Articles Posted in DUI Information

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The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently upheld appellant Renaire Lewis’s conviction for DUI despite his argument that the stop violated his Fourth Amendment rights.

In the early morning of July 2014, Lower Pottsgrove Police Sgt. Greenwood was investigating a vehicle (“Vehicle 1”) stopped on Buchert Road, which was blocking the lane. During his investigation, Sgt. Greenwood heard a second vehicle (“Vehicle 2”) driven by Lewis accelerating toward him. Sgt. Greenwood attempted to alert Lewis of the danger by waving his flashlight, but appellant continued to drive toward the obstruction. Lewis then slammed his brakes, causing his tires to screech. As Lewis decelerated, he swerved into the eastbound lane of Buchert Road to avoid colliding with Sgt. Greenwood or Vehicle 1.

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Like many people in Pennsylvania, you find your self in a situation you never thought to be in.  You have just been arrested for a DUI.  You think to yourself “how could this happen to me” or “how will this affect my family”.  It is important to understand what your rights are when you are arrested and what your options are moving forward. The first thing that you need to understand is the criminal process in Pennsylvania, specifically when it comes to DUI.

After a person is arrested for a DUI, the first significant step after that is the preliminary hearing.  At the preliminary hearing the Commonwealth must show that there is enough evidence to hold this case over to the Court of Common Pleas.  Usually in a DUI case the blood or breath report is typically enough to achieve this goal since the standard at this level is VERY low. Many times rather then have a hearing an attorney may advise their client to just waive the charges to the next level.  One reason this may be is because in order to be admitted into Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition https://www.pennsylvaniaduilawyers.com/a-r-d-accelerated-rehabilitative-disposition.html or “ARD” some counties require a person to waive their preliminary hearing. If an individual is NOT eligible for ARD  having a hearing so the affiant or police officer takes the witness stand and testifies to what ALLEGEDLY happened is a very good idea. After a hearing it is then up to a District Judge to make a determination as to whether there is enough evidence to hold the charges over to the next level.

The next phase after the preliminary hearing the case moves up to the Court of Common Pleas in each individual county.  For instance in Montgomery County that would be Norristown, in Delaware County it would be in Media, Chester County would be in West Chester, and Bucks County would be in Doylestown. If a person has applied for ARD and eventually accepted, an ARD hearing will be scheduled in which both client and attorney will have to appear in order to be admitted into the program.   If on the other hand a person is not going into ARD their case will be assigned an Assistant District Attorney as well as an assigned Judge.  At this point an individual arrested for DUI is entitled to ask for all the discovery or evidence that the Commonwealth has.  This is done through an attorney filing a request for discovery with the district attorney’s office.  Discovery can include reports, videos, physical evidence or really just about anything the Commonwealth has in their possession that they intend to use to prosecute at the time of trial.  A qualified DUI attorney will then file any appropriate motions to make sure their client is getting the absolute best result.  One of the most common motions to file is a Motion to Suppress if  for instance the police stopped a vehicle illegally.

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Every state has their own rules and regulations when it comes to how they treat DUI’s. Pennsylvania is no different and in fact has a program specifically designed for first time offenders.  This program is called Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition or “ARD”.  The ARD program is a special pretrial diversionary program run by the individual District Attorney’s Office within each County and as such each has their own set of criteria on who can be admitted.  In general I always advise clients that ARD does three (3) things.  One, it keeps you out of jail which to many is a huge relief.  If a person is arrested for a DUI and is not eligible for ARD they would be facing a mandatory 48-72 hours in jail for a first offense.  Secondly, ARD significantly reduces an individuals suspension time and in some cases there is no suspension at all.  Under the ARD program a person would be facing anywhere from no suspension to a two (2) month suspension. In some cases like if a minor is involved the suspension would be three (3) months.  This is much better the mandatory one (1) year suspension if they are found guilty at trial. The third benefit to ARD is when and if a person completes the program, they can have the charges expunged off their record. It is important to that although this would be expunged from a person’s criminal record it would remain on their driving abstract.

