UN I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Wednesday, November 17, 1993
7
OUI UNDER EXAMINATION
Continued from Page 1.
DUI is the acronym for Driving Under the Influence of alcohol and/or drugs. ADUI and an OUl are the same offense and carry the same penalties. OUIs are processed through municipal court, and DUIs are processed through district court.
No driver is stopped solely for driving while intoxicated.
"I'm not going to stop you for just one thing," Augusto said. "The initial violation will be something like bouncing off curbs or weaving."
Once a driver has been stopped for a traffic violation and the officer suspects impairment due to alcohol, the driver is asked to step out of the vehicle and take a series of sobriety tests.
The first tests involve hand-eye coordination, counting exercises and balancing skills. Drivers are given specific instructions and asked if they understand what they are to do.
"The test we use is a standard test used by all state agencies," Augusto said.
"They try to spin around and lose it," he said. "I've even had guys moon walk."
Most people who are impaired lose their balance on the turns and pivots. Augusto said.
A driver who fails the physical tests is asked to take a PBT, or Preliminary Breath Test or breathilyzer test. A driver has the option of refusing to take the test. However, refusal could result in a ticket and most likely a trip to the Lawrence Police Station.
Drivers who agree to take the test breathe into a small tube, triggering a red, yellow or green light. Green indicates that the driver has not been drinking; yellow indicates that a person may have been drinking but is not over the legal limit, and red shows that the driver is over the legal limit.
Drivers over the legal limit are placed under arrest, handeuffed and taken to the Lawrence police station. KU police do not operate jail facilities.
10000
OUI facts
About two in every five Kansans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at sometime in their lives.
Going to the lock-up
One of every two people killed in alcohol-related crashes is not the drunken driver.
1000
1000
In 1992, there were 23,406 OUI arrests in Kansas.
Nationwide, more than 20,000 people die every year in alcohol-related accidents.
In 1992, 3,100 people in Kansas were injured in alcohol-related accidents.
Source: Kansas Office of Transportation
Once inside the police station, drivers are frisked and taken to a room with the Intoxilyzer 5000. The machine issues another test. Results are sent to the State Department of Revenue, where records of driver licenses are kept.
Refusal to take this test results in an automatic one-year suspension of the driver's license. Drivers who agree to take the test and show a blood-alcohol content of .08 or higher lose their licenses for at least 30 days.
Although the machine is used frequently, the arresting officer has the option of issuing a blood or urine test.
"It takes longer to get the results back from blood or urine tests," Augusto said. "This (machine) is accurate and faster."
Lora Hegeman, corrections officer with the Lawrence police, processes much of the paperwork required after an arrest. While Hegeman fills out a form with information about the driver, Augusto observes the driver for about 20 minutes.
"I ask them to open their mouth, just to make sure they haven't put anything in it," Augusto said. Drivers who think chewing gum or eating breath mints will alter the results of the breath tests are mistaken.
Augusto recalled the time he stopped a drunk driver, and the man immediately drank a bottle of Obsession cologne.
"He thought if he drank it we wouldn't be able to tell if he was drunk," he said.
"It registers the alcohol already consumed, not what you just drank," said Sgt. Rose Rozmairek of the KU police.
Hegeman said that most arrestees were cooperative but that some became angry. "Law students are the worst," Hegeman said. "They usually have an attitude and start naming laws."
"Some of them accuse male officers of doing inappropriate things to them." Hegeman said.
Hegeman said women were sometimes belligerent.
To avoid accusations, female officers process females who have been arrested, and all arresting officers record events as they happen. Officers radio time and mileage to the police station so that their whereabouts are always known.
"You never know what you're getting when you stop someone," Augusto said. "I really have to know my stuff, or the case could go out the window."
Once the paperwork is complete, the driver has three options: post a bail or bond of $500 and leave with a sober driver, pay a bonding company $75 and leave or spend 18 hours in jail.
"A lot of people have friends come get them out, but a lot choose to spend the night in jail," Rozmairek said.
Jail prisoners are issued jail clothing and appear in court for arraignment the following morning. Offenders who post bond appear in court at a later date. Offenses charged within city limits are prosecuted through municipal court. Offenses charged on county
and state property outside the city limits are prosecuted through district court.
