Police behind me with lights a flashing I slowed down, put on my turn signal and looked for a safe place to pull over. A young officer walked up to my car asked for my license and proof of insurance and then said "do you know why I pulled you over?". Asking me to testify against my self, I simply said "I was doing about 80?". He said they clocked me at 81mph, then asked if I had been drinking anything tonight. Here's where I made a terrible mistake, I said that I had a beer at the bowling alley. For some reason I was thinking that honesty might get me some points as I knew he could probably smell beer on me.
No points, I had just handed him 'probable cause'! He had me step out of the car, searched me and explained that he's going to do a field sobriety test. It was warm out, the only sounds were light traffic on the expressway and it was fairly bright because we had stopped near an exit with street lights. He first had me stand on one leg and put my arms out for awhile, which I did without any trouble. Switch to the other leg with arms to the side, I didn't even wobble, pretended to be a statue. Then he had me stand normally with arms to the side and told me to keep my head perfectly still while following his pen light with my eyes. This went on for at least a minute but seemed like five. He kept stopping, then move a little, left right, up down, stop for a long time. It took so long that I felt like looking at him to ask how long this was going to take, but I never took my eyes off the light even for a second.
Feeling a tiny bit confident that I might actually pass this test he went on to explain how to walk in a strait line step by step, one in front of the other, heel toe and he demonstrate how to do it. He kept going on with instructions, and demonstrating, said to walk 9 steps, then walk back. I thought I had listened to every word and had it down, but after my 9 steps I reversed and he instantly said that I didn't follow the instructions and stopped the test. Guided me to the back of the cop car and had me sit. Then he pulled a portable breathalyser out of the trunk and asked if I would consent to blow. At this point I knew I was screwed. These cops didn't care how coherent I was nor how polite and complaint with this whole thing, they wanted a number and more importantly they wanted a DUI.
I blew a .10. I knew it was over the legal limit but just to confirm I asked if .08 was still the limit. Yep. They didn't mess around calling out a flat bed tow truck to pick up my car. They then put on hand cuffs while I was still in the back of the car, quite uncomfortable. After that I voiced my disbelief in their humanity that they would wreck my life over this, as if I was going to make them feel bad or something. They were almost giddy, both cops were quite young and who knows I might have been their first DUI. The initial speeding charge was never mentioned again, but they did ask how much money I had on me, which I thought was a little odd. I told them I only had about $4 as I had spent cash at the bowling alley. Then we were off to the police station.
Showing posts with label owi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label owi. Show all posts
The bills start piling in
And many are completely unjustified. Sure everyone knows a DUI is going to cost you a bundle, but you might be surprised at how many different people have their hand out simply because you f*cked up. They know that you just want to make this go away so you can get back on with life. They also know exactly how much they can get away with charging you if you are employed, a home owner, married, etc. In every aspect of dealing with this it has always been apparent that the only thing anyone cares about is getting money. The court even had a mandatory financial profile sheet that I had to fill out that included income, debts and assets. It wasn't very specific requiring financiers or account numbers so it was pretty easy to pad it in the red as far as debt to income, which isn't that far from fact in my case, but I highly doubted it would be checked nor make any difference in my fees. I'm sure I was being charged the maximum allowable fees for the offense. While most of the fees might be standardized by law, spreading the wealth is not, and there is a plethora of 3rd parties that they can order you to pay. Like drug testing companies (owned by people with ties to the court), counseling, community service (yes even this costs money) and court rehabilitation programs (founded by a judge).
The first bill I got in the mail was from the police station for $450. Talk about unjustified! This is a tax-payer funded public police department, how can they bill me directly? They called it a Cost Recovery Invoice and clearly stated that "this invoice is in addition to all court costs and fines". They are charging me for pulling me over and incarcerating me?... as I double checked the envelope looking for a packet of anal lubricant! I even tried to fight this fee by asking what the Cost Recovery fee is for a speeding violation, "there is none", well that's what I was pulled over for so I shouldn't be charged this fee. I was talking to a brick wall.
The next one came from the state and was poetically named Driver Responsibility Fee with some law codes so you knew there was no getting out of it and that some governor signed this into law at some point. This one is for $500, again over and above any other fines levied for the offense. Where does this money go? And something that they don't immediately specify on the bill is that this is 1/2 of the total fee, they bill you again 6 months later for another $500. I'm helping somebody enjoy their yacht no doubt. They do allow a payment plan if you call, and they are quite friendly about it. I used that to reduce the shock of this expense to $100 per month.
