Quote :

" So maybe their idea in sentencing was to rehabilitate this kid."

Agreed, they have afforded him the opportunity to rehabilitate while still being punished. Should he choose not to run with the opportunity afforded, the state still holds an active sentence over his head.

Quote :

"Especially when he was so fucking stupid the first time he was on probation that he fucked up and killed somebody while driving shitfaced. I think he will fuck up his probation withing the first 90 days...."

Well he is presumably already in violation court for being convicted of a new offense (and had his case tolled) and will almost certainly be revoked on that case. Unfortunately, he will likely have that sentence rolled concurrently with the new one.

Quote :

"He is not allowed to drink at all while on probation either."

This is going to be really tough for a PPO to enforce. Short of him showing up to the office drunk or having alcohol in his residence at the time of a warrantless search, the likelihood of the officer catching him without outside help is pretty slim.

Quote :

"By the way, I don't know what kind of program they have in North Carolina, but I had a buddy in South Carolina who couldn't drink or do drugs for a whole calendar year....and it was literally impossible for him to do either. He got blood tested once a week with two "random" tests a month in addition."

In NC, if an offender has drug or alcohol conditions, they will be urine/saliva tested fairly regularly. However, nowhere near as hardcore as your buddy experienced. Frankly speaking, if you are testing positive while on probation in NC, you are either being stupid, have a severe addiction, or both.

edit: this applies to having drugs/alcohol banned through the standard conditions of probation. If a judge is feeling particularly nice, they can and will order a very specific regimen of testing which would be considerably harder to dodge. To include wearing a device attached to your leg that tests your skin/sweat for the presence of alcohol

Quote :

"For a while there pretty much everyone on probation in NC was getting violated for any minor slip up, like it was virtually impossible not to get violated...that was right after Eve Carson, so I am not sure how much it has relaxed since then."

Things certainly haven't been relaxed. Having a violation report issued depends entirely upon your officer, their immediate supervisor, and the judicial district in which you are supervised. However, the available punishments have considerably in the last year with the justice reinvestment act. Some tougher, some a bit more relaxed. Keep in mind that not all violations are considered equal. A probation violation hearing is little more than an administrative mechanism for getting the officer and offender formally before a judge.

In order for this kid to have his probation revoked he will have to either be convicted of a new offense, abscond probation, or previously serve two 90 day confinements in response to violation.

[Edited on October 2, 2012 at 9:48 AM. Reason : 0]

10/2/2012 9:44:51 AM

Quote :

"This is going to be really tough for a PPO to enforce. Short of him showing up to the office drunk or having alcohol in his residence at the time of a warrantless search, the likelihood of the officer catching him without outside help is pretty slim."

Quote :

"In NC, if an offender has drug or alcohol conditions, they will be urine/saliva tested fairly regularly. However, nowhere near as hardcore as your buddy experienced."

In college, I had a friend on probation for non-drug/alcohol related charges, but he still had to get his random drug screenings, which included alcohol only because he was under 21. What they did was assign him a color. Every day around a certain time he'd have to call an 800 number, which would tell him what tomorrows color was. If it was his color, he had to go in for a test the next day. It didn't stop him from drinking, but it made it harder, and of course he knew they weren't really looking for/didn't care about alcohol.

10/2/2012 11:07:35 AM

Quote :

"Unfortunately, he will likely have that sentence rolled concurrently with the new one."

why do they do that? what is the point?

10/2/2012 1:14:57 PM

I was sitting in my living room and I heard a loud bang outside... turns out a young guy drove his SUV off of the road and directly into a tree. I ran out and tended to the passenger which looked like he had a broken femur and/or hip. The driver looked a little more banged up but nothing life threatening.

The passenger had been drinking white russians, but not sure about the driver because other folks were tending to him.

10/23/2012 11:45:54 PM

The first time I ever got shitfaced it was off White Russians.

10/30/2012 7:03:10 PM

The white russians always get you.

10/30/2012 8:27:55 PM

They are really a great drink for underage drinking, like chocolate milk with a kick.

