SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
I have a friend named Jamie. She's in her 40s, and she might go to prison for four years on the 23rd of this month.
She had a DUI from 2012, which she was guilty of, and one from 2014, which she was not. Because of her prior conviction, she's getting a much harder time by the courts. She's been offered the choice of signing for four years of prison, or taking it to trial and possibly getting 10 years if found guilty. She's a mother with two sweet, young little girls. She won't get to see them for four years. They're going to end up with her mother in Idaho.
She let a friend drive her truck, who was sober, but because she was next to the truck drinking shortly after it parked, she was hit with another DUI when the cops pulled up over a domestic disturbance, which is common here. Her friend already told that she was not the one behind the wheel, but it doesn't seem to make much difference.
Here's where it bothers me. She is innocent, and she's being given the choice of admitting to a crime she didn't commit and getting four years, or fighting it, possibly losing, and getting ten years.
This is disgusting to me.
I'm writing this, I suppose, to ask for advice. How can I help her?
Time is of the essence.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 16 2015, @01:09AM
I think the standard of "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" ought to save her, but really, she isn't being honest. She and the friend both have motivation to lie. Getting even a single incorrect DUI conviction is pretty hard to believe, especially after a conviction, but then being charged with another DUI that is also somehow incorrect? I wasn't born yesterday.
Don't do that shit.
At least the girls (and you too!) will have a bad influence out of their lives.
(Score: 2) by mrcoolbp on Wednesday March 18 2015, @09:01PM
She had a DUI from 2012, which she was guilty of
He said one was legitimate. Not only are you incorrect, you are way out of line. You don't know the surrounding circumstances here, hence you are way too quick to judge. He obviously is dealing with a tough circumstance, you are not helping. Please show some respect.
(Score:1^½, Radical)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 19 2015, @09:13PM
Yep, she admitted the first one. There was then a second (allegedly incorrect) and now a third (also allegedly incorrect). She also admits to some activity that, though not illegal, is very unwise and is circumstantial evidence that she was doing worse: she was drinking (by her truck and holding her keys!!!) when the cops showed up.
This is a person who should have been fully aware that she was one arrest away from prison. Drinking is not an option. Clearly, she couldn't control herself.
She admits to the drinking because she knows the cops saw her. She doesn't admit to driving because she thinks no cops saw her.