It took less than one drink to get Shannon Wilcutt busted for felony DUI[AZ][Busybodys]

Phoenix News ^ | 20 Mar 2008 | Sarah Fenske

[Resolute Conservative]

She was still impaired whether it was booze or pills.

[Travis McGee]

[nmh]

“Here’s the backstory: Cisneros had racked up a number of DUI convictions in the 1980s while his wife fought Alzheimer’s and soon after her tragic death. But then he remarried, and seemed to be walking the straight and narrow. He stopped driving, for one thing; his neighbors in Maricopa would later aver to the court that they never saw him behind the wheel of a car. (See “Death Sentence,” June 21, 2007.) “

When you have a questionable track record ... mistakes can be made. Another major point is people are fallible and make mistakes.

[goldstategop]

Of course we want to punish people who drive severely intoxicated to the point they are a danger to themselves and others around them. Its much harder to decide what to do in "gray area" cases where one has had a drink or two and isn't obviously impaired. Common sense would say give those drivers the benefit of the doubt. Not every offense needs to be punished with a heavy fine and the threat of imprisonment.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[weegee]

A sleepy driver who hasn’t taken any medication is also impaired.

So is a police officer on amped of caffinated coffee (the type they throw no-doze into).

[weegee]

It’s about revenue. Money for the courts, for the insurance companies, for the police department, for MADD, for lawyers. Everyone gets their cut.

[AppyPappy]

Exactly. It’s Driving While Impaired.

[nmh]

I agree with you ... .

[frankiep]

Random sobriety checkpoints are a perfect example of being guilty until proven innocent. Wonderful.

I’m sure that the usual cop lovers here will jump to defend this lickety split.

[sinanju]

That’s the trouble with busybody law enforcement: Decent, respectable people have a lot to lose through this pettifogging justice.

For bad people, this sort of thing is a momentary inconvenience.

[Nick Thimmesch]

R-U-Shannon Wilcutt?

[Fury]

A cop friend told her not to hire a lawyer and to tell the truth at her pretrial hearing and that she'd be okay

Then he was not much of a friend. ALWAYS have an attorney present when being questioned in what could be considered an adversarial situation. ALWAYS.

[Rummyfan]

A cop friend told her not to hire a lawyer and to tell the truth at her pretrial hearing and that she'd be okay. But the pretrial hearing was a cattle call — she had just five minutes with the prosecutor, who offered to drop the other charges if she pleaded guilty to the DUI.

Sifford was not about to do that. After the judge refused to listen to her story — refused to even look at the paperwork she'd brought — she knew she had to hire a lawyer.

Moral of the story: GET AN ATTORNEY!

[demsux]

She didn't realize that Steven Ceballes, the aforementioned businessman, had already made a phone call.

That guy should be charged with filing a false police report or something of that nature. Should also be required to pay their legal bills...damn busybody/nanny stater.

[ltc8k6]

One vicodin wouldn’t make her impaired, imo.

She was a big girl, and she had eaten.

[Enchante]

re: 1st case, she’s on Vicodin/hyrdrocone, she says she’s “too groggy to cook” so she drives her child to a restaurant where she mixes alcohol with the Vicodin? Yes, I’d say she’s impaired and also terminally STOOPID.

[ltc8k6]

I mean hydrocodone.

She was chrged with DUI for alcohol, not for the pill.

[ltc8k6]

Too tired to cook.

Not too groggy to cook.

[Resolute Conservative]

Wrong. It metabolizes different in every person. I have seen big strapping boys become impaired after one drink and pixie little girls drink a six pack and keep on trucking.

Rule is if you take pills or consume do not drive, period. That might be my kid or loved one you run over.