10/30/2012 8:43:45 PM

Mine was off of blended daiquiris and margaritas from the wealthy retirees partying on the other side of the small LKN island my buddy and I were fishing on. Turns out some GILF and I decided to purge at the same time by nearby trees at the center of the island, during which I was invited to the soirée

All I have is mental postcards of the 4 or 5 cabin cruisers anchored just off-shore and power cables running from their generators through the water to the beach to power rope lights, blenders and music. Got smashed. Woke up floating in my jon-boat covered in puke and earthworm bait dirt with some dude's flat cap floating in the water hooked to my fishing line

10/30/2012 8:48:34 PM

I got milk and vodka but no kahlua.

10/30/2012 10:02:28 PM

I have always wondered if people that live in the mountains drive drunk. It seems like Darwins law would weed out the worst offenders.

10/31/2012 12:40:40 AM

Quote :

"why do they do that? what is the point?"

It seems to be done a lot of the time to expedite the process, the idea from some being that the extra 30 days in prison isn't going to change much. Particularly since the kid will be coming out on probation with a lengthy active sentence hanging over his head.

10/31/2012 8:04:16 AM

Quote :

"Mine was off of blended daiquiris and margaritas from the wealthy retirees partying on the other side of the small LKN island my buddy and I were fishing on. Turns out some GILF and I decided to purge at the same time by nearby trees at the center of the island, during which I was invited to the soirée All I have is mental postcards of the 4 or 5 cabin cruisers anchored just off-shore and power cables running from their generators through the water to the beach to power rope lights, blenders and music. Got smashed. Woke up floating in my jon-boat covered in puke and earthworm bait dirt with some dude's flat cap floating in the water hooked to my fishing line"

that sounds like the plot to a bad/rad 1980's movie

10/31/2012 9:00:18 AM

http://www.wral.com/driver-charged-in-fatal-glenwood-avenue-crash/11623479/

Quote :

"RALEIGH, N.C. — A driver has been charged in a fatal head-on collision late Wednesday near the intersection of Glenwood Avenue and Ebenezer Church Road, police said. Stephanie Ann Smith, 26, no address available, was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle in the death of Lidia Del Valle Armeniakos. Police said Smith was eastbound on Glenwood Avenue shortly before 10:30 p.m. when she crossed the median into the westbound lanes. Her 2006 Toyota SUV collided with Armeniakos' 2001 Toyota SUV. Armeniakos, 56, was taken to Duke University Hospital, where she died. Smith was taken to WakeMed for treatment of injuries that police said weren't life-threatening. Police said the crash remains under investigation."

According to mugs its DWI
http://www.wral.com/news/local/image/11760019/

11/13/2012 9:23:40 AM

lol i was 90% sure that was my friend stephanie but then i was like nah, she doesn't leave the bar til 2.

I'm krallum and I approved this message.

11/13/2012 9:32:34 AM

Sounds like someone who was drinking up at Brier Creek and driving home. You see all sorts of suspected drunk drivers on that stretch of 70

11/13/2012 9:52:10 AM

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t3#/video/us/2012/11/16/dnt-tx-girl-writes-drunk-driver-who-hit-her.ktvt

11/17/2012 10:50:19 AM

11/17/2012 4:32:47 PM

Anybody have any proposed solutions to this problem? Do you think the state wants to "solve" the DWI problem, or is it too much of a cash cow not to have checkpoints every weekend in Raleigh? Do you think people drive drunk because it's fun, or do you think people do it because they don't have another viable solution to getting home after socializing downtown? The last point is a very serious one, because we all know that cabs are con artists with very little regulation in this state. I've been in many without meters, and ones that will charge you just about anything right off the bat with just about any excuse you can think of (again, highly unregulated).

I honestly don't believe the state cares about the prevention of DWIs. There is too much income generated by the little expense of having a checkpoint every weekend. I think they use serious tragedies of families losing loved ones as leverage to increase the fines and penalties of committing this crime under the pretenses that they can generate even more income, and nothing else. I think our public transit system is a complete joke, and it certainly doesn't cater to the bar traveler. I think there's a small percentage of people who do, in fact, drive drunk because it's a thrilling risk, yet I think most people do it because there isn't another viable solution to getting home. I understand this isn't New York City, but I think that if the state truly cared it would specifically allot DWI fines and fees to education on prevention of DWI crimes and bettering our public transit to prevent it happening. After all, setting up a checkpoint doesn't prevent the crime whatsoever. It doesn't prevent anything.

