renegade83 said:
I was placed as a party by the following items:
1. Subject is registered owner
2. Subject injuries (The driver side window smashed upon collision. I had a few scratches on my arms and the police said that I must have gotten them because I was in the drivers seat. I can easily explain where I got them from)
I have the following defenses:
1. The police were unable to find any witnesses to the collision. They were dispatched to the scene by an anonymous tipster who had heard a collision. They gave no descriptions of a vehicles/drivers.
2. I had no keys (The driver must have ran off with them without realizing it.) Without keys, there was no way I could have been in actual physical control of the vehicle.
3. I have 3 witnesses that saw me get into the passenger side of my car with the other person driving not ten minutes before the collission.
There were several inconsistencies in the police report about time. One officer stated that they were dispatched @ 1:37AM and the other officer, the arresting one, stated that they were dispatched @ 2:05AM. However the arresting officer also stated that he arrested me at 2:03AM which is before he said he was dispatched. My Alcotest 7110 MKIIIC start time was 2:38AM. I am not sure if this helps any, so please let me know if you have any suggestions.
I was never read my Implied Consent Warning, and the officer did not document anything on acceptance or refusal of the breath test. I was never given the option to retain a sample of my breath, blood, or urine. Will this have any effect at all?
Please comment if you have any suggestions/advice.
Witnesses are not needed. All the police needs is evidence, motive, and a confession (denial is considered confession). They have you, your car, and the scene of the accident. That is all they need, even if the three blind monkeys did not see what happened.
Times, directions and other typos and errors on the report/ticket (like if they put down the license plate number of their cruiser instead of your car by mistake) all have no real relevance in court.
Your injuries can not be explained away, you had them, most likely because of the crash... Far as keys, in the past I owned a car to which you did not need the key (cauz it was broken like that). And, you could have tossed the keys or thrown them far, far away before the police arrived... By the way, this defense might even backfire on you as they may charge you with obstruction of justice.
They do not need to document breath acceptance/refusal informations, they only need to verbally inform you. IF, in your state things are different, then only an attorney can fight such technicality.
Your only defense which most likely will work, and you need to listen this time because this has been mentioned 2-3 times:
- Find the actual driver of the car, and get (or subpoena) him to court.
Even then, this person could lie and say they did not drive (assuming he did).
Because your friends could be lying, saying he did.
There is one more thing... In some cases, certain states, some countries, on some odd days and sometimes on tuesdays but really anyday, anytime:
The owner of the car is, and can be held ultimately responsible for anything that is done with their car, or that happens with it, yes, even if the owner is or was not driving!
So for example, if a car is used during a bank robbery, and none of the robbers own the car, then the owner of the car could be charged with accessory. The owner *probably* would not be charged if it is obvious the car was stolen (i.e.: ignition hotwired), but just because the owner can not produce the keys is not enough of a defense.
A less drastic example would be in the case of someone who forgot to set their parking brake and the car rolled off, causing a collision. I would guess this is negligence, but whatever, nobody is driving yet the owner will most likely be held responsible.
And in your case, you could be held fully responsible for just this reason, whether the parking brake was set or not, whether you have the keys or not, even if the officer wrote 5am when it was really 8pm, and even if you were not driving... Because YOU are the owner. Being intoxicated at the time doesn't help, to be sure.
Just so you know (this is assuming you're telling the truth,
and please don't make me go further in this direction):
In my years of drinking (I quit 5 years ago), I found out one thing: When you are drunk, you give up all your rights and you hand your life and your future to complete strangers to do with as they wish, and as they please. I have been in more situations like yours than I care to remember, and I know just like you there were several times when I was right and they were wrong, but because I was drunk, they took advantage of me and there was nothing I could do. What they did was wrong, but I was drunk, and when you are drunk, you will get what's coming more often than not, even when you do not deserve it.
This is what happens to you when you get drunk / are drunk.
My advice: Stop drinking and don't go to parties no more.
Good luck.
