DOLPHINS: Brown's DUI (was RE: [Miami Dolphins' Ronnie Brown...)

Thu Mar 25 05:52:33 GMT 2010

this is why i always do 2 mph over the limit when a cop  is nearby,
and switch lanes when one comes behind me on the highway - as it seems
most are just interested in going by and not having you slow down to
the speed limit right in front of them. or so it seems to me.

On 3/24/10, Michael Fischer <thebigfish at smunet.net> wrote:
> Awesome post Pluv. Easiest way to avoid any of it is still not to
> drink and  drive.  I don't typically. And, if I thought I was, I'd
> call my wife or a taxi.
> It's just not worth it.
>
> Cops are aggressive about this. I don't blame them ..but ... One
> night, after shooting a playoff baseball game I'm a block from home,
> it's about 10pm
> and the lights go on behind me. WTF I thought. Officer comes up and
> after the usual pleasantries ask if I have had anything to drink
> tonight. "No" I
> replied. I've been shooting baseball on assignment for the paper."
>
> At this point he directs the flashlight over to the passenger seat
> where the Nikon and a 300mm f2.8 ( most people call it a REALLY big
> lens_) are
> sitting. He wants to know where I'm going. ("Ah..home.. about a block
> from here. Notice the address on the license..")
>
> I realized later what got him interested in me was the posted speed
> was 45.. and I was driving 40. I was just bone friggin tired. Of
> course 14 hours days
> will do that. Cops are aggressive. I don't know about a bounty on DUIs
> around here... but nothing would surprise me..
>
> Methinks Tuna et al are going to draft a RB.... potential replacement
> for Ronnie. This DUI doesn't help things.
>
> M
>
>
> On Mar 24, 2010, at 9:00 AM, dougswub at aol.com wrote:
>
>>
>> wow.....nice write up Patrick.
>>
>> I live in Florida.  If I had consumed more than 3 drinks, I would
>> not have blown.
>> Also, it's all video taped from the dashboard as well.  Your driver
>> license will be suspended
>> for 1 year, and get a good lawyer.  He gets you a "hard ship driver
>> license".  Basically
>> allows you to travel to work and church only.  But that's better
>> than a guilty DUI on your
>> record.
>> Just my opinion.  Ronnie won't ever drink n drive again, I bet.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Patrick McLaughlin <pluvlaw at hotmail.com>
>> To: dolphins-disc at phins.com
>> Sent: Wed, Mar 24, 2010 9:25 am
>> Subject: Re: DOLPHINS: Brown's DUI (was RE: [Miami Dolphins' Ronnie
>> Brown...)
>>
>>
>>
>> CA law is bad.  I know Rick will disagree, but sorry..."a forced
>> blood draw"?
>> That absolutely ignores the 4th Amendment.  In no other criminal
>> charge is the
>> State allowed to so clearly violate a person's right to be free from
>> unreasonable search.  I'd call putting a needle in my arm and taking
>> my blood a
>> pretty invasive manuever by the state.  This is in addition to most
>> states
>> having DUI laws pretty clearly violate the 5th Amendment and 6th
>> Amendment in
>> some fashion.
>>
>>
>>
>> I disagree about the SFSTs.  Shit...I had trouble doing them all
>> through my
>> training.  Maybe that's b/c I'm more than 50 lbs overweight, which
>> NHTSA says,
>> along with being 65 or over, should prohibit me from being given the
>> one-legged
>> stand.  I don't know, but even Rick would have to admit you can
>> "fail" either
>> one of the physical tests before the actually "start"  and it only
>> requires 2
>> clues on each to fail.  In the 8 years I have been watching DUI
>> videos, I can
>> count on one hand the times I have seen a cop correctly perform the
>> HGN test as
>> the NHTSA training requires.  That's not necessarily a knock on
>> cops.  It's
>> pretty damn hard to do in the safety of a class with a classmate,
>> let alone on
>> the side of a road with traffic wizzing by and someone you think is
>> drunk and
>> possibly dangerous across from you in the middle of the night.  But
>> you have to
>> remember, this stuff is based on science.  For science to be good,
>> it's got to
>> be uniformly done and adhere to strict protocols.
>>
>>
>>
>> Here in SC, we're very lucky.  We've got probably the best DUI laws
>> in the
>> nation (hey...we're the best at something!  that and man-on-horse
>> luvin'), b/c
>> we've got a mandatory video taping requirement, from the time the
>> blue lights
>> come on through arrest and then back at the breath site, through the
>> 20-minute
>> observation and subsequent blow.  Hence the best course of action is
>> to often
>> not blow.  First, why give the State a reading high enough to raise
>> the
>> presumption of impairment?  Often enough, a cop has gotten on the
>> stand and told
>> of how falling down drunk my client was, only to have me play the
>> video and guy
>> is fine.  Second, the machines are not fool proof.  We just switched
>> over to the
>> new DMTs here in SC and I have blown on one once and watched my BAC
>> level
>> fluctuate as badly as my air-level on the graph.  When I asked the
>> reps from
>> National Patent how that could be, they shrugged, said they didn't
>> know, they
>> were seeing that fairly often.  That's crazy.  Your BAC level should
>> reach a
>> certain stage and plateau, not fluctuate like your air level.  Plus,
>> National
>> Patent and SC have fought since the the old DMTs were introduced
>> here (back in
>> the '80s I think) against the criminal bar getting the source code
>> for the
>> machines.  In other words, they won't let us know exactly how it is
>> programed.
