Arizona DUI – a hard lesson

This report describes my thoughts around my experience with a DUI charge and subsequent conviction. I am writing this so that others can learn from the experience and perhaps be better prepared to deal with the experience should it ever happen to them. I am not defending my actions and do not condone drinking and driving. But knowledge is power.

In September of 2006, I was in Flagstaff, Arizona travelling on business. One evening I was out with clients for dinner when we decided to visit Collins Pub on Leroux street for a few more beers. It wasn’t like we had consumed large amounts of alcohol, but did have a few at the happy hour held at the Embassy Suites at 5:30 PM and we had a few beers with dinner at the steak place whose name escapes me. After a couple of pints each at Collins we decided to call it a night as it was 11:00 PM and we had an early meeting the next day.

I had parked my car facing west on Route 66 (the main street through Flagstaff) which was only a matter of 50 yards from the pub. The three of us got in the car, and the guys were commenting on the GPS that was in the rental car. I started the car and pulled out onto the main street and immediately saw the traffic light down the road at North Humphrey Street. What I did not see was the traffic light at Route 66 and Beaver Street. Maybe it was because I was distracted by my passengers playing with the GPS or maybe it was because I was tired, but I was in the middle of the intersection before the guy in the front passenger’s seat told me that I just ran a red light. At that point it was too late to do anything but just continue on. The guy in the back seat then told me the bad news. Coming in the opposite direction was a police car that was in perfect position to witness my transgression. I fully expected him to pull a U-turn and pursue so I slowed right down and anticipated the inevitable flash of his overhead light indicating that I should pull over. I may have even started to pull over because within the first few flashes, I pulled on over and came to a stop at the curb. The police cruiser pulled in being and the cop got out of the car and approached. What happen next made a much more significant impact on the sequence of events that would follow than I could ever have imagined.

I had the window rolled down and with the engine turned off and both hands in plain sight on the steering wheel. While I had never been arrested before I had been pulled over for traffic violations but it had been more than 20 years since it had happened at night. The office approach the open window and asked me if I knew why he pulled me over. I told him that was pretty sure that it was because of the red light I had just run. I acknowledged and asked me if I had been drinking tonight.

DANGEROUS QUESTION #1
Being a peace loving, law abiding citizen of these United States I had no reason to hide information and I knew categorically that I had not had nearly enough to drink to be impaired so I quite honest told him that I had and when the follow up question regarding the amount came up, I had no reason to hide the fact that I had had about 4 pints of beer since about 5:30 PM. It was now after 11:00 PM so surely to God a certain amount of alcohol had dissipated over that time frame to bring me well under the limit. But what WAS the limit in Arizona? I had no idea. The officer asked for my license and registration which I handed over cooperatively and returned to his cruiser. After about 10 minutes he approached the vehicle once more. I guessed that it took a little time because we were in a rental car which he probably had to check out. In point of fact, the 5th Amendment to the Constitution guarantees me the right not to incriminate myself. I suppose on some level I instinctively knew this but completely forgot to invoke my right and decline to answer the question. That was mistake # 1.

DANGEROUS QUESTION #2.
When he came back to the car the Police Officer asked if I would be willing to participate in a Field Sobriety Test. I got out of the car and the City of Flagstaff police officer subjected to a series of divided attention tests to determine if he had probable cause to arrest me on suspicion of DUI. Again, since the test would help to determine whether or not the office should arrest me, I had the right not to incriminate myself by participating in the tests. This was mistake #2. By now, I’m sure you can guess what happened next. The officer ran me through enough tests to decide that I had exhibited enough signs to create a reasonable suspicion in his mind to put me in cuffs.

DANGEROUS QUESTION #3
After the tests had been completed, the officer asked me, “on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is no impairment what-so-ever and 10 was falling down drunk, how would you rate yourself at this moment?”
To this day I cannot understand what came over me but I answered by saying “3”. The next thing he did was tell that he was placing me under arrest, slapped the cuffs on me and placed me in the back of his police cruiser. Oh, and this was mistake #3. Well, it’s really just a continuation of #1, but it really was the piece of damning evidence that put the last nail in my coffin. Again, I had the right not to incriminate myself and here I was volunteering to the officer that I was NOT un-impaired. From there, the Police officer took me to the station where I was told I was required to submit to a breath test to determine my BAC or blood alcohol concentration.

