DUI

Posted in ARD, DUI, Prior Offense DUI on January 1, 2022

Almost eveyrone that is arrested in Pennsyvlania for suspicion of DUI immediately heads to Google to search.  They want to know what is going to happen and what penalities will be imposed for a conviction.  There are very severe mandatory minimum sentences for a Pennsylvania DUI conviction, and those sentences are increased substantially if the… view more

Posted in DUI on November 21, 2020

Everyone knows that a normal DUI charge requires a prosecutor to present evidence at a trial that a person was driving and the person’s alcohol level was over the legal limit.  In Pennsylvania, a driving under the influence charge for alcohol also normally requires that the blood or breath was drawn within two hours of… view more

Posted in ARD, DUI on May 21, 2020

The Pennsylvania Superior Court issued a ground breaking decision and held that participation in Pennsylvania’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program for a DUI offense cannot be used to treat a subsequent driving under the influence case as a second or subsequent offense for mandatory minimum sentencing purposes.  This decision will have a huge impact on… view more

Posted in Constitutional Rights, DUI on May 10, 2020

The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently reviewed a Cumberland County DUI conviction and concluded that the original judge had incorrectly denied the suspect’s request for suppression of evidence.  In the case, captioned Commonwealth v. Wallett 1677 MDA 2019, Wallett argued that her constitutional rights were violated when a police officer stopped her vehicle in a residential… view more

Posted in DUI on July 3, 2018

In February of 2018, Pennsylvania residents were able to obtain medicinal marijuana.  Regrettably, questions regarding the whether or not the marijuana can be “legally” possessed and “legally” ingested or consumed is still an issue.  Pennsylvania law still generally prohibits a person from possessing marijuana, and the distribution or delivery of marijuana remains a felony offense. … view more

Posted in DUI, General on December 28, 2016

If you have ever been pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving, you may have been asked to submit to a breath test. Intended to give authorities an idea of how much alcohol you consumed and whether that consumption has negatively impacted your ability to safely drive, the breath test uses a device called a… view more

Posted in DUI, General on September 12, 2016

The police are familiar with observing Amish buggies on roadways in rural Central Pennsylvania, but they do not often see young men riding on top of the buggies. Some Pennsylvania State Troopers in Indiana County recently encountered such a sight and conducted a traffic stop of the Amish buggy. The stop led to the discovery… view more

Posted in DUI on January 12, 2015

A Pennsylvania judge recently sentenced a man on four separate DUI offenses, and all four were considered first offenses.  Had the man been facing first, second, third, and fourth offenses, the sentence that was imposed would have been much more severe.  The number of “prior offenses”  of DUI that a person has within the past… view more

Posted in DUI, General on January 12, 2015

A Florida man was recently arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence after he was operating his motorized wheelchair and allegedly blocking multiple lanes of travel on a roadway. I suspect that many people are surprised that a person can be charged with a DUI offense when they were not driving a car or… view more

Posted in DUI, General on January 12, 2015

In the fall of 2014, star Pittsburgh Steeler running back Leveon Bell was charged with a misdemeanor marijuana possession and various drug-DUI charges. Bell was charged after marijuana was found in a vehicle that had been driven by Bell. Bell admitted to having contributed money to purchase the marijuana and to having smoked some of… view more