OWI-DUI-DWI

Drunk Driving Information

My OWI Story

The Setting

It was a cold, damp, and windy Friday night in March of 2002, more precisely, it was March 8, 2002. My wife and I decided to go out to a local dance club that offers live rock music on Friday and Saturday nights. It had been several months since we had been out due to our very busy schedule. We both enjoy live music and dancing. Although we have been married 23 years, we still enjoy going out on dates with each other from time to time. It helps to keep our marriage fresh and vibrant. We are still very much in love and enjoy each other's company.

Prior to coming home from work, I stopped to pick up a couple of fish dinners between 6:00 and 6:30 PM. After I got home, we ate the dinners and my wife got herself ready to go. We arrived at the Holiday Inn at about 10:00 PM, had one 12 oz. lite beer each and listened to the band for a while. Then we decided to go to another local club that runs bands. We arrived just before 11:00 PM and remained there until closing at about 2:30 AM.

We listened to the band, we danced, we socialized with some of the people we know casually and shot darts. As it approached closing time, we left for home. I drove. I was not in the habit of counting my drinks, but I would not drive if I thought I was impaired in any way. I was not. My wife was completely comfortable with my ability to drive home as well.

The Stop

We left for home. I drove all the way through the city having to obey all of the traffic signals, speed postings and such. We live in a subdivision a few miles from Fond du Lac, WI. As I proceeded on one of our usual routes home from Fond du Lac, I passed through the village of Peebles. About in the center of town, I met a car. It was a Fond du Lac County Sheriff's deputy. Because of the adverse weather conditions, I did not realize that it was a police car at the time. I was driving the speed limit at about 30 miles per hour. I continued on my way, when much to my shock, I was pulled over by the police officer at about 2:50 AM (March 9, 2002).

The officer approached my car, introduced himself, and among other things, informed me that he observed my vehicle in his side mirror straddling the center line (about half way) just after meeting him. Naturally, all I could say was that I was not aware of that. The reason that I was not aware of that is because it did not happen. I will address this issue in greater depth later in this writing.

In the interest of brevity, I will not go through the whole conversation, but it didn't take long before he asked if I had been drinking, to which I answered yes, that I had a few. He asked how many, and I said I didn't know. My answer was true. At this point, I was getting pretty nervous, since I was beginning to understand where this was going. He asked me to step out of the vehicle because he wanted me to do some tests.

He had me do four sobriety tests. The first was the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus. Essentially, you are supposed to follow a pen light with your eyes from center to left and center to right and not move your head when doing so. Apparently, by watching your eyes, the officer can see clues of intoxication. He recorded 6 clues against me here. (I later learned that the test was not performed correctly. From conversations with attorneys and prosecutors, I learned that it rarely is done properly at roadside but it is still widely used as part of the reason to arrest.)

The next test was the Walk and Turn Test. Here you are asked to stand in a heal-to-toe position while the officer gives a long explanation and demonstration of how you are to perform the test. You are supposed to imagine a straight line on the road, take nine steps forward touching your heel to your toe as you proceed. Then you are to take short choppy steps to turn around, and then take nine heel-to-toe steps back. He found 3 clues of impairment against me from this test. One, he said I could not keep my balance while I was standing heel-to-toe. (Try it sometime, particularly in the wind and rain.) Two, I started before he said I should. And three, I didn't do the choppy little steps to turn around. Instead I walked backwards heel-to-toe (I did it very well by the way as seen on the police video.) I should tell you that I did ask him if I was supposed to go back after I took the first nine steps. He did not respond, so I went backwards. Not good!

The third test was the One Leg Stand. He found 1 clue against me here that according to my attorney is passing. You are supposed to hold one foot up in the air and count as high as you can before you put your foot down. You are supposed to count 1001, 1002, etc. I counted to 1023 before I put my foot down. I guess if you ever put your foot down, it's a clue against you. This would be a good time to have a little flamingo blood in you. Unfortunately, I don't.