At this point I cringed every time I checked the mail. What's next? Well there's a Drivers License Reinstatement fee of $125, to be paid to the Secretary of State at the end of the license restriction, which in my case was 3 months.
A couple local DUI lawyers sent me some ads in the mail, which was disturbing. I guess this is all public record now, but I didn't realize that it would be that public. I worried what else I would get.
Costs:
The first bill I got in the mail was from the police station for $450. Talk about unjustified! This is a tax-payer funded public police department, how can they bill me directly? They called it a Cost Recovery Invoice and clearly stated that "this invoice is in addition to all court costs and fines". They are charging me for pulling me over and incarcerating me?... as I double checked the envelope looking for a packet of anal lubricant! I even tried to fight this fee by asking what the Cost Recovery fee is for a speeding violation, "there is none", well that's what I was pulled over for so I shouldn't be charged this fee. I was talking to a brick wall.
The next one came from the state and was poetically named Driver Responsibility Fee with some law codes so you knew there was no getting out of it and that some governor signed this into law at some point. This one is for $500, again over and above any other fines levied for the offense. Where does this money go? And something that they don't immediately specify on the bill is that this is 1/2 of the total fee, they bill you again 6 months later for another $500. I'm helping somebody enjoy their yacht no doubt. They do allow a payment plan if you call, and they are quite friendly about it. I used that to reduce the shock of this expense to $100 per month.
At this point I cringed every time I checked the mail. What's next? Well there's a Drivers License Reinstatement fee of $125, to be paid to the Secretary of State at the end of the license restriction, which in my case was 3 months.
A couple local DUI lawyers sent me some ads in the mail, which was disturbing. I guess this is all public record now, but I didn't realize that it would be that public. I worried what else I would get.
Costs:
| Bond | $100 |
| Vehicle Release | $20 |
| Towing | $85 |
| Lawyer | $1500 |
| Police Dept Cost Recovery Fee | $450 |
| State 1/2 of Driver Responsibility Fee | $500 |
| SOS License Reinstatement Fee | $125 |
| Total | $2780 |
First time in court
I have never been inside a court. Never even been called for jury duty. All I know about court is from TV shows like Law & Order and Judge Judy. Walking in is like airport security, take off all metal, put it in a bin and walk through a metal detector. Belt included, but you can leave your shoes on. Don't bring in a cell phone with a camera or any type of drink, they will send you back out. Then there are all these plexiglass windows for different things, few occupied, and a cubical farm behind them. Theres a billboard with the different judges and printouts of the dockets with names and times under each along with some codes for each name that probably mean something to someone. My name was on the docket under my judge for the correct time that I was supposed to have my plea.
My lawyer showed up and knew a whole bunch of people who worked there. He got the police report and we sat down and reviewed it. It was pretty standard stuff for an OWI. I was to plead guilty and hope for reduced points on my license and minimum probation time. Fines and court costs not reduced however. The judge even recognized my lawyer and said "always nice having you in my court", which was a tiny relief. The whole judge thing went really quick, I had to say "I understand" about 10 times and finally "yes, I'm guilty".
After that we had to check in at one of the windows where there was a really backwards and complicated profiling test I had to take. All of the questions where in a book, each one multiple choice, in normal book order but the answer sheet was in columns going down and then from right to left. Completely backwards. Many of the questions were really weird too, like "When was the last time you thought about suicide? O Within 1 month. O Within 1 year. O Within the last 10 years. O Often. O Never. WTH? And if you weren't super careful with the backwards-columns thing it was really easy to pick the wrong circle to fill in. I learned later on that I had indeed answered, or filled in the wrong circle on a couple of the questions. One was something about a prior felony which I'm sure I meant to answer no as I've never have anything more than a speeding ticket, but they asked me about it. The other that they (or the computer) said I answered wrong was "How many months did you work last year?" and I answered "12", which isn't incorrect... I never got an answer as to why that one was flagged.
I had to sign papers on my license restriction and got a copy of the dos and don'ts. Basically, for 3 months I can drive to and from work, to doctors or hospitals and to court or mandatory meetings/appointments. Anything else I need to have a signed note as to what and why or else I go to jail. I didn't take any chances with this. If I had to go get parts for work I typed up a quick note with the date and where I was going and had the boss sign it. It's interesting to note that my cell phone, the only number I ever give out on any of this paperwork, got two really weird texts from two different people right about this time. The text just had a download button, but they weren't from anyone who would ever send me a download and one of the people never even text me. The download just had a progress bar and I never let it finish as I didn't know what it was. I checked with the contacts who it was sent from and they had nothing, they never send me any text on that date. Really odd. I went and virus checked my phone, turned off GPS and tightened up security on it thinking how easy it would be for the cops to track my every move with my phone. Just a stop at CVS for a pack of gum and I'm in violation of my restricted license! Boom, more money! I'm speculating here.
