Jason Taylor Arrested For DUI - Read His Story Below

myDUIAttorney.org sits down with Jason Taylor,* to discuss his experience of being charged with and convicted on a second DUI in Glendale, Arizona.

*Pseudonym used to protect interviewee’s identity.

 

MYD: Jason, thanks for joining me. When did you get a DUI?

 

JT: 2006, a while ago.

 

MYD: Where did it happen?

 

JT: 59th avenue and Bell in Glendale, Arizona.

 

MYD: Talk me through what happened, what had you been doing that evening?

 

JT: It actually happened in the morning. I had a party at my house and I stayed up pretty much all night, I’m not even sure what time I ended up going to bed but then a friend of mine who stayed over needed a ride in the morning, so he woke me up and I just got up and gave him a ride. Then, on my way back home I fell asleep at the wheel while I was turning through an intersection and I just like hit a curb, got a flat tire, and the cops showed up, and it turned out I still had a lot of alcohol in my system.

 

MYD: So you thought probably that you were OK to drive, because you’d slept?

 

JT: Yeah, but I really don’t know how much sleep I got. Apparently it wasn’t enough.

 

MYD: When they arrested you, they obviously asked you to step out of the car and perform some field sobriety tests, and probably asked you a lot of questions. Did you know that doing the tests and answering questions was voluntary?

 

JT: Yeah, I did know. Since it was the following morning, I didn’t necessarily still feel drunk, I mean I was tired and hungover but I didn’t think I was drunk, so I just went ahead and went along with the test.

 

MYD: And did they tell you what you blew at the scene?

 

JT: Yeah, I can’t remember what it was, but it was pretty high. It was well over the limit.

 

MYD: When they arrested you, did you feel like you were treated like a criminal?

 

JT: Yeah, yeah.

 

MYD: How did they treat you?

 

JT: Well, they were actually pretty cool, they were nice, you know because I was being cooperative I guess, um, but once they determined that I was over the limit, they weren’t so nice anymore. They just basically threw the handcuffs on me, read me my rights, stuck me in the back of the squad car and that was it, they took me down to the precinct.

 

MYD: What happened from there?

 

JT: I just had to sit there for a while, and I called my dad and he just came and picked me up, and that was it for that day, I just went home. Then I obviously had to go to court and go to jail.

 

MYD: Did they take your license away right there after you’d been released from the station?

 

JT: I really can’t remember.

 

MYD: So you took a breathalyzer or blood test at the station?

 

JT: Breathalyzer.

 

MYD: And did they tell you, you had time to contact a lawyer before taking that test?

 

JT: They probably did, I really don’t remember those details too well, it’s been a while.

 

MYD: But you didn’t call a lawyer at that time? You called your dad?

 

JT: Right.

 

MYD: And was that the first time you’d had a brush with the law?

 

JT: No. That was actually my second DUI.

 

MYD: So what was going through your head while you’re sitting there in the cell of the police station?

 

JT: Um, basically just, I don’t know, “this sucks,” I pretty much knew I was screwed and I was gonna have to go to jail and lose my license for a year and everything. MYD: Talk me through the legal process. How long after you were arrested did you have to show up to court?

 

JT: I think it was just a couple of weeks. After they released me from jail that morning then before court, I did get a lawyer, so yeah the first court appearance happened pretty quick but then my lawyer kept on going back and forth with them and I didn’t even have to show up for a lot of those times when he showed up so by the time the sentence actually went through, and I actually had to go to jail and do everything, I think it was like six months later.

 

MYD: How many times in total did you have to show up to court?

 

JT: I think it was like 3 maybe.

 

MYD: So you said you hired a lawyer to defend you versus a public defender. Why did you make that decision?

 

JT: I kind of thought and was really just hoping that maybe they could get it down, get the penalties down, which they did but it really wasn’t worth it. The amount of money I spent, I probably should have taken whatever the default sentence would have been. Really in my situation, there was nothing much a lawyer could have done for me because I was obviously way over the limit with the breathalyzer, I volunteered to do it and everything.

 

MYD: Do you regret hiring a lawyer or do you feel it was worth it to know that you at least tried?

 

JT: Yeah I guess it was worth it in that sense, and you know the lawyer did get my sentence reduced, like half the jail time that I would have gotten, but it was pretty expensive, so it probably would’ve been cheaper for me to just spend that time in jail. But it was nice to not have to spend that time in jail.

 

MYD: How much did the lawyer cost?

 

JT: Like $3000

 

MYD: And how did you go about finding that lawyer?

 

JT: It was just one of those lawyers that does commercials on TV, I think it was Phillips and Associates or Goldberg, I don’t really remember, just one of those big name ones that have commercials.

 

MYD: What was your experience with the lawyer that you hired?

 

JT: He seemed good, he was nice and very knowledgeable. When I met with him the first time he just told me everything that he could do and was going to try to do and he followed through with it, so I’d say overall it was a good experience.

 

MYD: So you don’t feel he gave you any false hope in any way?

