The last time I tried telling the story I got the expected responses and deleted it because I didn't think the conversation was going anywhere fruitful/beneficial. That said- I'm going to post it again and this time we'll just let the chips fall where they lay.
Two years ago, I want to say it was two days after Thanksgiving, I took my sister-in-law to a local AHL hockey game. I took my sister-in-law because my wife really couldn't give two craps about hockey and my SIL had a beautiful bull nose terrier dying of cancer that weekend. (I understand there's always multiple sides to the story but this is just mine). So I took my SIL to the hockey game, we met at our apartment and between her & my wife the three of us downed 3 pizzas from Domino's drinking Coke.
I drove my SIL to the local hockey game (I had free parking) and we met 2 friends of mine. At the hockey game (and the 'whole' hockey game I purchased two beers for each of us, one of which I knocked over with what I'll explain later). It's also likely important to note that my SIL also broke her ankle like 3 days prior to this. Anyway I purchased 4 beers (at an obscene price for each) and had to make two trips because they'd only sell 2 beers per transaction. During that time I also stopped at the pro shop and got some game memorabilia for her & my wife (hoodies & such) and of course I knocked over my 1st beer with that bag of crap I bought spilling half of it out. Since this was before the 1st period (and the fact that the beers were something like $14 a pop) I stuck with my one & a half while giving my SIL the other two I bought (the waters were also $4.50 a pop and I purchased 8 of those for us & the other two friends so do the math there).
So in 3.5 hours or so I had 1.5 beers personally (really not that big of a deal) but remember my SIL has had a broken leg. So we had to get to the game early, drop her off at the handicap location, wait for the stadium to clear, then egress out of the stadium so I've easily got 4 hours into this endeavor (and was happy to do it) and still only 1.5 beers into the night.
After we got her & everyone loaded up in my truck- we went to a local watering hold because they stayed open during game nights and usually ran specials for wings. They had something like a game special of 2 beers & wings and we each got that deal. She opted for the local IPA option (after all why not- she wasn't driving) and I went with the low alcohol/Coors light type of offering (because I was driving).
Well I'm sure you can see where this story is going. I was pulled over shortly after leaving the bar (sober as a they come in my opinion and I'll add the military absolutely drilled this into my head not to fuck around with drinking and driving). Whelp- I made the "mistake" of being friendly and asking the police officer to clarify something (I've posted here already that in my best ear I lost over 30% of my hearing when we hit an IED) and as Stiffler would say- it was "on like donkey kong". I was put into handcuffs and whisked away to the local jail (fortunately my SIL was able to drive my truck with her broken leg) so I didn't have to pay a tow fee but things went on for two years and were nothing short of wild.
You'll either believe me or not- I've got nothing to gain either way but I'll also acknowledge that there's of course two sides to every story as well. That being said. I know I don't have all the terminology correct but during the two year process I had a pre-arrangement/preliminary hearing and probably two others with similar names. And in each and every case there was a group of us and they dangled a 'carrot' called ARD which was some sort of diversionary program the commonwealth has here in PA so they could "get help" and complete the ARD program and have the DUI "sponged(?)" from their record ( think that's the "right" term.
I was the ONLY one to say- fuck that I did nothing wrong I'm fighting this bitch. Each & every time and I was quite literally the only one to go to a bench trial. By this point the narrative of the prosecution read like a Michael Bay film- I was "swerving" almost "ran over a fire hydrant" failed to obey fellow car's "right of way". You'd think I was Ted Kennedy and they had it all on film. EVERY step of the way the prosecution did everything they could to make me feel like the worlds's biggest fuckup. But (I'm sure it's of no surprise to some folks here) but I can be a bit headstrong myself when it comes to my integrity and honor so it became a moral crusade.
Fast forward- I'm at my bench trial and the DA is depicting me as the most despicable scum of the earth and that we're "lucky" I didn't "kill" somebody that night. Here's what about $10K and a lawyer got me- my defense attorney didn't rely on "tricks", "loopholes" or any of that kind of "nonsense". All they did was use the dash cam & body cam video to dispel all the accusations against me & everything in the police report is uncorroborated with the actual footage. I "wasn't" swerving, I yielded to at least two vehicles & perfectly 'obeyed' at least two traffic devices that night on "their" video prior to the stop.