11/17/2012 6:20:40 PM

Mandatory breathalizer ignition keys in all vehicles. Problem solved.

11/17/2012 6:46:15 PM

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/25/oregon-beaverton-dui-crash/1725151/

Quote :

"BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) — A 38-year-old Beaverton driver dangled from a bridge several feet above Highway 217 for nearly an hour after his pickup truck crashed through a guard rail. Matthew Alan Hamilton was hospitalized Saturday afternoon after firefighters plucked him from the hanging truck using a ladder with a basket. Beaverton police say he was arrested for DUI and would be taken to jail when he leaves the hospital. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. The crash shut down part of the busy roadway for several hours until the truck could be removed with a large crane. The Oregonian reports that the wheels of the truck caught on part of the overpass and apparently kept it from falling. There was no immediate word on how the crash occurred."

11/25/2012 12:43:59 PM

they should've just went up there and gave it the last push it needed

11/25/2012 12:52:09 PM

One of my friends just lost his job after being arrested for blowing a .08.
Maybe the employer checks the slammer?

11/25/2012 1:04:51 PM

^ if they perform a background check/drug test/alcohol test before they hire him he would def. get fired for getting arrested for a dui while he was working for them.

11/25/2012 8:39:41 PM

Quote :

"Raleigh, N.C. — A Wendell man died early Saturday when his car slammed into a tree at more than 100 mph in a case of suspected drunken driving, Raleigh police said. Alford Wendell Brown, 47, was going 109 mph west on Six Forks Road, near Wake Forest Road, around 12:35 a.m. when he lost control of his 2002 Volvo. It ran off the right side of the road and struck a tree, ejecting Brown. The results of alcohol tests on Brown are pending. He was not wearing a seat belt, police said."

12/2/2012 2:32:46 PM

God I am lucky I have been around that area and lucky for EVERYONE that they are not out and around when he hit that. If and when I drive after midnight I am always looking around like crazy, anyone else like that? one of my good friends died on Trailwood hit a tree at 85MPH. Who the hell drives like that? Even when I was dumb and drove drunk at the age of 18 i didnt speed. I do however think I am very happy I never died.... =(

12/2/2012 11:28:10 PM

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/8726659/josh-brent-dallas-cowboys-arrested-intoxication-manslaughter-accident-kills-jerry-brown

12/8/2012 4:52:21 PM

^^exactly, maybe in my younger days I might have driven a little buzzed, but never did I feel like I should drive 100 mph. I just don't understand that.

12/8/2012 5:04:18 PM

One would think that if you are driving around drunk you would want to obey all of the other traffic laws to minimize the odds of you getting caught.

12/8/2012 5:44:10 PM

http://www.wral.com/ntsb-require-ignition-locks-for-all-drunk-drivers/11867052/

I say put them in all cars. Make them cheap and ubiquitous. Must be retroactively installed on all vehicles to pass inspection. Problem solved.

12/13/2012 1:33:59 AM

who is paying for all of those devices?

12/13/2012 11:00:56 AM

^yep

may also violate the 4th amendment too

12/13/2012 11:54:58 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atwater_v._Lago_Vista

Cost is passed directly on to drivers. Because what are you going to do...not drive?

12/13/2012 12:04:58 PM

they may make them required in new cars one day but it will never be retroactive imo

12/13/2012 12:17:52 PM

Probably. But you never know, all it takes to shift public opinion on something like this is for the right famous person to die in a wreck. Although, lots of famous people have died in drunk driving wrecks and it hasn't fixed anything so far.

Princess Dianna, for crying out loud.

[Edited on December 13, 2012 at 12:24 PM. Reason : .]

12/13/2012 12:22:28 PM

amount of famous people drinking and driving > amount of famous people dying from drinking and driving accidents.

