Legal Question in DUI Law in North Dakota

My 21 year old son is in the airforce stationed in Minot, N.D. He was at a friends home drinking on night and got into an arguement with the host. It was excelling to a probable altercation so my son decided to leave the friends home (off base) and went to sit in his car. Yes he had had some drinks but was not intending to drive. He sat in his car eating pizza with his music on... he has one of those cars where u can play the music without the keys until the door is opened at which point the music then shuts off. Someone in the area called the police to complain about loud music coming from someone's car in the neighborhood.

The police showed up to investigate the call and did indeed find my son eating pizza in his car with the music blaring. Car was not on... no keys in the ignition, however my son was sitting in the driver's seat. I'm sure the authorities got a whiff of the beer he had been indulging in as they tapped on his window and he rolled the window down. Immediatley, they were ready to charge him with a DUI... There was no taping of him being ran thru the sobriety tests to prove him incapable of driving whether that was his intention or not. He DID refuse to "blow" and was not willing to give a blood sample.

Fast forward to him seeking an attorney to hopefully get his charge reduced to what he thought would be "reckless driving" so as not to have to wait 7 years for the DUI charge to be expunged from his record.

He was scheduled for a March 2nd court date. THe attorney told him upfront that his fee was $1000 to represent him in municipal court and that he would be able to get the charge reduced. When my son contacted his atty. to see what time to show up at court, his atty. then told him he didnt need to show up... that the judge and him are not agreeing on the lesser charge and that it needs to go to the District Court and in order for my son to continue having the attty. represent him it will be an additional $1500. I asked my son if he has a court case number or a name of the Judge who would be hearing his case in municipal court and he said he didnt have either.

My question to you is.... How can my son be sure he was represented to the best of the attorneys ability or just being taken for a ride...? It seems to me that some of the practices his attorney used on him as far as leading him in the legal direction seems a little shady. Shouldnt my son have a court case number? Shouldnt he have been given the name of the Judge who would have been hearing his case? Shouldnt he have had the right to show up in court on March 2nd to have witness to what his attorney "supposedly" did for him in front of the judge?

I'm not saying my son is an angel.... I'm sure he had been drinking... he told me as such... but sitting in his car listening to music and eating pizza to cool off constitutes a DUI? He's already facing the loss of driving his car for a year for not "blowing" but... with the info stated.... it really had to go to "district" court? because his attorney and the Judge couldnt come to an agreement of a lesser charge? Really?

I'm miffed... what direction should my son go now? He feels he's being taken advantage of... and after hearing all that has been said... I think I would have to agree....


Asked on 3/02/12, 4:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ross Brandborg Brudvik Law Office

My suspicion is that you are getting a lot bad information. Judges and Lawyer don't "come to an agreement." The one exception is the Judge may not have accepted a plea to Reckless Driving because there were not facts to support reckless driving (no driving).

My suspicion is that the lawyer feels like he needs to push a jury trial in District Court rather an a Judge trial in Municipal court. In District court a Jury trial will put the prosecution under a lot more pressure to reduce the case to a reckless driving.

Also DUI's never go off your record.

All his case information likely can be found at the ND Supreme Court web site: www.ndcourts.com (on the right side, court calendar search)

As for the additional fees, transferring a case to district court is more time consuming, however I am not certain what agreements your son and the lawyer had previously made.

Hope this helps, good luck.

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Answered on 3/02/12, 4:14 pm


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