Other papers to sign was weekly drug testing I now had to do, which I got nervous about. I have a Medical Marijuana card, which is legal in my state, and use weed pretty much every night so I asked my lawyer about it. He said I need to talk to the prosecutor or the testing place about it. So I asked again at the prosecutor window and they said to make sure I show my card to the drug testing place. The drug testing place is called JAMS and I didn't have any option to choose a different place.
No new costs at this point, surprisingly.
My lawyer showed up and knew a whole bunch of people who worked there. He got the police report and we sat down and reviewed it. It was pretty standard stuff for an OWI. I was to plead guilty and hope for reduced points on my license and minimum probation time. Fines and court costs not reduced however. The judge even recognized my lawyer and said "always nice having you in my court", which was a tiny relief. The whole judge thing went really quick, I had to say "I understand" about 10 times and finally "yes, I'm guilty".
After that we had to check in at one of the windows where there was a really backwards and complicated profiling test I had to take. All of the questions where in a book, each one multiple choice, in normal book order but the answer sheet was in columns going down and then from right to left. Completely backwards. Many of the questions were really weird too, like "When was the last time you thought about suicide? O Within 1 month. O Within 1 year. O Within the last 10 years. O Often. O Never. WTH? And if you weren't super careful with the backwards-columns thing it was really easy to pick the wrong circle to fill in. I learned later on that I had indeed answered, or filled in the wrong circle on a couple of the questions. One was something about a prior felony which I'm sure I meant to answer no as I've never have anything more than a speeding ticket, but they asked me about it. The other that they (or the computer) said I answered wrong was "How many months did you work last year?" and I answered "12", which isn't incorrect... I never got an answer as to why that one was flagged.
I had to sign papers on my license restriction and got a copy of the dos and don'ts. Basically, for 3 months I can drive to and from work, to doctors or hospitals and to court or mandatory meetings/appointments. Anything else I need to have a signed note as to what and why or else I go to jail. I didn't take any chances with this. If I had to go get parts for work I typed up a quick note with the date and where I was going and had the boss sign it. It's interesting to note that my cell phone, the only number I ever give out on any of this paperwork, got two really weird texts from two different people right about this time. The text just had a download button, but they weren't from anyone who would ever send me a download and one of the people never even text me. The download just had a progress bar and I never let it finish as I didn't know what it was. I checked with the contacts who it was sent from and they had nothing, they never send me any text on that date. Really odd. I went and virus checked my phone, turned off GPS and tightened up security on it thinking how easy it would be for the cops to track my every move with my phone. Just a stop at CVS for a pack of gum and I'm in violation of my restricted license! Boom, more money! I'm speculating here.
Other papers to sign was weekly drug testing I now had to do, which I got nervous about. I have a Medical Marijuana card, which is legal in my state, and use weed pretty much every night so I asked my lawyer about it. He said I need to talk to the prosecutor or the testing place about it. So I asked again at the prosecutor window and they said to make sure I show my card to the drug testing place. The drug testing place is called JAMS and I didn't have any option to choose a different place.
No new costs at this point, surprisingly.
Drug Testing at JAMS
JAMS is a joke. It is an unorganized debacle of mixed up paperwork and people who would much rather be someplace else. The "facilities" are located in tiny micro offices in various strip malls and there are quite a few locations. When you first go in it is called "intake". You show them your court ordered testing print out, drivers license (temporary in my case) and a photo ID (passport in my case). I also showed them my Medical Marijuana card and they photo copied everything. At no time did anyone ever say that my medical marijuana card was invalid or that I needed to stop smoking weed, but I'm still getting drug tested for it...
JAMS is strictly cash only, no personal checks and nothing larger than a $20 unless you are paying for credit (more on this in a minute). After your intake you will likely find that they don't know what you are there for when you go back in and they will ask you "what are you testing for?". It's an odd question first starting out so you need to learn the lingo:
Blow = is a breathalyser or BAC. A big machine right on the counter that you blow into first thing on your visit.
Drop = is where you get a printout with your name on it and go in the back bathroom to pee in a cup.
