drug program – pointing out that Amber had never tested dirty before – and that this, in fact, was her first probation violation. I was trying to get an important favorable recommendation from Amber’s probation office. In my further efforts, to get a good recommendation from Amber’s probation office, I also suggested she get drug tested every week, and include in the test, the level of THC (the short version of the active ingredient in Marijuana) to show it was going down since this drug takes quite a while to completely clear your system (anywhere from 30 -120 days in some cases).
Amber’s THC levels showed a continued reduction each week, and finally, she had a clear drug test. During these weeks, I was able to continue Amber’s court date far enough down the road so she could complete her drug program and rack up some clean drug tests.
As of the date of me writing this blog, Amber has completed the drug education program and had 4 weeks of clean test results. Amber’s probation officer will be making a favorable recommendation.
Ultimately, it is the Judge’s call and as a practical matter you cannot argue “well Judge the PO said I did not have to follow THAT part of your order”. However, most of the time a Judge will follow the probation officers recommendations, especially if you can give the Judge a good reason too, in this case, I gave the Judge a two good reasons to: the drug class and clean drug tests.
If you are put on probation and your probation officer tells you can do something that contradicts what the Judge’s Order says, assume it’s a sucker bet. They also have the right to ADD conditions. If you have any question about your probation, call your lawyer.
In this case, failing to follow the letter of the law (The Judge’s Probation Order) put my client at risk for having to serve up to 6 months in jail, pay a $500.00 fine, and having a DWI conviction on her record. She also had to incur the expenses of the drug classes, the drug tests and attorney fees.
The transmission of information from The-Law.com to you is not intended to create nor does it create an attorney-client relationship between The-Law.com or David M. Lurie and you nor is this information intended as legal advice.
(Be wary of the sucker bet!)
I represented a young female on her first offense DWI almost 2 years ago. To protect the innocent and the guilty, let’s call her Amber. As part of the standard conditions of dwi probation, Amber was NOT to use any drugs - unless prescribed by a licensed physician.
When Amber first met with her probation officer (we’ll call him Mitch), according to Amber, Mitch told her: “Since your charge is not a drug-related charge, I will not be asking you to submit to random drug screens.”
So, for the next 21 months, Amber continued her almost daily use of marijuana with no legal consequences. However, as happens frequently, Mitch (her probation officer) moved on to another job. Amber’s new probation officer, Carol, at their first meeting, asked her to take a “wiz quiz” (a drug test).
Guess what?? Yep, positive for marijuana!
As is the norm in this situation, Carol (the new probation officer), filed a violation report with the Court. Amber now has a new probation violation case against her. She must now appear in front of the same Judge she was put on probation by for her DWI. The Judge feels like Amber basically “flipped him the bird” by going against what he ordered. Amber must now explain to him why she went against his Order, and continued to use drugs when he ordered her not to. Amber needs to try and convince this Judge to give her another chance, allow her to continue on probation, and not just throw her in jail.
I don’t recommend that any individual attempt to do this on their own – hire a professional lawyer that regularly practices in the particular court and deals with these types of matters on a regular basis.
Once Amber hired me for her new probation revocation case, I immediately contacted Carol (her probation officer). I spoke with Carol about having Amber participate in some sort of remedial drug program – pointing out that Amber had never tested dirty before – and that this, in fact, was her first probation violation. I was trying to get an important favorable recommendation from Amber’s probation office. In my further efforts, to get a good recommendation from Amber’s probation office, I also suggested she get drug tested every week, and include in the test, the level of THC (the short version of the active ingredient in Marijuana) to show it was going down since this drug takes quite a while to completely clear your system (anywhere from 30 -120 days in some cases).
Amber’s THC levels showed a continued reduction each week, and finally, she had a clear drug test. During these weeks, I was able to continue Amber’s court date far enough down the road so she could complete her drug program and rack up some clean drug tests.
As of the date of me writing this blog, Amber has completed the drug education program and had 4 weeks of clean test results. Amber’s probation officer will be making a favorable recommendation.
Ultimately, it is the Judge’s call and as a practical matter you cannot argue “well Judge the PO said I did not have to follow THAT part of your order”. However, most of the time a Judge will follow the probation officers recommendations, especially if you can give the Judge a good reason too, in this case, I gave the Judge a two good reasons to: the drug class and clean drug tests.
