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Son Dials 911 To Report Mom’s Drunk Driving

The consequences of driving under the influence can cost someone their life. Over the years, more and more people have become aware of the seriousness of the crime, and this fact was very evident on Saturday when an 11-year-old called the police to report that his mother was driving drunk with him in the car.

Nicole Norris is a 30-year-old Oregon mother. She has many reasons to be proud of her son after he placed a 911 call that may have saved both of their lives. Norris was driving with a BAC level twice the legal limit in Oregon, putting both herself and her son in grave danger. Thanks to the phone call, Norris was arrested and removed from the car and Oregon roads.

The Hillsboro, Oregon Sheriff’s office reported the story on Tuesday. Washington County officials were very grateful that the young boy had the common sense and initiative to make sure his mother didn’t put herself, him, and others in grave danger with her drunk driving. While authorities are no doubt grateful to the boy, as are others who drive on those roads, a defense attorney will need to review the information to ensure that a DUI actually took place. As in a lot of DUI cases, not everything is as it at first seems.

This particular case has additional circumstances as well. The woman isn’t just facing a DUI charge but a child endangerment charge as well. Deputy Shannon Wilde commented on the case saying, “He was able to tell us how much he saw her drinking and told us he thought she hit the curb.” He added that “her driving was so bad he realized this was not normal.”

The alert child phoned 911 and from GPS coordinates, officers were able to track and finally locate the vehicle as it was driving on the road. Officers were very complimentary of the boy’s actions, calling him “a very brave courageous young man.” He added that sometimes “doing the right thing is not easy,” as is evident in this case where he had to call authorities on the woman he calls his mother. Not every young man would have been so brave in this instance.

As for the mother, she would do well to investigate information on sites like DUIwise that help defendants get the best legal help that’s available out in the world. After all, despite the shocking nature of this case and the fact that she endangered her child, there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow in every DUI case. No one has to repeat their mistakes. Since her young son was alert and brave enough to call authorities, now a good lawyer might be able to take over the case and manage to get help for the young mother.

Oregon defendants will find plenty of information on DUIwise.com, including information about how to beat a DUI case in court with the help of good legal representation. It’s a complete fairy tale that you can’t beat a DUI with a breathalyzer readout showing how intoxicated you were. In fact, many people who take breathalyzers get false positives on their readouts. A good defense attorney will examine the breathalyzer used in the woman’s case and ensure that it gave an accurate readout.

Children always have everyone’s best interests at heart and the boy in this case certainly was trying to do the right thing. His actions likely saved his mother and himself from suffering far graver consequences for the DUI. However, all of the facts of the case might not be accurate, and a good defense attorney is going to analyze the events before the DUI, during the DUI arrest, and after to make sure that all of the proper procedures were followed.

Often times DUI defendants have trouble with drugs and/or alcohol. They can benefit from punishments that fall short of prison. The woman might be able to take a plea bargain and plead guilty in exchange for seeking treatment for alcoholism. She will likely lose her license for a period of time if she’s found guilty or if she pleads guilty. A good defense attorney in a DUI case will undoubtedly go over all the facts of the case with the defendant, witnesses, and police officers in the case so that they can determine what the recommended punishment should be.

Many DUI defendants do take plea bargains which can reduce the charges to something other than a DUI. As we all know, DUIs have serious impacts on car insurance. If the woman were to face this, she might be put in a financial situation that would make a life for herself and her son harder. If she’s able to seek treatment instead of getting a DUI and then have a lesser charge, this can definitely give her a head start on a recovery that is worthwhile.

Police are still sorting out the facts of the case. For now, Oregon police know that one intelligent young man did what he felt was right and called 911 to take a drunk driver off the road. This decision could have saved his own life, his mothers, and countless other lives. Police could not compliment the young man enough for his brave actions.

The fate of Nicole Norris will likely play out in a courtroom later this month or next month. As of now, the DUI charge and child endangerment charges have stuck and that is what she will be facing when she first enters her plea. Hopefully, she will discuss her case with a good defense attorney so that she can truly get the best possible outcome for herself and her son. More circumstances about the case are pending, as reporters piece together what has been reported by police and investigators so far. For now, Norris hasn’t issued a public statement about her arrest or about the young man that she calls son and how she feels about the 911 phone call he made. We can only hope she would be proud.

