“Officer, I was stone-cold sober when I ran out of gas. However, after this nice chap helped me out, I decided to drink one (or two, or three) to celebrate the fact that my faith in humanity has been restored! So if you’ll just move over and let me nap in the back seat of my car, we can put this all behind us.”
Its not a good start if they charged him for a DUI.
I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I blew a tire and was about to change it, when blue ligths showed up.
Keys were not in ignition, I was not in the car. I was charged with Public Intox, and later had that dropped. Cop kind of gave me a break I think. He needs to put down some cash on a good lawyer. Technically speaking, he could have ‘theoretically’ driven sober, left the car, had drinks, got a buzz on, and come back to the car, which would be retarded, but establishing doubt is something a lawyer could possibly push in this case.
its all based on the expectation of a reasonable person no? I dont know if any reasonable person would assume he drove his car there and parked it, then got smashed. I also think the keys in the ignition thing isnt true
your dumba$s friend must have been fairly bombed if he (1) ran out of gas on the freeway, (2) went all the way to a gas station and back and still was dumb/drunk enough to agree to a breathalizer test rather than (3) go to the station for a blood test and have extra time to sober up. He needs to shell out a lot of money on a lawyer and still lose the case and get booked, as a lesson to not be a cheapa$s and use uber next time and don’t drink and drive.
He should have refused a breathalyzer and went to the hospital to get his blood drawn. By the time he got his blood drawn and tested, his BAC would have probably been down to an acceptable level.
It varies by state but generally if you have the car keys on you within X feet of the car you can be charged with a DUI. Hillbillies that pass out in the back of their truck get them all the time. It’s a bad law IMO. It discourages a drunk person from pulling over and sleeping it off. Might as well go for it and try to make it home.
This also happened to Willie Nelson. He pulled over and decided to sleep it off and woke up to a cop tapping on his window. He got a DUI and stopped drinking and switched to pot.