In January 2011, I got pulled over for speeding. I was on my way home from a local tavern where I was with friends having dinner and drinks. I literally had two pints of my favorite beer, Yingling Lager. When the officer asked me if I had been drinking I told him yes. The breathalyzer wasn't registering and I passed my field sobriety test. Since the breathalyzer wasn't working, I consented to go to the hospital to have blood drawn. No big deal, right? Two beers, there's no way I could be over the legal limit.
A little over a month went by and I thought to myself, see I wasn't over the limit! Then I got the summons to appear in court for my preliminary hearing. My blood alcohol level was .16! I still have no idea how that was possible.
I was freaking out cause this would be my 2nd DUI. I am educated and smart so I knew I was in deep sh*t.
I went to my preliminary court date and the arresting officer said he would drop the charges down to .159 (second tier) which wouldn't be as bad. When there, I also learned that there was Valium in my system but he wasn't charging me for that since he didn't know what the limit was. Being dropped down to .159 made me feel a little better since I had already done my research to find out what the penalties are.
On a side note, I am prescribed Valium to take at night before bed. I hadn't taken any since the night before. After talking to my Psychiatrist, I found out that it gets stored in the fat cells but there would be no reason to be concerned about how it affects my driving ability as long as I don't abuse it. Which I don't!
The next step for me was to go to my arraignment the following month. I've been unemployed since December 2010 and was eligible to get a public defender to help me through this process.
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