Free Republic

Since Colorado voters legalized pot in 2012, prohibition supporters have warned that recreational marijuana will lead to a scourge of “drugged divers” on the state’s roads. They often point out that when the state legalized medical marijuana in 2001, there was a surge in drivers found to have smoked pot. They also point to studies showing that in other states that have legalized pot for medical purposes, we’ve seen an increase in the number of drivers testing positive for the drug who were involved in fatal car accidents. The anti-pot group SAM recently pointed out that even before the first...

I've seen a lot of crazy things at a lot of golf tournaments but I'm not sure if I've ever seen this. A man at the 2014 US Open who was driving NBC's Roger Maltbie around the course got a DWI on Saturday for driving the course under the influence of alcohol. According to GolfWeek the story was as bizarre as it sounds. "The officer was upset because, according to him, the driver ran over his foot when leaving the tee area. The cop then chased the cart on a sandy surface just outside the gallery ropes while yelling, 'Stop!...

The family of a Texas teenager who killed four people in a drunken-driving wreck has agreed to pay more than $2 million to the family of a boy left paralyzed by the accident. Tarrant County court documents show that the liability insurer of Ethan Couch’s parents agreed to pay more than $1 million in cash and the rest in two annuities to a trust established for Sergio Molina. …

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay faces a preliminary misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated and four felony counts of possession of a controlled substance after being arrested Sunday night. According to Hamilton County (Ind.) police, Irsay was arrested in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel at about 3 a.m. ET. Irsay was observed stopping in the middle of the road and failed to signal when pulling over. "During the course of the investigation, Irsay subsequently failed several roadside field sobriety tests," police said in a statement. Several Schedule IV bottles of prescription medication were found in Irsay's car. "Multiple prescription drugs...

Feds To End Controversial Secret Alcohol Testing At Roadblocks After drawing considerable ire from the public over a program that tested drivers for drug and alcohol use — the latter secretly and without their consent — federal transportation officials today said they will no longer surreptitiously collect breath samples from drivers at roadblocks. The Associated Press reports that a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official said roadblock testers will now get motorists' permission before using a passive alcohol sensor, which previously gathered breath samples before drivers could consent to the study. NHTSA has been conducting their National Roadside Survey of...

SEATTLE — More drivers tested positive for marijuana in Washington in 2013 -- the first full year after the state legalized pot -- but officials so far say there's been no obvious, corresponding jump in car accidents. The Washington State Patrol says 1,362 drivers tested positive for having active marijuana in their system -- a jump of just under 25 percent from the year before, even though the patrol had fewer troopers on the road and there was no overall rise in intoxicated driving arrests.

Jacob Williams, convicted in 2008 of driving drunk when he killed a motorcyclist and left a woman paralyzed, now faces an identical set of charges for allegedly killing another motorcyclist – who happens to be the brother of the judge that sentenced Williams to prison in the earlier case. Williams, 27, of Bosque in Valencia County, was charged Monday with driving drunk after his pickup veered over a center line, killing Daniel Sanchez, 51, and seriously injuring his 11-year-old daughter, Magen Sanchez. Sanchez’s brother, state District Court Judge William Sanchez of Los Lunas, presided in an April 2008 case in...

Tulsa man accused of taking toddler on drunken horse ride A Tulsa man who was once charged on an out-of-state child endangerment complaint was arrested by police Monday after he allegedly was seen riding a horse with a 3-year-old child while intoxicated. Dennis Carl Byers, 38, was booked into the Tulsa Jail on child neglect and public intoxication complaints, jail records show. Byers was spotted by Tulsa police about 8 p.m. Monday in the 2000 block of East 56th North on a horse with a small child, Byers' arrest report said. Officers who stopped Byers observed that he had blood...

The car and weed capital of the world has become one of the first major cities to roll out a breathalyzer for pot. Sort of. ABC News is reporting that the LA City Attorney is deploying oral swab tests in the field that can detect the presence of marijuana’s main active ingredient, THC. The swabs could lead to convictions for driving under the influence. issue of CULTURE magazine, such swabs are not breathalyzers in the traditional sense. They can’t tell officers how much THC you have in your system. But combined with ‘zero tolerance’ ‘per se’ laws like those in...

Troopers all across Texas are going after drunk drivers this holiday season. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is aiming to lower the amount of drunk drivers across the state by increasing the amount of troopers, working overtime, and enforcing stricter rules. No refusals are among the stricter rules being enforced, meaning if an officer believes you are drunk and asks you to take a blood test you will most likely have to still take one. If you say no, the officer will get a warrant from a judge immediately to get your blood specimen. Saying no to a...