>> If I can't completely understand how the machine is made and coded
>> to work, I
>> can't fully cross-examine its reading.  It's a trial by machine
>> where Defendants
>> are denied the right even look into the machine.
>>
>>
>>
>> Not to mention the problem with the arbitrary nature of the .08
>> blood level to
>> begin with.  Way back when, when the G was trying to decide how to
>> deal with
>> DUIs, they asked the AMA to come up with a BAC that would result in
>> someone
>> being impaired.  They came back with .15.  That eventually got
>> lowered to .10.
>> Why?  Was there any science behind it?  No.  It was political
>> pressue that
>> resulted in the lowering.  And it's been lowered even further now
>> to .08, still
>> with no basis in science, only through political pressure.  That
>> doesn't even
>> begin to get into the partition problem with alcohol in the blood,
>> wherein you
>> could easily be found guilty simply because your partition ratio is
>> not
>> "average."
>>
>>
>>
>> Now...none of the above is meant to be legal advice for any particular
>> situation.  You get in trouble, you need to go hire a lawyer.  But
>> the original
>> genesis of the thread was to point out that getting "arrested" for
>> DUI and
>> actually being guilty of DUI are two wholly different concepts.
>> Unless you are
>> in CA.  Then you're fucked.  To keep this all Dolphins related:
>> since Ronnie
>> was in GA, I'd withhold judgment.
>>
>>
>>
>> And his christian name is William C. Head, but around these parts
>> he's known as
>> Bubba.
>>
>> Patrick, getting down verbally...
>>
>>
>>
>>> From: mroz66 at comcast.net
>>> To: dolphins-disc at phins.com
>>> Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:14:07 -0700
>>> Subject: Re: DOLPHINS: Brown's DUI (was RE: [Miami Dolphins' Ronnie
>>> Brown...)
>>>
>>> I can't speak for other states but in California you are asked at the
>>> roadside (where the arrest was made) what test you want to do. If
>>> you say
>>> breath and I take you to the station to take the breath test and if
>>> you
>>> refuse to blow, that is a refusal and you are going to have your
>>> drivers
>>> license suspended for a minimum of a year and you are going to get
>>> at least
>>> 2 extra days in jail. In Fairfield you are then taken to a hospital
>>> where a
>>> blood draw will be conducted (like it or not). The whole asking for
>>> a breath
>>> test and then asking for blood hoping that your BAC will be lower
>>> only works
>>> if you stopped drinking at least an hour before the car stop.
>>> Otherwise your
>>> BAC may still be rising.
>>>
>>> Rick
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "ldouglas" <ldouglas at gmail.com>
>>> To: "Miami Dolphins Discussion" <dolphins-disc at phins.com>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 9:46 PM
>>> Subject: Re: DOLPHINS: Brown's DUI (was RE: [Miami Dolphins' Ronnie
>>> Brown...)
>>>
>>>
>>> so why do some people say "don't blow" - I'd always thought that was
>>> standard advice (as the BAC would go down once you go to the
>>> station/hospital) until I heard, as Patrick says, the DUI charge will
>>> be there no matter what if you refuse.
>>>
>>> not that this is a problem for me anymore but it would still be
>>> nice to
>>> know.
>>>
>>> On 3/24/10, Rick <mroz66 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>> Patrick,
>>>>
>>>> Couldn't disagree more with some of your comments. Over the past
>>>> three
>>>> years I have conducted over 2000 DUI investigations. If you have
>>>> only
>>>> consumed one or two drinks you have nothing to fear with regards
>>>> to SFST
>>>> or
>>>> a breath or blood test. IMO, it is to your benefit to take the
>>>> chemical
>>>> test
>>>> if you know you have not consumed enough alcohol to blow an .08.
>>>> As for
>>>> SFST, my experience is that they are easy for sober people to
>>>> perform,
>>>> impaired people... not so easy. :~)
>>>>
>>>> I don't know about other states but in California you are required
>>>> to
>>>> give a chemical sample (blood or breath). If you refuse you we can
>>>> do a
>>>> force blood draw (not all cities allow that but mine does). So
>>>> either way
>>>> I
>>>> am going to get a sample.
>>>>
>>>> Rick
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Patrick McLaughlin" <pluvlaw at hotmail.com>
>>>> To: <dolphins-disc at phins.com>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 4:23 PM
>>>> Subject: DOLPHINS: Brown's DUI (was RE: [Miami Dolphins' Ronnie
>>>> Brown...)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Sorry, I'm commenting on this late, but it doesn't take much to
>>>> fail FSTs.