12/13/2012 1:10:03 PM

Quote :

"Anybody have any proposed solutions to this problem? Do you think the state wants to "solve" the DWI problem, or is it too much of a cash cow not to have checkpoints every weekend in Raleigh? Do you think people drive drunk because it's fun, or do you think people do it because they don't have another viable solution to getting home after socializing downtown? The last point is a very serious one, because we all know that cabs are con artists with very little regulation in this state. I've been in many without meters, and ones that will charge you just about anything right off the bat with just about any excuse you can think of (again, highly unregulated). "

I'm a little biased on this issue because I'm a planner, and I harp on this issue to the point where people I know (and probably some people who post in certain threads on here) are sick to death of hearing about it, but we have created a built environment that requires a car. To me it's that simple. Raleigh is one of the worst offenders of this amongst mid to large sized cities. We know that very few people actually live within walking distance of the bars they are going to, and there is very little public transit to speak of. Yet, the bars are packed. So it's pretty safe to assume that outside of the few who take cabs and the few who have a legitimate designated driver, there are a ton of people driving drunk. The massive amounts of recent sprawl development have resulted in I would assume the majority of the region's population living in homes where they have no access to any sort of business without a car. The neighborhoods around downtown, Hillsborough Street, Five Points and some other areas don't have that issue, but they are the exception and not the rule.

This is, of course, not an easy answer, because there is no short-term solution to the problem.

12/13/2012 3:27:20 PM

^more bars need to have free shuttle vans. it would help their sales and reduce dui's

12/13/2012 4:03:19 PM

http://zingoraleigh.com/

One of my buddies uses this religiously (and he lives in Pittsboro). Most of the time, he expenses it because he is courting accounts.

12/13/2012 4:40:07 PM

Quote :

"Fuquay-Varina, N.C. — A 24-year-old man was killed Thursday in an early-morning DWI wreck in Fuquay-Varina, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said. Aaron Craig Allgood, of Fuquay-Varina, was driving eastbound on Hilltop Needmore Road around 12:10 a.m. when his Mazda was struck by a Saturn at Lake Wheeler Road, investigators said. The Saturn's driver, Ross Mayfield, 22, also of Fuquay-Varina, ran a red light before hitting Allgood's car, troopers said. Mayfield is charged with driving while impaired, authorities said, and other charges are pending. Neither he nor his passenger was seriously hurt. According to his father, Allgood, a graduate of Wake Christian Academy in Raleigh, was enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves and was working as a dispatcher for a local courier company. He was on his way home early Thursday after dropping off his brother at his home, his father said. "

another innocent person dead. people will never learn.

1/3/2013 2:32:31 PM

Quote :

"http://zingoraleigh.com/"

That's a really cool business. I wouldn't mind paying taxes to subsidize shit like that.

1/3/2013 3:54:15 PM

(in regard to poor public transit and decentralized residential areas:

Quote :

"Raleigh is one of the worst offenders of this amongst mid to large sized cities. "

So I just moved back here after living in Boulder, CO for five years, and I notice this much more now than I did pre-CO. What are some cities that are good examples of the opposite (of Raleigh)?

1/3/2013 8:27:27 PM

^^^ A bunch of people I go to church with knew him. He went to one of our "sister" churches and a lot of people know each other. Sad

1/6/2013 7:55:52 PM

^^

Hmm I would probably suggest Portland, Austin, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, San Diego. Some of those I'm not completely sure on (going just off numbers), but Portland is probably the classic example.

1/6/2013 8:02:08 PM

Timely article this morning that suggests I was wrong on some of the cities I listed: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/01/are-some-cities-built-encourage-drunk-driving/4325/

Not surprising to see cities like New York, Philly, DC and San Francisco near the bottom.

1/7/2013 10:57:56 AM

Quote :

"Raleigh, N.C. — A Wake Forest woman pleaded guilty Friday to charges stemming from a wreck on Interstate 440 this past summer that killed a man who was trying to avoid her approaching car. Sarah Aimee Carden, 23, was sentenced to 25 to 42 months in prison on reduced charges of felony hit-and-run resulting in serious injury and felony death by motor vehicle. Raleigh police said Carden was driving eastbound on Interstate 440 West, near Hillsborough Street, on the morning of June 10 when Junior Tshimpangila Bajani, 30, trying to avoid a collision with her, crashed his Chevrolet Aveo into a guardrail. Bajani was a student at Wake Technical Community College and had moved to North Carolina from Africa three years ago. He was on his way home from a wedding when the wreck occurred. Carden, authorities said, did not stop and traveled several more miles before police and state troopers could get her to stop. Her blood alcohol concentration was 0.16. She was initially charged with felony hit-and-run resulting in death, felony serious injury by vehicle, felony fleeing to elude arrest, careless and reckless driving, driving while impaired and traveling the wrong way on a dual-lane highway."