A few minutes later we arrived at the Coconino County Jail. It was like a mini-Fort Knox in that the security was something to behold. Once inside, the officer took me to a room where I submitted to a breathalyzer test on a machine called the Intoxalyzer 8000. I was shocked to hear that the first test came up to be 0.131 and even more shocked, 10 minutes later, when the subsequent teat came up with a BAC of 0.134. Holy cow. I was not just over the limit, but well over the limit.

The officer was a pretty good guy and was reasonably sympathetic. He did not book me right away and in fact completed some paper work which game me the opportunity to plead guilty over the phone once I got home. He then gave me my license, put me back in the cruiser and took me back to the hotel. No night in jail and no seizure of the license. Hmmmm – very civilized.

After thinking things over for a few days, I decided that I should consult an attorney rather than pleading guilty. I contacted a local Flagstaff attorney who specializes in DUI and does nothing else. After telling her my story, I decided to roll the dice, please not guilty and go to trial. She admitted that we did not have a very good case but that she would do her best for me. During that first phone call, I learned about the three mistakes I had made and what I SHOULD have done. I am not saying that it would have necessarily changed the outcome of the evening, but it would have made it a lot easier for my attorney to mount a good defense.

RULE #1 – Never lie to a police officer and never incriminate yourself. I did the first part ok and did not lie to the police officer, but I incriminated the heck out of myself.

In hindsight, this is what I should have done.

1. When the police cruiser first flashed is lights we should have opened up the windows and aired out any smell of alcohol lingering in the car.
2. When the officer started asking me questions about whether I had been drinking or not, I should have (in the most polite way possible) told the officer that I was not going to answer that question. To do so in self incrimination and I do not have to do that.
3. When the officer asked me participate in the field sobriety test, I should have (in the nicest way possible) told him that I was not going to participate in the field sobriety test. At this point, the office would have to make a decision about whether he thought I had had enough to drink to make me impaired and to take me to the station to make me blow.
4. Once at the police station, I did not ask to speak to a lawyer. I should have. I would have been completely within my rights to ask for a phone book, a pad of paper and pen and taken my sweet time to call a few lawyers from the phone book to get some opinions about what to do next. I learned that most lawyers have their phone answered after hours or will list their cell phones. A worst, it would have allowed me to gain time between my last drink and the time I was to blow.

NOTE: I have since learned that since the time of my original arrest, the laws in Arizona have changed a little. In fact, you now are required to participate in a field sobriety test if a police officer asked you to. Now, you are not required to cooperate, but you are required to participate. In other words, you can stand there like a post and just not do the tests that you are asked to perform and fail each test by virtue of not performing each test correctly. But this does not incriminate you because the officer cannot observe you doing or not doing the things to determine you sobriety.

I won’t get into the details of my case, but because I incriminated myself, I made it very difficult for my lawyer to make a case with which to defend me. As it was, the only think I could do was bring into question the accuracy of the Intoxalyser 8000. I hired an expert and he was able to bring in a lot of reasonable doubt into the accuracy of the machine. However, because I incriminated myself, I completely eroded the strength of his testimony at the my trial because of what I said to the officer and how I acted in the field sobriety test.

As you can probably guess, I ended up going to trial after stalling for over year. That was an interesting experience in itself, but I ended up being convicted on both counts of DUI. In the state of Arizona, operating a vehicle with between 0.08 and 0.15 percent is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

I was sentenced to 5 days in prison and a 90 day license suspension. All but one day was suspended by the judge and my driving privileges were suspended in the State of Arizona. As I write this, I am sitting in my hotel room in Flagstaff getting ready to go an serve my 24 hours. More to come when I get out tomorrow.

Wish me luck.

Jake

RJ,

your "fraternity brothers" are behind you all the way! Just don't embarrass us in the jail shower!

Keep us posted when you are a "free" man again....

BTY interesting read, thanks.....

CFK

Why didn't they draw blood, since a blood test is more accurate than a simple blow test?

If you were .13, then you had a lot more than 4 pints over a 5.5 hour period. If you're average monger size, I would estimate that you burned off the equivelent of about 5-6 beers in that 5.5 hour time. To get to .13 from that base level, that would indicate another 5 drinks or so. Basically, if you were drinking constantly during that 5.5 hour period, you would have had to have had 10-12 drinks to be that drunk at 11:30. Now, if you had a couple of beers early, then knocked back 4-6 at the pub, that would lead to a blood-alcohol level that high.

