STATE COLLEGE DUI LAWYER NEWS AND NOTES- YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE ACTUALLY DRIVING THE CAR TO BE CONVICTED OF DUI

State College, PA- This past week, State College police arrested two suspected State College residents for DUI. On Monday, State College police found a twenty-one year old man passed out behind the wheel of his vehicle at the intersection of Transfer Road and East College Avenue. Adam Smeltz of StateCollege.com reported that State College police found the man at 3 a.m. asleep behind the wheel at the intersection of Transfer and East College. According to State College police, the man’s BAC was .206 at the time of the arrest. The State College police report noted that a DUI charge is pending against the man. I bring up this latest arrest for DUI by the State College police for two reasons. First, and as is a recurring theme, if you find yourself in a similar situation, it is an absolute must that you hire a competent State College DUI Lawyer to defend you. A situation like this one, where you are facing what appears to be insurmountable odds and a slam dunk prosecution, may be tempting to “cut your losses” and agree to plead guilty. Do not do this! Having a State College DUI Lawyer can make the difference between a mandatory jail sentence and probation, or in some instances, an expungement of the DUI from your record. The second reason I bring this DUI up is because Mr. Asleep-At-The- Wheel was not actually “driving” when he arrested for DUI, which means you may be asking yourself how was he charged with “driving under the influence (DUI)”? then As I have mentioned in prior posts, the Pennsylvania legislature modified Pennsylvania’s DUI laws in 2004 with the enactment of section 3802 of the vehicle code. Under Pennsylvania’s new DUI law, a person needs to simply be in physical control of the vehicle in order for the presumption that he was operating the vehicle while intoxicated to apply. This presumption has a whole host of constitutional issues that warrants its on own post, but it is safe to say that if you are found asleep behind the wheel, literally, you will be presumed to have been operating the vehicle while intoxicated if your BAC is above the legal limit.