Brother Jailed For Racing

My younger and obviously less intelligent brother got put in jail Sat.night for racing on the freeway. He is 35. He told me that he had beaten the guy twice already and won the third race and then got the blue light special. I am wondering what the options are as far as his legal recourse. He lives in Dallas , Texas. Rednecks shouldn't have S4's. He made mention that the officer didn't read him his rights. The officer remarked that he had it all on tape if his lawyer wanted it for his defense; I think he has the race on tape , I don't know about the arrest. Any help, advice or experiences would help me help the idiot. He still won't tell me his boyfriends name. No alcohol involved.

Budy of mine in DC had the same thing happen so I can't speak to TX law but he was caught doing about 135 and was supposed to go straight to jail but the cop and him ended up talking about the car and chatting, etc. Long story short when he got to his court date he was supposed to be in the slam for a minimum of 2 months (there was a formula for miles over + days in jail) but after several thousand in legal fees he got it negotiated down to 4 days in jail and 1 yr suspended DL (only allowed to drive to/from work). What speed was he going? And the most important question....alcohol?

No alcohol involved. I don't know what speed they were going. I guess it was fast enough though. Hopefully someone will chime in with a similar experience. I guess the thousand in legal fees was well worth the $$. I told him to sell the car and get an old Rabbit diesel as he is obviously not equipped to handle an S4. How come I get an error on page when I use spell ck.?

If his defense gets that tape post the race here so we can critique his lines In all seriousness though, it's going to take some serious cash and a switch to that Rabbit diesel to really understand and appreciate what he did wrong. That's why I love DE's. I get all my speed out there and never get baited on the city roads. Keep us posted, I would be interested tohear how this all comes to finality.

"If his defense gets that tape post the race here so we can critique his lines." This goes without saying. Probably early apexes and too much trail braking. hahaha. I'm kinda curious to the outcome myself, what a wingnut.

He could always do the honorable thing and just plead guilty, which he is, in spades.

Hey, not all of us living in Texas are rednecks. . . ok, most but not all. Outcome comes down to his priors (and of course $$$). An aggressive lawyer will get this dismissed without any loss of license (even with the video). Even a bad lawyer will get him probation (no jail, of course) w/loss of DL (restricted DL can be ordered). I had a client that took police on a chase for 3 towns. Case was dismissed w/60hrs volunteer work and defensive driving class. Of course, he was slow in getting his record expunged before the 2nd charge. That one was a little harder to get dismissed but when we did I beat some sense into him and he finally got the expungement. Tell your brother to talk to several lawyers before choosing one.

Hailing from the Lonestar state myself is a badge of honor I wear, redneck or not. I will inform him of the info. OT: I had a girl tell me that my neck was really red and sunburned. I replied with " that's not sunburn; I's from Texas, that's breedin' " She laughed and we are now married. No, she is NOT my sister.

[QUOTE=StanSoph] He made mention that the officer didn't read him his rights. The officer remarked that he had it all on tape if his lawyer wanted it for his defense; I think he has the race on tape , I don't know about the arrest. QUOTE] Very generally, "rights" are required to be read before a "custodial interrogation" by a peace officer. A "custodial interrogation" seeks to elicit evidence of the crime from the suspect. Merely asking biographical information necessary for administrative or booking matters is not considered within this purview. If the cop has a tape of the race(s) he probably has all the evidence he needs to support the charge(s) and absent the "custodial interrogation" scenario or a specific statute or arresting agency policy mandating such, there is no requirement for rights to be read.

[QUOTE=snaproll] Very helpful info. I guess all my legal training from watching COPS is not all its cracked up to be.

He should take his lumps and maybe he will learn a lesson and maybe not kill himself next time or even much worse someone else. Never understand these threads where people try to get out of something stupid like this and others jump on the bandwagon like its a game, even lawyers who would be just as happy suing your brother after he killed someone else. I believe here in Florida now they keep your car. Keep him away from our state. We have more then our share of these type of drivers down here. He should get what he deserves. At 35 he should already know better. No second chance to harm others. My .02+

I understand your side. At 35 he should know right from wrong.

I got a speeding ticket (88 in a 75) 4 miles east of Van Horn TX about a month ago. I was subsequently informed that my entire roadside discussion with the officer was video taped. I plan to contest the citation using that tape.

I was given the blue lights special doing well over 125mph in fairfax, VA in my 964 w/ slicks(in my younger....um..dumber days). The officer wasn't even upset since he was all into the 911 when he pulled me over, though he did give me a hefty ticket that night. The young prosecutor at the day of the court date saw the report(young kid in a red 911....hmmmm) and was going to put me away for a while but lucky me I had a good lawyer who was also a P-car nut that knew that prosecutor and negotiated my freedom. After the fees and fines, I did one night in jail for that stupid/dumb mistake. A mistake that took a few grand out of my pockets for my hard head to learn. Your brothers best bet is to get a good lawyer that is familiar with such cases. Make sure that the lawyer is well connected in the court system. GLuck.