 

JT: No, not really.

 

MYD: Do you feel he had your best interest at heart?

 

JT: Yeah, I do.

 

MYD: If you could do it again, would you make the same decision to hire a lawyer, would you hire a different lawyer, a more expensive one, or cheaper one?

 

JT: Well, if the circumstances were all the same with the way I got pulled over and everything, nah, I probably wouldn’t get a lawyer, I’d probably just go with a public defender and just accept whatever the default sentence would be.

 

MYD: But it depends on the situation…

 

JT: Yeah, I mean obviously there are some situations where there’s probably a lot more that a lawyer could do for you depending on the nature of how you got pulled over and what not, my situation was just pretty cut and dry.

 

MYD: How much do you estimate the DUI cost you in monetary terms?

 

JT: With fines, and jail time and a lawyer, and everything included it’s probably like $7000 or $8000, maybe even more, I don’t know.

MYD: And did you need a car for work?

 

JT: Yeah. I had to take the bus for a year.

 

MYD: So would you say it affected your earning potential?

 

JT: Yeah, I would say so.

 

MYD: How did affect your personal life?

 

JT: What personal life? (laughs). After that, well, I was living in the west side out in the middle of nowhere so out there without having a car, you can’t really do anything unless you get someone to come pick you up, or you take the bus to go out. Yeah, my personal life pretty much stopped for a while.

 

MYD: So it was a pretty stressful all-around time in your life?

 

JT: Yeah, it sucked.

 

MYD: What lessons have you learned from the whole experience?

 

JT: Don’t drink and drive, it’s not worth it.

 

MYD: What advice do you have for people in your age group who are social drinkers, go to the bar regularly, drink, and then get into their car and drive home without thinking too much about it?

 

JT: Be careful, think more about it, call a cab, use a designated driver, or do whatever you can to make sure you don’t have to drive.

 

MYD: What do you think about Arizona law? Do you think the punishments are too severe, too lax, or just right?

 

JT: I think they are pretty severe, but to say they are too severe… you know, drinking and driving is a pretty serious thing, it’s a really bad thing to do, and it’s dangerous, so I guess the punishments should be severe, so I guess I’d say they’re just about right.

 

MYD: How much time did you end up spending in jail?

 

JT: 15 days.

 

MYD: What was that like?

 

JT: It wasn’t too bad. I had work release so I basically just had to go there at night to sleep and then I’d get out during the day and go to school. I got work release but I was in school at the time so that’s what I did during the day. On weekends, I couldn’t get out so I had to stay there for a couple of days straight. Honestly, Tent City, it was in October, the weather was nice, so honestly it wasn’t all that bad, it was boring, you do nothing but sit around and play cards all day but it wasn’t terrible.

 

MYD: So jail you don’t think is that much of a deterrent compared to everything else?

 

JT: Yeah for me, if it was only jail, if all I had to do was spend two weeks in jail, that wouldn’t be much of a deterrent at all, it’s the cost and losing the license are the things that really sucked. MYD: So you ended up losing your license for a year?

 

JT: Yep. MYD: And what did you have to do to get it back?

 

JT: I had to get an ignition interlock, I had to do all kinds of stupid classes, and pay fines, and get the extra SR-22 insurance. But the main thing was getting the interlock device. MYD: So how much has your insurance gone up by?

 

JT: Actually it was only an extra $80 a month I think, and the interlock was $80 a month.

 

MYD: Would you drink and drive again?

 

JT: No. No, not if I can help it (laughs).

 

MYD: How do you avoid doing so now?

 

JT: Actually, right now I don’t even have a car, so it’s pretty easy. But after I got my license back, and I did have a car after the whole thing, and I would either be the designated driver. Well actually, at the time when I had the breathalyzer on, I was always the designated driver because I had a breathalyzer, at that time all my friends just used me as the designated driver. But after I got the breathalyzer off, I would make sure there was a designated driver, or get a cab, or I’d just drink places where I knew I could crash, so I’d go to friend’s house to party that I knew I could crash at, or if I’m going to go to bar take a cab.

 

MYD: In your situation, it was a case where you drove the next morning after drinking. What advice do you have for people who do that and think they are OK to drive?

 

JT: Actually, a friend of mine who also had gotten a DUI, he had one of those little hand-held breathalyzer things, so sometimes when I had a breathalyzer on my car, I’d go over to his house, and party, and crash at his house. Then I’d wake up in the morning, and I’d use his little thing to test myself, before I got into my car and blew into that breathalyzer, because if you blow into that breathalyzer and fail, there’s consequences for that too. So having one of those things I’d recommend.

 

MYD: Where do you get them and how much are they?

 

JT: I don’t know where he got it, but I know you can get them online, think they are like $100 or something.

 

MYD: And they’re pretty accurate?

 

JT: Yeah.

 

MYD: Interesting, good advice. Any other thoughts in general about the whole experience?

 

JT: Just that it sucks really bad, so either don’t drink and drive, or don’t get caught.