That's all my lawyer did- from no less than 4 camera angles (two body cams & two dash cams) showing that all the "reasons" I was stopped and "arrested" never existed per the video. I was driving perfectly, I wasn't slurring, I wasn't stumbling, I wasn't exhibiting one single "indicator" of being intoxicated other than refusing to stand on one leg (and explaining in clear/unslurred English that I was blown up by an IED and that jacked up my eardrums and I wasn't going to voluntarily stand on one leg because I knew my balance would be "off". That's "all" I did and was corroborated by FOUR different cameras. Captured on 3 of those cameras was the police officers bantering amongst themselves saying "fuck this guy" (direct quote). It went back to the (very green) DA who was expecting this to be a "slam dunk" case because DUI's are all but "give-me's" and they came back with (during what I think is called their "closing arguments") that "yeah" I "might" not have appeared intoxicated in those four cameras but "if" the judge looked really closely they'd see all the "indicators" of me being 'hammered drunk'. Oh- I should also ad that I hand jotted 52 pages (yes 52) on a legal pad of what happened that night.
And here's the outcome of all that- two years of turmoil on me, the SIL dog's died of cancer the next month, just about EVERY 'supposed' infraction I "allegedly" did was abjectly proven as being nothing short of nonsense (did I mention based off of 4 cameras?) which essentially demonstrated that the entire police report/proceedings of that night were but a fabrication. Again- not my opinion- these jokers tried to ruin my life & career because "fuck this guy" (again on camera(s)) it absolutely proved without a shadow of a doubt that not one but TWO police reports were fabricated (and seemingly written as though it was a 'MadLib' if you're old enough to know what those are... essentially here's a script/fill in the blanks).
Again, no "technicalities" or "nuances" the police had no grounds to pull me over, there wasn't a factual statement in their narratives in the police report and it caused me two years and just shy of ten thousand dollars in legal fees. And here's my "justice", I have four cameras proving/substantiating my story (as I'm telling it) was proven to be 'not guilty" but I'm still out thousands of dollars in legal fees, had to pay 'court costs' of $500 because I had a foglight out, and it's looking like I'm STILL going to need to spend an extra thousand in legal fees to get this bullcrap off of my record.
Again- this is the "BEST CASE SCENARIO". Nobody "wins" DUI's because the cards are stacked against them if the police read the right words. I "won" because the two officers were caught red handed as lying bastards and when the judge looked at the ADA, as if saying in their gaze 'wtf are we doing here' all they could say is "well it's not egregious but if you look 'super close' you'll see he's showing signs of intoxication". They knew it was bullshit, the judge knew it was bullshit, my lawyer knew it was bullshit and the case was thrown out.
BUT I'm still out almost $10K in legal fees that I can't recoup because the police have something called "qualified immunity" so as egregious as this case was I can't even sue them to recover my legal expenses. Not only that- but these same jokers are playing the same games and most folks are just going "roll over" and take the ARD and not "fight" the "man". like I did.
My fellow Hide members- do with this story as you will. Call me a liar if you want (I've been called a lot of things here but a liar surprisingly is not one of them) or take the story for what it is- just an illustration of what "justice" looks like.
This is the part I'll likely get myself in trouble here but I'm going to say it anyway. My background is military and many of my battle buddies ended up as LEO's. I'm talking the absolute "salt of the earth" type of people and even with my above experience I cannot think of better people as a whole or as LEO's. I really do mean that statement. If you EVER have to have a "run-in" with a police officer, I sincerely hope that you have it with someone like one of my close friends I'm talking about. These are NOT the kind of guys interested in meeting "quotas" or jamming anyone up- they just had enough of playing soldier/marine and doing the "combat" thing wanted to shift their focus to helping their fellow Americans directly.
That said- god help you if you run into one of their "Farva's" because the 'system' will acknowledge they're in the wrong but still protect them after they took a Dremel to your corn hole and wallet.
Humbly- this ain't right and it sure as shit isn't "justice". Believe me/my story or don't- I don't give a possum's ass either way. I know that I'm speaking sincerely and despite all the names I've been called here in the Pit- I still don't think I've been called a liar.