There are some other tests for hard stuff and an alcohol EtG piss test that costs a lot more but it seems that a first time OWI gets the Blow and Drop on every visit for $9 a visit (went up to $10 in 2014).
Don't be surprised that everyone in the place looks like their mom just died, you will get used to it. And it does not hurt at all to be really friendly to the employees and even get their name to start some small-talk each time you go in. They will remember you for it and the chances of them making mistakes (forgetting your paper work, handing you someone else's paperwork, asking what you test for, miscounting money, forgetting to log you in the book, etc, etc) goes down a little bit. You seriously need to double check them on everything unless you want to get a no-show or piss for someone else.
So how it works is during your intake they will assign you a color. The color is based on the frequency of your random testing per week. Certain colors for 1x, 2x, 3x per week. Then there are other colors depending on if you are doing AM or PM testing but I don't think they mix up the two. You will need to call or check their web site every day to see if your color is up and their hours are typically 6-9am and 5-7pm. No mercy if you are late, they lock the door. I was always AM testing so most of this is based on that.
When you go in the first thing to do is get in line at the desk (not the other line). Then sign in on the log book, pay and initial next to your name in another book. Then to blow you take a pre-made 1/2 straw, wait for them to enable the machine, when the machine says "blow" you put your straw into the port and blow until you see ++ on the display. Some places you need to blow your brains out before it will click, others you can practically blow in the general direction for a second and it will register - same exact type of machine, just different calibrations or something. Then it chews on your breath for a bit and finally displays .00 (hopefully). You do not want to use any mouth wash, smoke just before going in or have Baileys in your coffee obviously. They can and will trigger a positive. I actually got a positive due to mouthwash on one of my first tests, they made me sit for 15 minutes and then they enabled the 3 point accuracy with a print out on the machine and it still came up as .003. I was very worried about that at the time, but I never heard anything more on it.
Next you get your printout to drop, make sure it has your name on it. I lost track of how many times I was handed someone else's sheet. Then either go stand in the other line to drop, or sit and wait to be called, depending on the location. This part can take awhile but there are all kinds of printouts and posters all over the walls to read and get caught up on this testing process. When you are called back you will need to sign your sheet and fill in your birth date. You will also initial the piece of anti-tamper tape they put on the cup, sometimes before, sometimes after you drop depending on the location. They hand you the cup and you go in a bathroom with 3 large mirrors on each wall. Don't even bother freaking out about the mirrors, they look, who cares, but it's always guys for guys and ladies for ladies for the drop testing so no big deal. There is a good chance that one time you will not pee enough in the cup, this WILL freak you out because they toss it out and you will have to re-drop. Either you wait around there, or take off, slam a bunch of water and go back. Either way you now have a mental paranoia about peeing on demand!
Here's a trick to get over that: Don't try and pee in the cup. Relax and only concentrate on your bladder and think how full it must be. Boom, works every time, for me.
Fill a little over half and you are good. Sometimes you take the cup out and sometimes they reach in and grab it from you, which is really annoying if you ask me. Then say "have a nice day", go out to wash your hands (the sinks in the bathroom are disabled) and you are on your way.
JAMS allows you to run a credit, as long as you pay cash up front, and I recommend it. If you know you are going to be testing 1x per week for 3 months you can throw them $120 cash and get a credit log sheet. Keep this log sheet with you and they will fill it out each time you go in and deduct from the balance. Not only do you not have to worry about having cash but you also get a log of all your visits, date, time, bac, location and employee as a redundant backup in case something gets mixed up. Plus their math isn't always so sharp, sometimes they add to the CR rather than subtract! When you fill out the log in sheet you just put CR in the fee paid box. Very handy if you can afford it up front.
It's not ironic that JAMS is owned by one of the court judges, managed by their spouse and yet is always court ordered for any drug and/or alcohol offense. Judge Brian W. MacKenzie
JAMS is strictly cash only, no personal checks and nothing larger than a $20 unless you are paying for credit (more on this in a minute). After your intake you will likely find that they don't know what you are there for when you go back in and they will ask you "what are you testing for?". It's an odd question first starting out so you need to learn the lingo:
Blow = is a breathalyser or BAC. A big machine right on the counter that you blow into first thing on your visit.
Drop = is where you get a printout with your name on it and go in the back bathroom to pee in a cup.
There are some other tests for hard stuff and an alcohol EtG piss test that costs a lot more but it seems that a first time OWI gets the Blow and Drop on every visit for $9 a visit (went up to $10 in 2014).