Senator Pat Brown of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania was just admitted into the ARD program.  He however caught a huge break in my mind.  Unlike most of my clients who have no record at all, Senator Brown has actually had two prior DUI’s.  Lucky for him both of his prior offenses occurred over ten (10) years ago. Since his priors occurred over 10 years ago it was the discretion of the DA’s office to allow the Senator into the program.  The Lehigh County DA’s Office certainly did not have to allow the Senator to enter ARD, in fact many counties that I work in would not have allowed an individual with two prior offenses the benefit of ARD.  After all ARD was originally established for first time offenders with no prior record. The Senator had two things working for him in his favor which tipped the scales in my opinion allowing him into ARD.  First as previously discussed his last DUI was over sixteen (16) years ago and he has remained arrest free since then.  Secondly, in the Senators present case his Blood Alcohol Content was a .09% which is slightly higher then the legal limit of a .08% in Pennsylvania.  Lucky for the Senator this also means that he does not lose his driving privileges.

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Courts have developed an extensive body of law regarding driving under the influence of alcohol, commonly known simply as “DUI.” Pennsylvania law does not limit the DUI statute to “drunk driving,” however. It also prohibits “drugged driving,” including driving under the influence of certain “controlled substances,” or while “impaired” by drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol. An important question regarding “drugged driving” cases deals with whether proof of “influence,” rather than “impairment,” is enough to support a conviction. Another critical question involves how the state may prove impairment if it is required to do so.

State law has established minimum concentrations of certain controlled substances, similar to the levels of blood alcohol content (BAC) used to prove that a person is “under the influence.” However, the controlled-substance levels merely demonstrate “influence,” while higher BAC results are used to establish “impairment.” The DUI statute prohibits driving if a person has nearly any amount of certain controlled substances in his or her system. It does not offer any guidance on how to determine impairment.

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Most discussions of the laws regarding driving under the influence (DUI) in Pennsylvania focus on alcohol and chemical testing for blood alcohol content (BAC). The Pennsylvania DUI statute also applies to various “controlled substances,” which includes marijuana and other illegal drugs, as well as certain medications obtained with a valid prescription. In the case of illegal drugs, the mere presence of the drug above certain thresholds is sufficient to establish DUI, regardless of whether the driver is actually impaired. If the driver is under the influence of legally prescribed medications, prosecutors must prove a level of impairment that prevents the safe operation of a motor vehicle.

The Pennsylvania DUI statute identifies three levels of impairment due to alcohol, based on chemical testing within two hours of driving. Pennsylvania’s implied consent statute enables police to obtain breath or blood samples to establish BAC. The DUI statute does not identify specific amounts of other controlled substances but rather focuses on their legality. The determination of whether a drug is “illegal” is based on the schedules established by the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device, and Cosmetic Act, first enacted in 1972. An “illegal” drug, for the purposes of the DUI statute, is any Schedule I controlled substance, any Schedule II or III substances for which the driver does not have a valid prescription, or the metabolites of any of those substances.

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Prosecutions for driving under the influence (DUI) in Pennsylvania present multiple challenges for both courts and defendants. Because of the sheer number of criminal cases handled by Pennsylvania courts, defendants must often wait months or even years for a resolution. This can be a significant burden for a defendant who may require services or assistance that the criminal justice system, which often still places an emphasis on punishment, is not always equipped to provide. Several counties around the state have created special programs within their court systems to deal with these issues. Some counties have courts that focus specifically on DUI cases, while others more generally target cases involving alleged substance abuse. These programs may help certain defendants obtain needed services, a quicker resolution of their cases, and the possibility of a dismissal of all charges.

Judges and other officials in several counties investigated the volume of DUI cases moving through the courts. They discovered that defendants were not only accused of repeat DUI offenses, but of getting arrested for alleged DUI while out on bail during a pending DUI case. They sought to create programs to not only speed up the adjudication process, but also provide the opportunity for additional services for people with multiple arrest, charges, or convictions.

Officials in Blair County started the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program in order to address these issues. It is a pre-trial diversion program that puts a defendant under the county probation office’s supervision and assigns a treatment team. If the defendant abides by conditions set by the court, which might include treatment and education programs, as well as staying out of trouble for a specified period of time, the court dismisses the DUI charges. The defendant can apply for an expungement, meaning that all of the records of the case, from the arrest to the end of the court proceeding, are removed from court and police files. By 2011, not long after the ARD program started, the county reported that it was processing ninety-five percent of its DUI cases in six months or less, when the average case used to take more than a year. Continue reading