-LD
Two years ago, I want to say it was two days after Thanksgiving, I took my sister-in-law to a local AHL hockey game. I took my sister-in-law because my wife really couldn't give two craps about hockey and my SIL had a beautiful bull nose terrier dying of cancer that weekend. (I understand there's always multiple sides to the story but this is just mine). So I took my SIL to the hockey game, we met at our apartment and between her & my wife the three of us downed 3 pizzas from Domino's drinking Coke.
I drove my SIL to the local hockey game (I had free parking) and we met 2 friends of mine. At the hockey game (and the 'whole' hockey game I purchased two beers for each of us, one of which I knocked over with what I'll explain later). It's also likely important to note that my SIL also broke her ankle like 3 days prior to this. Anyway I purchased 4 beers (at an obscene price for each) and had to make two trips because they'd only sell 2 beers per transaction. During that time I also stopped at the pro shop and got some game memorabilia for her & my wife (hoodies & such) and of course I knocked over my 1st beer with that bag of crap I bought spilling half of it out. Since this was before the 1st period (and the fact that the beers were something like $14 a pop) I stuck with my one & a half while giving my SIL the other two I bought (the waters were also $4.50 a pop and I purchased 8 of those for us & the other two friends so do the math there).
So in 3.5 hours or so I had 1.5 beers personally (really not that big of a deal) but remember my SIL has had a broken leg. So we had to get to the game early, drop her off at the handicap location, wait for the stadium to clear, then egress out of the stadium so I've easily got 4 hours into this endeavor (and was happy to do it) and still only 1.5 beers into the night.
After we got her & everyone loaded up in my truck- we went to a local watering hold because they stayed open during game nights and usually ran specials for wings. They had something like a game special of 2 beers & wings and we each got that deal. She opted for the local IPA option (after all why not- she wasn't driving) and I went with the low alcohol/Coors light type of offering (because I was driving).
Well I'm sure you can see where this story is going. I was pulled over shortly after leaving the bar (sober as a they come in my opinion and I'll add the military absolutely drilled this into my head not to fuck around with drinking and driving). Whelp- I made the "mistake" of being friendly and asking the police officer to clarify something (I've posted here already that in my best ear I lost over 30% of my hearing when we hit an IED) and as Stiffler would say- it was "on like donkey kong". I was put into handcuffs and whisked away to the local jail (fortunately my SIL was able to drive my truck with her broken leg) so I didn't have to pay a tow fee but things went on for two years and were nothing short of wild.
You'll either believe me or not- I've got nothing to gain either way but I'll also acknowledge that there's of course two sides to every story as well. That being said. I know I don't have all the terminology correct but during the two year process I had a pre-arrangement/preliminary hearing and probably two others with similar names. And in each and every case there was a group of us and they dangled a 'carrot' called ARD which was some sort of diversionary program the commonwealth has here in PA so they could "get help" and complete the ARD program and have the DUI "sponged(?)" from their record ( think that's the "right" term.
I was the ONLY one to say- fuck that I did nothing wrong I'm fighting this bitch. Each & every time and I was quite literally the only one to go to a bench trial. By this point the narrative of the prosecution read like a Michael Bay film- I was "swerving" almost "ran over a fire hydrant" failed to obey fellow car's "right of way". You'd think I was Ted Kennedy and they had it all on film. EVERY step of the way the prosecution did everything they could to make me feel like the worlds's biggest fuckup. But (I'm sure it's of no surprise to some folks here) but I can be a bit headstrong myself when it comes to my integrity and honor so it became a moral crusade.
Fast forward- I'm at my bench trial and the DA is depicting me as the most despicable scum of the earth and that we're "lucky" I didn't "kill" somebody that night. Here's what about $10K and a lawyer got me- my defense attorney didn't rely on "tricks", "loopholes" or any of that kind of "nonsense". All they did was use the dash cam & body cam video to dispel all the accusations against me & everything in the police report is uncorroborated with the actual footage. I "wasn't" swerving, I yielded to at least two vehicles & perfectly 'obeyed' at least two traffic devices that night on "their" video prior to the stop.
