Last night I was arrested and charged with "Unlawful Posession and Intoxication."
I was at home on the computer working on a website when my roommate Chris and his friends came in and asked me if I wanted to go to a nightclub in Manchester. I said sure, and Chris said that I would have to drive because they all had been drinking. I agreed to drive them.
We stop at a gas station and one of them went inside and came out with a brown bag. I don't know what was in it, but whatever it was... it smelled like energy drink. But there were other alcohol bottles in the backseat, that's all I Know. We get gas too and start driving to Manchester on the freeway.
About 25 miles out, I was doing about 70 (the speed limit is 65) and it was a clear night, no snow or ice on the road, and only 2 cars in front of me and they were going faster than I was, one had just recently passed me on the left.
A state trooper was hiding on the side, on one of those paved medians designed just for them. We saw him as we passed and about a minute later we saw him pull out and lit the christmas tree.
I pulled over and put the car in Park, and waited for him to come over. He asked the usual: license and registration from me. I had to get the registration from Durgin, who was in the passenger seat and the car belonged to him. We explained that I was deaf, and that Durgin owned the car.
The trooper, whose name was J.A. Ardini, checked registratoin and verified it was in proper order, then he collected drivers licenses from everybody in the car while his partner approached the other side of the car and started checking us out with a flashlight. They see a couple of brown paper bags and asked me if I had been drinking. I answered, "No, I'm the designated driver."
They both go back to the car and fart around for about 10 minutes and Ardini comes back and asks me to step out of the car. He escorts me back to his car and starts asking me questions. He once again asked me if I had been drinking, I gave the same answer as before. Then he asked where I lived and if I have any parents to pick me up. I told him where I lived and that I live with Chris, who was in the car too, and that they were my only ride home.
After a few minutes, they tell me that I have to be taken down to the local police station. I said that's fine but I would need a ride home, so they had Durgin get out of the car and they asked him who was the most sober, and we both pointed out the guy (I don't know his name). The trooper then had him get out of the car and come join us, and after talking for 5 minutes, administered a breathalyzer test to Durgin and the other guy. They never asked me to take the breathalzyer test, nor was I asked to do a field test.
After the tests, they told the guy to get in the car and follow the trooper to the police station. Then the trooper patted me down for weapons or drugs, and handcuffed me, then put me in his car.
**At this point, I would like to point out to you all that I was NEVER mirandized prior to handcuffing, not even in writing. For those who don't know what that means, it means to be read my Miranda rights (aka, the right to remain silent, to have a lawyer, etc). They are required by federal or state law to read me my rights, and they never did.**
Anyway.. I'm in handcuffs inside the trooper's car, and we drive to the local police station (Sunapee Police Station). I'm escorted out of the car into the station where I'm led to the back room and my handcuffs taken off and I'm allowed to take my jacket off and sit down.
The trooper asks more questions, mostly about where I live, my address and phone number, etc.
The bail commissioner shows up and starts filling out more paperwork, for bail. He tells me that I'm being released on my own recognizance,and if I don't show up to court, I will be fined $750 and asks if I agree to it. I say yes.
After all the bail paperwork was done, he told me that I owed him $30.00 for the paperwork. 5-7 minutes of paperwork? That smelled like bull**** to me, but I paid him anyway with a $20 I had on me, which was Durgin's, and $10 from Chris.
They asked me if I had any more questions, I said I had just one and I asked the trooper why he pulled me over in the first place. He said he observed me going downhill at a high rate of speed and his radar clocked me doing 75. I was doing 70, and speed traps (camping out at the base of a hill is a speed trap) are illegal, so that was some more bull****.
I'm anixous to get out of there so I just leave after that question was answered.
On the way home I studied the papers and court order more closely and discovered that the trooper wrote down "Intoxication" too... and I had never been breathalzyed or given a field test, and I never had any alcohol at all that day. More bull****!
In summation, I was pulled over using an illegal speed trap method, handcuffed and arrested for having alcoholic beverages in the backseat where my friends (they all are 21+) and even though I was the designated driver, not read my rights at all, and falsely charged with intoxication when I never took any blood alcohol tests.
I just want to say that I really LOVE the distinguished New Hampshire State Police for their courteous acts and honesty.
