Legal Question in DUI Law in Pennsylvania

Ok... I just recently got into a accident where I rolled my truck because I missed the turn in extreme dense fog. I called the police on my onstar. The officer asked if I wanted to see medical personel and i said no because i thought i was ok at the time and very confused what was going on because i know i was in shock and had a concusion cause my memory laps, I was a combat medic in the army.then he asked if I had taken anything and I said yes " a half a ambien 5 mins ago" I didn't want to lie plus on my bottle it only said " use care when driving a car" wich to me means ur aloud to take it if ur driving. I know I had a concusion because it was a roll over accident and all my airbags deployed plus I couldn't remember where I was coming from. And told him that. He then asked me to walk the line on a down hill cracked road in the dark and told him I don't have good balance because my injurys to my knees in Iraq and he said do it anyways. Naturally I was off balanced. He then arrested me for DUI and brought me to the hospital and drew blood. Because I got a DUI 5 years befor ,I stayed over night in jail and forced to wear a scram bracket ( and pay for it) the following day , where I have to be in by 10 pm and can't leave till 6 am and can't drink alcohol. My blood came back with 64ng/ml of ambien and 24ng/ml of flexeril ( wich I took at 6pm that evening ,5 hours befor I took my ambien because of my broken ribs) and if my math is rite that converts to approx .25 mg of ambien in my system and even less of the flexeril , wich isn't even enough to intoxicate a infant. Anyways. Even with those small levels they r still trying to push the DUI and haven't even taken off the bracket 4 months in even though I had no alcohol in my system and my doc even wrote a letter saying I was taken both of my meds exactly as directed. Is this even fair and or legal, punishing me befor I'm even convicted? I know all I had was a concusion and missed the curve because of the fog because I know it takes longer the five mins for ambien to affect u especially because I have been taken it for years. Do I have a good case to fight? And how should I go about fighting it?


Asked on 2/27/13, 7:44 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark Johns Mark Johns, Esquire

You need an atttoney who is experienced with DUIs. An expert forensic toxicologist wouk be required. A full defense is probably a $5000-10000 proposition. Depending on the county an your license status (cdl/regular) an aggressive defense might produce a favorable plea or prepare a good trial defense.

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Answered on 2/27/13, 7:52 pm


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