Gallardo arrested for OWI - Blood level nearly three times limit at .22

[Kelbysdaddy]

did anyone see this on bleacher report?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1609509-mlb-sending-embarrassing-message-hunting-ped-users-and-ignoring-drunk-drivers

 

Guess the MLB penalty for blowing a .22, nearly 3x legal limit, is getting to hit a home run and be mobbed by teammates. #sfgiants.

 

— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) April 18, 2013

 

this tweet is total crap, especially coming from a giants fan. he must be completly oblivious to his teams past history.

also- am i the only one who feels the brewers give sports writers a megaboner?

[Nottso]

When I was an apprentice, we'd always go out after night school. One guy in my class had a conversion van, and one night felt like he shouldn't drive so he got undressed, crawled in the bed, covered himself and went to sleep. About 4 am, the cops showed up, awakened him and gave him an OWI because he and the keys were both inside the vehicle.

 

This was probably the most "unjust" OWI that I ever heard of but he'd driven drunk many, many times and didn't get caught, so perhaps it was Karma or whatever. He did fight it in court... and lost.

[TracyThom]

did anyone see this on bleacher report?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1609509-mlb-sending-embarrassing-message-hunting-ped-users-and-ignoring-drunk-drivers

 

I actually liked the Bleacher Report article. It's pretty balanced. The author makes a good point about fans knowing the name of everyone in the Mitchell Report, but being unaware of all the MLB players arrested for OWI. The tweets were a little over the top.

 

 

When I was an apprentice, we'd always go out after night school. One guy in my class had a conversion van, and one night felt like he shouldn't drive so he got undressed, crawled in the bed, covered himself and went to sleep. About 4 am, the cops showed up, awakened him and gave him an OWI because he and the keys were both inside the vehicle.

 

This was probably the most "unjust" OWI that I ever heard of but he'd driven drunk many, many times and didn't get caught, so perhaps it was Karma or whatever. He did fight it in court... and lost.

 

This must have been more than seven years ago because WI Supreme Court case Village of Cross Plains vs. Haanstad http://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.html?content=html&seqNo=21382 gave a clearer definition of what operating a motor vehicle was. In that case, Haanstad was intoxicated and seated behind the wheel of a running car. She did not start the car, and there were witnesses who confirmed this. Her feet were swung over to the passenger seat. The courts decided since she did not manipulate or activate any controls necessary to put the vehicle in motion, she did not operate and her conviction was overturned.

 

If that's the entire story, that truly does suck for your classmate. Any chance he started the vehicle and left it running with the heat on? If so, that counts as operation. However, you would think an officer would show some discretion since the guy was sleeping in the back of the van and not sleeping/passed out behind the wheel.

 

 

Back when I was in high school, we had a police officer explain to us before prom weekend that basically any mode of transportation where you were in control could get you an OWI, even a standard bicycle. It was well known in the community that a certain tavern regular used to drive his lawn mower down the sidewalk with a Slow Moving Vehicle sign that you typically see on farm implements, so we asked the officer if that was illegal, which he said it was. Then like typical teenagers, we decided if we could stump the expert. I asked, "What about if you were on horseback?" He replied, "Yes, you are still in control." But he had no response for, "But what if you're sober and it's the horse that's drunk?"

 

Here in Wisconsin, the violation has to occur in/on a motor vehicle. A motor vehicle is any vehicle that is self-propelled. There are special exemptions for vehicles that operate on rails, snowmobiles, and ATVs, however. If you went to high school here in Wisconsin, the officer didn't know what he was talking about.

[logan82]

If that's the entire story, that truly does suck for your classmate. Any chance he started the vehicle and left it running with the heat on? If so, that counts as operation. However, you would think an officer would show some discretion since the guy was sleeping in the back of the van and not sleeping/passed out behind the wheel.

How would the officer know he didn't drive part way home and decide to pull over and sleep it off?

[Nottso]

This was 25 years ago and is the entire story. His van was parked right in the parking lot of the bar in which we had been drinking. In the front lot even. He didn't even start it to move to the rear. Keys were in the pocket of his jeans that he was no longer wearing.

 

There were 20 of us in the group and all willing to testify that he didn't drive an inch but it didn't matter. Drunk human + keys inside the vehicle = OWI (at that time).

[TracyThom]

If that's the entire story, that truly does suck for your classmate. Any chance he started the vehicle and left it running with the heat on? If so, that counts as operation. However, you would think an officer would show some discretion since the guy was sleeping in the back of the van and not sleeping/passed out behind the wheel.

How would the officer know he didn't drive part way home and decide to pull over and sleep it off?

 

In order to prosecute, there has to be some evidence that the suspect operated the vehicle.

[thebruce44]

I had a family member tell me he had a buddy who always had a bottle of JD in his glove compartment. His plan was that if he ever got pulled over while buzzed up immediately upon stopping he would take the keys out of the ignition, throw them out the window, then stick his hands out the window with the bottle, open the door, step out, and chug as long as he could before it got taken by the cop.

 

His thought was that then if he blew above a .08 they would be unable to prove he was operating while intoxicated since it could have come from drinking after driving in front of the officer.