Texas jury hands out a life sentence to a habitual drunk driver

A Texas jury deliberated for only 45 minutes before sentencing a 40-year-old woman to life in prison after her punishment-only trial in San Antonio. The woman had previously entered a guilty plea on a murder charge stemming from her involvement in a wrong-way crash in 2010 that claimed the life of a 38-year-old man.

Bexar County prosecutors are taking an aggressive approach with motorists who have been involved in fatal accidents while under the influence, and they are opting to pursue felony murder charges in these cases rather than intoxication manslaughter. The woman is the fourth defendant to receive a lengthy prison sentence in the county following the adoption of the new strategy. The Bexar County district attorney has said that her office will continue to file felony murder charges when appropriate. She added that the jury verdict and the speed in which it was returned were a vindication of the approach that her office is taking.

The defense attorney in the case had asked for a 20-year prison sentence, which would have been the maximum penalty had the woman been facing intoxication manslaughter charges. However, the defendant’s testimony and her previous record of drunk driving garnered little sympathy from the jury.

The woman claimed that relationship problems and a pending divorce contributed to her two DWI arrests in 2008, and she then claimed that she was driving in an orderly fashion even though she had been on the wrong side of the road for more than three miles before the fatal accident. The woman was found to have a blood-alcohol level of more than three times the legal limit when she was tested after the crash.

This case demonstrates the hard line that authorities in Texas are taking in DWI cases, and even first-time offenders can face severe penalties. A criminal defense attorney with experience in drunk driving cases may be able to lower the severity of the punishments assessed by entering into plea negotiations with prosecutors. He or she could also question the actions of police officers or dispute the results of field sobriety or breath tests.

How Much Will It Cost You to Win?

After you are arrested, your biggest worry is the trial ahead. And attached to this major worry is a huge headache concerning just how much it will cost for a DUI Lawyer to win your case. At this point, you’re mostly concerned about just winning. The thought of losing your case and still owing big bucks to the court and your attorney may be too much to bear. So it’s best to sit down, take a deep breath, and focus on hiring a lawyer and crafting your defense strategy.

If You Can Plea Bargain Out of a Trial, You’ll Owe Less Money

In some cases, you may be able to plea bargain your way out of a major trial. This may mean that you have to accept a guilty verdict on some sort of charge, although it won’t be the worst one. In such a case, you will end up owing your attorney a great deal less money since the DUI case doesn’t have to go all the way through the trial process. This may be the best strategy to adopt if you don’t have much chance of getting off on all of the charges you are currently facing.

The More Complex the Case, the Higher the Fee May Be

If your case does have to go through the trial process, this will naturally create more work for your criminal lawyer. This means that the fee they charge will be higher. In this case, you will need to prepare for a significantly higher outlay of cash, although you may be able to negotiate the fee in advance with your attorney. This is the smart move to make if you anticipate a long and difficult trial.

It’s an Excellent Idea to Confer With Your Attorney on Payment

As noted above, it’s a good idea to confer with your attorney concerning the ultimate amount of the fee that they will charge you for their services. This will save you a great deal of shock and frustration when the bill finally comes due. It’s always better to anticipate and plan ahead for the amount of the bill so that you aren’t blindsided by a nasty surprise. Conferring with your attorney before the trial begins is the best way to come to an agreement concerning the ultimate fee.

Georgia School Bus Driver’s DUI Arrest

School bus drivers are held to a much stricter standard than other drivers on the road. Because they are driving dozens of children to and from school and their homes and other destinations, they are to never consume even a slightly intoxicating level of alcohol. In fact, the legal limit for a school bus driver is 0.04%, an almost non-existent level of alcohol and right at the line at which true impairment begins. Under no circumstances are they to ever drive beyond that limit.

Parents are still in shock today after shocking footage surfaced of an intoxicated school bus driver driving children throughout a Georgia town to terrifying screams from the children. The dash cam footage shows the driving performance of allegedly intoxicated school bus driver Carole Ann Etheridge. During some of the footage, she crosses the center line into oncoming traffic while children on the bus understandably screamed in terror. At one point on the dash cam footage, she stops dead in the middle of the road and announces she’s not feeling well.