Also, a night in jail on a first offence? I find it odd that your lawyer couldn't do better than that, which is the usual "suspended sentence, loss of license for 3-6 months, AA/alcohol classes".

Second, if you admitted to the cop that you were impaired and legitimately blew a .13, no lawyer that I know of would have taken it to court. Plead guilty, get the standard punishment, go on with life as usual. Very strange.

Cat, you must clearly keep in mind this did not occur in Hollywood, otherwise the standard 94minutes would apply!

To think that both Paris, Lindsey, and Britney all got less punishment for repeat offenses AND violating parole leds me to believe that Riojake was more guilty of being a Club Hombre member and associating with the likes!
Had he used Jag's lawyer he probably would be facing far tougher penalities......just a guess.

This applies to the not so great State of Arizona

First-Time DUI with BAC above .08% but below .15%
JAIL: 10 consecutive days in jail. The court may suspend 9 of the 10 days if you agree to get an alcohol and/or drug evaluation, and submit to treatment.

First Extreme DUI (BAC above .15%)
JAIL: 30 consecutive days in jail. The Court may suspend 20 of the 30 days if you agree to get an alcohol and/or drug evaluation, and submit to treatment.

Hope its not too horrible for ya....

(Message edited by justdan on December 08, 2007)

Just remember while your in the slammer "Never Bend Down To Pick Up The soap"

Riojake, your post is a great service to all CH members because those 5th amendment rights that you failed to invoke and essentially caused your conviction apply in every state. If AZ is now saying that you must submit to field sobriety tests their law is subject to nullification by a federal court, but the compromise solution your lawyer suggested is excellent. The bottom line is don't make their case for them - make them prove you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt with good evidence not gift wrapped for them by you.

It is true that very often the insistence of not feeding an officer evidence when you are stopped will lead the officer to bring you in for the custodial test that is required by law. So inconvenience just about guaranteed, but you won't think a thing about it if a decision to prosecute you goes nowhere or if you are acquitted because you didn't supply the evidence. The field sobriety tests are often very flawed but if you do them you do the prosecutor's work for him and you end up having to explain to a judge and/or jury why the field tests were bogus. Don't do them under any circumstances. All they do is load the prosecution up with evidence that you as defendant have to explain away or discredit. If you don't do them, there is no evidence from the field.

Catacony asked why they took breath instead of blood. I am guessing you had your choice as you would in California. It is true that the blood test is more accurate, so given your choice, you always choose breath if you have had anything at all to drink.

I don't doubt that you had no more than the 4 pints but either they have a seriously malfunctioning breathalyser, an incompetent technician operating it, or you drank 4 pints of that new Sam Adams brew that is 51 proof!

Anyhow, excellent information and a blueprint for anybody to follow when stopped for any offense whatsoever. Be polite to the police always, but never give them any information. If they arrest you glue your lips shut after demanding a lawyer. It is amazing how many people write their own ticket to prison.

Enjoy your day in the clink - a fresh experience to enrich your life since you have no choice, and best of luck in the aftermath.

>>>the Police Officer asked if I would be willing to participate in a Field Sobriety Test

Bad idea. Last time I checked, in Arizona you *ARE NOT* required to submit to field sobriety tests. You ARE required to submit to a breath test or BAC test if the officer asks you to (or they will take away your license for a YEAR). So expect to be hauled in and tested if you say no. But then hard evidence decides your guilt or innocence - your blood alcohol content.

>>>the officer asked me, “on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is no impairment what-so-ever and 10 was falling down drunk, how would you rate yourself at this moment?”

Answering this at all is a VERY BAD IDEA. Arizona law is written such that you are considered guilty of DUI if you are impaired *in any way* - regardless of your blood alcohol level. If you even answer "1", you're essentially stating you're guilty of being impaired.

In short - ANY time you have a run in with the law, the cop is trying to get evidence to incriminate you. Your best course of action is to respectfully decline to answer ANY questions or take any tests before speaking to an attorney.

It only gets better...they now have a website to try and shame people who got arrested: http://www.stopduiaz.com/stopsites/stopduiaz.com/. And they always have special DUI enforcement task forces out around the holidays now. Better to end up in jail for a few days than in the morgue, I guess, but 0.08 is just a ridiculously low blood alcohol level to consider someone intoxicated.