Don't be surprised that everyone in the place looks like their mom just died, you will get used to it. And it does not hurt at all to be really friendly to the employees and even get their name to start some small-talk each time you go in. They will remember you for it and the chances of them making mistakes (forgetting your paper work, handing you someone else's paperwork, asking what you test for, miscounting money, forgetting to log you in the book, etc, etc) goes down a little bit. You seriously need to double check them on everything unless you want to get a no-show or piss for someone else.
So how it works is during your intake they will assign you a color. The color is based on the frequency of your random testing per week. Certain colors for 1x, 2x, 3x per week. Then there are other colors depending on if you are doing AM or PM testing but I don't think they mix up the two. You will need to call or check their web site every day to see if your color is up and their hours are typically 6-9am and 5-7pm. No mercy if you are late, they lock the door. I was always AM testing so most of this is based on that.
When you go in the first thing to do is get in line at the desk (not the other line). Then sign in on the log book, pay and initial next to your name in another book. Then to blow you take a pre-made 1/2 straw, wait for them to enable the machine, when the machine says "blow" you put your straw into the port and blow until you see ++ on the display. Some places you need to blow your brains out before it will click, others you can practically blow in the general direction for a second and it will register - same exact type of machine, just different calibrations or something. Then it chews on your breath for a bit and finally displays .00 (hopefully). You do not want to use any mouth wash, smoke just before going in or have Baileys in your coffee obviously. They can and will trigger a positive. I actually got a positive due to mouthwash on one of my first tests, they made me sit for 15 minutes and then they enabled the 3 point accuracy with a print out on the machine and it still came up as .003. I was very worried about that at the time, but I never heard anything more on it.
Next you get your printout to drop, make sure it has your name on it. I lost track of how many times I was handed someone else's sheet. Then either go stand in the other line to drop, or sit and wait to be called, depending on the location. This part can take awhile but there are all kinds of printouts and posters all over the walls to read and get caught up on this testing process. When you are called back you will need to sign your sheet and fill in your birth date. You will also initial the piece of anti-tamper tape they put on the cup, sometimes before, sometimes after you drop depending on the location. They hand you the cup and you go in a bathroom with 3 large mirrors on each wall. Don't even bother freaking out about the mirrors, they look, who cares, but it's always guys for guys and ladies for ladies for the drop testing so no big deal. There is a good chance that one time you will not pee enough in the cup, this WILL freak you out because they toss it out and you will have to re-drop. Either you wait around there, or take off, slam a bunch of water and go back. Either way you now have a mental paranoia about peeing on demand!
Here's a trick to get over that: Don't try and pee in the cup. Relax and only concentrate on your bladder and think how full it must be. Boom, works every time, for me.
Fill a little over half and you are good. Sometimes you take the cup out and sometimes they reach in and grab it from you, which is really annoying if you ask me. Then say "have a nice day", go out to wash your hands (the sinks in the bathroom are disabled) and you are on your way.
JAMS allows you to run a credit, as long as you pay cash up front, and I recommend it. If you know you are going to be testing 1x per week for 3 months you can throw them $120 cash and get a credit log sheet. Keep this log sheet with you and they will fill it out each time you go in and deduct from the balance. Not only do you not have to worry about having cash but you also get a log of all your visits, date, time, bac, location and employee as a redundant backup in case something gets mixed up. Plus their math isn't always so sharp, sometimes they add to the CR rather than subtract! When you fill out the log in sheet you just put CR in the fee paid box. Very handy if you can afford it up front.
It's not ironic that JAMS is owned by one of the court judges, managed by their spouse and yet is always court ordered for any drug and/or alcohol offense. Judge Brian W. MacKenzie
What driving with a .100 BAC and later testing positive for weed got me.
Here is a summary all the crap the court has put me through.
So far all of the people I've met in AA that have had a DUI have had more than one DUI, not a lot of them, not even most of them, ALL of them!
Just 3 or 4 beers is all it takes to blow a .08 and that's all they need... BAC Charts
Some tips I've learned along the way:
1) Keep all of your paper work. Especially stuff you have had signed. PO's will try to take your paper work. Ask them to make copies and let you keep the originals. Reason is: if you don't have it, someone else can loose it, and you'll have to do it all over again.
2) Stay positive. It's a big bunch of bull shit but take it in stride and try to always talk about it in a positive light. Negativity will only make things worse.
3) Your PO isn't always going to guide you. I've heard many stories of people violating their probation due to being late with community service because they forgot about it or didn't get their sheet from the PO until late in the sentence. Be it sketchy stories or PO's jerking around, either way it's in your best interest to stay on top of things.