The reason Etheridge might have been feeling under the whether is that her blood alcohol concentration at the time of arrest was a whopping 0.089, a level that would have exceeded limits for ALL drivers on the road, much less a driver entrusted with a bus full of school children. Parents are understandably angry and fearful. The sounds of the children on the bus demonstrate that they were fearful during the entire ride and confused about what was happening. One parent said, “It’s hard not to go into tears right now. It’s hard to imagine what these kids went through.”

Students smartly called their parents and the parents called for the school system. It took mere minutes for this ride of terror to end. Etheridge was literally pulled off the bus and ordered to see a school resource officer. It was there that they administered the breathalyzer and she blew .089 on the first test.

Angry parents are speaking out about the incident left and right. One said, “There need to be consequences for her actions. He told me we were all scared, she was swerving all over the place, kept hitting the brakes for no reason and the video just proves it.”

The school system took immediate and strong action. They fired Etheridge after she was charged with a DUI. 31 children were on board that bus and the school system wasn’t going to give her another chance to get help. Where children are concerned, people just don’t have time to get their lives together. They should already have them together or else not work around children.

Etheridge was also slapped with a whopping 16 counts of child endangerment. This accounted for all of the children on the bus who were under the age of 14. Even hours later, Etheridge still blew a .04% on a breathalyzer and that is STILL at the legal limit to operate a school bus in Georgia. Parents are understandably upset and considering hiring lawyers of their own for civil suits. It remains to be seen as to whether or not they will take the case this far but they are obviously fuming after this blatant disregard for the lives of their children and the children of friends.

Etheridge’s case demonstrates how much alcoholism and substance abuse problems harm the community and the need to treat them in drastic measures. Sometimes it’s not easy for school boards to know the entirety of someone’s history. For example, it doesn’t appear that Etheridge had any prior DUIs. So the people who hired her might not have had any reason to believe that something like this would happen during her term with them.

Publications like DUIwise have extensive information so that defendants can at least feel like there’s some sense of hope. Etheridge, for example, may have very little chance of escaping legal consequences for this arrest, but she can give herself the best chance for recovery by hiring one of the many lawyers listed by DUIwise.com. When it’s apparent that a defendant is guilty, that doesn’t mean that a lawyer’s work is over.

What a good lawyer does for a DUI defendant is help them to get the best sentence for their circumstances. They may be able to negotiate a plea bargain that gives them residential rehab instead of a jail sentence. They may be able to get the DUI dropped to a lesser charge or in worst case scenarios, they will get reduced jail time for the defendant. Depending on the procedures followed by the officers in Etheridge’s case, Etheridge may even be able to escape charges altogether. After all, breathalyzers can be faulty and there are other reasons for a defendant not to feel well other than drinking alcohol. It’s possible that there are factors in this case that haven’t come to light yet that will be uncovered by the accused’s lawyers.

People are in agreement about the seriousness of DUI offenses. However, lawyers for DUI defendants work to get the best possible outcome for their clients so that they are less likely to drive drunk in the future. In first offense cases, there is often a hefty court fine, license suspension, and perhaps classes that help a defendant recover from substance abuse and alcohol problems.

Whatever the future of this case, it’s certain that Etheridge will never drive a school bus again. Commercial driving regulations are very stern about any type of alcohol consumption while behind the wheel of a vehicle, especially one that is carrying 31 precious students. More details will likely come to light in this case, including Etheridge’s side of the story, but for now, the dash cam shows a horrifying story in its own right and it’s going to be powerful testimony in any trial that takes place. One can only assume that Etheridge might take a plea bargain to avoid steeper penalties. Parents have yet to decide whether to file civil lawsuits but many are considering it.

