General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRemember that initial breathalyzer that Springsteen refused to take?
It wasn't required and wasn't admissible, according to US Magistrate Mautone.
He also probably knew those portable tests are known to be inaccurate.
https://newjersey.news12.com/judge-drops-dui-charge-against-bruce-springsteen?fbclid=IwAR2S0vGh-roK4IYJuUVdIOs-K5JViQuLsCVYxgpjYvQQcEOye0BxBMCVuMo
According to a probable cause document written by park police at the time of the incident, Springsteen told a park officer he had done two shots in the previous 20 minutes but wouldnt take a preliminary breath test before he was arrested. Mautone said Wednesday that the preliminary test is not required, and is not admissible in court.
When he took a breath test at the parks ranger station, Springsteen's blood-alcohol came back .02, a quarter of the legal limit in New Jersey, prosecutors said Wednesday.
brucefan
(1,549 posts)Some Trump loving cop
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)that means -- and smelled "heavily" of alcohol.
dpibel
(2,803 posts)You don't have to see very many DUI reports to figure out that cops get a list of catchphrases that are designed to (and do) support a finding of probable cause.
Those are both on the list.
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)higher than his actual BAC.
And let me also say, if you drink regularly and you're not an exceedingly small person, two shots really won't do shit to you. Esp. if you've eaten recently.
no_hypocrisy
(45,786 posts)When you have a traffic offense go to court, the judge usually sides with the police.
What likely happened: Springsteen's attorney met with the prosecutor. The prosecutor conferred with the cop. The two most serious claims were merged into the last and third offense, for which Springsteen would agree to plead guilty. This effectively had the two offenses dismissed.
I've done the same technique with my traffic clients. The courts just want the money from the fines and penalties. Make a reasonable request for another situation, and (unless it's too serious to allow for a plea bargain) and you'll likely get it. I have yet to see even one trial in municipal court for traffic. They're almost always settled.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)always seemed to be the only thing he might be guilty of if his alcohol level was that low and he wasnt driving erratically. Also if I remember, he supposedly drove around a closed gate to enter the government property that was closed.
no_hypocrisy
(45,786 posts)I was delineating how the process goes to make tickets/charges "go away".
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)Its illegal to drink alcohol in the park....thats what he pled guilty to
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)was in a Jeep, for some reason.
Dorian Gray
(13,469 posts)but off season when it's closed and you aren't supposed to be there at all.....
Klaralven
(7,510 posts)Demsrule86
(68,355 posts)Jersey Devil
(9,863 posts)which is a local ordinance and not a motor vehicle offense or any kind of "criminal" offense.
Rocknation
(44,555 posts)Last edited Thu Feb 25, 2021, 03:30 PM - Edit history (9)
At .02 BAC, a DUI charge (.08 - .09 BAC) would have been a tough enough row to hoe -- why the overcharge? Throw in Bruce's embarrassment of Jeep by concealing the arrest from them, and it all sounds like an episode of Reno 911.
Rocknation
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)Not with his .02 alcohol.
no_hypocrisy
(45,786 posts)All you want is the proverbial slap on the wrist, no points, a small fine, and you can live with the fiction.
I've done this dozens of times with my clients where they plead "guilty" to "unsafe driving" when in fact, they were driving "safely". As a traffic defense attorney, you'll never get the charges dropped once they're submitted. The best outcome is a different narrative with different charges.
Traffic Law, like Criminal Law, is relative. Unless you were there, only your client (and perhaps a witness) and the cop know what really happened. And the cop may be trying to get his/her quota for the day/week/month.
Demsrule86
(68,355 posts)Cops were rousting him that is what it was.
no_hypocrisy
(45,786 posts)the DUI "goes away". He never was *tried* for DUI; he was only *charged* with it, an allegation.
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)It just means that cop was trying to screw him. Now people like you will always insist that he really was drunk, but his lawyer made the charge "go away."
Jersey Devil
(9,863 posts)because he knew he could not prove the case. I was a municipal prosecutor in NJ for several years and that is what I would have done. DWI charges in NJ are not "plea bargained". Plea bargaining of DWI charges is strictly forbidden to prosecutors. They can, however, and do dismiss charges that they believe they cannot prove.
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)that he obviously was guilty of.
Why would they drop that charge when it was open and shut?
no_hypocrisy
(45,786 posts)Let's say I was tailgating a car, but it was in a line at a busy airport during a holiday, say, Labor Day Week-end.
Everyone essentially is tailgating, but I'm the one who got the ticket and nobody else got one.
My attorney goes to the prosecutor, explains the situation. We go searching for another offense to replace the original offense that carries an 8-point penalty. My attorney agrees to a 0-point offense, unsafe driving. It is now irrelevant whether I was tailgating b/c I'm going to plead guilty to a new offense. My attorney has saved my car insurance from going up and I'm not in jeopardy of getting another 4 point ticket where my license is revoked. (12 points will do the job.)
Remember how Bruce got three tickets initially? In NJ, that's almost standard for traffic stops. You may (or may not have) been speeding. Let's say 65 in a 60 zone on a highway. The cop gives you a ticket for going 75, a ticket for reckless driving, and not using a turn-signal. You go to court. Your attorney gets the reckless and the signal offenses to go away by merging them into the speeding violation. You either plead guilty to the last speeding offense and get 4 points, or if your attorney maybe knows the prosecutor, it will be agreed that you were still speeding, but at a lesser rate, to get 2 points. IOW, you don't skip out scott free, but the damage to your license has been minimalized.
That's how we do traffic law over here.
Jersey Devil
(9,863 posts)and by the way, you cannot "merge" a more serious offense into a less serious offense.
Roisin Ni Fiachra
(2,574 posts)systems nationwide.
All it takes is one dirty cop, and an innocent person is doing time in Huntsville.
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)the thing he obviously did and pleaded guilty to -- as some were suggesting.
no_hypocrisy
(45,786 posts)Your car insurance company, the DMV, and others believe the allegations are fact, because you pled guilty.
Corgigal
(9,291 posts)Bruce is going to buy the New Jersey park , and write a whole album about this experience. It will open on Broadway in 2023.
Kind of dumb cop, seriously.
speak easy
(9,101 posts)Corgigal
(9,291 posts)We can get tickets..
onetexan
(12,994 posts)Rocknation
(44,555 posts)"As we stated previously, we paused the commercial until the facts were established," a Jeep representative said in a statement. "Now, that the matter has been resolved, we are unpausing the film."
Rocknation
onetexan
(12,994 posts)SuprstitionAintthWay
(386 posts)...with a hard-on to take Bruce Springsteen down a notch. I was a cop. Any idiot can tell that somebody with that little booze in them isn't drunk.
I find it telling it was during November 2020. Most LEOs (law enf. officers) are conservative, many of them very conservative.
Charging someone who blows an 0.02% with DWI anyway is, IMO, unethical.
All the rest is just chatter.