An ironic story just came up in the news. A man headed to prison to serve his DUI sentence in Vermont, but he was drunk. And he drove himself.
What a mess! Now this guy is facing a charge of second offense DUI, and he still has to serve the time for the first offense.
A similar outcome would happen in Virginia. Driving anywhere while intoxicated risks you being charged with Virginia DUI.
Where this guy also went wrong (other than driving under the influence of alcohol) was reporting to jail with alcohol in his system. In the Virginia courts where I practice, the judges specifically tell defendants that they cannot show up to jail with any alcohol or illegal drugs in their system. If you violate that rule, any suspended jail time can become active. Instead of serving 5 of 60 days, for example, you may have to serve all of the time.
The moral of the story: don’t drive drunk, especially on your way to jail.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Andrew,
It seems to me that a normal person who gets in trouble learns and works hard to not be in trouble again.
I would bet that someone who is DUI on his way to serve time for DUI has far deeper issues than weekend duty in jail would fix.
Matt – I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. That’s supposed to be the purpose of the Alcohol Safety Action Program, to get people the emotional/mental help they need. It certainly works sometimes, but not as often as it needs to.