Legal Question in DUI Law in Virginia

Re: Nolle Prosequi

Regardless of whether you plead guilty in the student hearing the charge could still be brought back. That said you may want to avoid pleading guilty in any proceeding under oath where there is a record of what is happening, unless there are other considerations.

Re: Nolle Prosequi

Your question raises a familiar problem: On the one hand, you CAN be charged with almost anything, right or wrong, whether you did it or not. If the prosecutor gets it into his head to charge you again, he can do it whether he should or shouldn't.

On the other hand, whether a lawsuit or a charge will succeed in the end is a completely different question from whether it can be brought against you.

So could the prosecutor decide to try again? Sure.

Would your admission that you were driving under the influence be enough to sustain a conviction? Probably yes.

DUI's are a bit unique because there are complicated rules about your blood level and machines and whether you are impaired. Technically speaking, simply admitting to having taken a drink (or several) does not prove that you are impaired or under the influence because there are so many factors such as whether you had eaten, how long between drinks, etc. The legal test is based on whether (a) you are acting impaired at the time you are driving OR (b) your blood level in fact shows a high level of alcohol.

So it is possible that admitting to taking one or two drinks might not be enough to sustain a conviction, unless the police officer shows up next time and goes through the required testimony.

I am imagining that your university student conduct hearing has some kind of honor code system that would require you to tell them the truth. (Otherwise you would not be asking us the question, I think.)

However, because you were in fact charged with this offense, it seems beyond all question to me that you would have the right to claim the Fifth Amendment. Particularly if the University is a state institution (government), but even if it is not, anything you say on the topic has the potential to incriminate you.

AND NOTE: Like the attorney-client privilege, the 5th Amendment covers entire topic areas. So if you say only positive things about the experience, you can be deemed to have waived the privilege, and you can then be compelled to answer also negative things. You can't say anything about the topic at all, one way or the other.

In other words, I think that any obligation you might have to volunteer information to the student conduct hearing would be over-ridden by the 5th Amendment.

Unfortunately, not knowing the law, the council might take that as incendiary and assume you are guilty. They may interpret the 5th Amendment as meaning that you are guilty. You might even hire an attorney to explain this to the student conduct hearing in your place.

Finally, I really don't think there is anything you can add anyway. They know you were charged. They know the charges were dismissed. You COULD state that your plea to the charge was "not guilty." Beyond that, however, what can you add? The only thing they could be asking is something that is rather abusive, to admit to something that you are not required to admit to.