Hey all. Preface story of the DUI arrest. You may skip the following if you wish, or read it if you'd like an idea of what happened behind the DUI which in my opinion was completely unfair and unnecessary. Having said that, I learned a great deal about the justice system and DUIs in general through the experience anyway. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Story In December of 2014 I was arrested and pleaded guilty for a DUI in New York - Westchester. Unfortunately it was an unjust arrest. I was not drunk nor did I drink at all that night, and also was not high at the time. I blew a 0.00 on the breathalyzer test. I was pulled over during a checkpoint on the highway. My car smelled like weed because I used to smoke back then. I did smoke around 10pm, a joint between three people and myself. My tolerance at the time was extremely high and if you ever smoked weed and had a high tolerance you would know how a joint is basically nothing after 20 minutes. I was driving a friend home back to his Aunt's house in Yonkers. I tried convincing him to sleep over my house because it was at least a 30 minute commute just going there and it was already 2AM and I had work the next day. He said his Aunt was expecting him back so I figured what the hell might as well just get it over with and get him home. So we're getting off the highway, and that's where the checkpoint happened to be. The officer who was conducting the checkpoint smelled the weed odor from my car and asked me to pull over. Some dialogue was exchanged and he asked me to step out of the car to do a field sobriety test. Now keep this in mind. I drive with glasses, and it is stated on my driver's license that I do. I am also wearing an extremely thin layered long sleeve shirt (white tees are thicker than this shirt i was wearing) in sub 30 degree temperature with nothing but jeans and suede shoes on. He asked me to take my glasses off before doing the field sobriety test. I do as I'm told and take them off. After doing the test he directs me to wait by his cruiser. So I'm sitting on top of the hood, shivering, and I overhear his supervisor and him talking. The supervisor says to the officer who conducted my field test "it's up to you if you want to bring him in." He comes over to me, tells me to put my hands behind my back, cuffs me, puts me in the cruiser and I'm on my way to the Police Station. The entire ride there, I kept asking what part of the field sobriety test did I fail because to my knowledge I did everything they asked without error. All he had to say with an annoyed voice was, "keep your mouth shut, be a good boy, and you'll be home by the end of the night." They gave my friend a ride the rest of the way to his Aunt's. Fast forward to my court dates. I call up lawyers, my sister's friends who are lawyers, and they all said they can fight the case but they were all charging at least $3,000-$5,000. I was not working full time and did not have enough money to afford one. My parents were extremely disappointed in me, and wouldn't loan me the money either. I've spoken to other people who had REAL DUIs, and they all told me with their lawyers they basically got the same sentencing as I did. Except they paid several thousand dollars. So naive me went with a public defender. They dropped my charge from a felony dui to a misdemeanor DUI - Operating Vehicle under influence of drugs / alcohol. They sentenced me to a 1 year conditional discharge and 90 days driver suspension along with the required Drug & Alcohol counseling program. I completed everything and it's in my past but obviously still on my record. I really ****** up by not taking this case to trial. My public defender kept telling me if I tried taking it to trial and lost, I risk going to jail and my plea bargain will be retracted. At the time I was so stressed out I just wanted everything to be over with so I ended up taking the plea bargain. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So I've just been accepted into my school's Nursing Program. I remember them saying if someone had a prior or on-going DUI case, they might want to pull anyone with it aside to discuss what happened. Same goes for anything else that pops up on a background check that they would want further explanation. Immediate disqualifications are those with felonies, especially if they are violent which I do not have. I paid for my background check to be done, and it shows up when I go to view it. It's been about a week since I had my background check done and they haven't called me and I've been in touch through email with the head coordinator/assistant of the program. I think I might email her to ask her if there's any questions or things she would like to discuss about me before moving on. She knows me very well because she's helped me in the past with advisement and other personal things (health problems with my Dad ended up me withdrawing my application the first time). She even told me she put my name out there when the Nursing Department was selecting students to be accepted. I owe her at the very least honesty and transparency. I also want to make sure this won't stop me from beginning the program. I am right now in the middle of getting all my medical documentation together as well as my BCLS certification which needs to be completed by February 19th. I've stopped smoking weed for awhile now and have been clean for a long time. I never drink and drive. Even before the arrest and DUI case. And after going through that entire drug and alcohol program, I'm even more afraid to drink when I know I'll be driving. I had a lot of ***** ups when I was younger but I have learned a great deal from my experiences and matured through them. Do you think I should email her asking if there's anything she wishes to discuss regarding my background check? Or should I let them contact me if they have any concerns or issues? Should I send out a subtle email to make sure everything is okay? I can email her saying that I've scheduled my BCLS course and something like I'm excited to start the program and if there's anything else she'd like let me be aware of please feel free to ask or something sounding similar to that. What do you think? TL;DR: Misdemeanor - DUI shows up on background check. Got accepted into the Nursing Program. Not sure if I should email one of the head coordinators, who knows me fairly well, asking if she wishes to speak anything about it with me in person? If so, how should I bring it up in email? Do you think it will backfire on me? Should I just leave it be, and if they have any concerns they'll most likely contact me because that's what they said during orientation. I have to complete my medical documentation (Physical and Immunization records), BCLS certification, drug test by February 19th. I'd like to continue getting everything done knowing that my DUI charge won't stop me from beginning the program. Has it stopped anyone that you know from entering/starting a Nursing School program? Off-topic question: Could I bring my DUI case back into court if I wanted to fight it again after pleading guilty (read pre-face story for details of DUI)? Obviously this is assuming you are not a lawyer or attorney, but if you have any knowledge on this you'd like to shed some light on?