BTW - that 0.08 level is pretty much nationwide - since the federal gov't blackmailed all the states into setting it at that years ago by threatening to withhold federal highway funds from any state that didn't adopt that or a stricter standard. They couldn't mandate it due to the constitution (that silly clause about powers not explicitly granted to the feds being reserved to the states), so they just engaged in gov't sponsored blackmail. Welcome to the 21st century "Land of the Free", where we incarcerate more people per capita than any other nation on the planet.

Good info on AZ DUI, and what to do if stopped: http://www.phillipslaw.com/html/dui_rights.html/.

Riojake,
I hope your 24 hours in lockup went fast. I have spent a few of those myself (never for DUI). It is not any fun.

Your lawyer's advise to you is very good indeed. Consider that 90% of the crimes in this country are solved as the result of confessions. If suspects would keep their lips sealed there would be a MUCH lower conviction rate in general. Naturally, it is human nature to answer a cop's questions since the hope is that they will let you go and not arrest you. So if you have not been drinking, then by all means answer the questions. But if you have been drinking you should only give basic personal information and if they ask you to conduct tests ask to speak to your lawyer.

Often cop cars are equipped with video equipment so asking to speak to your lawyer sets up the police to err if they continue to try to interrogate you.

Also, if given a choice between breathalyzer or blood test, always take breathalzyer because the blood test is pretty much dead on. The breathalyzer screws up a lot and you might luck out and get a level below .08 even if you are higher. Also, because it is not as accurate, it can give your attorney more to work with in your defense.

Regarding BAC... it doesnt take much to put someone over the legal limit. Your body can metabolize about 1.5 ounces of alcohol per hour which is the equivalent of one normal coctail, or one 12 ounce beer (5%). If you are from 150 to 200 pounds, two beers in less than an hour would likely put you over .08 which would be enough to consider you impaired. You were drinking pints, which is not the normal 12 ounces, but rather 16 ounces, so even one of those could put you very close to the .08. So you can see how drinking 4 pints would put you well above, and require several hours for your body to metabolize all that alcohol.

Your post is very much appreciated. It can serve as a reminder to all of us.

(Message edited by gcl on December 09, 2007)

My point about the blood vs. breathalyzer is that if Rio really only had 4 pints to drink - assuming one of those pints wasn't a pint of vodka or something - there's no way he would have had a BAC that high. Even if he chugged all four beers just before leaving the bar his BAC wouldn't have been close to that high. Either he drank a lot more than he thought - very easy to do when drunk, right?. Or, he had a busted breathalyzer kit, in which case he could have asked for a blood test which would have shown the true amount.

Basically, blood tests are accurate, so if you're truly sober (or at least not drunk) this is a case where it's best to ask for the accurate test. Of course, if you've been pounding drinks all night and really are drunk, then you're probably screwed either way.

As far as the rest, if you really did have a BAC of .13 - which is pretty high, you would have been slurring words and probably walking unsteady - then you're guilt, plain and simple. You can either plead directly without a lawyer or get a lawyer, who usually about the best then can do in that case is get the sentence knocked down a bit. It sounds like Arizona has some tough laws on the books so I don't know if there's much wriggle room at all if you're guilty. In that case, you just wasted some cash on the lawyer, although it never hurts to try.

It all comes down to metabolism. A friend is a cop here in AZ. He brought the breathalyzer home and we tried it out. A girl that weighs about 110 drank the same as my son at 190. He was way over and she was under. It varied with everyone as time passed.

They also let my son go do the test where you drink some, drive, drink, drive some more (closed course). Pretty funny stuff.

We just had this conversation yesterday about how much I can drink and what to do. He also said to say no to everything and just delay everything as much as possible.

Here is a question I am not sure on, but isnt there a period of time after you drink and you wait a bit, you actually rise in BAC?

(Message edited by azguy on December 09, 2007)

Free at last, free at last, thank God in heaven I'm free at......... ok enough with the drama.

I survived. No beating, so psycho terror, no gang rape in the shower - no nothing. I'm almost disappointed. Well, no, not realy. I'm glad to be home.

Actually, they had me in a minimum security dormitory with 30 other guys serving similar offenses. It was almost like summer camp but with better food!

All in all it wasn't that bad. I feel rather lucky.

Thanks to all of you for the supportive comments. I really appreciate it.