Delaware Police Chief On Leave After DUI Charge

Brian C. Hill has been the police chief in Clayton, Delaware for a long time now. He’s well-known and respected in the area. Perhaps that’s why officials are confused today as they put Hill on administrative leave with pay. Two weeks ago Hill was arrested and charged with a DUI by the Delaware State Police. Details of the arrest have been making all of the local news rounds, as they typically do when they feature a high

Clayton’s town council on Tuesday voted to place long-time police chief Brian C. Hill on administrative leave with pay, nearly two weeks after he was cited for DUI by the Delaware State Police. An arrest like this is always shocking because police are sworn to protect public safety and driving under the influence is the opposite of protecting the people you’re sworn to protect. The 47-year-old police chief is currently on leave, with pay.

Clayton Mayor David Letterman spoke about the incident on Wednesday. “We’re trying to balance the town’s needs and concerns, while at the same time trying to be fair to Chief Hill.” He added that “We have an obligation to look after our town and its reputation.” He brings up an interesting point that few people take into account after someone is charged with a DUI. The police chief has not been proven guilty by a court of law. Given that fact, he’s innocent in the eyes of the public until new details emerge and courts can take a look at the arrest.

Hill lives in Dover, Delaware and has been the Clayton police chief for over a decade. His arrest came on August 12th and since then the town is trying to find some measure of security since. After all, a sworn officer was supposedly driving under the influence of alcohol. This would be enough to shake up any town. The chief was also charged with failing to remain within a single lane.

The incident has been recorded in the police report and says that Hill’s 1998 Porsche Boxter crossed lanes, making police suspect that Hill might be driving under the influence. It was extremely early in the morning as well, just after midnight near Sunnyside Road. The account of the arrest has not been made completely public yet, so Hill has not been able to tell his side of the story, and he has declined invites to comment about the arrest. This makes sense, as many people who are under criminal investigation prefer and should not speak publicly about their arrests. Doing so could harm their case.

This is a wise move by the police chief. Informational websites like DUIwise.com give defendants advice on how to handle their cases if they should want to contest a DUI charge. Not everyone readily enters a guilty plea and accepts the facts of their case. In the case of DUIs, officers have the burden of adhering to all of the state laws that govern a DUI arrest. A single mistake in one of these cases can lead to a complete dismissal of the charges. Sites like DUIwise recommend fighting a DUI charge if you feel that you have been unfairly accused or treated. It makes sense for Hill to remain silent at this time as all the facts about the case come to light.

The town’s website has been understandably more vocal about the arrest, as concerned citizens wonder why an officer of the law would be operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. It’s important to remember, though, that the police chief hasn’t been found guilty yet or admitted guiltily. Because of this, the facts of the case may be a lot more skewed than one would believe.

While Hill faces his DUI charge, Lt. Carl Hutson will perform the duties of the police chief while he is out on administrative leave. Once again, for now, he’s on paid administrative leave but as more details about the case become more apparent, that may change. Officers of the law who face DUI charges are often held to a higher standard by the public that trusted them to do their job. Hill faces not just an uncertain legal future but also an uncertain future within the Clayton police department. Most of the time, police departments take these charges very seriously.

Delaware itself takes DUI charges very seriously and often imposes a short time in county jail even for just a first offense DUI. It is this way because the law believes that to deter further DUIs, jail time is also necessary. While no one yet knows if Hill will receive jail time for his DUI, it’s certain that it will at least be discussed by prosecutors, should he enter a guilty plea or be found guilty by way of a jury.

For officers like Hill, websites like DUIwise can be incredibly helpful. Few people who are arrested for DUI realize just how many defenses there are for a DUI, even if it is a clear cut case where someone blows over the legal limit on a breathalyzer. Hill will undoubtedly retain good legal representation for the legal battle ahead of him. As these helpful websites point out, you don’t have to give up a DUI case and enter a guilty plea. There are many things to negotiate in these cases and depending on the circumstances, you can get a dismissal of the case entirely or get a reduced charge or even reduced sentence if you agree to certain things in a plea bargain. While Delaware is tough on DUI offenders, they also realize that underlying substance abuse problems may need medical treatment instead of jail time.

Even if Hill is guilty of a DUI, it’s possible that he can get a much more lenient sentence if he agrees to enter into a plea bargain. Only time will tell the future of Hill’s job as chief of police. For now, he’s awaiting the next steps in his case and keeping quiet to the media in Delaware.