so I get a text from my friend late last night saying she was in major trouble and talking to the police and that her car was fucked and she was going to jail with no further information. this morning she calls me and gives the following information, and I'm just really curious what kind of penalties she's most likely to be facing. I understand this obviously changes from state to state and judge to judge but it sounds like...terrible things could be on the horizon:


A) She does not remember any of this
B) Committed a hit and run on a parked car (no personal injury)
C) Her driver's side tire is blown and she apparently drove to the house she stayed at on her rim
D) Her bumper is also caved in, along with the grill dented
E) She was heavily intoxicated at the time (why she didn't remember) but apparently was not cited for DUI or DWI (yes, she's an incredibly cute, short white girl)
F) She was NOT taken to jail, not even the drunk tank

G) Her license was suspended for the past two years due to an unpaid traffic ticket she spaced off / ignored, though she finally paid the ticket, new license fee and reinstatement fee in the past month; she had not, however, received her new license to my knowledge and I helped her handle all that payment stuff



I don't really have a question about fines, that's obviously up to the state. but I am curious how much / will she face jail time (I am assuming the answer is yes...) and if she can retroactively be charged with DUI if she's unable to adequately explain how the accident happened or where she was intending to drive. the ticket says she caused the accident on a street roughly 8 miles from where she eventually stopped, in a neighborhood she's never been to out in the suburbs.



truthfully I'm just amazed she didn't do anything worse, or done something sooner considering she has a history of getting drunk and just ghosting in her car, but typically she just goes to one of a couple ex boyfriends' and crashes. but I'm also super curious what kind of penalty she could be facing. All I can dig up on my own is a non-personal injury H&R is a misdemeanor with a year's license suspension, but the circumstances clearly point to a DUI (that wasn't issued at the time of the citation, and she was not taken to jail) and I'm a little worried she'll get a substantial jail sentence when I'd hope she can just get the fine and I can convince her to go to AA (I am a drinker, but did 15 months AA just to try it and enjoyed myself fine those 15 months; she's never seemed to believe that's possible when I've mentioned it in the past).


even if I don't get any sound legal opinions here or any replies at all, I'm currently vowed to secrecy from anyone we know other than her immediate family so I'm also just using this as a venting spot. I'm struggling to hold back laughter honestly because it's so bizarre to me, and sad.



~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

sounds like the worst they can get her for is wreckless driving or hit and run.

oh, I'm definitely not a lawyer so who knows...

cause she's cute.

She'll probably get off with another license suspension and a fine.

ZACKLY!

And this ain't legal advice.

Without knowing the amount of alleged property damage I dunno if she's looking at a felony. Without knowing her history or the judge I dunno if she'll likely be sent to jail.

.

Fuck your fort!

you get that fucked up you need to sit in a jail and think about it

She may have caught a body or 2 and doesn't even know it.

Fuck your fort!

of the damage, i mean.

of the chic... i mean....

depends on how much damage she did...

but even then a good lawyer will keep her out of jail unless she has some priors

he was put on house arrest, paid restitution, lost his license forever, and paid some heft fines. He didn't have any priors that i know of, but they found him at his house pretty hammered right after the incident.

given it's different states, that might not be a great predictor for what your friend is looking at. Only to say that it's pretty serious.

But they were the ones to get hit.

About 3 AM on a weeknight, we hear a loud crash. I tell my girl don't worry about, just go back to sleep. But immediately after, we start hearing voices. I get up and check what's up outside.

Our neighbors cars had been hit. A pickup truck had scraped along the side of neighbor #1's car and smashed into the back of neighbor #2's car (both parked on the street). In fact, if car #2 hadn't been there, the truck would have plowed through our fence and possible onto our porch.

Anyway, old girl driving the truck gets out and is obviously intoxicated. She asks if she can just give them her name so she can go home & let the insurance handle it. My neighbors obviously aren't going for it.

After arguing for a while, she goes ahead and walks to her crib which is in the next block. The cops finally arrive and get her for leaving the scene of a hit & run and something else (reckless op maybe?). They couldn't get her for a DUI because she had gone to her house from the accident scene and they couldn't show she was drunk while operating the vehicle. They also took her license & she can only go back & forth to work.

I'm not sure of what the laws are in your state but your girl's story sounded a little similar to this.

>

Like AT ALL. She very easily could have killed someone. I kinda want to say what was said in post #4, but it's already been said.

I'm not a lawyer, so take this with a bag of salt, but I doubt she could be charged with a DUI without any evidence of her actually being intoxicated during the event (sobriety check, blood test, etc).


Edit: Fuck, just saw this:

>yes, she's an incredibly cute, short white girl

That changes things in ways I'm not entitled to know. I was guessing she was black.