More thoughts and some answers to questions tomorrow. Sleeping on that prison bed was sheer torture - I gotta go see my chiropractor!!!!

Thanks again,

Jake

AZ Guy,

During the course of my trial, I learned from my very expensive Expert Witness, that there are two phases with respect to BAC (Blood Alcohol Content). There is the Absorptive Phase and there is the Elimination Phase.

During the Absorptive Phase, your body is actually absorbing alcohol that is in your stomach. Since you don't inject alcohol directly into your blood, it must be absorbed in order to be in your blood and to affect your brain. During this phase, your BAC will rise until all of the available alcohol has been absorbed. This explains why my BAC actually went up from one test to the next. I left the bar immediately after finishing the last beer and started driving within only a few minutes. I blew into the machine about 45 minutes later.

What is interesting is that the breathalyser machines are actually designed to measure BAC in the Elimination Phase. The argument that we tried to put forth is that readings from the Intoxalyser 8000 can register a false reading by as much as 70% (and higher) if the test is taken during the Absorptive Phase. This was clearly the case in my situation. Had I not been a "dumb ass" and not incriminated myself, there is a strong possibility that the Jury would have found reasonable doubt and, in the best case, found me not guilty.

Now, if they had not been able to reach a decision and ended up in a hung Jury, I would have had to go to trial again. That was the back up plan, because the follow up trial would likely have been many months away. You may find it interesting to learn that small cities like Flagstaff have EXTREMELY high turnover in their law enforcement ranks. In fact, in the 14 month between infraction and trial, 21 police officers had left the city's employ. That meant that if I played the waiting game, there was a pretty decent chance that the officer who arrested me (star witness) would have moved away from flagstaff and been unavailable to testify. The case would have been dismissed.

Hey, it was a long shot, but IMHO, it was worth it. In fact, my lawyer did almost everything to talk me out of it, but when I asked her what she would have advised her father or her brother in the same situation, she said she would advise to, "Fight like Hell". And that's what we did.

Only the result was not exactly what I had in mind.

Oh, BTW - I learned that it is getting to more more and more common that police forces are using blood samples as a test for BAC. It is the "Gold Standard" and is much, much more accurate. However, it is much more expensive as well. I also learned that I could have refused the breath test and asked for a blood test which would have bought more even more time since they would have had to get the duty nurse to come and draw my blood.

Again - too soon old; too late smart.

Riojake,

Shit, and I thought geting pulled over for driving in a bus lane with my cell phone up to my ear in a "hands-free" state was bad. That was nothing compared to you self-incriminating yourself. Hey, if while you're incarcerated you get to fly on Con Air, please write a report about it. I love stories about flying.

Jag

Jake,

Thanks for the update and sobering (no pun intended) reminder of the potential side-effects of drinking and driving.

Several years ago a good friend of mine was convicted of his second DUI, lost his driver's license for a year and his job with a major sports team in the same day. Since living vicariously through him, I have tried to minimize drinking and driving in my life. For the most part, I have been successful. Your story is a great reinforcer and reminder for me to toe the line.

Again, thanks for sharing your experience and I am happy that you survived your time "in stir."

EA

This is one area where the Mexican system is vastly superior to the American system. Much, much, preferable to simply be robbed by the policia of all the money you have in your immediate possession and then be sent merrily on your way than it is to have your day in court and all your constitutional rights on this side of the border.

>The argument that we tried to put forth is that readings from the Intoxalyser 8000 can register
>a false reading by as much as 70% (and higher) if the test is taken during the Absorptive
>Phase. This was clearly the case in my situation.

From AZ Statute 28-1381:

"A. It is unlawful for a person to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle in this state under any of the following circumstances:
<snip>
2. If the person has an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more within two hours of driving"

The prosecutors in AZ were actually losing a LOT of cases because people would claim they had the drinks right before getting behind the wheel, and that their BAC was low when driving, but went up before getting tested. So the AZ legislature threw in the little clause about "within 2 hours" to make that argument useless. The jury *might* have bought your inaccuracy argument, but would they have believed your BAC was over 0.08 at no time within 2 hours of your driving?