The fourth and final test was the English Alphabet Test. I'm sure glad it wasn't the Russian alphabet! This one I passed. (I guess it's pretty hard to find something wrong with this one if you actually say it correctly.) He asked me to say it from D to W and not to sing it. I guess singing it makes it too easy. They would sure hate to have it be too easy.

At this point I had 10 clues against me, 6 from the first test, 3 from the second test, 1 from the third test and 0 from the last test. (It almost looks like I was getting better at passing these tests as time went on.) Next he asked me to take a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT). Since this was all new to me, I didn't know what it was or how it works. (Since then, I have learned that they are so inaccurate and unreliable, that they are not admissible in court. Isn't this fun?) So, I asked him about it. He was unable or unwilling, I think unable, to tell me how it worked or if I had to take it. He said that if I refused, my driver's license would be revoked. If I take the test and fail, my license will be suspended. I asked him what's the difference. He just repeated what he had said before. At this point, I felt incredibly ignorant and didn't know what I should do.

The Weather

Although I mentioned it before, the weather was terrible. I was standing in a horizontal rain driven by the wind in March in Wisconsin. It was cold. I didn't have my coat on. I told the officer repeatedly that I was cold. He ignored my comments. (He had offered to let me get my coat when I first got out of the car, but I declined since I thought it would be over in minutes and I would be on my way.) I have since seen the video of my sobriety tests and arrest. I was very steady and performed the tests well despite the adverse weather conditions. The police video clearly shows this.

The Arrest

The officer asked if I would take a blood test. Again I asked him if I had to. I got the same revoke/suspend answer, so I finally agreed since it seemed like there was no real choice. He arrested me, hand cuffed me, and put me into his squad car to take me to the hospital to draw my blood. For those of you who have never been cuffed, it's a terrible feeling of helplessness. Never in my wildest imagination had I thought that someone would handcuff me as if I was a common criminal. It sort of bursts your "Land of the Free" bubble.

Before I go on with the story, I would like to make a few comments. The officer was very professional and treated me with courtesy. This does not excuse his grave error in stopping me and arresting me. This ordeal was very costly in terms of dollars and caused me much anguish as well. (In case you're wondering, my case was dismissed in December of 2003, 21 months after my arrest.) It appears as though the police can make grave errors that have a terribly negative impact upon citizens with essentially no consequences to them. I think this is a big problem. This is the first (and hopefully only) time that I have been caught up in something like this, but I wouldn't wish this on anyone. I think some changes are badly needed within law enforcement.

On the way to the hospital, I told the officer that I could not believe this was happening. I have always tried to follow the law and be a good citizen. I had hurt no one and damaged nothing. I told him I thought it was immoral to treat people like this for no reason. (From what I could tell, he was unimpressed.)

Once at the hospital (about 4:00 AM), the officer read from a form called Informing the Accused and asked again if I would submit to the blood test. I agreed. The officer issued a warning for Operating Left of Center and a citation for Operating a Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated - First Offense. He went through another form with me which I later learned was the DWI Tracking and Alcohol Influence Report. It was a rehash of much of what had occurred with the addition of one trick question. He asked me if I am under the influence of alcohol. Now since I know I have had a few drinks and I know that I am arrested for DWI, I naturally want to say yes, thinking that the question is simply asking if I have alcohol in me. Most citizens are honest, and it seems the authorities like to use your honesty and good faith against you. "Yes" is the wrong answer. You should say no, unless of course you are intoxicated. (If you are really intoxicated, I don't know how they expect you to answer correctly.) Having a few drinks does not rise to the level of being under the influence of alcohol. I answered yes because I had a few drinks and I wanted to answer honestly. Bad idea. Luckily, my case was ultimately dismissed anyway.

A young lady in a white outfit took my blood, I later found out she was not really qualified to do so. She had a bad attitude, and it was clear she didn't want to be there. I guess her job was interfering with her free time.

