Tom Jarvis Arrested For DUI (Twice) - Read His Story Below

myDUIAttorney.org sits down with Tom Jarvis*, a baggage handler from Tempe, Arizona* to discuss his two very different experiences of being charged with DUI. The first was an underage DUI when he was 19, the second was an extreme DUI 5 years later.

*Pseudonym used to protect interviewee’s identity.

 

MYD: Tom, thanks for joining me. So I understand you’ve been arrested for DUI twice and had two very different experiences. Let’s talk about the first one. When did it take place?

 

TJ: 2000, may have been 1999 actually.

 

MYD: And where did it happen?

 

TJ: Orange County, Mission Viejo, California.

 

MYD: Talk me through what happened

 

TJ: We were at a party, and cops had been called several times for noise complaints, so they were pretty much just posted at the end of the block. So it was a little bit of a setup there, they were just waiting for the first person to bail.

 

I had literally had one shot and one beer the whole night when I was there. I was there with my girlfriend and her friend and obviously the party was getting a little out of control, so I decided to leave before the shit hit the fan, you know? So I was the first person to leave. Got in the truck, drove down the street, and sure enough, like three police cars just swooped on me. They came right up to me, told me to get out of the vehicle, got me behind the truck and went to town on DUI without asking me for my license or registrations – no questions at all.

 

But that’s what ended up working out in my favor though because they screwed up their procedure.

 

MYD: So at the time, did you know that the field sobriety tests were voluntary?

 

TJ: I did not know that, no.

 

MYD: And what about the questions, did you know you didn’t need to answer any?

 

TJ: Nope, I was pretty uneducated on the law at that point.

 

MYD: But you said they didn’t even bother asking you any questions?

 

TJ: Yep, immediately pulled me out and once I was behind the car they then started asking me the “how much have you been drinking questions”. You know, I was honest with them. I told them I had a beer and a shot the whole night, it wasn’t like excessive, so.

 

MYD: And did you do the breathalyzer right there?

 

TJ: Yeah, I did do the breathalyzer. I blew a .04 so really low but it was zero tolerance because I was 19 so I was underage.

 

MYD: Once you blew over the limit, did you feel like you were treated like a criminal?

 

TJ: Um, yeah, pretty much. They were kinda cool in as far as they let me keep my truck, they didn’t impound it like they’d been threatening to. So I guess in that aspect they were cool with me, but you could tell they were just looking for another DUI to book and that was it, that was the feeling

 

MYD: Was that your first brush with the law?

 

TJ: Yea pretty much

 

MYD: Were you scared or nervous?

 

TJ: I guess a little nervous but you know I felt I hadn’t done too much wrong so I wasn’t as nervous as I could’ve been

 

MYD: Talk me through the legal process, how long after you were arrested did you have to appear in court?

 

TJ: So I had to go back to court within like 30 days, and what I did was to use an attorney that several friends had used for their DUI cases. I went to him, had one meeting with him, before I even went to court, had a meeting with him, discussed the case a little bit, he gave me a price and he handled the whole thing from there. I didn’t have to show up at court.

 

MYD: So you didn’t have to go to court once?

 

TJ: Nope, didn’t have to go to court – he went in and handled all that. It took probably five or six months until I heard back from him, and he gave me the call and was like “Alright, you’re set. We won and all’s good.” Because I had blown such a low blood alcohol content, it was just a DMV case whereas it could have been DMV and Court, so it was slightly easier for him to fight it you know.

 

MYD: And what factored into your decision to hire a private attorney versus defend yourself?

 

TJ: In that situation based on the lawyer’s track record with my buddies, I decided he should be the first person to go to. And the price was right so.

 

MYD: How much did he charge?

 

TJ: It was a $150.

 

MYD: Is that all?

 

TJ: Yep. If it was a court case it would have been like $350, that’s what my buddy had paid for a similar offence.

 

MYD: And so what was your experience with the lawyer you hired?

 

TJ: Great I mean like I said, I literally went in for one meeting, I was at his office for like 30 minutes, and then I didn’t even have to worry about it until 5 or 6 months later until he called and said it was done. I didn’t even have to meet up with him again, I paid him upfront and he handled it.

 

MYD: So the case got entirely dismissed? You didn’t have to go to traffic school or anything?

 

TJ: No, nothing.

 

MYD: So let’s get to your second DUI. When did that happen?

 

TJ: April 2008

 

MYD: Where did that happen?