>>>> It's an abnormal activity you ask someone to perform in an abnormal
>>>> situation. While not familiar with GA DUI law, I can tell you that
>>>> in SC
>>>> if
>>>> you "failed" your FSTs, you're gonna get arrested for DUI. And most
>>>> everyone and their mother knows, you simply DO NOT BLOW when
>>>> pulled. I
>>>> don't care if I had drank only one beer, I would never blow. FWIW,
>>>> with
>>>> the
>>>> emphasis on DUI in law enforcement now, it's going to be harder
>>>> and harder
>>>> to find people going forward who have not had one. Here in SC, they
>>>> literally give special cars to the cops who write the most DUIs.
>>>> It's
>>>> like
>>>> door prizes.
>>>> If Ronnie knows what he's doing, he has hired Bubba Head to
>>>> represent him.
>>>> Head is the DUI guy in GA.
>>>>
>>>> Patrick, getting down verbally...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:49:48 -0400
>>>>> From: cheesefrog at usa.net
>>>>> To: dolphins-disc at phins.com
>>>>> Subject: Re: DOLPHINS: [Miami Dolphins' Ronnie Brown is arrested
>>>>> for
>>>>> DUI -
>>>>>
>>>>> Miami Dolphins - MiamiHerald.com]
>>>>>
>>>>> To reiterate Randy's comment, that (weaving) would make him not
>>>>> unlike
>>>>> every
>>>>> other car on the road.
>>>>>
>>>>> I find it interesting that this story got no local press at all.
>>>>> I heard
>>>>> nothing on the Atlanta TV or radio, nor in the weekend paper. I
>>>>> also
>>>>> couldn't
>>>>> find a thing in either the Atlanta or Cartersville online
>>>>> newspapers.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ronnie is a local hero in Cartersville. Curious the lack of media
>>>>> attention
>>>>> there. Makes me wonder if the charges will indeed be discounted.
>>>>>
>>>>> ------ Original Message ------
>>>>> From: ldouglas <ldouglas at gmail.com>
>>>>>
>>>>>> he was probably weaving too
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 3/22/10, Salas, Randy <Randy.Salas at startribune.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> The weird thing is that he was pulled over for failing to use his
>>>>>>> turn
>>>>>>> signal to indicate a lane change. That describes basically every
>>>>>>> other
>>>>> car
>>>>>>> on the freeway on my 20-mile commute to and from work every
>>>>>>> day. I
>>>>>>> wonder
>>>>>>> what his BAC was.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>>> From: dolphins-disc-bounces at phins.com
>>>>>>> [mailto:dolphins-disc-bounces at phins.com] On Behalf Of Bill Morrow
>>>>>>> Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2010 11:35 PM
>>>>>>> To: Miami Dolphins Discussion
>>>>>>> Subject: Re: DOLPHINS: [Miami Dolphins' Ronnie Brown is
>>>>>>> arrested for
>>>>>>> DUI
>>>>> -
>>>>>>> Miami Dolphins - MiamiHerald.com]
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> You really don't understand human nature and the denial of people
>>>>>>> that
>>>>> drink
>>>>>>> and drive. 90% of the people that leave a bar after drinking are
>>>>>>> drunk
>>>>>>> enough that they have no business drinking but they do it anyway
>>>>>>> because
>>>>>>> they aren't too drunk to drive, "that only happens to other
>>>>>>> people".
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Just because he has money does not mean that he is any more
>>>>>>> responsible
>>>>> than
>>>>>>> anyone else when it comes to drinking and driving. It comes
>>>>>>> back to
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> thing about believing that he isn't too drunk to drive. Money
>>>>>>> doesn't
>>>>> make
>>>>>>> you smarter or give you the ability to use more common sense,
>>>>>>> it only
>>>>> makes
>>>>>>> you richer.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 9:38 PM, Richie Wohlers
>>>>>>> <richiewohlers at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I just don't get it. If you're making millions per year, and you
>>>>>>>> had
>>>>>>>> a few drinks why don't you just call a limo? I know when I've
>>>>>>>> been
>>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>>> similar situations it's a tougher call because finding cab
>>>>>>>> fare when
>>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>>> was 24 was not the easiest thing.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 7:36 PM, ldouglas <ldouglas at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> [Miami Dolphins' Ronnie Brown is arrested for DUI - Miami
>>>>>>>>> Dolphins -
>>>>>>>>> MiamiHerald.com]
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/21/1540913/miami-dolphins-ronnie-brown-is.html
>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>> Dolphins-disc mailing list
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>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Bill
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I may grow old but I will never grow up!
>>>>>>> You don't get too old to play games; you get old when you quit.
>>>>>>> Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go
>>>>>>> away.
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Dolphins-disc mailing list
>>>>>>> Dolphins-disc at phins.com
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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