4) Stand your ground in AA, there are a lot of people who will pounce on you if you seem at all weak or insecure. They want to help but really they want to sell you the AA bible and get you into their religion. If that's your thing then fine, if not you will have to fend them off all the time. It sucks to be court ordered to put up with this kind of conflict and walking on egg shells at every meeting so you don't offend their delicate religion. For me this is by far the worst punishment of this whole ordeal.
5) If you have a Michigan Medical Mariana card get it revoked. It is beyond useless and you cannot buy a gun nor get a CPL if you have it.
Send a written request along with your card and a copy of your photo ID to
MMMW
P.O. box 30083
Lansing, MI 48909
They will send a letter back in about 2 weeks.
- When all is said and done I will have been drug tested about 100 times ($10 each).
- Holiday BAC (blow in a hand-held) testing ($5 each time) 5 to 8 times, both am and pm, on various holidays including the super bowl. Plan nothing but that on those holidays.
- (PRE-TREATMENT) I had to attend a mandatory 3 day pre-counseling class ($60) that trained you how to find and manipulate your way into substance abuse counseling. Counselors seem to be wary of people who are court ordered to go to counseling so you need to not entirely tell the truth to get in the door, and then tell them you are court ordered so they can report to your PO. This class is worse than useless and I recommend not using anything they say and just ask your PO to recommend one or pick one from the court list because anything else won't be accepted.
- (LIFE ADJUSTMENT) Go to 12 sessions of counseling (mine is $50 each).
- (AA - NA) Find and attend AA meetings two times a week and have someone there sign your AA attendance sheet for the court. ($1 donation each time) This runs the entire length of my 18 month probation and is quite frankly, hell. This is highly religious in nature and my personal take on it is that replacing something that makes you stupid with something designed to keep you stupid is just plain stupid. Aside from that, going to the same group all the time, I'm getting to know some of the people and most of them are pretty cool.
- Visit my parole officer (PO) once a month so they can copy my drug testing and AA meeting sheets and set the next date. Mine is friendly enough and so far straight-up about answering any questions I have. I always try to come up with questions each time I visit, usually stuff I already know the answer to, but just to confirm and double check so I don't get in any more trouble. After all the court fees are paid off my PO switched to every other month reporting in person. Then in the off months I filled out the report sheet, scanned that, my testing and AA sheets and email it to him. You can fax, email or snail mail around the middle of the month.
- 50 hours community service ($15 per day). You pay for this in your court fees so usually by the time you get to doing this it's already paid for. They give you a log sheet with a raised seal on it, treat it like gold because it's the only record you'll have of your service hours. Pick a place from the list of places, but pick wisely as some of them can suck. I chose a church and it usually consisted of a lot of cleaning and moving things around. I heard from others that the state parks are a workout (shoveling sh*t), High Schools are not bad and the police and fire stations are a nightmare.
- The cost total will be about $6000 when all is said and done.
So far all of the people I've met in AA that have had a DUI have had more than one DUI, not a lot of them, not even most of them, ALL of them!
Just 3 or 4 beers is all it takes to blow a .08 and that's all they need... BAC Charts
Some tips I've learned along the way:
1) Keep all of your paper work. Especially stuff you have had signed. PO's will try to take your paper work. Ask them to make copies and let you keep the originals. Reason is: if you don't have it, someone else can loose it, and you'll have to do it all over again.
2) Stay positive. It's a big bunch of bull shit but take it in stride and try to always talk about it in a positive light. Negativity will only make things worse.
3) Your PO isn't always going to guide you. I've heard many stories of people violating their probation due to being late with community service because they forgot about it or didn't get their sheet from the PO until late in the sentence. Be it sketchy stories or PO's jerking around, either way it's in your best interest to stay on top of things.
4) Stand your ground in AA, there are a lot of people who will pounce on you if you seem at all weak or insecure. They want to help but really they want to sell you the AA bible and get you into their religion. If that's your thing then fine, if not you will have to fend them off all the time. It sucks to be court ordered to put up with this kind of conflict and walking on egg shells at every meeting so you don't offend their delicate religion. For me this is by far the worst punishment of this whole ordeal.
5) If you have a Michigan Medical Mariana card get it revoked. It is beyond useless and you cannot buy a gun nor get a CPL if you have it.
Send a written request along with your card and a copy of your photo ID to
MMMW
P.O. box 30083
Lansing, MI 48909
They will send a letter back in about 2 weeks.
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