I can't believe they dropped the DUI, eluding arrest etc charges....

These should have been dropped IF she would have stopped at the scene of the accident.

2-4 years in prison for killing someone while drunk. Good thing she wasn't using a gun instead of a car

1/11/2013 1:57:14 PM

She will come out of prison 9 months early on parole and then it appears that she will be on felony probation for at least 5 years after that with a lengthy sentence hanging over her head. Not exactly the stiffest punishment for taking a life, but not a slap on the wrist either.

1/11/2013 2:39:16 PM

NEW:

http://www.wral.com/authorities-investigating-single-car-wreck-in-northeast-raleigh/12041533/

Quote :

"The SUV's driver, Lydia Marie Mills, 29, is charged with felony death by motor vehicle, driving while impaired, driving without a license or registration and failure to maintain lane control."

OLD:

Quote :

"Name: Lydia Marie Mills Location: Raleigh, NC Age: 25 years Arrest Date: 2009-04-29 JustMugshots ID: 135409 Charges: In Jurisdiction Mi Dwi 20-138.1"

Obviously did not catch on the first time.

1/30/2013 8:04:43 PM

Quote :

"One would think that if you are driving around drunk you would want to obey all of the other traffic laws to minimize the odds of you getting caught."

'
I knew a guy who would speed while drunk-driving, so he could get wherever he was going that much faster

he was probably one of the 20 dumbest folks I've ever met, though

1/31/2013 12:40:47 AM

Quote :

" One would think that if you are driving around drunk you would want to obey all of the other traffic laws to minimize the odds of you getting caught. "

You make it sound like people that drive drunk are intelligent.

1/31/2013 7:25:54 AM

Had a friend die this past week after he got hit by a drunk driver and was ejected from his vehicle. The girl that hit him was awaiting trial for a prior DUI.

Not that I've ever been flooding with DUI cases...but I've gotten a few friends off. I'll be refusing all future DUI cases. Let someone else do it. I don't every want to have something like that on my conscious (getting someone off...then having them kill someone).

http://www2.wbtw.com/news/2013/jan/29/7/family-and-friends-mourn-sc-man-killed-dui-crash-ar-5474554/

Quote :

" CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The friends and family of a man who was killed by a woman accused of drunk driving are remembering what he brought to their lives. The fatal crash happened Sunday afternoon on Interstate 526 near Dorchester Road. Police say 35-year-old Serjei Cahuantzi of Charleston was ejected and killed in the accident after his vehicle was hit by another vehicle driven by 24-year-old Lisa Pistolis. Pistolis is charged with felony DUI with death in Sunday's crash. WCSC-TV reported that Pistolis is already facing a DUI charge from February of 2012. Cahuantzi's friends and co-workers at Downtown Charleston restaurants Joe Pasta and Rue de Jean say they are still in shock and will miss him dearly. "He was just part of the family and we are really going to miss him. It is going to leave a hole for us," Jody Wright with Joe Pasta said. Cahuantzi most recently worked as a bartender at Joe Pasta, but had plans of starting his own business. Having worked at several places in the King Street and John Street area, he was well known and loved. "I mean... this was his block. You never saw him when he wasn't smiling. You never saw him when he wasn't waving. He was always happy," Wright said. "He'd be by himself and still smiling. He'd walk by the window and wave. I can't imagine not seeing him walk around the corner ever again," she continued. Cahuantzi is described as a man who loved and cared for his family. "There was never a moment when he wasn't so proud of his family. When the niece or nephew was born... he would go out and open up a savings account and start it so that they could have a college fund," Wright said. He had no children of his own, but he carved out a family with his friends. "Those kinds of guys are kind of hard to find, but he was just a great guy. He was always your friend... always there if you needed him," Wright said. Joe Pasta plans to hold a celebration of his life at some point this coming weekend. They say Cahuantzi would want everyone to gather and remember the good times. They say all who were touched by his life are welcomed. "

1/31/2013 8:03:19 AM