Court Praises DMB Fan For Not Driving While Drunk

LukinFan

http://www.pollstar.com/blogs/news/arch ... 79413.aspx

It’s been a dilemma for people attending live events ever since someone figured out some folks like to imbibe while watching sporting competitions and enjoying live music – what do you do when you have too much party in you when the party’s over?

Travis Peterson, 19, of Dixon, Ill., found himself facing that question when he had a few too many during a Dave Matthews Band concert south of Milwaukee. Too inebriated to drive home, Peterson decided to sleep it off in his car in the parking lot after the concert ended.

But a state trooper told him to move on, even though Peterson told the officer he was too drunk to drive. You guessed it. Peterson pulled his car out of the parking lot only to get arrested for drunk driving. He was convicted and sentenced to 60 days in jail.

However, Wisconsin’s 2nd District Court of Appeals court saw things differently, and yesterday commended Peterson for trying to sleep it off. The appeals court also ruled the original trial court was wrong by not letting Peterson argue that police had entrapped him.

“Drinking alcohol to excess, while inadvisable and unhealthy, is not unlawful by itself,” the appeals court said.

BeerBaron

Would this kid not be underage too?

luvisatower

at least he was trying to sleep IN his car not on it or on the ground near it.
i've seen both of these events occur in parking lots after shows.

vedder_soup

f%#ken cops!

12345AGNST1

that is really some great news. WORD

ReachingForThinAir

in Okieland it's called AFC: actual physical control.
if you are in the car with your keys.
now if you are outside, on the ground, whatever.. w/o keys then you are fine.
then there's always public drunk.

nazis.

mookieblalock

LukinFan wrote:

“Drinking alcohol to excess, while inadvisable and unhealthy, is not unlawful by itself,” the appeals court said.

UM HELLO?????? I think being drunk when you are 19 is against the law????

The cop is a deuche.

The judge is an idiot.

Prioronfire22

they should've prosecuted him for listening to DMb

reflectedfromafar

Th part that confuses me is that a 19 year old was at a Dave Matthews Band show. :?

I could never be drunk enough to be at a Dave MAtthews Band show.

haffajappa

mookieblalock wrote:

LukinFan wrote:

“Drinking alcohol to excess, while inadvisable and unhealthy, is not unlawful by itself,” the appeals court said.

UM HELLO?????? I think being drunk when you are 19 is against the law????

The cop is a deuche.

The judge is an idiot.

yeah but that law is stupid.
people would like america more if we could actually drink there

Gary Carter

ReachingForThinAir wrote:

in Okieland it's called AFC: actual physical control.
if you are in the car with your keys.
now if you are outside, on the ground, whatever.. w/o keys then you are fine.
then there's always public drunk.

i've done both. sucks having bird shit on your tshirt

JaneNY

mookieblalock wrote:

LukinFan wrote:

“Drinking alcohol to excess, while inadvisable and unhealthy, is not unlawful by itself,” the appeals court said.

UM HELLO?????? I think being drunk when you are 19 is against the law????

I think the laws relate to the purchase of alcohol by minors, or adults giving/buying alcohol to minors. I don't think the laws specifically state that the state of drunkenness is illegal for minors. The 'minor' *could* have consumed their alcohol in Canada, where in Ontario the drinking age is 19, or Quebec, where the drinking age is 18, and then come to the states, for example.

Ok

bottom line - the kid was trying to do something commendable, and the cops should have known better that to try and entrap him - rather he should have tried to help him!

Parksy

Interesting post here (finally)

Before I get started, the most important thing to learn from this story is that the cop was a complete deuchebag and should have been penalized himself.

That said...

In Ontario, Canada (my neck o' the woods), the kid in this story *could* have been charged with impaired even if the car wasn't started. Simply being in a car, with your keys, and being drunk (like this kid was) is an offence in Ontario.

That said, if you're an officer and you come upon this issue, their are only a few ways to deal with it. Letting the kid drive off and then busting him is not one of those. However, as a cop, you cannot just trust a person to sleep it off in the parking lot and not drive away. A cop could be held liable if that happens. (which is why Ontario has this law) However, what the cop could do is have the kid take a cab somewhere to sleep it off and take his keys. The kid could pick up the keys at a police station. That's what a very nice cop *could* do.

Either way... the MOST IMPORTANT thing to remember when you're going to a show, or sporting event is PLAN YOUR TRANSPORTATION. In all circumstances with this kid, someone is inconvenienced whether it's the kid being charged or the cop having to go out of his/her way to assist the kid. In my opinion, the blame is put on the kid because he didn't have the forethought to plan his transportation before drinking. How severe the punishment should be for the kid depends on a lot of different things.. including how big of a deuchebag the cop is.

I'll commend him for not driving, but he still puts the officer in an awkward position. (and in Ontario, still breaks the law) He should have planned ahead of time.

Cheers,



Stay safe, and stay thirsty my friends.

Yellow Bedwetter

reflectedfromafar wrote:

Th part that confuses me is that a 19 year old was at a Dave Matthews Band show. :?

I could never be drunk enough to be at a Dave MAtthews Band show.

then you obviously haven't been to a dmb show in hartford before

LukinFan

Parksy wrote:

In Ontario, Canada (my neck o' the woods), the kid in this story *could* have been charged with impaired even if the car wasn't started. Simply being in a car, with your keys, and being drunk (like this kid was) is an offence in Ontario.

.

it's that way in FL too

mookieblalock

its that way in most places; but the keys need to be IN the ignition. Otherwise- no dice.

LukinFan

mookieblalock wrote:

its that way in most places; but the keys need to be IN the ignition. Otherwise- no dice.

in FL, I could be wrong, but I think if you even have the keys just on you in the car, you can get arrested.

blondieblue227

LukinFan wrote:

mookieblalock wrote:

its that way in most places; but the keys need to be IN the ignition. Otherwise- no dice.

in FL, I could be wrong, but I think if you even have the keys just on you in the car, you can get arrested.

yeah. surprise by this story because i thought you couldn't even sit in your car while drunk.

star from murderball...quadrugby…I read his book…..he’s a big PJ fan…..he was paralyzed by falling asleep when drunk in the back of a pickup truck. He best bud got in without knowing he was back there…he was drunk. Dude was thrown outta the back of the truck, paralyzed and had to hang onto a tree limb for days in a river before anybody realized where he was.

His book is filled with PJ lyrics intertwined with his story.

......so don't go near a car when you're drunk. sit your ass on the sidewalk or something.