 

I've always been a little surprised I've never heard of some idiot doing this. You would think it would get picked up on the news or internet.

[MadScientist]

"IMO calling people "alcoholics" and "stupid" for getting DUI's is absolutely ridiculous.

 

I don't care what degrees or professions people have. Ever hear of "book smart, life stupid"? Everyone is bombarded with information detailing how dangerous and stupid driving drunk is starting in grade school. Maybe too many people are willfully ignorant of the risks that come with driving drunk and need to learn lessons the hard way personally, but I just don't see how the risk of ruining one's life and quite possibly the lives of others instead of taking a cab or calling a friend for a ride is worth it in any circumstance. Do people still do it? Of course, and it's stupid.

 

In this day and age there are multiple alternatives to get home without getting behind the wheel drunk, and if people aren't intelligent enough to use those options I'm sorry, I think they're stupid.

 

As this article points out, most DUI deaths occur with drivers who have no prior DUI's.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/editorial/even-the-bishop-drives-drunk/article_3c88de89-5b76-5724-9d18-d84d4aaac721.html

 

We may not be able to say anyone who gets a DUI is an alcoholic since that has a specific definition that can't be determined from the data. We can say that they are stupid for ever getting behind the wheel drunk. People who have the mindset that DUI's are just part of the process of maturing are just helping to enable drunk drivers. Yo was a complete idiot for getting behind the wheel drunk. It will take a long time for me to ever consider respecting him as a person again.

[trwi7]

Via Don Walker at JSOnline.

 

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo entered a plea of no contest and was found guilty of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated stemming from his arrest early April 16 on I-94 near Miller Park.

 

According to online court records, Gallardo was fined $865 and will lose his driver's license for seven months. In addition, Gallardo will have to use an ignition interlock device for a period of one year. Such devices, which require the user to exhale into it like a breathalyzer, is required in Wisconsin for first offense operating while intoxicated offenders with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher.

 

Gallardo also will have to undergo an alcohol assessment.

[joepepsi]

If that's the entire story, that truly does suck for your classmate. Any chance he started the vehicle and left it running with the heat on? If so, that counts as operation. However, you would think an officer would show some discretion since the guy was sleeping in the back of the van and not sleeping/passed out behind the wheel.

How would the officer know he didn't drive part way home and decide to pull over and sleep it off?

 

In order to prosecute, there has to be some evidence that the suspect operated the vehicle.

 

I don't think so. Similar arrests have been reported in our local paper (La Crosse) in recent years. One guy left a bar, climbed into the backseat of his car to sleep it off and received an OWI. It was his 3rd offense and he ended up with jail time, as I recall. The guy was quoted that he thought he was doing the right thing by sleeping in his car.

[homer]

 

I don't think so. Similar arrests have been reported in our local paper (La Crosse) in recent years. One guy left a bar, climbed into the backseat of his car to sleep it off and received an OWI. It was his 3rd offense and he ended up with jail time, as I recall. The guy was quoted that he thought he was doing the right thing by sleeping in his car.

 

 

He was. The law (if that is the law) that you can get an OWI in the back seat of your car simply encourages more drunk driving. Yes, the first step is to not get drunk in the first place but once that line has passed you shouldn't punish people for trying to sleep it off.

 

And I could have swore the vehicle did not have to be motorized. I would think (hope) you could get an OWI/DUI on a bike.

[TracyThom]

 

I don't think so. Similar arrests have been reported in our local paper (La Crosse) in recent years. One guy left a bar, climbed into the backseat of his car to sleep it off and received an OWI. It was his 3rd offense and he ended up with jail time, as I recall. The guy was quoted that he thought he was doing the right thing by sleeping in his car.

 

 

He was. The law (if that is the law) that you can get an OWI in the back seat of your car simply encourages more drunk driving. Yes, the first step is to not get drunk in the first place but once that line has passed you shouldn't punish people for trying to sleep it off.

 

And I could have swore the vehicle did not have to be motorized. I would think (hope) you could get an OWI/DUI on a bike.

 

If you can, provide a link to the LaCrosse story. You CANNOT be arrested for OWI for simply being intoxicated inside a vehicle, especially if you are in the backseat. I'm curious if the guy started his car to turn the heat on and then climbed into the back seat. If so, then he operated the vehicle.

 

In Wisconsin, the vehicle has to be motorized. No OWIs on skateboards, bicycles, horses, burros, etc.

[joepepsi]

If you are in your car and have your keys, then you can be arrested for drunk driving in Wisconsin. As I understand it, the only way you can be in your car and not get OWI is a) you don't have your keys, or b) your car is in your own driveway.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I talked to a police officer friend about this very topic a while back, as the laws are somewhat misleading and vague.

 

From what my friend tells me, you can be in the vehicle, and even have your keys. What constitutes "operation", is ANY attempt at manipulating the vehicle. Even so much as putting the keys in the ignition, or pushing in the clutch on a manual (which I think is pretty obvious).

 

In the instance of a person sleeping across the front seat (or in a van), with the keys in the glovebox or in the visor, a ticket should not be issued.