Advice for a friend

[dmccarty]

He stepped off the tractor and stuck his head into the the car when the officer asked him for directions to his neighbors farm. No feild sobriety test was involved He did submit a breathalizer test from a portable unit.

...

My friends told me that since yesterday the judge sheriff and lawyer got together and have come to an agreement that the deputy involved was also a volunteer officer alone in a sherriff dept vehicle. My friend told them he would settle for and even swap no charges pressed about the tractor as long as his Arrest and Dui was erased from his record. And the volunteer officer removed or suspended till he was trained.

The sheriff was apologetic and quite humble The tow bill was also absorbed by the county.

...

I think it mainly boiled down to an untrained officer over steppin his boundaries. I hope to find out more as tomorrow Im picking the tractor up with a flat bed 2 counties away. My friend says he only lost about 8 hours of his weekend over this. And alot of worry. This biggest mystery is why the volunteer deputy was left alone in a county car to roam and how he couldnt read Private Road No Access. Thanks for all the advice folks.

From what others have posted the Private Road is a red herring and is meaningless according to the DUI/DWI laws. It would make very interesting case law. But I know *** I *** don't want to be part of interesting case law.

What is important is:

1. Was your friend drunk per the law?
2. How was it determined he was drunk?
3. Was the officer within his jurisdiction?
4. Did this officer have the power of arrest?
5. Where did the tractor go?
6. Who took it?
7. And why?

In NC a hand held device is not admissible as proof of being over the limit. It can be used to establish PC but not proof. What does MS require? Was the test done per the standards? Was the device calibrated? And when?

Sounds like item 1 is could easily tossed because there might not a strong case for determining if the guy was drunk.

Item 3 and 4. Was the officer really an officer? Did he have the power of arrest? Was he within his jurisdiction?

The first four items are very important. The case gets dropped if the officer can't prove the level of intoxication. If the officer was out of jurisdiction there is no arrest. If the officer did not have the power of arrest what he did was illegal. I would be shocked if MS allows people to pretend they are the law enforcement officers. That would be the start. If this guy did not have the power of arrest, depending on MS law, it could be a kidnapping case.

Item 5, 6, and 7 regarding the tractor. If the tractor was impounded because of the DUI/DWI arrest and it was not taken to a normal impound lot it is starting to lean towards theft. If the tractor was USED. I think the line has crossed into theft charges.

The sheriff is apologetic and humble because your friend has him by the short hairs. It really sounds like the "officer" really stepped over the lines into Law Suit Land and/or criminal charges. At a minimum the story would be very embarrassing if it made the papers.

Later,
Dan

 

[Taylortractornut]

I ll try to answer clarify a few things that let my friend off. The officer was alone when he was supposed to be with a trained officer. He was also not supposed to be driving the county car or make an arrest.

The officer was also out of county jurisdiction by 1/]8th mile. He also wasnt trained to do a Field sobriety test or use a hand held meter.

His reason for being on the property also was weak, The officer said he had seen suspicious activity such as tractors working during the night.

The tractor was picked up by the local towing company that was on the towing rotation witch is fairly usual. The thing is they still cant work out why it wasnt taken to the towing company yard, or the county impound lot. Here we had a round for about a year with the sheriffs deputies and towing companies. When ever they saw a so called abandoine vehicle they would call it in and have it towed right then several cars were taken from driveways and feilds with that one even a surveyor I hired had his truck towed from my place with all his survey equipment inside.



My friend doesnt wish to pursue
any thing against the other deputies involved,only the one that arrest him be cause of his trucking job and farming takes most of his time.

Since I was a witness I cant say what all happened but my friend is pretty well rounded and doesnt get hyped up easily. The last few years we have had alot of things similar to this here in Tishomingo county. My friend is a few counties over, I cant say the name of the county or the departments involved name since it didnt go to court as my friend requested.
To the reply about volunteer deputies They are becomming a problem be cause a few of them are having light kits put on their private vehicles. All they have to do is take a course at the nearest Community college for 300 bucks and buy a uniform. I dont think they can carry a weapon other than a billy club. I have 2 officers in the family one is a DOT and Part time City officer. My first cousin is the Shift commander for the county.
They both have filed complaints about volunteers on some things especially during a traffic stop. My step brother inlaw is a bit chapped that They didnt have to go through the academy and take hours away from The trained officers.

Once again I appreciate the advice and my friend does to.

 

[Scooby074]

Glad this abuse of power worked out for your friend....HOWEVER id be mighty tempted to press charges on the misuse of the friends tractor, especially against the tow company for not properly securing the tractor..

Given what you said about their past towing practices they could use a lesson

 

[Taylortractornut]

I dont know the history of the towing practice there, I was stating about the misuse here. Found out why they picked all the ones up here, the officers that called in the pick ups got a commission from the towing company. It seems to be working out now. My friend was really worried about his job. he could retire from trucking and make it on the farm good but has it in his blood. He also didnt want to be pushed around by the officer. The new sheriff here really helped our county out after some direction, and they really need to do some more refining on the volunteer policy.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

The judge can make like the arrest never happened and it all go away i am sure so your friend can get back to the pre arrest status.

 

[Taylortractornut]

Thats the case Gale I was making a load today and met my friend and his son leaving out in tandem today at lunch time. Said he was gonna lock the access road and just give the ACS man and the Forestry service keys.

 

[Big Bri]

The judge can make like the arrest never happened and it all go away i am sure so your friend can get back to the pre arrest status.

I was arrested for something back in 1990, something i didn't do. took a few weeks to clear things up. but the arrest record stayed. I spent money going to court to have it all removed and have papers to say it never happened. . .but to this day it still pops up from time to time.
I wish your friend luck.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Thats the case Gale I was making a load today and met my friend and his son leaving out in tandem today at lunch time. Said he was gonna lock the access road and just give the ACS man and the Forestry service keys.

If he does not know about the multi lock chain tell him about it. Use a lock for each one with a short piece of chain between each. They supply the lock and keep the keys. If it is left open you know WHO unlocked it.

 

[Taylortractornut]

Gale Thats what we use on our secondary landfill access points to the landfill. That way the 2 farms that border us dont have to road machinery. I think they are also going with a special gate system with seperate frequncy controlers that will log each remot that was used for a record. He did tell me that he was a little worried about the volunteer officer comming back on his own time to damage something so he moved his anhydrous wagon and applicators back to the barn and set up a camera.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

The anhydrous wagon could be considered a point of interest to the law since is use used in cooking meth.