 

TJ: I was up in Peoria in Arizona

 

MYD: Talk me through what happened there

 

TJ: That one, I got pulled over for speeding. I was doing 20 over the speed limit. Pretty much screwed up, blew right by the cop who was at a gas station, posted on a 2 lane road that noone was on. It was literally like 3 o’clock in the morning so I was just kinda cruising and blew right by him. He pulled me over for the speed and right when they pulled me over I knew I was gonna be screwed because it was the best time for them to get me, I was pretty intoxicated.

 

MYD: Where had you been drinking?

 

TJ: I was at a resort in Litchfield Park.

 

MYD: So this time, did you know that you didn’t have to do the field sobriety tests?

 

TJ: I was kind of aware of that stuff, but the way I chose to handle it at the time, just because I knew I was so obviously drunk, that I just went ahead and did whatever they wanted me to do to try to get the best lenience with them by cooperating.

 

MYD: And do you remember what you blew?

 

TJ: I blew a .19.

 

MYD: How did you feel you were treated that time?

 

TJ: Actually really well because I was so upfront with them right off the bat. I told them I knew I wasn’t getting off of this one, so I kind of rolled with them and they took good care of me, didn’t make me feel too bad. He told me he had to do what he had to do, I mean obviously you’ve got to pay the price for getting pulled over that messed up but relatively speaking, they did take good care of me.

 

MYD: So they took you to the station and booked you. Once they let you go did they take away your license?

 

TJ: Well what had happened, when I got pulled over, I had an outstanding warrant for a traffic ticket that I never paid, so they took me back to the station, they did the blood test and then rather than letting me go which would have been the normal situation they sent me right over to the Buckeye police who took me to Durango for six days.So I didn’t get to go home right afterwards.

 

MYD: At any point, did they let you contact a lawyer?

 

TJ: You know what they didn’t give me time before they sent me into the jail. When you do get in there they have some payphones that you can use but a word to the wise, they don’t let you call cell phone numbers, so I was pretty much shit out of luck at that point.

 

MYD: So what was the actual charge that they sent you to jail for?

 

TJ: Well the charge they gave me at the time was the extreme DUI and driving on a suspended license, and then the warrant thing was kind of a separate issue. So the Peoria police got me with the DUI and the suspended license thing and the speeding, and then once I was handed off to the other officers, that was strictly on the warrant.

 

MYD: So you spent six days in Durango. How long after you got out did you have to appear in court?

 

TJ: So I got out, and it must have been within that same month that I had to go in for the DUI. At that point I had called an attorney out here. He was pretty much straight forward with me, he told me he wouldn’t be able to get any leniency, so I could take it or leave it. He said it was probably best to just go in by myself so I did that. In which case they did offer me a public defender, so he handled the most part of my case.

 

And after I was set up with the public defender, I had to go back into court probably five times, once a month after that, just waiting on the blood tests and police reports. Every time I went in it was never ready so I came back the next month.

 

MYD: So how much face time did you get with the public defender?

 

TJ: Every time I’d go in, we’d meet probably five minutes before and then we’d meet back in the courtroom and he was pretty much just speaking to the judge, and it was pretty much the same routine for the first few times just not enough information on the case. But yeah I had a good five or ten minutes with him every time I was there.

 

MYD: Did you feel that was enough time for him to get a good sense of who you are and review the case thoroughly?

 

TJ: Probably not, because he didn’t go into much detail. I was pretty much handled black and white as in, “alright you’re guilty, we’re just going to go in and get the best set of punishments for you”.

 

MYD: And was he able to get any of the punishments reduced?

 

TJ: He did get the jail fees waived for me.

 

MYD: And what punishments did you have to face?

 

TJ: 30 days in tent city, they did 10 days served, 20 days suspended based on me completing their alcohol program, they gave me 36 hours of that. They did suspension of the license, it was a 30 day suspension – my license was already suspended at the time, but that’s what I would have gotten. They impounded the car for 30 days. All in all there was about $4500 in fees, court fees and city fees, et cetera.

 

Now I went for my 10 days in tent city and then started doing those alcohol classes, and decided they were just a waste of my time. They were Saturday morning, early classes which lasted 4 hours at a time. So I went back and asked the judge if he’d let me do the 20 days in jail he’d suspended rather than do the classes and he was OK with that, so I went back, did the 20 and just got it done with.

 

MYD: Did you have work release?

 

TJ: I did have work release. I did get fired from my job though because when they pulled me over I went straight to Durango for the six days, I was no call, no show to work so I did get let go from my job which kind of screwed me up there. But I did get work release from the tents so.

 

MYD: What was your experience in jail like?

 

TJ: Well tent city’s pretty easy but processing in and out is the worst thing you ever really want to go through. It’s pretty much a 12 to 14 hour day processing through Durango, going through “the Matrix” they call it. Your being herded from room to room, small rooms, too many people, standing room only in these little cells. Horrible day. That’s something noone wants to go through, I think that’s the kind of drive it into your system, “you don’t want to be back here” kind of thing.

