PTI

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Hey guys!

Still waiting to hear about my charges regarding drug diversion. It's been almost two months now and it's been crickets over here. When I was confronted by the hospital they had a police officer there to take a statement from me and said they would be in touch soon (she actually said within the next two weeks) for my arraignment and booking etc. I hired a lawyer almost immediately and since then I've heard nothing more about it. I hate playing the waiting game. My lawyer says I have a good shot at pti since I have no previous criminal charges ever. For those of you that have been through this... what is your experience? Did you have to wait FOREVER to be charged or was it pretty immediate? Did you receive PTI? And if you did get PTI... how long did it take you to complete the PTI? Thanks so much!

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What is PTI?

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Pre trial intervention

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A pretrial intervention is a program that allows you to comply with whatever the court orders and subsequently they will drop the charges before a trial date. They call it ARD in my state & its what I got for my DUI

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.

It did seem like forever. My attorney had me get letters from several of my coworkers and anyone else who was willing to regarding history of community service (not legal community service, as I also have no HCC of legal charges or trouble EVER, but good things I've done within my community), positive aspects of my nursing career and just basically positive letters stating why they hoped I would be able to return to my nursing career as a valuable asset (which a felony charge would not allow me to do). With diversion charges, they could go toward felony or misdemeanor. My lawyer took those to the DA and met with him before any charges were filed. I actually ended up with pre-file PTI, meaning I was never arrested and that as long as I completed my PTI without incident, I never would be but, if I screwed anything up, they would come back and filed the decided upon charges and follow through with the stronger version of trial options. My PTI was fees, 100 hours of community service and two years of being in PTI, but after one year I would be dropped from the program if I had completed all requirements and remained in good standing. This was the best option I could have hoped for; it was better than what I expected because I was waiting everyday for them to come pick me up to make me go in for a mug shot. In about two weeks my one year will be up so I am patiently waiting to see if I really do get a letter saying I have been dropped from the program. I am told that, because it was pre-file, none of this will ever even show up on my record (since I will have no arrest record.). If anyone wanted to dig far enough, they would see the PTI but it should not show up on any criminal background screens and that can make a difference in finding jobs, which can already be a challenge with my BON stains so that was paramount to me. I was intervened in and turned myself into IPN on Feb 15th and signed my PTI paperwork on March 27th last year, if that gives you any idea of how long it took. The wait is, indeed, interminable while you are going through it. Hang in there and I wish you the most abundant of blessings as you wait. I know I prayed every day, several times a day, for help in my situation.

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So you haven't heard anything from the police or the board of nursing? The police didn't arrest you on the spot after your statement?

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So you haven't heard anything from the police or the board of nursing? The police didn't arrest you on the spot after your statement?

No! The police officer took a statement from me... said she'd get back to me within the next week... and I've heard nothing.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Women's Health, LTC.
No! The police officer took a statement from me... said she'd get back to me within the next week... and I've heard nothing.

Hopefully, no news is good news.

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Doesn't make any sense why they would have the police there if they were not filing charges. Like RN1965 said, hopefully no news is good news!!

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The police get to determine if they want to file criminal charges based up the standards of convicting a criminal defendant. If this nurse wasn't seen diverting or using drugs on the job (unless diversion was quite a bit in volume and a true pattern can be shown) it is likely the DA or the Cops have little interest in the case. Rumor and innuendo are more than sufficient for monitoring programs but not so much in court

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I thought the hospital would be the one to file charges.

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Nope that's why if you read a criminal charge its always titles "The State of Wherever versus Whoever". The cops and DA will decide if this is a case worth pursuing based on the facts of the case. The hospital doesn't get to decide anything once they call the cops as far as a criminal case goes. They may decide they don't want to pursue anything but the State may decide it is a case worth pursuing or the other way around. They get to decide if they report to the BON but that's a different matter

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