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A Man’s Home Is Not His Castle – If He Is DUI

Our Chicago DUI Lawyers have often felt that the law comes down disproportionally hard on DUI offenders. Want proof? Check out the following two cases:

Oregon Appeals Court Overturns Car Impound On Driver Property

Oregon Court of Appeals ruled last that reaching one’s own driveway during a traffic stop can avoid more serious consequences. In November 2007, Officer Blood of the Cornelius Police Department attempted to stop Richard Chaves Gonzales for a traffic violation. Gonzales was just two or three blocks from home, so he did not stop until he reached his own driveway. Blood wrote Gonzales a ticket for driving on a suspended license and began searching the car without a warrant after declaring that he was going to impound the vehicle. Blood insisted that the search was valid. Because the court ruled the seizure was illegal, the evidence of cocaine possession obtained after conducting a search of the car was thrown out.

Okay, so no driver’s license, doesn’t stop for police, AND has coke on him. But he was in his driveway so he walks. After all, he’s not DUI.

So what would happen to a driver who was suspected of DUI?

Texas Court Rules Home Offers No Escape From DUI Arrest

A Texas man thought he could avoid being hit with a driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) charge by reaching his home before the cops could arrive. It did not work, the state court of appeals ruled. Joe Cruz Banda, Jr. was behind the wheel of his Ford Taurus in May 2008 after having had too much to drink. The Taurus eventually parked in a residential driveway and entered a garage where several other people were gathered. Officer Miguel Daniel arrived on the scene within ten minutes…Banda failed field sobriety tests and was arrested for DUI. The Harris County Criminal Court sentenced Banda to thirty days in the county jail, and Banda appealed his conviction on the grounds that…none of the officers had seen him driving, and Banda did not resemble the physical description relayed to the 911 operator. A three-judge appellate panel was not convinced…”A key factor used to justify the determination of a place as suspicious is whether the time frame between the crime and the apprehension of the suspect is short…. Because the totality of the circumstances show that the police possessed probable cause, appellant was found in a suspicious place, and exigent circumstances called for immediate action, we conclude appellant’s warrant less arrest is justified.” The appellate court upheld the trial court’s judgment.

Police didn’t even see him driving, the description given to 911 of the driver didn’t match him, yet the alleged drunk driver gets convicted. Moral of the story? Apparently it is better to have no driver’s license, cocaine, and flee the police rather than drive drunk.