Trial and punishment
Municipal Court Judge George Catt presides over municipal arraignments. He has been on the bench for 21 years.
"When someone who has been charged appears in court, I read the charges to them," he said. "I explain that they need to get an evaluation from an alcohol treatment center and that they need an attorney since it is a jailable offense."
At the time of arraignment, defendants must enter a plea of not guilty. Pleading guilty would mean they would go directly to jail, eliminating their constitutional right of a trial. At the arraignment, a trial date is set.
"For first-time offenders, there is the option of diversion," Catt said. Diversion allows offenders to perform community-service work, and the arrest is expunged from their records, providing there is not a second offense within five years.
"Not everyone qualifies for it but those who do pay a fee and go through alcohol school," Catt said. "It's a contract between the city and defendant."
Defendants who do not enter into diversion agreements must appear at their trial date. They are encouraged to have an attorney present.
"Sometimes people waive their right to counsel," Catt said. Defendants have the option of pleading guilty or no contest before the trial. In those cases, the judge issues the sentence without proceeding with the actual trial. If the defendant chooses to plead not guilty, the court proceeds with the trial, Catt said. Sentencing is handed down at the conclusion of the trial.
A plea of no contest is technically guilty, Catt said.
"No contest works best in civil cases," Catt said, "especially if there's been an accident. It's a term used in lawsuits."
First time offenders who are found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are required to pay a fine from $200 to $500 and spend from two to 180 days in jail. In some cases, 100 hours of community-service work takes the place of jail time, Catt said.
Second and third time offenders face stiffer penalties, including increased fines and longer jail time.
House arrest is becoming a common practice because of overcrowded conditions in area jails. Bracelets worn by persons under house arrest transmit signals that allow law enforcement officials to monitor them in their own homes. Prisoners must respond to calls at random. The devices are paid for by the offenders.
Offenders also pay attorney's fees if they use legal representation. David Berkowitz, a Lawrence attorney, deals with these clients. He said a lawyer's fee ranged from $300 to $1000 a case.
"There are fees for court costs, fines, specials and lawyers," Berkowitz said. "District court is more expensive, but none of it's inexpensive."
"When students come here, we are willing to help them with DUIs," Hardesty said. "But we also tell them that they don't need an attorney if they're not going to contest it."
Jo Hardesty, director of KU Legal Services, said first-time student offenders could use KU Legal Services at no charge.
Berkowitz said the costs increased with each offense. "In the end, it costs anywhere from $650 to $1500," he said.
Students who need to challenge their arrests in court cannot use KU Legal Services. Hardesty said.
"When that happens, we refer them to a private attorney," she said.
Costs for private attorneys are not covered by KU Legal Services.
Defendants awaiting trial must get a clinical evaluation from an approved alcohol and drug treatment center. Following the evaluation, the center sends a report to the court on the driver's drinking habits.
Getting professional help
Pat Green is the director of CrossBridge, 708 W. Ninth St. She is a licensed alcoholism counselor and evaluates clients and conducts treatment programs.
"Overall, most students who come here don't need intensive treatment," she said. "They just don't think getting an OUI will happen to them. A lot of them are surprised when they end up here."
Clients fill out a three-part questionnaire about their drinking habits. Afterward, Green interviews clients to determine the correct method of treatment based on individual needs.
"First time offenders often don't have real drinking problems." Green said. "Rather, they just made a poor judgment. Someone in that situation is not 'at risk,' so they go through the least intensive treatment on an outpatient basis."
These clients attend alcoholawareness classes one night a week for four weeks. Green has guest speakers address classes on issues such as increased insurance rates and a police officer who tells of possible offenses related to
"The idea of diversion is to separate the people needing only education in the hope that they will never do it again," Green said. "It also helps identify the disease of alcoholism, not to punish those people who have it but to begin treatment which includes lifelong abstinence."
excessive alcohol consumption. The issue of diversion also is discussed.
There is also an intermediate area for people who are more than first time offenders but not alcoholics.
"It's the middle-gray area for people at high risk," Green said. "One factor that determines whether someone is at high risk is family background. If the person comes from a family of strong drinkers, then we add group sessions for them and also have individual sessions."