That's all my lawyer did- from no less than 4 camera angles (two body cams & two dash cams) showing that all the "reasons" I was stopped and "arrested" never existed per the video. I was driving perfectly, I wasn't slurring, I wasn't stumbling, I wasn't exhibiting one single "indicator" of being intoxicated other than refusing to stand on one leg (and explaining in clear/unslurred English that I was blown up by an IED and that jacked up my eardrums and I wasn't going to voluntarily stand on one leg because I knew my balance would be "off". That's "all" I did and was corroborated by FOUR different cameras. Captured on 3 of those cameras was the police officers bantering amongst themselves saying "fuck this guy" (direct quote). It went back to the (very green) DA who was expecting this to be a "slam dunk" case because DUI's are all but "give-me's" and they came back with (during what I think is called their "closing arguments") that "yeah" I "might" not have appeared intoxicated in those four cameras but "if" the judge looked really closely they'd see all the "indicators" of me being 'hammered drunk'. Oh- I should also ad that I hand jotted 52 pages (yes 52) on a legal pad of what happened that night.
And here's the outcome of all that- two years of turmoil on me, the SIL dog's died of cancer the next month, just about EVERY 'supposed' infraction I "allegedly" did was abjectly proven as being nothing short of nonsense (did I mention based off of 4 cameras?) which essentially demonstrated that the entire police report/proceedings of that night were but a fabrication. Again- not my opinion- these jokers tried to ruin my life & career because "fuck this guy" (again on camera(s)) it absolutely proved without a shadow of a doubt that not one but TWO police reports were fabricated (and seemingly written as though it was a 'MadLib' if you're old enough to know what those are... essentially here's a script/fill in the blanks).
Again, no "technicalities" or "nuances" the police had no grounds to pull me over, there wasn't a factual statement in their narratives in the police report and it caused me two years and just shy of ten thousand dollars in legal fees. And here's my "justice", I have four cameras proving/substantiating my story (as I'm telling it) was proven to be 'not guilty" but I'm still out thousands of dollars in legal fees, had to pay 'court costs' of $500 because I had a foglight out, and it's looking like I'm STILL going to need to spend an extra thousand in legal fees to get this bullcrap off of my record.
Again- this is the "BEST CASE SCENARIO". Nobody "wins" DUI's because the cards are stacked against them if the police read the right words. I "won" because the two officers were caught red handed as lying bastards and when the judge looked at the ADA, as if saying in their gaze 'wtf are we doing here' all they could say is "well it's not egregious but if you look 'super close' you'll see he's showing signs of intoxication". They knew it was bullshit, the judge knew it was bullshit, my lawyer knew it was bullshit and the case was thrown out.
BUT I'm still out almost $10K in legal fees that I can't recoup because the police have something called "qualified immunity" so as egregious as this case was I can't even sue them to recover my legal expenses. Not only that- but these same jokers are playing the same games and most folks are just going "roll over" and take the ARD and not "fight" the "man". like I did.
My fellow Hide members- do with this story as you will. Call me a liar if you want (I've been called a lot of things here but a liar surprisingly is not one of them) or take the story for what it is- just an illustration of what "justice" looks like.
This is the part I'll likely get myself in trouble here but I'm going to say it anyway. My background is military and many of my battle buddies ended up as LEO's. I'm talking the absolute "salt of the earth" type of people and even with my above experience I cannot think of better people as a whole or as LEO's. I really do mean that statement. If you EVER have to have a "run-in" with a police officer, I sincerely hope that you have it with someone like one of my close friends I'm talking about. These are NOT the kind of guys interested in meeting "quotas" or jamming anyone up- they just had enough of playing soldier/marine and doing the "combat" thing wanted to shift their focus to helping their fellow Americans directly.
That said- god help you if you run into one of their "Farva's" because the 'system' will acknowledge they're in the wrong but still protect them after they took a Dremel to your corn hole and wallet.
Humbly- this ain't right and it sure as shit isn't "justice". Believe me/my story or don't- I don't give a possum's ass either way. I know that I'm speaking sincerely and despite all the names I've been called here in the Pit- I still don't think I've been called a liar.
-LD