As the saying goes "ya do the crime, ya do the time". With a good lawyer though he can get it reduced to a 'slap on the wrist' most likely. So he's 35 and still street racing? I'm only 33 and grew out of that years ago. Oh well, if he spends some time in jail maybe some resident of the facility will take him under his wing and show him the ropes. That right there would scare me out of ever street racing again! Just remind him not to drop the soap. *grin* -Richard

Well as bad as that is.....your brother will live to tell the story.... My neighbor's older brother, an out of stater (guy hasta be in his 60's) got pinched for drunk driving. His brother's house is about 2 miles up the road from the bar, he got pulled over at 2:30 in the morning, about 50 yards from the drivaway. He had some local "talent" with him.....Guy drives for a living, had his CDL pulled for a year and his wife ain't all that happy with him either.....I am friends with the Chief of Police......nothing I could do for him.....

Like what a lot of the folks have said already: hire an aggressive attorney, and more than likely it'll get knocked down. But it really depends on what's on that tape though. I was supposedly paced by an aircraft, who claims that I was doing over 150 down I-5 (from Vancouver), but charges were dismissed later. The ticket was for neg. driving. And get this: there was NO ONE on the bloody freeway, and there were 5 lanes for crying out loud!

5 lanes on I-5 coming down from Vancouver?

Maybe he blew through the customs area at 150 per, that has more than 5 lanes. More interested the story of "dismissed later"...

I can't believe noone was on the freeway. He's from Canada maybe 150 km's/h

John - I don't know what to say, except that I am sorry to hear about your brother's plight! I hope he can get some good legal help! Keep us posted on how he makes out with the legal system. So what happened in the family gene pool? Did you get all of the brains, looks, dexterity, and... oh wait� I've seen some of the stuff you type here... scratch the dexterity part! Like I have said before, if I can't contribute anything beneficial, at least I can show my support and, hopefully, make you smile a little!

he never waS Athe shaRPEST knife in the drawer. beaR A withmemy keybooaRD Ais on the blink. He sas he feels better todaYA but h 's driving the speed lmit.i

ThaAnks for aLL Athe replies aNDA help. Now to find aA hmer ma hamer for the keyboard.mA

1.) Your brother is a lucky man, 2) Time well spent may help enforce the obvious, 3) Had there been another person in the area not paying attention the results could be much worse. I did a stupid thing once and my mother decided to let me pay the price. Good hard lesson that I did not forget. Didn't have any repeats either. Thanks Mom!

BTW, the fact that your brother did not get read his rights does not mean much. Even if the Copper was required t "Mirandize" your brother, his only remedy would be to suppress at trial the content of any "confession" he made to the officer (ie-exclude from use at trial). I am a Maryland lawyer, not at all familiar with Texas law, but I would be curious to know his exact charge (ie-speeding, racing, reckless/negligent driving, all of the above, etc..) and the maximum penalties, which I presume include jail time. The max penalty for "racing" in Maryland is only $500.00 fine and 1 point (8 points in two years suspends your license). Who knows, the video may show no reckless driving, there may be no proof of speed (ie-no radar/non-calibrated radar gun, non certified/trained operator of radar gun), and the race....."your honor, I didn't even see that car next to me going fast....I wasn't racing him I swear...." I see stranger "wins" in court everyday..... My $.02

So that's BodyMore Murderland...the flourescent light just went on...Bawlmer Merlin. I often wondered about that.

Lee, the phrase "Bodymore, Murderland" is painted all over the bad neighborhoods in Baltimore. It's a shame, but there is truth to the unofficial motto. As a criminal defense attorney I see why the phrase is fitting, in fact my firm just took a murder case today.....it is likely to make national media and is a very sad story.....as most murder cases are.

How did word about the local "talent" get out?

I've been caught at 95 mph in my Expedition while talking on the phone. The charges were negotiated to 90 day probation by myself and a $250 donation to West Texas law enforcement. If you get caught doing something stupid, don't be a jerk, be honest, and hopefully you'll come across someone reasonable........

saveur2, I've been chased by a helicopter as well. I outran him! Looked back and he was tracking me down the freeway sideways...................... I think he was filming me.

I got a ticket for "90+" in a 65 (quote from motorcycle cop: "I was doing 95 and you were walking away from me."), but no probation, no jail, not even a lecture from the cop. Took internet traffic school, removed from record after! I love California -- someone else got 90 days probation for 95mph below! The sad thing, this was in the family Volvo station wagon, not my 996 (pulled over twice so far in 996, but no tix!) Oh, by the way, in So Cal and specifically in the Torrance/San Pedro/South Bay area, if you get tickets close to one another date wise (like within a month of one another), but which ask you to report to different courts, it seems that their computer systems are pretty slow, as I was able to apply for traffic school for one ticket before taking my traffic school for a prior ticket, ended up taking it for both, and got both expunged. Didn't even perjur (sp?) myself as they asked if I had taken traffic school in the past 18 months, not if I had registered for it or requested it! Of course, ymmv