After the ordeal was finished (about 4:30 AM), I was released to my 18 year old daughter who came to get me and take me home. Thanks Sweetie! I just know the world was a safer place that night with her two years of driving experience as opposed to my 31 years. Here is the formula. 31 years minus (6 beers over a period of 4.5 hours times 5 years each) equals one year (31-(6x5))=1. By golly they are right, she was more experienced and skilled than me. How could I have been so blind? (She really is a good driver...but 2 years versus 31 years? Come on.)

My Hopes Dashed

The next day, I began to go over what had happened the night before. I was hopeful that the blood test would come back under .10, the legal limit at the time. I tried to recreate the evening in my mind to calculate how many beers I had had. I counted the money in my wallet to help me to verify the number of drinks. I arrived at the number 6. Yes, it could have been 7, but probably not 8. This was over a period of 4.5 hours. I weigh about 190 pounds. If you refer to the BAC charts on this, I would not be even close to .10 with this number of drinks. The charts would have me between .05 and .07, well under the legal limit.

About two weeks later I received a letter from the officer. The letter said that my BAC level was .287. I was flabbergasted! How could this be? It would take nearly 20 beers to get me to that level. I never drink that much or even close to that much! What happened? Well, it turned out that the officer (or his typist) put the wrong number in the letter. (I wonder if he or she was impaired in some way at the time the letter was being prepared. Hmm?) The actual number from the laboratory was .159. This was a devastating blow to me. To get to this level, I would have had to have a 12 pack over that 4.5-hour time frame. Again, I know that I did not have anything close to that. It's a terrible feeling to be accused of something that you have not done. It's even worse to see what appears to be scientific evidence that incriminates you, when you know it is untrue.

Notice of Intent to Suspend (my drivers license)

Along with the .287 letter from the officer was a form called Notice of Intent to Suspend Operating Privilege. Besides informing me that my license would be suspended in 30 days, it informed me that I had a right to an administrative review at the DOT (Dept of Transportation) if I requested it in writing within 10 days. I did so. It was a waste of time. The reviewer had made his decision long before I walked into his office. He mocked me and made it clear he was not interested in what I had to say. He was in a hurry. I guess he like the young lady who drew my blood, felt his job was interfering with his free time (or something). You may have noticed that I have not mentioned anyone's name in this narrative. I haven't because I believe the story is important, not the names. In the case of this reviewer however, he was shameful and an embarrassment to our great state. Unfortunately, I can't recall his name and his signature is illegible. His name should be published however so that the public knows to avoid him if possible. His behavior in my interview was disgraceful. He works or worked (if we are lucky, he's no longer there) at the DMV in Fond du Lac, WI. I think his first name is Jim. Rubber Stamp Jim is what I call him.

Looking For Help

I began a search for help after realizing that the system was clearly designed to slap me with an OWI, guilty or not. My many years of believing that the system was just and that you would always have a fair shake if you told the truth was quickly slipping away. The sheriff's office would not give me a copy of the police video nor the dispatch tape. I was able to get a copy of the police report from the DOT, however. I tried to speak with the prosecutor but he would not speak to me before my preliminary hearing. It was becoming clear that if I wanted to successfully fight this thing, I was going to need professional help. I went to the phone book and the Internet searching for OWI attorneys.

I contacted several of them. Each one was willing to give me a free consultation. These consultations were very informative. Unfortunately, when we began to discuss fees, I quickly learned that this was going to be very expensive. The quotes that I received ranged from $5,000 to $7,500 in advance with no guaranty of winning. I agonized over whether I should take this kind of money out of our family budget. I talked with my wife about it. She was very supportive but she too felt that it was a lot of money, considering I would likely lose anyway. What should I do? Let it go because the cost of justice is simply too high? That seemed to be the obvious answer. I almost did let it go. I almost let the system punish me unjustly to save the money.

Part 2 of my story!