 

But once you get to tent city and you are on work release, it’s not too bad. You’re out 8 hours a day so you come in and sleep pretty much and then hang out at the weekends. So that part wasn’t too bad but the processing in and out was the shitty part.

 

MYD: With the $4500 in fees, did they give you time to pay it?

 

TJ: They did set up a payment plan, I think it was like $100 a month for however long.

 

MYD: And if you ever missed a payment, what happened?

 

TJ: I was short on one and I had to go in and speak with the judge and get an extension.

 

MYD: If you had to do it again, would you still have gone with the public defender or would you may have tried to hire a different lawyer?

 

TJ: I think I still would have gone with the public defender, based on the fact that the first DUI I got was off my records, so this was being charged as my first DUI. Being the first I think I definitely would have stuck with the public defender. I talked to a lot of people out there at the tents that had done it the other way with a lawyer for their first and they ended up just dropping a butt-load of money on the lawyer for their defense and got the same punishment I did.

 

MYD: So how much did the DUI cost you in monetary terms?

 

TJ: All in all, with the $4500 off the bat and then they tag the breathalyzer on you for a year, that’s another $1000 and now I’m doing two years of that, so $6500.

 

MYD: And then obviously losing your job affected your ability to earn..

 

TJ: Yep, I had a house up in Avondale and it kind of tossed up the life I had up there

 

MYD: How did affect your personal life?

 

TJ: Yeah it was rough, I didn’t have a car for the first 30 days. So it makes it impossible to go anywhere and do anything, especially trying to find a job and get back on the grind, so yeah, it did screw up my personal life big time.

 

MYD: What lessons did you learn from the whole experience?

 

TJ: Don’t freaking drink and drive! Don’t get caught. I dunno. It’s not worth it all, that’s for sure.

 

MYD: And what would your advice be to people in your age group who are social drinkers, frequently go to the bar, have a few drinks, and get in their car without really thinking about it?

 

TJ: Yeah, that happens all the time, I was one of those for years and years. You know, you think you’re just always going to get away with it, when you do every day. But it’s definitely not worth it when you get hit so, try to do the designated driver thing or you know cool off at the end for a couple of hours because anything in your system, they’re going to pop you so.

 

MYD: Were you surprised that you were able to get off the first charge so easily, but then with the second one you really had to suffer the full consequences?

 

TJ: Yeah, yeah the first one did kind of blow my mind how easily the attorney handled it all, I didn’t have to do anything, kind of breeze, but then the second one, they stuck it to me.

 

MYD: And do you think it was because the law’s got stricter?

 

TJ: I don’t know, I blame it on Arizona being so strict on everything. They are real cut and dry when you do something wrong, they nail it to you. California is so easy to get out of things it seems like they’ve got more of a laid back mentality. You can get out of so much more, but here they nail you to the wall.

 

MYD: So what have you learned about Arizona law?

 

TJ: Yeah it’s tough. They don’t have the same leniency that’s for sure.

 

MYD: So all in all, do you think the law and punishments are too severe, too lax, or just right?

 

TJ: You know, in all honesty, it’s probably just right. Because it does make it so you learn the lesson, you do not want to do it again, so in that aspect it’s right. But it’s pretty tough and luckily I was in the financial situation to get out of it, but not everybody’s going to have $5,000 lying around so you can do what you gotta do to get out of that. Otherwise it could be a pain in your side for years.

 

MYD: I’m guessing you wouldn’t drink and drive again?

 

TJ: Yeaahhh, no. Like I said I did stay on the breathalyzer, I gotta warn people that drinking one night, the next morning you don’t realize how much alcohol is still in your system. Because I’ve failed the in car breathalyzer the next morning three times above a .08, above the legal limit, the next day. That’s why they tagged a second year on for the ignition interlock. We all do it you know, you go out, and party one night, then you gotta go to work at 9 in the morning the next day, you jump in the car and drive away.

 

MYD: So how do you try to avoid that now?

 

TJ: I’ve almost had to quit drinking completely with that breathalyzer it’s so strict, it fails you at a .03 which is a beer, so I mean I really can’t drink at all now. Part of that learning the lesson the hard way.

 

MYD: Any other final thoughts about the whole thing?

 

TJ: Yeah, just don’t get a freaking DUI man. I mean there’s no way out of it, if you get pulled over and you’ve been drinking alcohol, they smell it. So just try to avoid that situation at any cost, just call a taxi, they suck they’re expensive, but it’s a lot cheaper than a freaking DUI!