I was at home on the computer working on a website when my roommate Chris and his friends came in and asked me if I wanted to go to a nightclub in Manchester. I said sure, and Chris said that I would have to drive because they all had been drinking. I agreed to drive them.
We stop at a gas station and one of them went inside and came out with a brown bag. I don't know what was in it, but whatever it was... it smelled like energy drink. But there were other alcohol bottles in the backseat, that's all I Know. We get gas too and start driving to Manchester on the freeway.
About 25 miles out, I was doing about 70 (the speed limit is 65) and it was a clear night, no snow or ice on the road, and only 2 cars in front of me and they were going faster than I was, one had just recently passed me on the left.
A state trooper was hiding on the side, on one of those paved medians designed just for them. We saw him as we passed and about a minute later we saw him pull out and lit the christmas tree.
I pulled over and put the car in Park, and waited for him to come over. He asked the usual: license and registration from me. I had to get the registration from Durgin, who was in the passenger seat and the car belonged to him. We explained that I was deaf, and that Durgin owned the car.
The trooper, whose name was J.A. Ardini, checked registratoin and verified it was in proper order, then he collected drivers licenses from everybody in the car while his partner approached the other side of the car and started checking us out with a flashlight. They see a couple of brown paper bags and asked me if I had been drinking. I answered, "No, I'm the designated driver."
They both go back to the car and fart around for about 10 minutes and Ardini comes back and asks me to step out of the car. He escorts me back to his car and starts asking me questions. He once again asked me if I had been drinking, I gave the same answer as before. Then he asked where I lived and if I have any parents to pick me up. I told him where I lived and that I live with Chris, who was in the car too, and that they were my only ride home.
After a few minutes, they tell me that I have to be taken down to the local police station. I said that's fine but I would need a ride home, so they had Durgin get out of the car and they asked him who was the most sober, and we both pointed out the guy (I don't know his name). The trooper then had him get out of the car and come join us, and after talking for 5 minutes, administered a breathalyzer test to Durgin and the other guy. They never asked me to take the breathalzyer test, nor was I asked to do a field test.
After the tests, they told the guy to get in the car and follow the trooper to the police station. Then the trooper patted me down for weapons or drugs, and handcuffed me, then put me in his car.
**At this point, I would like to point out to you all that I was NEVER mirandized prior to handcuffing, not even in writing. For those who don't know what that means, it means to be read my Miranda rights (aka, the right to remain silent, to have a lawyer, etc). They are required by federal or state law to read me my rights, and they never did.**
Anyway.. I'm in handcuffs inside the trooper's car, and we drive to the local police station (Sunapee Police Station). I'm escorted out of the car into the station where I'm led to the back room and my handcuffs taken off and I'm allowed to take my jacket off and sit down.
The trooper asks more questions, mostly about where I live, my address and phone number, etc.
The bail commissioner shows up and starts filling out more paperwork, for bail. He tells me that I'm being released on my own recognizance,and if I don't show up to court, I will be fined $750 and asks if I agree to it. I say yes.
After all the bail paperwork was done, he told me that I owed him $30.00 for the paperwork. 5-7 minutes of paperwork? That smelled like bull**** to me, but I paid him anyway with a $20 I had on me, which was Durgin's, and $10 from Chris.
They asked me if I had any more questions, I said I had just one and I asked the trooper why he pulled me over in the first place. He said he observed me going downhill at a high rate of speed and his radar clocked me doing 75. I was doing 70, and speed traps (camping out at the base of a hill is a speed trap) are illegal, so that was some more bull****.
I'm anixous to get out of there so I just leave after that question was answered.
On the way home I studied the papers and court order more closely and discovered that the trooper wrote down "Intoxication" too... and I had never been breathalzyed or given a field test, and I never had any alcohol at all that day. More bull****!
In summation, I was pulled over using an illegal speed trap method, handcuffed and arrested for having alcoholic beverages in the backseat where my friends (they all are 21+) and even though I was the designated driver, not read my rights at all, and falsely charged with intoxication when I never took any blood alcohol tests.
I just want to say that I really LOVE the distinguished New Hampshire State Police for their courteous acts and honesty.