Prosecutors were pushing for 16-year-old Ethan Couch to spend 20 years in prison. However, State District Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Couch to a decade of probation. There was no debate about who was behind the wheel last June, when Couch plowed into and killed four people. Couch has admitted to being the driver, and court records show his blood alcohol level was .24 at the time of the crash, three times the legal limit for an adult. Prosecutors also presented evidence that Couch and some friends stole beer from a Burleson Walmart on June 15, the night of the crash....

A Texas jury was recently lambasted in open court for committing jury nullification by visiting judge Jerry Ray because they acquitted a defendant in a driving while intoxicated (DWI) case. Judge Ray went so far as to equate the jury’s verdict with the acquittal of O.J. Simpson. Unfortunately, like many judges, Judge Ray did not understand what jury nullification is, what juries do, or his own obligations as a judge. Jury nullification occurs when a criminal jury votes not guilty, in spite of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt, because they believe the law is either unjust or is being...

A Hays County jury on Wednesday sentenced a San Marcos woman to life in prison after her sixth conviction of driving while intoxicated. Rose Ann Davidson, 44, was arrested by a Kyle police officer in the early morning hours of July 27, 2012, on Interstate 35 after he observed her driving erratically. The officer concluded she was intoxicated and found an open container of beer in her vehicle. Davidson had five prior convictions for driving while intoxicated dating back to 1996 and had only recently been released from prison, Hays County officials said. The trial took place in front of...

**SNIP** The charge is a felony because the Cassidy has a 2011 conviction for driving under the influence in Florida. He lives in Fort Lauderdale but is staying in upstate New York for a horse racing meet in Saratoga. The 63-year-old "Partridge Family" star is free on $2,500 bail. He's due in Schodack Town Court on Sept. 4.

TUCUMCARI – A Tucumcari man’s five-year effort to be exonerated of charges for having an open container of O’Doul’s non-alcoholic beer in his car ran into a procedural hurdle Tuesday in 10th District Court. Judge Albert Mitchell threw out Gary Southern’s motion to have his conviction for having an open container of an alcoholic beverage in his car set aside because it was based on a writ of coram nobis, a procedural device that has been abolished in New Mexico courts. Mitchell then advised Southern that he had two options: He could appeal Mitchell’s decision of Tuesday or file a...

It was a lose-lose situation for an Austin man. He ran his bicycle into the side of a trailer on an Austin street, and he faces charges for it. It happened at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday in the 1700 block of East Oakland Avenue. Police say the 40-year-old man failed to stop at a stop sign, and ran his bike into the side of a trailer being pulled by an Austin Utilities truck. The bicyclist was knocked to the street on impact, and suffered bumps and abrasions. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance for treatment. Investigators also say the...

As preposterous as it may seem, illegal immigrants with drunk-driving, domestic violence, aggravated assault and child abuse convictions will qualify for amnesty under the immigration bill pending in the U.S. Senate unless an amendment introduced by a Texas lawmaker is adopted. Incredibly, groups that would normally be vocal on these sorts of issues have remained silent. For instance, the nation’s largest organization working to stop drunk driving and support victims of the violent crime—Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)—refuses to criticize the proposed law even though it will essentially reward those convicted of driving dunk. Through a spokeswoman, MADD said it...

*VIDEO* Police open fire on a car sitting at crowded DWI checkpointBRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WECT) – A couple celebrating Father’s Day with their baby found themselves in the middle of a shootout at a DWI checkpoint when officers unloaded on a car sitting in heavy traffic. The couple, Jared and Rose Cleerdin were hoping it wouldn’t be their last Father’s Day together as the officers fired dozens of rounds in the direction of on-coming traffic. Jared Cleerden believes the officers acted way beyond what was necessary for public safety saying, ”Every cop turned around and started unloading like super...

Thirty-five percent of people in U.S. bars who said they were designated drivers had blood-alcohol levels high enough to impair their driving, researchers say. Adam Barry, an assistant professor of health education and behavior at the University of Florida, and his team recruited patrons as they left bars in a restaurant and bar district of a major university town in the Southeast between 10 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. across six Friday nights before home football games in fall 2011. …

A 25-year-old man is facing multiple charges after police said he was drunkenly having sex with a woman while driving, crashed his car and then ran from police. Luis Briones, 25, was found with one shoe on and his shorts on inside-out Monday night, hiding in a cactus, after he crashed his Ford Explorer ... on Monday night. Briones’ female passenger was found naked outside the vehicle after being ejected. She had deep cuts to her face and head, but was in stable condition when she was sent to the hospital, police said.