>I also learned that I could have refused the breath test and asked for a blood test

Not according to everything I've read (including AZ statute 28-1321), which states:

"A person who operates a motor vehicle in this state gives consent <snip> to a test or tests of the person's blood, breath, urine or other bodily substance <snip>. The test or tests chosen by the law enforcement agency shall be administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer having reasonable grounds to believe that the person was driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle in this state"

That makes it pretty clear that LE (not you) has the option of which test to use. You certainly could have requested a blood test. And you could have asked to be released immediately to go get your own blood test, as you have a right to gather evidence in your behalf. (Who knows - if they didn't honor that request you might get the case dismissed because they violated your right to gather evidence in your defense?)

Here are the AZ statues on DUI. Things may be changing, but at this moment this is the law in AZ:

http://www.azleg.gov/ArizonaRevisedStatutes.asp?Title=28 (see Chapter 4)

That is true, but they have to arrest you first. I think if you dont comply after they arrest you, then you lose your license for a year.

As much as I like the way you can barter with the Mexican police in this case it bothers me to know end.

Someday a cop is going to take $100 from a guy and then he is going to kill someone within a mile...I would rather see the police accept the bribe and put you in a taxi or drive you themselves...

And this is not a shot at riojake...as I am glad he shared his story.

A few years ago I was driving impaired in Tijuana and I did in fact pay $100 as I had had quite a bit. Shame on me for driving impaired...I have since taken taxis even when my car was parked in downtown, etc. Forget the law and think about the potential innocent victims.

I'm very embarassed that I was driving after drinking for hours.

Phoenixguy,
Yes, this is true today.
However, since the date of the infraction was September 2006, the laws were a little different then (or so I'm told). But in any case that's irrelevant going forward and anyone put in a similar situation needs to be aware of the revised laws.


BUT THE REAL IRONY is that once I got home from Arizona Sunday night, I realized that I had received a Jury Summons, some weeks earlier, to appear on Monday at Noon for Jury selection. So I wandered down to the County Courthouse on Monday and sat down thinking who the hell would pick a convicted criminal DUI asshole like me to be on a jury? Well, three hours later I was one of twelve jurors sitting in Criminal Court hearing a murder trial. Had I been convicted of Felony DUI, I would have been off the hook. But the misdemeanor DUI does not count for shit! Just to show you what kind of idiot I am, I can't even do the DUI right so that it does me some good! (just kidding).

I shit you not! This is the God's honest truth. Is that not IRONY? Can you Believe this????

So after all of that time, expense, and heartache of going through the whole damned process, I get to spend another week on the other side of the fence.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

No. The REAL irony would have been if you had to sit as a juror at your own trial.

Rj, by not getting that felony DUI you also missed out on your chance to be on a pink-shirted chain gang: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1211duichain11-on.html

As Homer Simpson would say, "Doh!!!"

Jake, thanks for sharing your story. You are much better off with a misdemeanor than with a felony. It can be hard to get a good job with a felony on your record. Most large companies ask you on your job application about felonies and then check your record. Most of these companies will not hire you if you have a felony. Friends of mine have told me that a felony is on your record for life, but I don't know this for sure.

A friend of mine In California frequently drove while drunk and avoided getting caught for over 20 years by practicing nearly perfect driving habits all the time whether drunk or sober. He always used the signal before turning, he made complete stops at all stop signs and he used the cruise control to help him always stay under the speed limits. Two years ago another drunk driver ran a red light and crashed into him. Both drivers got DUIs. The police took blood from my friend while he was in the hospital. My friend now takes taxis to and from the bars or gets rides from friends.

My friend learned to look and make sure that cross traffic stops before going through green lights. One day I was giving him a ride and we were about to go through a traffic signal that just turned green and he yelled "stop". I stopped and looked to my left and saw a car approaching at about 50 miles an hour. I honked continuously for about five seconds and all of the cars next to me stopped except for a van in the far right lane. The fast car went through the red light, that was red for at least five seconds, and crashed into the van at high speed.

(Message edited by forte on December 12, 2007)

Here is a video of the article linked by Phx guy.


http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5185683&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Sheriff Joe the toughest sheriff in the country


Sheriff Joe the most corrupt sheriff in the country

Damn - that's harsh.
I'm sure glad my DUI was a year ago.

BTW - I'm finally done with being on the murder trial jury. We convicted the dude of murder and gave him 20 years.

I know that sounds light, but there were extenuating circumstances. Send me a PM if you want more details.

I think I have had my fill of the criminal justice system for one year thank you very much.

The bright side to all of this that I just found out I am going back to Brazil in January - the week of the 7th.