The evaluation at CrossBridge is paid for by court costs. The cost is $110, and CrossBridge receives $99 of the fee. CrossBridge receives no state or federal money, Green said. Cost for the lowest level of the alcohol and drug school is $90. Clients can get a second opinion from another clinic but must pay full costs for both evaluations.
"The courts tend to trust the evaluator," Green said. "We do our best to work with the client, not against them."
Green said one of her main functions was education. "I want people to learn about alcohol, its functions and its effect on them," she said.
"The best advice I can give is if you've had anything to drink, even one drink, don't drive."
Paying a penalty with insurance
Insurance agent Gayland Lilienkamp writes policies for autos. He said that the overall rates for insurance were higher for males under the age of 25 and that the rates for everyone increased when they received an OUI.
"Generally, if a first-time offender gets a diversion, then no points are held against them," Lilienkamp said.
Insurance companies use a point system to determine the rates customers pay. Rates vary for individual customers.
"Their rates will still increase because their record will show that their license has been suspended." Lilienkamp said.
Lilienkamp said first time offenders who do not go through diversion received a six-point increase on their policy.
Second and third time offenders' rates increase 250 percent, Lilienkamp said.
"That equals a 200 percent increase in their rates," he said. "For example, if someone is paying $770 as a yearly rate and then gets an OUI, the rate becomes $1540 if that person does not get a diversion."
"Generally speaking, anyone who gets an OUI will be canceled from their current policy," Lilienkamp said. "If they are insured through a mutual company then that policy is canceled, and a new one is written up, possibly through the same insurance company but not on the mutual plan."
Thinking about the risk
"When I'm on patrol my goal is not to arrest anybody," Augusto said. "My job is to help make the streets as safe as possible. If a driver is impaired for any reason, even something non-substance related, such as fatigue, then I want them off the road, and I'll do my best to get them where they need to be."
Augusto said that arrest was not his first choice but that when a driver had exercised poor judgment by getting behind the wheel, then other factors came into play.
"They are endangering their own lives as well as the lives of innocent people," he said. "The best advice I can give about drinking and driving is just don't do it. It's not worth it."
Night in jail is wake-up call for man who drove drunk
Editor's Note: The sources' names in the following story have been changed because of the sensitive nature of the topic.
it started out as a date party and ended with a night in jail.
For John Skarducci, the party ended abruptly.
"When we left the bar I was so intoxicated I didn't even think about the driving," Skarducci said. "I'd been drinking and driving for two-and-a-half years. Never realized the consequences."
Skarducci was arrested and taken to jail, where he spent the rest of the night.
"A couple of friends tried to get me out, but by then it was so late I just decided to stay." he said.
"It wasn't until I woke up in jail the next morning that reality hit."
reality included a call to his family, a drain on his savings account and a change in his attitude.
"My mom was very disappointed," Skarducci "More than anything, they were mad at me for the
Skarduct and his parents came to a mutual agreement that he would lose his car for six months.
danger I put myself and the other people in the car in."
"I can't drive it anyway because I don't have a license," Skarducci said. He has paid for the costs involved with money from his own account, Skarducci said.
Since the arrest Skarducci has been through a program at Cross-Bridge and has attended a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. He also has applied for diversion, a legal option offering the offender community service instead of regular sentences. If offenders successfully complete the diversion program and commit no other offenses during the next five years, the OUI is expunged from their record.
"Going to AA made me look at my drinking habits and what I'm doing." Skarducci said. "I asked myself, 'Am I heading in the wrong direction or just doing normal college stuff'?"
Skarduco does not think his drinking is out of control and has changed
his outlook on drinking and driving.
"I think I'm more cautious now," he said. "If I go out with my friends I make sure I have a safe ride home. My friends try to watch out for me because they know I can't get in any trouble whatsoever."
Skarducci's roommate, Denny Randoni, said he had noticed the difference in Skarducci since the arrest.
"I don't think he gets as crazy when he goes out," Randoni said. "He wants to be with someone he knows isn't drinking. I think the DUI really slapped him in the face."
Despite observing Skarducci's mistake, Randoni said that he continued to drink and drive.
"I don't know why I do it," he said. Meanwhile, Skarducci is awaiting a verdict on his diversion.
"I might still be the same if this hadn't happened," he said. "If I hadn't gotten caught now, it might have gotten worse. Something bigger might have happened that would have ruined my life. Now I know I'll never do it again."