If you are put on probation and your probation officer tells you can do something that contradicts what the Judge’s Order says, assume it’s a sucker bet. They also have the right to ADD conditions. If you have any question about your probation, call your lawyer.
In this case, failing to follow the letter of the law (The Judge’s Probation Order) put my client at risk for having to serve up to 6 months in jail, pay a $500.00 fine, and having a DWI conviction on her record. She also had to incur the expenses of the drug classes, the drug tests and attorney fees.
The transmission of information from The-Law.com to you is not intended to create nor does it create an attorney-client relationship between The-Law.com or David M. Lurie and you nor is this information intended as legal advice.
Friday, July 11, 2008
When is a Dui not a Dui??
When is a Dui not a Dui?? (Well not ever really but for purposes of enhancement to a more serious charge, sometimes, at least for now)
Under a recent Missouri Supreme Court decision Reginald A. Turner, Appellant v. State of Missouri, Respondent., http://www.courts.mo.gov/Courts/PubOpinions.nsf/0f87ea4ac0ad4c0186256405005d3b8e/3b90c4f20b33ef0886257402005d4fee?OpenDocument a MUNICIPAL driving while impaired (dui or dwi) charge can NOT be used to enhance a later DUI/DWI charge to a higher level offense, i.e. Felony DWI. The Court said that due to the way the legislature had written R.S.MO. 577.023 the only prior dui charges that could be used to enhance to a higher grade offense were State charges, like the basic State Dwi charge R.S.MO 577.010, charged by a Highway Patrolman or a County Sheriff or Park Ranger.
The Legislature changed the period of time a prosecutor can look back for the purpose of charging an enhanced DWI from 10 years to your lifetime a couple of years ago. So if you had a Kansas City Municipal court dui in 1990, and a Lee’s Summit one in 1995 and then got yet another one this year, prior to Turner, you could and most likely would have been charge with a Felony DWI. Since Turner these cases cannot be charged as Felonies. The Legislature no doubt will cure this defect when this year’s legislation becomes law in late August.
The language of the existing statute as been in use for quite of few years and some lawyers are of the belief that a Felony DWI based on prior city dui/dwi charges might be successfully challenged. If you have pleaded guilty or be found guilty of a Felony DWI in the State of Missouri, you may wish to contact your attorney to see if Turner might afford you some relief.
The transmission of information from The-Law.com to you is not intended to create nor does it create an attorney-client relationship between The-Law.com or David M. Lurie and you nor is this information intended as legal advice.
Under a recent Missouri Supreme Court decision Reginald A. Turner, Appellant v. State of Missouri, Respondent., http://www.courts.mo.gov/Courts/PubOpinions.nsf/0f87ea4ac0ad4c0186256405005d3b8e/3b90c4f20b33ef0886257402005d4fee?OpenDocument a MUNICIPAL driving while impaired (dui or dwi) charge can NOT be used to enhance a later DUI/DWI charge to a higher level offense, i.e. Felony DWI. The Court said that due to the way the legislature had written R.S.MO. 577.023 the only prior dui charges that could be used to enhance to a higher grade offense were State charges, like the basic State Dwi charge R.S.MO 577.010, charged by a Highway Patrolman or a County Sheriff or Park Ranger.
The Legislature changed the period of time a prosecutor can look back for the purpose of charging an enhanced DWI from 10 years to your lifetime a couple of years ago. So if you had a Kansas City Municipal court dui in 1990, and a Lee’s Summit one in 1995 and then got yet another one this year, prior to Turner, you could and most likely would have been charge with a Felony DWI. Since Turner these cases cannot be charged as Felonies. The Legislature no doubt will cure this defect when this year’s legislation becomes law in late August.
The language of the existing statute as been in use for quite of few years and some lawyers are of the belief that a Felony DWI based on prior city dui/dwi charges might be successfully challenged. If you have pleaded guilty or be found guilty of a Felony DWI in the State of Missouri, you may wish to contact your attorney to see if Turner might afford you some relief.
The transmission of information from The-Law.com to you is not intended to create nor does it create an attorney-client relationship between The-Law.com or David M. Lurie and you nor is this information intended as legal advice.
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